Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose review of the expansion pack dedicated to Ethan’s daughter

Capcom has certainly managed to tell a different story than usual with the Ethan Winters saga to which the last two episodes of Resident Evil are dedicated. Thanks to the introduction of first-person perspective and an approach to generally passive survival horror, where the protagonist is a normal human being who responds to fear by fleeing and hiding rather than fighting, Osaka house has managed to renew a series that hasn’t meant anything new on the narrative front for a while.

If you’ve completed Resident Evil Village (warning: you’d better keep reading) You’ll know how Ethan’s story ends. But after the credits, there’s a final set a few years after these events, where Rose is now a teenager: at that moment we discover that the girl has special powers and uses Chris Redfield’s help for some missions.

So how did we get to this point? We tell you this in our news Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose reviewThe long-awaited expansion of Capcom’s survival horror is included in Winters’ Expansion, as well as a third-person view for the base game and new characters for the Mercenaries mode.

Story: I don’t want to be a monster

Rose Winters has special powers., we said: He took them during his stay in the Village due to the “ritual” to which Miranda was subjected, but on the contrary did not improve his life. Marginalized by her classmates because of the visual manifestations of these abilities that color her skin with white patches, the girl finds herself all alone and desperately looking for a way to get rid of what she sees as a curse.

There seems to be a solution: A man explains to Rose that he can access some kind of information by using his powers alongside a megamycete champion. dream size Based on the consciousness of people attached to the mysterious pattern and to find out where there is a crystal that can absorb substances contained in her body, she makes her a normal girl.

Setting: Back to the village

Contacting the trailer, Rose finds herself projected into a world built in Miranda’s memories and beyond. There are basically two settings We can visit Dimitrescu Castle and Casa Beneviento in the Shadows of the Rose expansion, which we can visit with a short excursion through the streets of the Village: a non-random choice considering these are the most fascinating and inspiring places. The final episode of Resident Evil.

Of course, no new scenario and it’s kind of annoying; but it’s a narratively justifiable shortcoming (adventure locations can only be places actually visited by certain characters), and ultimately that doesn’t detract from the DLC, especially given the affordability of Winters’ Expansion and a few extras in addition to the ‘Shadows or Roses’ campaign. inclusion of content.

In the world rebuilt by Megamicete, Duke He presents himself as a cynical and cruel foe rather than a neutral and even benevolent figure: the fat merchant, whose face is covered with a mask, will attempt to kill Rose (and her numerous “shadows”), evoking megamycetes and abnormal creatures born from the reddish slime that covers most of the scene.

The latter appears as an insurmountable obstacle in the early stages of the story, but the appearance of some kind of guardian angel will allow the protagonist to use his powers to turn the sewer into ash and make way for new areas, as well as solve it. some environmental puzzles that enrich the expansion’s short campaign, duration sits for three hours.

Gameplay: Again in third person

By taking advantage of the new option that allows you to replay using Resident Evil Village. third person view Instead of the first, Shadows of Rose immediately adopts this traditional solution for the Capcom series, but some technical details (see the fact that the doors are pushed open without a specific animation turning the lever) fall behind a bit. to be desired.

The character’s movement in some ways continues the typical canons and woodiness of the brand, but references the dynamism of the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes. protect yourself from enemies (pistols, rifles, grenades) and power-ups forces and add a kind of Dead Space “stagnation” to your repertoire to slow down opponents’ movements before they’re riddled with shots in the most sensitive areas.

The mix of escapism, combat, and puzzles works well, albeit with a fairly short experience, but the developers have also given up experimenting with new mechanics in the episode, which begins by mimicking what happened to him in Casa Beneviento. Ethan in the Resident Evil Village campaign (including some successful jumpscare) to suggest sequences later hidden Thrilling in a nightmare of killer dolls and spooky dummies.

There are also interesting ones boss fight: some are traditional and more demanding, some are original but somewhat inconsistent; Including a well-constructed final battle at the narrative level, which in theory opens the door to what should have been the definitive outcome of the Winters family’s adventures.

Technical realization: teen nightmares

Having the opportunity to start from the already very solid foundations that form the technical and artistic foundations of Resident Evil Village, Shadows of Rose doesn’t even need to do much to deliver us. a visually solid and well-made experienceThe videos are excellent and the model of the hero is really well made thanks to advanced technologies implemented by Capcom for several years.

As briefly mentioned in the village in parenthesis, returning to the rooms of Dimitrescu Castle and the corridors of Casa Beneviento will please many players who only liked the last part of the series but will inevitably notice the lack of gameplay. scenarios unpublished: a justified choice at the narrative level, we’ve already explained this, but the data remains.

Expansion graphics work fine on PS5 and 60fps, without noticing certain uncertainties and the level of detail is always kept very high. The design of the creatures that emerged from Slime clearly cannot boast of the character of the gothic monsters of the main game, but from this point of view, the episodes with dolls and mannequins make up for it.

Finally, with regard to the audio business, the soundtrack manages to accompany the on-screen action very effectively, adding depth and involvement to the various sequences. Fantastic italian dubbingagain with a great Riccardo Peroni enjoying playing the bad guy and again with a great performance by Valentina Pallavicino.