Resident Evil Village ended on a rather bittersweet note but that ending will now see a follow-up with its latest story DLC: Shadows of Rose which we played a preview for at Tokyo Game Show 2022. The DLC is a part of the upcoming enhanced rerelease Resident Evil Village Gold Edition. Here’s what we thought of it:

Warning This Preview will have spoilers for the ending of Resident Evil Village. 

Legacy of Winters

The story will see Ethan Winter’s now teenage daughter, Rose, struggling with her terrifying powers. In search of a way to break free from her cursed abilities, Rose journeys through a mysterious nightmare realm based on memories hidden within the Megamycete’s consciousness.

Just from the premise, you can already see a lot of parallels with another popular survival horror series: Silent Hill, specifically Silent Hill 3. Not only is the protagonist the teenage daughter of a previous protagonist but the game has a very different feel to the base Resident Evil Village. Instead of being action-focused, Shadows of Rose is much slower and almost psychological in its horror. This isn’t a bad thing mind you, it’s a very unique tone for Resident Evil and from the little we’ve seen, is also well executed.

Rose herself is a good protagonist, with a lot of personality to make her endearing. Throughout the Shadows of Rose preview, she’s recurringly speaking to someone named Michael who is never seen and only writes in text. We can’t confirm who this is but they seem friendly enough and they act as a solid mentor figure for Rose. 

Back To The Village

The demo takes place in Castle Dimitrescu which feels nostalgic but new at the same thanks to the changes in level design and overall tone of the setting. It’s still a hauntingly gorgeous set piece that you can tell was made with a first-person camera in mind. The most notable change is that instead of the Lycans from Village, the molded from Resident Evil VII return to torment Rose. 

Resources are also much more scarce this time around. It’s very much back to classic survival horror, debating whether to shoot an enemy or run past them since every bullet counts and I constantly found myself running out. You can of course craft more ammo but even those supplies don’t come too frequently.

This shift to the more horror side of Resident Evil also occurs in one of Rose’s new skills. She can use her powers to freeze enemies and these particular flowers, which can remove obstacles or stop opponents from spawning. There’s a catch though: she has to stay still and charge it. I was worried once you unlocked it would make things easier but no, now I’m spending every level worrying about getting jumped while I charge the ability. It’s really nerve-wracking as you’re pretty much a sitting duck until you’re done, adding a good level of dread to every use of it. 

Overall the preview for Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose DLC left we anticipating more. The tonal change to a more Silent Hill-style psychological horror is an interesting shift that feels unique while still keeping in line with the events of Village. A really liked Rose as a protagonist and I want to see where her story leads.

In general, I’ve always preferred the more horror side of Resident Evil and while Village could get pretty scary (that freaking baby), returning to the moodier, darker Castle Dimitrescu of Shadows was another layer of dread. Can’t wait to go back in the full game!

Resident Evil Village Gold Edition and The Shadows of Rose DLC will be available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 28th, 2022.