the expansion of winters DLC is less than a second serving of Resident Evil Village and more like a cherry on top. There is nothing here that’s actually badand if you are a Village fan, it’s just the excuse you needed to justify revisiting the game. At the same time, there’s nothing here that strikes me as crucial, particularly compared to the breadth and depth of the DLC that Resident Evil 7 He received.

I’m aware this is a hot take – it seems like most of the internet just needed to hear “playable Lady Dimitrescu” before hitting the pre-order button – but frankly, I was expecting more from this DLC than I was prepared for. to offer.

It’s probably best to start this with a spoiler warning. I can’t imagine too many people who haven’t beaten it yet Village are interested in reading about its DLC. Still, it’s hard to argue with the expansion of winters without spoiling the conclusion Village.

This is mainly due to shades of pinka short single-player campaign that serves as an epilogue to both Village and the history of the Winters family in demonic resident.

Established 16 years after the conclusion of Village, SoR it stars Ethan and Mia’s daughter, Rose. Now that she is a teenager, she has grown up as an outcast due to the side effects of the powers she inherited from her parents.

In an attempt to remove those powers, Rose participates in an experiment on a sample of Miranda’s mutated cast. This, unaware of her, drops her into a strange dream world within the mold, which is constructed from the memories of people who died while in contact with it.

Put another way: It’s a three to four hour recycled content bonus level. Rose’s journey through the “layers” of the mold’s memory sends her through various environments that she will recognize from Village, like the Dimitrescu Castle. You’ll use a couple of the same weapons, meet a couple of the same characters, and answer a couple of lingering questions from VillageThe original ending of .

Full disclosure: my press preview of shades of pink it failed during a critical moment in what I assume will be the final boss encounter, so this is effectively a work-in-progress review in that regard. I couldn’t delete the whole game.

Still, it’s easily the highlight of the expansion of winters. There is less emphasis on combat in shades of pink, with a limited arsenal and few resources available, making it feel closer to a classic survival horror game than Village or any of the recent remakes.

He also does a lot with what he has. The environments reused in shades of pink they’re not a simple cut-and-paste job, but are visibly ruining themselves as they’re consumed by Miranda’s mold. The most common enemy is also brand new and features one of the scariest attack animations in the history of the game. demonic resident franchise. I am not exaggerating when I say that I would actually be happier if the zombies in SoR alone I bit my throat.

my biggest criticism of SoR it is mainly tonal. It doesn’t really show or tell why Rose is so determined to get rid of her powers, and it’s easily 70 minutes before even a weak justification comes up. Doesn’t fit with Rose’s portrayal in VillageThe end of, where she’s scary enough that her controller won’t talk to her without ranged support, or with the game, where she relies mostly on weapons like pretty much everyone else. demonic resident protagonist.

It also has one of the biggest plot twists in recent video game history, where you’ll absolutely discover one of SoRRose’s main mysteries are two hours straight before Rose. You have access to more information than Rose, it’s not like she juice Village – but it’s still annoying to sit through a scene that asks you to pretend you don’t know what you know.

Another feature in the expansion of winters allows you to play the main game in the original first person view or in a third person perspective in the same style as recent games like 2020 Resident Evil 3 Redo. The pre-animated cutscenes are still shown from the first-person perspective, but all playable segments place you directly behind him.

Frankly, it doesn’t add much to the total. Village experience. Playing the game in third person serves to reinforce the degree to which the overall experience is based on a first person view. Some scares don’t land, some sections really block your vision at crucial moments, and a couple of moments just don’t work that well.

as much of Village it’s set in deliberately cramped and cluttered environments that seeing them from a different perspective feels like a handicap.

It is a good step for accessibility. I know a couple of people who would have played Village for now, but get dizzy with first person perspective games. I usually don’t, but I have to admit there are parts of both. RE7 Y Village that tested me, particularly when Ethan falls face down or the camera shakes violently. It’s good to have options.

Finally, the DLC adds three new playable characters to VillageThe full-length version mercenaries minigame: Chris Redfield, Karl Heisenberg and, pause for applause, Lady Dimitrescu.

Chris Redfield enters the fray with his full team from the main game, so he’s heavily armed early on for free. While Chris can’t block like Ethan, he can hit enemies instead.

Heisenberg relies primarily on his hammer to perform powerful melee attacks and can magnetically fire scrap metal at distant targets. With a few upgrades, he’s effectively a charge character, where you can hold down the fire button to power up his projectiles or land a short-range ground slam.

Dimitrescu is here primarily for meme value. She is taller than any other character, so she outruns most enemies and it takes a lot for her to stagger. While dealing damage with his claws, Dimitrescu builds a meter called Thrill for more powerful attacks.

The best part is that one of her attacks is the ability to launch her vanity mirror, which does as much damage on hit as a hand grenade. Dimitrescu is running for the mercenaries maps with a theoretically infinite amount of combat furniture strapped to your back and frankly I couldn’t be happier about it.

All three characters effectively address my biggest issue with the default mercenaries. Ethan has to start from scratch on each map, which means he goes through at least one level each round with his default knife and pistol. By the time you have a good arsenal, the map will be over.

The three new characters bring enough unique mechanics to the table to make them more fun to play than Ethan, which goes a long way to address the flaws of Villageis to assume mercenaries.

Resident Evil Village: Winter’s Expansion Review — The Bottom Line

Advantage:

• One of the creepiest levels of any demonic resident game to date.
• Chris facilitates the learning of Mercenaries.
• I laugh like an idiot every time I squash a zombie with Dimitrescu’s vanity mirror.

Cons:

• There is not much to do here.
• The third person view doesn’t add much to Villagemain campaign of .
• If you don’t like mercenaries, here’s about four hours of new material.

Taken as a whole, the expansion of winters it’s a bit thin, with a new gameplay perspective, a short additional single-player campaign, and a few new characters to choose from. It is an excellent additional complement for Village‘s Gold Edition, but on its own, it’s not much.

shades of pink however, it is a memorable short run, especially if you are interested in VillageThe strange story of . It’s a must-see for horror fans, particularly its middle segment. The new characters of mercenaries are interesting, varied, and sometimes funny, but it’s still Villagespins on mercenaries, which is the least entertaining version of the minigame. Finally, the third person mode for Village feels like a hindrance at best.

the expansion of winters add some value to Resident Evil Villagebut it’s not worth picking up alone unless you’re a mercenaries (or Dimitrescu) fanatic. If you hadn’t checked Village not at all, however, then the expansion of winters is a great excuse to check out the next Gold edition of the game.

[Note: Capcom provided the copy of Winter’s Expansion used for this review.]