A full-sized portable RE Village, with acceptable compromises | Review - Resident Evil Village

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✨Overview

Capcom has officially unleashed Resident Evil Village onto mobile devices yesterday, October 30. Available for iPhone 15 Pro and supported iPad models equipped with an M1 chipset or better This game, originally released for consoles and PC, brings players into a nightmarish journey through a mysterious European village, now right at their fingertips. The mobile release is the first among various AAA game announcements for Apple devices made a few months ago. The game follows a release model that begins with a completely free-to-download demo, with the full game content locked behind an in-app purchase. Next in line for Capcom is the Resident Evil 4 remake, which is a much more recent game. With in-app purchases for unlocking the full game, the Winters’ Expansion DLC, and the All Access Voucher DLC, players can explore the horror-infused narrative while enjoying a release celebration discount of up to 60% off on full game unlock, expansion DLC, and voucher. Making the base game just $15.99, which is a bargain, especially if you haven’t played the game yet.

🟩Pros +The full Resident Evil Village experience, without any gameplay compromises +Still impressive graphics +Controller support +Free demo +Portable

🟥Cons -Touch control implementation is borderline unplayable. A controller is highly recommended -Massive audio sync/delay issues during cutscenes -Frame rate drops and performance is far from perfect

⭐️Score: 7/10

📱The mobile version: Controls and Settings

I played the game on an iPad Pro M1 model, but the game is also available for the iPhone 15 Pro. To get a grasp of the full mobile experience, I decide to alternate playing this with the touchscreen controls along with a proper gamepad connected via bluetooth. For the touch controls, it features virtual on-screen gamepads but there’s really no full implementation. The developers just slapped a customizable virtual joystick overlay on top of the game and called it a day, at least its customizable though. As a touch-based game, Resident Evil Village is barely playable. Moving feels very clunky and aiming is very hard to control especially when you are aiming with LT and firing with RT at the same time. The gameplay mechanics and control are unchanged and there’s no compromise or adaptation done to better fit touchbased controls. There’s two ways to control the camera: virtual right stick or using blank part of the screen to look around like a mouse/touchpad. The latter works way better so I just stuck to using that scheme. Controller wise, the game supports most mainstream controllers like PlayStation or Xbox gamepad, and they’re basically the superior way of experiencing this game. I’d highly recommend bringing a controller with you whether you are playing this on an iPad or an iPhone. Settings wise, the game supports changing graphic settings, resolutions, and FPS just like a PC version would do. The freedom to do so is nice, but it would be nice to have an optimized setting depending on the device so people wouldn’t have to tinker. It supports four sets of resolutions from 1280x894 to 2388x1668 and up to 120 FPS max, although running it on an iPad Pro M1 model, the 1280x894 setting at mostly low settings seems to be the sweet spot in terms of getting a decent 30FPS. The option to increase the graphics are probably there for future, more powerful chips. Setting up the foundation for more Apple AAA gaming which is nice. The game does not use the full resolution of the display, and opts to display the game at a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Although the developers have already added a third-person mode to the game for the PC and console versions, it appears that the Apple version doesn't include this feature and is limited to the first-person mode. 📖Story and Premise

Resident Evil Village, the eighth main installment in Capcom's long-running survival horror series, is a game that strikes a delicate balance between paying homage to its survival horror roots and introducing fresh new elements, such as continuing the First Person mode that started with Resident Evil 7. Village continues the story of Ethan Winters and journey into the heart of a mysterious European village and its castle. Resident Evil Village blends elements of classic horror storytelling with a fresh and intriguing narrative. The game opens with Ethan Winters and his wife Mia living a seemingly peaceful life with their baby daughter Rose. However, their seemingly peaceful life is soon shattered when a group of soldiers, led by Chris Redfield, storms their home, resulting in Rose's kidnapping and Ethan suddenly finding himself stranded on a strange Village. The plot revolves around Ethan's quest to rescue his daughter, which leads him to unravel the dark secrets of the village and its bizarre inhabitants. 🎮Gameplay

Resident Evil Village takes significant strides in evolving the gameplay mechanics introduced in Resident Evil 7. The game retains the first-person perspective, which was a departure from the series' traditional third-person view, and continues to deliver a highly immersive and anxiety-inducing experience. Resident Evil Village is all about exploration of its richly detailed and spooky environments, all while trying to survive the monsters and dangers the lurk around. Across the sprawling village itself, dilapidated houses, eerie catacombs, dark forests, and its neighboring castle, players need to solve puzzles and find key items to progress through the story. The village's lore and legends are also interwoven with the exploration and those invested in the story will find lots of interesting stuff about the game’s lore. The inventory and crafting system allows players to create various ammunition types, healing items, and even explosives using materials found throughout the village. Resources are scarce, and players need to make critical decisions about what items to purchase and upgrade based on their playstyle and the challenges they face. Along the way, you’ll encounter a range of enemies, including monstrous lycanthropes, grotesque mutants, and abonimations infused with technology. Combat in Resident Evil Village is both brutal and satisfying. Players are equipped with an array of firearms, from shotguns and pistols to more exotic weapons like a grenade launcher and a magnum. The shooting mechanics feel refined and responsive when using a controller. Precise aiming is rewarded: headshots will result in critical hits. For the touch controls, it isn’t really intuitive as I previously mentioned as they didn’t really invest a lot of work into translation the touch controls properly with this game. I’d highly recommend sticking to a physical controller. 🎨Graphics, Art Style, and Audio

Resident Evil Village is a visual spectacle that showcases the pretty impressive RE Engine, used in Resident Evil 7 and the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes. It basically delivers breathtaking graphics and animations, and has optimized performance across the board which probably what made the iOS/iPad port possible. The attention to detail in the environments, characters, and monsters are all AAA level. The audio design on the other hand plays a crucial role in immersing players in the horror experience. The game's soundscapes are haunting and atmospheric, with subtle cues that keep you on edge. The creaking of floorboards, distant cries, and the howling of the wind all add to the sense of dread that permeates the game. I found it not as spooky as Resident Evil 7, but it’s still scary nonetheless. The audio for cutscenes are currently bugged right at the moment, and more on that later. 📊Technical Performance

On my iPad Pro M1 model, the game ran at a decent 30FPS, with drops every now and then when using the 1280x894 resolution and mostly low settings. Anything higher than that and the game noticeably struggles. If you have an iPhone 15 Pro, things would probably be much worse as the iPhone has a slightly weaker GPU. The graphics still look beautiful though, despite most settings at low. There is a bit of aliasing and jagged edges especially when you are closer to the screen, but it is a service-able experience nonetheless.

The audio for this game is a currently bugged, with noticeably sync and delay issues throughout my experience especially in cutscenes. probably because the framerates can't keep up with the audio playback resulting in delay. While these audio problems don't necessarily make the game unplayable, they do have a negative impact on the overall presentation and the immersive quality of cutscenes.

I also lost a significant amount of footage while recording this game for reasons unknown. The operating system likely prioritizes gaming performance for the GPU, which resulted in the built-in screen recorder on my iPad not functioning properly. ⚖️Conclusion

Resident Evil Village's arrival on mobile devices marks an exciting AAA expansion into mobile gaming courtesy of Apple and Capcom. On mobile devices, it still provides a solid AAA gaming experience, especially for those who appreciate the horror genre and are okay with the compromises to the visuals/performance for portability. It features touch controls, but I’d still recommend a physical gamepad. Performance wise, the game is playable on the iPad Pros, albeit with some occasional drops in frame rate. On the iPhone 15 Pro, performance might be slightly lower, nevertheless the graphics quality remains impressive for all devices, all things considered.

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