This past week I tried out Resident Evil 8 or VILLAGE on Steam and it doesn’t feel like a demo. So today I will talk about my experience of the demo, including some flaws, the gameplay, and whether or not I think you should buy this game.

FLAWS

This demo doesn’t feel like a demo but much more like a timed trial because you only have 1 hour of playtime that includes even your pause menu to go through two deeply dense areas and solve some inadequate puzzles. To me, a demo should include a short part of the game playable to players however, whenever and for any amount of time they want. Now the two levels are short enough that if you are smart enough you can finish them right off the bat but that 1-hour clicking tock really puts you under pressure to finish the game as soon as possible.

It also doesn’t save your progress if you exit the game or exit out to the main menu. So if you have played the demo and then play the game you have basically spoiled the first hour of the game because there is no cross-save. The last thing, for some reason you need to keep your internet on while playing the demo because the demo is not actually free it’s actually stealing your data and selling it to giant F. Just kidding, lol.

*Editors Note* It’s probably their method of enforcing the 60 minute timer. With that in mind, the timer wouldn’t seem so annoying if it saved when you bought the game and didn’t force you to replay it.

GAMEPLAY

As far the demo goes, the game feels like it is going down the path of Resident Evil 7 only this time being more puzzle-focused. I kinda liked the Resident Evil 4 or 6 of gameplay being more combat focused, but hell, let’s see which ace card CapCom has to play. Resident Evil 8 is the final chapter of Ethan’s story and then we will go back to Claire. Hopefully CapCom makes that happen, everyone wants more Claire (At least I do).

This time the weapon animation is better and looks smooth, or the two guns present in the demo. Almost like Call Of Duty. The graphics are better too. This time it is much more optimized than the Resident Evil 2 Remake and 7, which I can now encourage some mid-end gamers to hop in the cart. The puzzle mechanics are actually pretty well made forcing players to search each and every corner of the provided map. The character models are also well detailed, though the RE engine is still having issues rendering hair. However, they don’t look totally awful. Sound design is an amazing craft of talent. Like I was getting goosebumps even though no one was in the area. The color palette is again magnificent. It goes from dark, gritty, and empty to royale and luxurious but suspicious in a matter of time. All having a vibe of getting stalked. There are also a lot of collectibles in the game and most of them can be sold at a shop in-game for some money which can be used to buy more weapons and upgrades and ammunition. The story is the continuation of resident evil 7. From the demo, players can understand that Ethan has come to a haunted village to find his daughter Rose and after getting told by an elderly woman that his daughter is in Madame Miranda’s Castle, he leads there to find Rose.

One of the major attractions of the game, Lady Dimistrescu, the 8 foot tall, big breasted vampire lady, is said to be transformed into a scary creature for a boss fight because you became too horny. Madame Miranda is the ultimate big bad of this Resident Evil. Now, these antagonists don’t feel like scientific mutations anymore they feel like straight-up actual ghosts. But seeing how they transform into their “haunted” versions I am assuming that this is the same “MOLD” from resident evil that was being used by Eveline. I guess this time Madame Maranda got her hands on it from Lucas, who sold the mold to a foreigner but it wasn’t confirmed in resident evil 7 of who it was, maybe it’s Mrs. Miranda? I don’t know, we’ll find out on May 7th or 8th for Japanese users. One last point, all the encrypted letters are super spooky to read, great job CapCom. You totally nailed the atmosphere.

CONCLUSION

Though the format of the demo sucks and I do not encourage such practices, no one can deny it is a damn good experience. CapCom nails it every time with the atmosphere and this time it was no different. Should you buy this game? Well if you are a long-time resident evil fan AND liked how Resident Evil 7 played out (along with a whole change in perspective) then it is without a doubt yes. However, if you did not like Resident Evil 7 then Resident Evil 8 is just more of that so I do not recommend it. If you are new here only because you saw an 8 feet tall sexy vampire lady then I suggest playing resident evil 7 WITH ALL DLC’s first and then trying out RE8 otherwise you will have lotta trouble with the story. That is it, folks, the demo is free on steam till May 9th with only 1 hour of gameplay so if you want to benchmark the game go ahead!

Hope you enjoyed reading!

BONUS

All the people who will pre-purchase Resident Evil 8 will a lot of pre-purchase bonuses like early access to resident evil re: verse, an upcoming free to play model which will include all Resident Evil character as choosable classes in 6v6 pvp arena, kinda like to smash bros but for Resident Evil, everyone is here the pre-purchase bonus also include a free weapon charm, I do not know why would you want that in a horror game, and a starter pass which is basically useless you have extra 10 mins to look around the corners. Also, there is a deluxe edition which included the above plus a useless gun you will never use in-game, some presskit, soundtracks, and Lady Dimitrescu art, yeah. I said in the above section to play Resident Evil 7 before 8 and hey! there is a bundle on steam with both the games at a fair price including all the DLC’s!