When someone mentions Romania, most things that come to people’s minds are varying stereotypes: vampires, immigration, and the other ones who switched sides during WW2.

However, Resident Evil Village goes beyond that. It takes some of those very know stereotypes, such as vampires (god bless Lady DUMITRESCU since Dimitrescu is not a proper Romanian name), small villages, rich culture, and orthodox religious affliction and builds a world upon it that is scary, complex, and... rich. Rich in story, rich in detail, rich in culture.

As a fellow Romanian, I was very eager to play this. Not only for the fact that it was clearly situated in Romania but since it also represents a castle I visited often as a kid, Peles Castle. The small village felt real, just like it did when I grew up. The fireplace/stoves looked just like they did when my grandma used to heat the house, all the pots and earthenware looked exactly like they when my grandma used to cook for me and most importantly... the eerie atmosphere reminded me of the cold late autumn nights.

For good or worse, Resident Evil is far from what it tries to depict. You can tell that the developers did not visit Romania, that they did not spend time with the locals (ignoring the fact that most have Romanian names but speak perfect English) and the design team could not get a proper grasp of how things look. The wooden orthodox churches depict a very muddy, kitsch-styled art, the household appliances are a mix between other Balkan countries, and even the gates in front of each house are sometimes far from what you can find in various corners of Romania.

However, it shouldn’t take away from what Resident Evil is. An insanely well-crafted game, with simple yet functional game mechanics, very well-detailed characters, and an atmosphere like no other. I’m not a fan of survival horror games but I deeply enjoyed exploring, analyzing, and interacting with the world: it felt alive.

The story, while intricate, is one of the very few that tackles the fact that sometimes, in life, no matter how hard you try, there are no happy endings. I would like to talk about it more, since it is one of the greatest points of the game, but that would spoil the beauty of it.

Besides some small caveats, like the shooting system being absolute garbage at times, and the linearity of the game preventing you from fully immersing yourself in the game, I truly believe RE8 is a must-play for anyone.

And yes, Alcina Dimitrescu (ALINA DUMITRESCU FOR CHRIST’S SAKE) is very well modeled.

8.5/10