Resident Evil: Village Critique | A Feral Fairytale

A critique of Resident Evil: Village - analysing it in a literary sense; as well as a horror game and assessing its position in the franchise.

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Resident Evil 8’s Village feels natural. It shouldn’t, but it does. Like it has always existed. Like the snow, and the mountains, and the trees have groaned and shuddered with years of gothic romance and Grimm fairytales reshaping it. The residents understand its seasons, debate the intricacies of its culture, and you feel that familiarity as well once you reach the halfway mark, despite how regularly the game changes its scenarios and settings. It flits epileptically between Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and some of the most disturbing horror I’ve ever had the displeasure to live in, yet somehow it all manifests like one cohesive whole: a gothic fairytale.
But saying all of that;
As much as I like this game, hell, I might even love this game – it’s not perfect. Especially on a second or third playthrough, the thrill dies. Though lucky for us, I think its flaws are as interesting as its wins. It is worth noting here that this series is notorious for being… accidentally brilliant in a lot of ways. Be it mechanical limitations, or cheesy translations in the past, whether or not any of the things I’ll mark were intentional by the designers is for you to decide.

We’ll be walking through the full story of the game – so spoilers ahead, analysing it in a literary sense as a fairytale, but also in a mechanical sense as a horror game

TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:04:50 - Part 1: Goldilocks and the Three Winters - The Opening
00:16:55 - Part 2: Ethan in Wonderland - The Village,Tension & Atmosphere
00:30:42 - Part 3: Creeping Beauty - Castle Dimitrescu & The Beautification of Horror
00:44:14 - Part 4: Ben-etto - Donna Beneviento & Environmental Storytelling
01:01:02 - Part 5: The Little Merman - Moreau & The Duke
01:15:58 - Part 6: The Elves and the Soldatmaker - Heisenberg & Combat
01:34:20 - Part 7: Happily Never After - Mother Miranda, The Ending, Sequel Theories




MUSIC
Music used is owned and created by MonoMemory - their covers and remixes of Resident Evil songs are incredible. Find them here:    / @monomemory  

FOOTAGE/REFERENCES USED
1) J.R.R Tolkien: On Fairy Stories
https://coolcalvary.files.wordpress.c...
2) BBC - An Interview with J.R.R Tolkien
   • BBC Archival Footage-In Their Own Wor...  
3) Chef Daniel - Why I HATE Resident Evil 8 Village
   • Why I HATE Resident Evil 8 Village  
4) Den of Geek - Resident Evil Village's Ethan Winters Is The Worst
https://www.denofgeek.com/games/resid...
5) Worth A Buy - Truly Shocking
   • Resident Evil Village Review - Truly ...  
6) IGN - How Resident Evil Village is a Direct Sequel to Resident Evil 7
https://www.ign.com/articles/how-resi...
7) IGN - Resident Evil Village Review
   • Resident Evil Village Review  
8) thegamer.com - Resident Evil Village's Duke Represents a Tired Trope of Fat Shaming
https://www.thegamer.com/resident-evi...
9) Resident Evil Village Review - Not Scary
   • Видео  
10) Sphere Hunter - Resident Evil Village - Spoiler Free Review
   • Resident Evil Village Spoiler Free Re...  
11) Dreamcast Guy - I NEED to RANT on SPOILERS! - Resident Evil Village
   • I NEED to Rant on SPOILERS! - Residen...