Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose - Winters' Expansion Reviews
Shadow of Rose is a fantastic stint and offers closure for the Winters family. The Mercenaries is more fun than ever and the third-person perspective offers yet another incentive to play the main campaign. If you’re a fan of Resident Evil Village, the Winter’s Expansion is an essential addition and one that you should pick up now.
Shadow of Rose is not only one of the best expansion packs released during the entire series, but in many ways, it is a better title than the original Village. A title that focuses heavily on fear and survival and has succeeded well in achieving its goals. Although in terms of story, the audience is not provided with a new point, but in terms of gameplay, we are dealing with a very high-quality work that is faithful to the classic versions and RE7.
Review in Persian | Read full review
When all is said and done, Resident Evil Village: Winters’ Expansion is DLC done right. The expansion manages to expand upon things and give me modes and features I didn’t even realize I wanted until I had it. Not to mention that the real star of the show, Shadows of Rose, is Resident Evil storytelling at its absolute best. While I may have a few gripes in the execution, I had such a fun, yet terrifying experience playing this game that I believe the DLC is well worth it for everyone, especially those who played the game a year and a half ago.
The Winters' Expansion is a beautiful extension of what Village already has, offering plenty of new ways to have fun, whether that means making the base game easier or getting to punch everyone in the face as Chris Redfield. But the real tour de force here is Shadows of Rose, a storyline that offers a more psychological style of horror than the franchise usually plays in and is worth every penny.
All of this makes Winters' Expansion a decidedly mixed bag of tricks, though the same could be said about Village, too. It's a bit frustrating to see just how little it moves the story forward once all is done, but one wouldn't expect Capcom to give up too much in a DLC anyway. While it's true it'll offer you a different in-game perspective, it's more effective overall at shaping perspectives of this saga's characters and the future of their storyline.
Finally, even its ending is as unnecessary as it is lazy. It’s the post-game cutscene from the original game, and it makes even less sense being inserted at the same moment after everything that transpired before it within the new scenario. I can’t fathom how anyone could possibly argue that this DLC is not one of the weakest additional content packages out there and the cheekiest in terms of its asking price. Do yourself a favour and wait for a sale if you absolutely must play it. Please. Lady Dimitrescu is not going anywhere.
The expansion of Resident Evil: Village uses the most cunning of premises to recycle a couple of areas of the main adventure, reworking them to make them somehow different to go through. We find it to be the quickest way to complete a lazy and uninspired job, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of history. Although the saga of the Winters family has been given the right conclusion, the end result smacks of potential gone to waste.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Those of you who have played through and appreciated Resident Evil Village can definitely cough up the just over 200 crowns that Capcom's latest DLC requests in exchange. Just be aware that the experience is very much the same as the main game. Story-wise, it mostly feels like an unnecessary epilogue. But it's still fun!
Review in Swedish | Read full review
Shadows of Rose isn’t a spectacular DLC, and it doesn’t necessarily do or say anything meaningful. It feels like a B-tier horror film, which isn’t out of place for Resident Evil, though its sometimes self-serious tone can become tiring, especially after two whole games in the decidedly grim saga of the Winters family. Those invested in their narrative will find something to chew on, and the addition of the third-person perspective makes returning to the base game an exciting possibility. But it doesn’t do anything to further the narrative. Much like Rose herself, it feels less like a stepping stone in the franchise — a gentle nudge toward more plot points that will potentially remain unresolved for years to come.
Winters' Expansion puts a definitive end to Ethan's adventure, with Shadows of Rose which I completed in about two and a half hours. I can say that I enjoyed it quite a bit and was glad to finally complete the story of Ethan and his family. However, the 20 euros that Capcom is asking for, with a campaign with such a short duration, are too much, especially if you're not interested in playing the main game again in 3rd person mode or if you're not going to bother with the updated The Mercenaries Mode.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Resident Evil Village Gold Edition introduces a new chapter to the story in the form of Shadows of Rose, a twisting trip through a few of the main game’s most iconic locations in a new adventure starring a new character with special powers and a whole lot of questions.
