The Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami also directed the 2014 survival horror title The Evil Within, and now the two series may share one divisive narrative decision.
With Shinji Mikami at the helm, The Evil Within managed to channel the Resident Evil franchise's balance between combat and terror. The game sees detective Sebastian Castellanos get pulled into a nightmarish world while investigating a mass murder within a mental hospital. Forced to survival against all manner of monstrous threats, Castellanos must uncover the secret behind his horrifying predicament. However, in a controversial twist, The Evil Within eventually reveals that the protagonist is actually trapped within a computer simulation known as STEM. This revelation was controversial among survival horror fans, and the Resident Evil Village Rose DLC will contain a similar twist.
Set for release on October 28, the Resident Evil Village DLC Shadows of Rose will see Ethan's infant daughter grown up into a 19-year-old survivor. Blessed with strange supernatural powers, Rose will be forced to enter a mysterious realm within the consciousness of the fungal infection known as the Megamycete. This shadowy world will reflect Rose's memories of the village from the main game, turning the experience into a twisted remix of Resident Evil Village's original layout. Familiar characters from the base game will reappear in new roles, with the helpful merchant Duke returning in the expansion as a malevolent villain. While the Shadows of Rose DLC promises to be a unique new experience, like The Evil Within it also risks reducing the horror by separating its scares from reality.
Shadows Of Rose DLC: Survival Horror Is Less Terrifying In A Simulation
Both The Evil Within and the Shadows of Rose DLC for Resident Evil Village take place outside the real world, which makes the survival horror experiences less intense. Survival horror is most effective when the player becomes immersed, and therefore worries about the real-world consequences of their actions. When the protagonist is in immediate physical danger, the player themself feels like they are in danger too. The Evil Within takes place in a computer simulation, however, so it never feels like the game's monsters are really a threat to Sebastian Castellanos. Despite the higher difficulty in Shadows of Rose, the Resident Evil Village expansion also risks lowering the stakes by having Rose's struggles take place within the Megamycete's consciousness.
Resident Evil Village's DLC promises to be even more difficult than the base game but setting Shadows of Rose in another reality risks lowering the expansion's stakes. The Evil Within eventually reveals that the game's horrific events are occurring within a simulation, which breaks immersion and makes Castellanos' survival less of a concern. Little is known about Shadows of Rose's plot, however, so the Resident Evil Village DLC may take steps to make Rose's predicament more intense than The Evil Within's simulated horror.
