Resident Evil Village is a contender for the most atmospheric and well-written entry to the franchise yet. The gothic architecture and familiar survival mechanics, coupled with a unique story, have drawn out the best of Resident Evil.
The Castle Dimitrescu and House Beneviento are the most terrifying and entertaining areas of the game. Together these sections accomplish a healthy mixture of survival, combat, puzzle-solving, storytelling, and horror. A puppeteer and a giant vampire witch; which of the two lords strikes the most fear into people?
11 Castle Dimitrescu: The Daughters of the Lady Dimitrescu
Upon arriving at the Castle, you are quickly greeted by a swarm of bugs that manifest into three women. After dragging you into their mother’s chambers, players learn these witches are the daughters of the entry’s eccentric and virally beloved antagonist, Lady Dimitrescu.
After escaping her dungeon, the daughters stalk you in their quest to murder and feed you to their mother. The characters aren’t as grotesque as your typical Resident Evil bosses, but their vile presence is unappreciated in the best way.
10 House Beneviento: The Puppeteer
From the village’s woods and all the way to the Beneviento House, you get the idea that someone has a thing for puppets and dolls. When you reach House Beneviento, you see a large portrait of the village Lord, posing with her puppet named Angie.
A piece of lore you find on your way to the Beneviento house reveals that Lady Miranda granted Donna powers that make her puppet seem alive. The ambiance of the woods added with puppets and lore creates a sense of dread for what’s coming.
9 Castle Dimitrescu: Quarrels In The Dungeons And Crow People In the Belfry
The dungeon portion of Castle Dimitrescu is a blood-pumping challenge. Torture chambers are full of hanging bodies. The failed experiments of a macabre project. Emaciated corpses follow you throughout the dungeon in all directions, making it hard to escape without firing a shot.
The dungeons you travel through are mazes of prison cells. If you get caught in a corner, you better hope you have the ammo to fight your way out. On the roof of the building, you will encounter another enemy type. These are best described as giant crow people, which if you’re not careful they will gang up on you.
8 House Beneviento: Nightmare-fueled hallucinations
As you travel through the wooded area on your way to the Beneviento house, you have hallucinations of Mia holding Rose. The hallucinations paint a sad and foreboding subplot.
There’s a point where you are stripped of your weapons. As you progress through the area the hallucination gets darker, making it all the scarier that you have nothing to defend yourself with. The main intensity in this chapter is when you’re running from a gory manifest of a baby. The monster illustrating Ethan’s guilt and disbelief.
7 Castle Dimitrescu: The Castle Stalker
After defeating her three daughters, Lady Dimitrescu becomes enraged that her “bloodline was snuffed out by the likes of you.” When she catches you in her dressing room, she chokeslams you into another dungeon area of the castle. This is where her chase begins.
Lady Dimitrescu is slow, making her only threatening in tight corners. This doesn’t make her any less deadly. She will go Freddy Krueger on you as her right hand will emit long blades from her fingertips. In one scene, she slices Ethan’s hand clean off, but don’t worry, he sticks it back on soon after and it’s good as new.
6 House Beneviento: Mia’s Manniquen
While Castle Dimitrescu has find-and-place puzzles, nothing comes close to the classic survival-horror puzzle solving in the House Beneviento section. This area has you disassembling a mannequin modeled after your dead wife and finding encrypted passcodes in objects.
There are moments where you’re scouring the area to figure out how to get to the next area. There is a method to the madness where you must do certain events in order to avoid wasting time. With each puzzle, more of the story unfolds.
5 Castle Dimitrescu: Ammo, Lei, And The Duke
In the castle, there are many opportunities to find ammo, currency, and visit The Duke. Hidden containers are throughout the castle, as well as plenty of enemies to loot Lei from. This makes the area much more explorative and interactive wherein House Beneviento focuses on cinematics and horror.
In this section, you will also see a lot of different enemy models and types. This inspires more exploration and more run-ins with enemies.
4 House Beneviento: The Dark Secret
From the beginning of the game, you feel that there’s a chance that something is not quite right with Baby Rose. During your time in the Beneviento house, you find out that Rose is special and very important to the lords of the village.
You come across story aides that only strengthen your theory that Rose is not ordinary and that maybe Mia was not completely honest with Ethan.
3 Castle Dimitrescu: The Lady’s Final Form
Resident Evil is best known for two things: zombies and gigantic nasty meat monsters. The Lady Dismitrescu that has made the internet swoon becomes a little less desirable when she sheds her skin.
You are forced to bring her down after Lady Dismitrescu evolves into a gigantic flesh dragon. This boss fight isn’t the hardest or most dangerous, but it takes precision and timing, making it satisfying when you defeat her.
2 House Beneviento: A Deadly Game Of Hide And Seek
Your showdown with Angie and Beneviento is not filled with action, but a deadly game of hide and seek. The ending of the area takes you back to the Beneviento house, where you find Angie the puppet.
After biting you, Angie disappears to random parts of the house and you have to find her. Creepy fidgeting dolls littered throughout the house come after you and attack you if you don’t find her fast enough. Frantically searching the home to destroy the puppet, while avoiding the traumatic effect of dolls stabbing you will have your heart racing.
1 Which Area Is Better?
House Beneviento and Castle Dimitrescu accomplish the things that make Resident Evil what it is, just not at the same time. While both areas should satisfy players yearning for survival horror, the best of the two will come down to a person’s preference.
While Castle Dimitrescu implements the survival combat and resource management aspect of Resident Evil the best, it does not inspire the franchise’s dread and panic like House Beneviento. House Beneviento’s raw horror, puzzle-solving, and investigative aspect hold a candle to Resident Evil’s origins.
NEXT: Resident Evil 8 Village Complete Guide And Walkthrough
