Resident Evil Village: The Winters’ Expansion is a decent epilogue to Resident Evil: Village with some genuinely unsettling moments and adds some great little additions to the core game, but it is by no means essential.
The bulk of the expansion comprises the new chapter: Shadows of Rose, which sees Ethan’s daughter, Rose, return to the Village to rid herself of her unwanted powers.
After waking in Castle Dimitrescu, Mould monsters controlled by the Duke, who has gone quite mad, attack Rose. After being saved by a mysterious spirit, Rose has to find a way to escape the castle and recover a crystal that will allow her to relinquish her powers.
Although it does not add any new areas, Shadows of Rose features some excellent puzzles and genuinely tense and creepy moments while telling a tale that acts as a decent epilogue to the main campaign.
Rose uses her powers to destroy the mould blocking her path and stun the legions of faceless creeps trying to drag her into the darkness. These powers get stronger as the campaign progresses, and the combat ties into Rose’s growth and the narrative very well.
The Winters’ Expansion also features some extras for the Mercenaries mode, including two extra maps and the ability to unlock Heisenberg and Lady Dimitrescu. While the new maps are a fun addition, the ability to play as Village’s best baddies is the highlight for this section and figuring out how to get through the levels while effectively using their unique move sets is a lot of fun.
Finally, there is the third-person mode, which seems like an odd addition that probably should have been a free update. Although it is a fun way to revisit the campaign, it seems to lessen the impact of some of its scares, and it is clear it was not made with the third-person view in mind. It also makes me concerned that future Resident Evils will only be in the third-person again when the ability to choose which perspective you prefer would be preferable.
Resident Evil Village: The Winters’ Expansion is the perfect excuse for those who enjoyed Village to come back for seconds. It does a fine job of tieing up the loose ends in Shadows of Rose while adding some fun little twists to Mercenaries. The third-person mode may be a bit of a dud, but it is interesting to experience the campaign as a more traditional Resi experience.
If you have not played Village, getting the Gold Edition that includes The Winters’ Expansion is a no-brainer because it makes an already great package even better. For everyone else, it really depends on how much you want to revisit this particular corner of the Resident Evil universe.