I know I picked Bloodborne as my Halloween game. But the Winters’ Expansion for Resident Evil Village came out Friday. How can Resident Evil not be played during Halloween? Besides, I have been super curious about the story addition in the expansion – Shadows of Rose.
All I’m going to say about Shadows of Rose is if you enjoyed Resident Evil Village, it’s a great addition to the story. You play as Rose, and explore familiar yet different areas from Village and take on new enemies. Short version – it’s more Resident Evil. It won’t convert anyone that doesn’t enjoy the games but expands the Winters’ story for fans.
Any more than that would be an actual disservice to fans of the game. While the story for Resident Evil is rarely deep, the twists introduced in Shadows of Rose are best experienced yourself.

I had concerns when Capcom was stopping any gameplay preview shots before release. For a game I enjoy, I try not to go into a game with foreknowledge of what is happening. But that little piece of media control had me thinking of Cyberpunk 2077’s initial launch. My consolation was that I already enjoyed Resident Evil Village, so how bad could it be?
Shadows of Rose isn’t perfect. Some gameplay gripes from Resident Evil Village are still present. It’s also short – I completed my first run of Shadows on Rose on Standard difficulty in three and a half hours. But as the story centrepiece for the Winters’ Expansion, I would have paid the AUD$30 for the story DLC alone.

I will talk more about my thoughts in a couple of weeks. Right now, I want to let people that are interested jump in and experience Rose’s story for themselves.
This brings me to the other parts of the Winter’s Expansion. Third-person mode is now selectable in Resident Evil Village. If you were hoping for this, it’s finally here. After playing Resident Evil 7 Biohazard in PSVR, I was enjoying the change to a first-person view. The only part of this addition that excites me is that players have the choice to play the way they want.
And then, there are the new levels and characters in The Mercenaries Mode.

I was excited to play as Lady Dimitrescu and Heisenberg. I also thought this would be the incentive I was missing to jump back in. My only obstacle to Resident Evil Village’s Platinum is in The Mercenaries mode. I need to finish all the levels with an S rank – so basically, play horde mode well!
The only issue here is I need to unlock the new characters. I did get to play as Chris Redfield, which was fine. The problem is when you were hoping to jump in and play as Resident Evil Bosses and the game so ‘No’ it’s a letdown. If there was a factor of the Winter’s Expansion that took the shine off, this was it.

I can guarantee I will play Shadows of Rose at least one more time. If I am honest, more like two or three more times. Resident Evil Village is a fun game, and it’s rare that I don’t finish a Resident Evil game on a Hardcore Speedrun.
But with all the amazing games coming out over the next 12 weeks, I don’t know if I will have the incentive to grind away at The Mercenaries. This does make me a little sad, but what a great position to be in!