March was the new Halloween in 2026, with an army of horror titles flooding the market. The horror game behemoth that is Resident Evil dropped three titles all at once, which underscores that trend. We first looked at the re-release of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition on the Nintendo Switch 2. Then we jumped over to the multiplatform Resident Evil 9: Requiem. And now, we’re back to a Switch 2 re-release with the eighth main title of the series: Resident Evil Village Gold Edition. Grab some herbs, and let’s see what Umbrella has done now!
What Is It About Europe?
Resident Evil Village follows the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Ethan Winters saved Mia and escaped the Baker family, going on to have a baby called Rose and a nice, uneventful life after the revelations of the last game. Well, at least until the intro of this game!
After putting Rose to bed, the lights cut out, and Mia is shot dead in front of your very eyes by long-time series hero Chris Redfield. He promises to explain why as a bag is placed over Ethan’s head and he’s transported somewhere. Naturally, this doesn’t go smoothly, and the transport is attacked, leaving Ethan exploring a village in Europe looking for Rose and those answers that Mr. Redfield promised.
It isn’t long before you realize that other factors are in play, as Ethan is attacked by a swarm of Lycans: a man who can control metal, a fish man, a doll maker, and a giant vampire who took over the internet when the game was first released: the infamous Lady Dimitrescu. All are working for a greater power called Mother Miranda. Out of the frying pan and into the fryer for Mr. Winters!
The story is much larger in scope when compared to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, not only in terms of the franchise but also in how far Capcom have leaned into just about every horror trope. It feels really detached from the zombie and bio-terrorism themes in the previous games and borders on the supernatural, saved only by a few very weak explanations as to why this village is full of not only Lycans but also several other horror icons.
Even by the end where the game goes out of its way to make sure you know how essential it is to the main story of the franchise, it just feels like it does a little too much with far too little payoff. It has pure Resident Evil moments, but doesn’t stick the landing where it needs to. Sadly, it really comes up short compared to its much tighter predecessor in terms of story and setting.
Winter? More Like A Cold Snap
Resident Evil Village follows the gameplay style of the previous game, making it the second pure first-person game in the franchise, though you can opt to play the game in third-person as per the Winters Expansion (which is packaged in with this version of the game). It’s just worth remembering that this game was designed to be played in first-person, so the alternative does offer a healthy amount of jank with it.
First-person view aside, Resident Evil Village takes much more inspiration from Resident Evil 4 than its immediate predecessor, opting to lean further into the action rather than the slow build tension that Resident Evil 7: Biohazard so masterfully crafted. This isn’t an instant death blow considering just how loved and fantastic Resident Evil 4 is, but here it sadly creates a little dysfunction in how the game feels overall.
The enemy count is high, and they’re incredibly aggressive. Ethan isn’t particularly action-oriented and lacks the combat skills that Leon Kennedy picked up between Resident Evil 2 and 4. Instead, he has to lean more on the many, many weapons he will pick up on the way. We’ve got sniper rifles, submachine guns, various shotguns, and so on. Ethan has access to a military warehouse worth of firearms, and while he didn’t learn to throw a decent roundhouse kick, he did learn how to shoot.
Ethan isn’t on his own this time either. The Duke makes his debut appearance, because if you’re going to emulate the success of Resident Evil 4, you’re going to need a charming and enigmatic merchant, aren’t you! Duke allows Ethan to sell various treasures found around the village to help fund the purchase of items, ammo, new weapons, and even upgrade that arsenal and help reduce the ever-growing werewolf population of Europe.
Banger After Banger After Banger
Resident Evil Village feels almost like a “Greatest Hits” of the franchise and the horror genre in the way the game plays out. Once you leave the initial Village hub and hit Castle Dimitrescu, it feels like a mixture of Resident Evil 1 in feel and location with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard due to the Lady of the castle being a “Stalker” character. It perfectly fuses the blueprint of Survival Horror with a more modern twist. As you progress further, you’ll hit stealth sections in the vein of titles like Amnesia or Alien: Isolation, a section that just screams the Lake from Resident Evil 4, and the Factory towards the end of the game seemingly mixes the “Lab” section of the game with body horror reminiscent of the SAW films and the criminally underappreciated Resident Evil Revelations 2.
While on paper that sounds fantastic, it does create an issue with the pacing. It’s all over the place and destroys the tension, which packs up and leaves town long before you hit the credits. It also has that nasty side effect of having a section slap bang in the middle of the game that solely relies on you not knowing about it, so any time you replay the game, it is an exercise in tedium. This is sadly something more modern Resident Evil games seem to have embraced, such as the orphanage section in both Resident Evil 2 (2019) and Resident Evil Requiem.
On paper, Resident Evil Village should be a slam dunk, a power dunk even…But it does raise that interesting point in that imitation isn’t the real thing, and while the game tries to copy every aspect that made the franchise great, it doesn’t quite reach any of its heights. And where it tries to forge its own identity, it just feels a little too disjointed, ultimately resulting in one of the weaker entries in the series.
Beautifully Grotesque
As mentioned, Resident Evil Village is set in a small village in Eastern Europe. It foregoes the swampy yellow and dark tones of the previous game, leaning instead into a more winter-focused color palette fused with gothic architecture and the distinct visual of a “creepy, isolated cult village”. While it is a different look for the series, it often feels like an alternative take on Resident Evil 4, which also took place in a cult-centered European village, albeit one with much less snow.
It looks fantastic. You can see that Capcom is really pushing the RE Engine at this point. The previous game was no slouch, and this title decides to ramp up the environments and enemies to a much greater detail. The distinct biomes of the game are also brilliantly designed, making them distinctly stand out, yet still managing to feel natural in the area.
But how does the game perform on the Nintendo Switch 2? Well, that’s the main question that brought us here, isn’t it? And for the most part, it performs well, except for one singular significant demerit. The framerate has a horrible habit of fluctuating, and while I was expecting it to, it doesn’t mean I can overlook it. The game never dropped below 30 frames per second, but it would often jump between 60fps and 40fps in bigger areas or areas with a larger enemy count, which would be quite jarring. This hits especially hard in the Mercenaries mode and the later sections of the game. While it was never at a point where it felt unplayable, I do feel a patch from Capcom wouldn’t go amiss here.
Verdict
Resident Evil Village Gold Edition is another fantastic package for fans of the franchise and newcomers on the Nintendo Switch 2. It has the “Winters Expansion” from the jump, which contains a compelling and highly replayable Mercenaries mode, as well as a fairly lengthy post-game DLC. This gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to Resident Evil Village.
While in my opinion it’s one of the weaker entries in the franchise, I still believe Resident Evil Village is well worth playing, and I did really enjoy coming back to the game after a couple of years. I would steer away from the third-person mode, though. Performance isn’t quite perfect, but it’s still a great performing title on the Nintendo Switch 2.
RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE GOLD EDITION IS RECOMMENDED
If you would like to see more horror games, you may be interested in our review of The Persistence.
Many thanks go to Capcom for a Nintendo Switch 2 review code for this title.
Pride of utopia & greatest thing ever, I found the One Piece, Collected the Dragon Balls & won the Mortal Kombat Tournament in one night, it was quiet for me that night! Follow me on Twitter @powahdunk
