Ethan Winters’ adventure in a Romanian villa was one of the best and most surprising games of 2021. That’s why as soon as we saw the credits, we wanted the experience to continue. It’s been over a year since then, but the ‘Winters expansion’ DLC from Resident Evil Village is coming and thanks to the new campaign shades of rose (Shadows of Rose) we will know what happened 16 years after the end of the game.
But that is not all. The Winters expansion also adds new features to the Mercenaries mode through ‘Additional Orders’ and a new way to play the main story of Resident Evil Village
Let’s start with what interests us most, the adventure that Ethan’s daughter will experience.
New story campaign: shades of rose (Shadows of Rose)
The end of Resident Evil Village left us quite intrigued. This introduced us to Ethan’s daughter, 16 years after the events of the game and suggests that she has great powers. In this DLC we can control her in an adventure that helps us get to know her much better.
For Rose, the strange abilities she possesses thanks to her relationship with the fungus are not a source of power, but rather a source of frustration. She just wants to be a normal girl. That’s why she immediately jumps into action when they tell her about the existence of a purification crystal that can help her “stop being a monster”. To find it, he has to link his mind to the mutomycete. Inside her, she finds a world full of dangers, made up of her own fears and the dark desires of someone her father knew in the past..
shades of rose (Shadows of Rose) takes us to familiar scenarios of Resident Evil Villagelike the Dimitrescu Castle, to face different enemies and challenges. The first difference veterans will notice is that this DLC is only playable in third person, making it more similar to classic games from the franchise than the last two installments.
Rose controls herself differently than Ethan. Although we have similar tools and the same inventory system, Rose cannot block attacks. in her place, he can use his powers to slow down enemies and destroy obstacles in his way. This ability is unlocked shortly after advancing a bit in the story. We also have the help of Michael, a ghostly force that will give us clues about where to go and revelations about the plot. His true identity will not be a surprise to anyone.
Dimitrescu Castle is no longer under the control of the captivating vampire and her daughters, but rather a twisted, masked version of The Duke. He uses a strange substance called ‘liquid void’ to limit the areas we can explore and strange creatures formed from it to get closer. We can open access to new places using our powers to destroy the ‘cores’ that abound in the place, turning the mapping we already know into a whole new puzzle.
In addition to the castle, we will visit other familiar areas from the original game. These offer new horrors and terrifying stealth sections that are nothing to envy to the bloodcurdling monstrous fetus chase of the original game. Altogether, ccomplete shades of rose (Shadows of Rose) will take us about 3 or 4 hours.
As fans of the original game, whose review you can read here, we were very happy to return to this world, walk familiar corridors and expand the history of the Winters family. But that doesn’t change the fact that we already knew about these corridors and that Rose’s powers don’t represent a real gameplay change. The focus on stealth in the second section of the game is not something common in this series, but it uses quite traditional mechanics and systems. The story, while good and Rose is a great character, is based on clichés and doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on canon. After all, it takes place in “imaginary” settings and not in the real world of the franchise. It follows the same trend of other ‘parents and children’ themes that we’ve seen in video games in recent years. No wonder it’s a bit cheesy.
shades of rose (Shadows of Rose) is the main attraction of the ‘Winters expansion’ DLC and it’s a shame that these flaws mean that it doesn’t live up to the campaign of Resident Evil Villagebut it is not as serious as it seems. It remains a fascinating experience full of moments of great tension. It makes us grow fond of Rose and want to play with her again in the future.
Mercenary Mode: Additional Orders
If your favorite part of Resident Evil Village It wasn’t the story, but their intense combats, the ‘Winters expansion’ DLC pleases them with the ‘additional orders’ of the Mercenaries mode. This exponentially improves the experience of the original mode with new characters, scenarios and challenges.
For starters, we can’t just play with Ethan Winters. Chris Redfield is also available from the start and is every bit as powerful as we remember him from our time in the Romanian village. He is also controlled differently from Ethan, because as we play we can fill a bar that makes us faster and more powerful.
The most attractive thing is that we can play with two of the villains of the game Karl Heisenberg and Lady Alcina Dimitrescu. The first attacks with his powerful hammer to charge electricity, he can summon his ‘soldat’ and create magnetic fields that attract enemies and enhance his attacks. On her side, the huge vampire lady attacks with her powerful claws and throws furniture with great force at the enemies. He can also call his daughters to help him in battle.
But there’s a problem”. These two characters are not available from the start and must be unlocked after meeting certain conditions.. That reminds us of the old days, when video games asked us to prove our worth before rewarding them with new items. However, not a few will be disappointed to discover that they cannot play Heisenberg or Dimitrescu immediately. They will also be out of reach for less skilled players and that is serious.
third person mode
If they wanted to replay the story of Resident Evil Villagethe ‘Winters expansion’ DLC offers us the perfect excuse with the new third person perspective.
The game is exactly the same, only with the camera above Ethan’s shoulder instead of presenting the action through his eyes. The developers did a great job balancing the game so that it feels good to play with the new perspective. However, there are sections that are clearly designed with the first-person camera in mind.. That makes them feel especially “narrow” or uncomfortable in this mode, but at no time is it unplayable or anything like that.
This mode is perfect for those who suffer from motion sickness when playing first person or who find that perspective too terrifying. Still, we think this title works best with the original camera.
Is it worth playing the ‘Winters expansion’ DLC from Resident Evil Village?
If you liked the original game, the answer is a resounding yes. This downloadable content expands and offers new options that make this an even better adventure.. If for some reason you don’t have the original game and are still curious about it, it’s worth getting the ‘Gold’ edition that includes this DLC.
They will be able to enjoy shades of rose and new content Resident Evil Village when the DLC releases for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X|S, and PC on Friday, October 28, 2022.
More content from Resident Evil en PS5
Prints based on a digital copy of the Resident Evil Village ‘Winters Expansion’ DLC for PS5 provided by Capcom Latin America.
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