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Here Are 5 Things You Need To Know Before Playing ‘Resident Evil Village’

Imogen Donovan

Published 

Here Are 5 Things You Need To Know Before Playing ‘Resident Evil Village’

Featured Image Credit: Capcom

Resident Evil Village is out now, continuing Ethan Winters' living nightmare long after the infamous Baker incident has been laid to rest. Mia has been murdered in their home, and it's none other than Chris Redfield behind the trigger. He and his masked team take baby Rose and hold Ethan hostage, but the vehicle crashes and the soldiers are left for dead. When Ethan comes to, he stumbles upon a village where werewolves and vampires prey on the feeble humans that cross their paths. Rose is instrumental to this strange cult's plans, and it's down to Ethan to rescue her and get to the bottom of the mystery.

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It's all so simple when you say it like that. However, Resident Evil Village can be no cake walk, even for experienced Resi veterans. Cowed by Castle Dimitrescu? Miffed by Moreau? Lambasted by Lycans? Puzzled by... puzzles? Well, don't you worry. Here are our top five gameplay tips to ensure that you make the most of your time with Resident Evil Village, and most importantly, live to tell the tale.

If you're more of a visual learner, then watch our video review of Resident Evil Village below, featuring sparkly new footage on the PlayStation 5.

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See the sights

This might be second-nature to those of us who are always ferreting about for secrets that games may hold. However, this isn't only a way of satisfying your curiosity - upending houses and yanking out cupboards while looking for hidden treasures will save your skin in the end. Gunpowder, scrap metal, herbs, chem fluid and more are scattered all over and these will help you create ammo for various weapons, health med kits, and explosives. Keeping your pockets stuffed with these will give you breathing room in boss battles.

Furthermore, the open-world structure of the village lets you return and discover new things with the crank or the boat key, for example. Some of the best weapons in the game are tucked away in these nooks and crannies, and they're definitely worth your while as the game progresses.

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Resident Evil Village / Credit: Capcom
Resident Evil Village / Credit: Capcom

Fast food

The Duke, who acts in a similar manner to the Merchant of Resident Evil 4, is your one-stop shop for new guns, upgrades, selling the treasure you've "borrowed" and getting new crafting schematics. It's not unlocked at the start of the game, but he will offer to cook food for Ethan. Seeming like a silly side-quest? Oh, no. These recipes require you to hunt and collect meat from animals like pigs, chicken and fish to fulfil their ingredients.

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Once consumed, they will grant Ethan permanent boosts to his movement speed and health while decreasing damage taken generally and damage taken when guarding. He's some chef, this Duke. Eating these meals is absolutely crucial for playing through the more rigorous difficulty settings or for surviving that knife-only run without tearing your hair out.

Inventory management

Space. The final frontier. I had a few moments where I needed to ditch something non-essential (the definition of "non-essential" in a survival horror game is a little flexible) in order to pick up a gun that would let me mow down those monsters. If you focus on expanding Ethan's inventory limit as soon as the option appears in The Duke's shop, then hoarding ammo or health med kits is no sweat. Capcom has been lenient with the number of expansions, but they do increase in cost, so all the more reason to save your pennies.

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Also, try not to get attached - you will find better weapons as you progress through the game, and whatever you sell to The Duke is kept there if you ever want to buy it back. Say it with me: no one needs two shotguns. They're heavy. Plus, one challenge requires never sorting your inventory or moving anything around in Ethan's suitcase.

Resident Evil Village/ Credit: Capcom
Resident Evil Village/ Credit: Capcom

Try every trick in the book, or notepad, or letter...

It's ever so tempting to gloss over the scraps of paper that are littering the Castle, the houses, the factory, and so on in favour of cracking on with the story. If you haven't been paying attention to what they've got to say, it's not an issue as the ones you find are kept in the Journal for future reference. Through these, the details of who Mother Miranda is and why there are vampires, werewolves and sentient creepy dolls (oh my) plaguing this village will come to the fore, and you won't be scratching your head when the credits roll.

Secondly, some of the documents will actually offer you hints on how to take down enemies. It's like a cheat sheet for an exam has been slid across your desk, except the cheat sheet is a final letter from a dying husband to his wife and the exam is a slavering wolflike creature that will tear the flesh from your bones.

Take your time

I know there are abominations out there baying for your blood. I know. What I'm saying is... chill out. Relax. Open the Photo Mode for a few spectacular snaps. Especially in the case of your first playthrough (because you will want to dive right back into the game again with Mercenaries), approach each section of Resident Evil Village at your own pace. The justification is that you'll be able to truly appreciate the game's excellently eerie atmosphere if you've not got an eye on the clock. Spoilers will be running rampant now that the game is out, but that doesn't mean you should be.

What's more is that taking your time now will save you all sorts of complications when you do aim for that extremely rapid three hour run for the "Dashing Dad" achievement. You'll have the knowledge of what's a scripted fight and when you should cut and run, as well as exactly where to find the keys or components you need to unlock the various areas in the story. Slow and steady and all that.

Resident Evil Village / Credit: Capcom
Resident Evil Village / Credit: Capcom

Et fin. These suggestions should ease you into your jolly holiday in the village and give you the edge over the less welcoming entities that it harbours. We hope that you enjoy Resident Evil Village as much as we did, and we enjoyed it a lot. Mark's got a review right here and a chunk of gameplay on the PlayStation 5 if you're still undecided on this wackier take on a Resident Evil entry, though if you ask us, the risks paid off.

Topics: News, Resident Evil, Capcom

Imogen Donovan
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