Why Resident Evil Village Is The Perfect Christmas Game

Ah, what a time of year. The mulled wine is out in abundance, the trees are up, the Lycans are on the prowl, and a giant woman with knives for fingers has cut our hands off for the umpteenth time. Christmas is truly upon us.

Christmas games aren't a particularly popular subgenre, with Spider-Man: Miles Morales kind of dedicating itself to the idea, and with indie titles like Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa's Rampage and Duke: Nuclear Winter to carry the proud tradition on its trembling, but proud shoulders.

They're a long-dead art that is well overdue some kind of retribution, and with the likes of Spirited and Violent Night trying to kick the Christmas movie back into the zeitgeist, why shouldn't video games follow suit?

We can hope for the future, but as for the present (hehe, like Christmas present), we're left in something of a drought. Luckily, one game accidentally tides us over. And it's one of the spookiest games in recent memory.

Chestnuts Rose-ting On An Open Fire…

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There's something special about Resident Evil Village that makes you feel a little warm and fuzzy about the most wonderful time of year, and it's not just because it's snowing. Though that certainly helps.

A lot hides under the spooky veneer of Village that actually offers a fairly festive experience, and its story is a testament to that. The game sees Ethan Winters trek through everyone's favourite decaying Victorian village looking to rescue his beloved daughter Rose.

Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Christmas represents a chance to bring the whole family together, and given that Rose is literally in bits, scattered around the village in jars, there's no simpler way to describe the holiday than Ethan literally bringing his family together. 

Walking In A Winters Wonderland

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It seems as though the titular village of the game seems keen to get into the Christmas spirit. After all, what are the crystal busts that form in the wake of dispatched bosses but glorified Christmas tree decorations? They're so shiny. They'd go perfectly on the tree, no?

Plus, with the spookiest portion of the game taking place in a workshop (staled by a giant screaming fetus, but ignore that for the time being) as you pull apart a mannequin, it's at least a little bit reminiscent of Santa's workshop. Maybe.

Okay, look - you've called our bluff. Thematically, Village isn't a particularly Christmassy game, but sometimes we just need a little bit of snow to lift our spirits, and then a vicious Lycan to gnaw half of our hand off to send them plummeting.

Resident Evil Village contains multitudes of themes that could help to bring your family together this holiday, much like Ethan in his hunt for the weirdly chopped-up Rose. It doesn't matter if you get absorbed by the mutamycete - at least you'll still be with the family.