Resident Evil Village – Shadows of Rose Review – Like Father Like Daughter

The story ended in Village without spoiling it. It raised some interesting questions about Resident Evil’s future. From its beginning, the series has never claimed a singular protagonist, but moving forward, it seemed Ethan’s daughter Rose was going to be an important character to the franchise and whatever narrative direction a potential Resident Evil IX might follow. Shadows of Rose DLC is your first opportunity to play the role of Rose, while also filling in some story gaps that perhaps didn’t need it. Shadows of Rose offers a satisfying, yet condensed Resident Evil adventure that is worth the effort, even though it has a fairly benign story.

Although the specifics of what happened are irrelevant, Shadows of Rose allows the Rose to return to the village where her father ravaged to rescue her. She’s not there in person, but rather exploring memories of the location using her abilities. Rose explores memories and is not actually in the real place, so it’s possible to make Resident Evil more dreamlike than previous games. Rose quickly jumps around between different locations depending on the story. This makes an already unpredictable setting even more frightening.

Rose can also be controlled from the third person. The perspective is a typical one for Resident Evil, but to explore locations from Village from behind Rose’s back feels surprisingly new. I prefer my Resident Evils in third-person (though I do enjoy the novelty of 7 and Village’s first-person perspective) and seeing the world from behind Rose’s shoulders is well-implemented.

Lady Dimitrescu unfortunately does not make an appearance in the game, but exploring her castle again (with many paths blocked and doors locked) is a scary thrill, especially with Rose’s abilities. Rose uses a handgun and a shotgun, but isn’t an especially proficient fighter. Rose eventually makes use of her ability to slow down enemy attacks, which is a great advantage with Resident Evil shooting because it allows you to line up headshots more quickly. Her main ability is to spread tendrils and destroy flowers that infect the castle. In addition to shooting mold creatures using limited ammunition, I loved solving the puzzles about how to reach these blossoms to reveal new routes.

Rose also visits House Beneviento, which was home to Village’s (and maybe all of Resident Evil’s) most genuinely terrifying moments. Considering the recent legacy of House Beneviento, it’s no surprise that this is the scariest and most interesting part of the DLC. Rose must solve puzzles without her inventory (as her father did before her) and encounters mannequins that only move when you’re not looking at them. The mannequins wouldn’t make sense in a typical Resident Evil, but in this dreamlike, memory world, they function as some of the series’ most terrifying enemies. It was a great feeling to be able to overcome these formidable enemies.

You can dive in deeper to uncover important story beats. However, it was fun learning more about Rose, visiting Village from a fresh perspective and getting more information on Rose’s role within the universe. Considering her potential importance in the future, I assume Shadows of Rose will be an experience worth having played, but I wouldn’t go quite as far as calling it required reading. Shadows of Rose, which is more abstract and focuses on horror in the Resident Evil world, is well worth looking at.