Warning - This article delves deep into some of the main plot points of Resident Evil: Village and its Shadows of Rose DLC.Resident Evil: Village's Shadows of Rose DLC differs from the main game for a number of reasons. The side story is told from a third-person perspective for starters, which brings up the question as to which perspective is scarier for the Resident Evil franchise. Shadows of Rose also has a new protagonist by way of Ethan Winters' daughter, Rosemary. Lastly, unlike her father, Rosemary has supernatural powers thanks to the strange circumstances surrounding her birth.
Rose's powers are no secret to those who follow Resident Evil: Village. The entire premise of Shadows of Rose revolves around Rose trying to rid herself of them, after all. But while Capcom could have given Rose abilities that reflect how strong she is as a character, it seems content with providing her with the bare minimum of superpowers throughout most of the story.
Puzzle-Solving Isn't A Superpower
Despite living her entire life with them, it seems as though Rosemary first discovers her powers at the beginning of the Shadows of Rose story. Trapped in the Realm of Consciousness and surrounded by Face Eaters, Rose deflects one of them with a supernatural push; shoving and stunning them. This push becomes the basis for most of the powers throughout the side story and gets more powerful the more amplifiers Rose acquires.
The first power that players get is the ability to destroy Sclerotia - demonic-looking flowers that create mold barriers that impede Rose's progress. By holding down a button and focusing on the Sclerotia, players can remove the impassible barriers. This is by far the most uninteresting ability that Rose gets as all it does is provide a way to solve once unsolvable puzzles.
A Stunning Mixture of Gunplay and Abilities
Things begin to get interesting once players get hold of another amplifier. Now equipped with the ability to stun enemies, Rose becomes a more capable fighter by mixing her newfound power with her weaponry. Players that are overwhelmed can make use of the stun to momentarily incapacitate foes before switching over to their guns or pipe bombs to finish them off. Enemies that are grouped together make for the best targets, as the stun spreads out to cover a wide area in front of Rose. It should be noted that Rose's combat abilities are limited and require the use of White Sage to replenish their available uses. Acquiring more amplifiers increases the number of power charges Rose can hold at a single time, but players are still dependent on the White Sage if they want to use their powers more liberally.
The Grand Finale
Sadly, the abilities to destroy Sclerotia and stun enemies are the two main powers that Rose has throughout Shadows of Rose. The story's second act completely robs Rose of her weapons and only gives her a few scripted sequences where she can use her powers. Players who were expecting more abilities won't get any until the grand finale where Rose fights against Mother Miranda.
It is in this boss fight that Capcom completely lets loose and gives Rose a whole swath of abilities for players to use. She first gets a quick dodge, which can be used to effortlessly avoid Miranda's various attacks by teleporting to the side. During the fight, Rose also gets the ability to absorb Miranda's ranged attacks, which not only mitigates damage but also restores some of her mold power charges. Absorbing enough of Miranda's attacks also allows Rose to hurl a giant mold tentacle at her adversary, knocking her down and providing an opportunity for a counterattack.
The last of Rose's abilities comes from her father Ethan Winters. With the last of his strength, Ethan gives Rose the power to stop Miranda's onslaught. Much like Rose's first ability to destroy Sclerotia, all players have to do is point their reticle at Miranda and press a button. This defeats Miranda and ends the Shadows of Rose story.
Strong, But Not For Long
Though the last few powers Rose gets are some of her best, players cannot use them outside the context of the final boss battle. This was obviously done to retain the survival horror feel of Resident Evil throughout the side story, but it also feels like a letdown that players weren't able to control Rosemary for long when she is at her strongest. Those who were hoping to take Rose's abilities for a second spin will be disappointed as well, as there is no New Game Plus option for Shadows of Rose.
Rosemary is such a powerful protagonist that it was a missed opportunity on Capcom's part to not let players revel in her omnipotence for a while longer. Maybe giving Rose her full abilities on the final level of the Realm of Consciousness would have been better, as players don't have much fighting to do before the final fight with Miranda. This way, players will have a chance to test their powers on the weaker enemies before going all out in the finale. While the powers to destroy Sclerotia and stun enemies are nice, they aren't what players have in mind when playing a child born of the Mold.
Resident Evil Village: Winters' Expansion is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.