Resident Village has received great reviews across the board but there are still some issues remaining under the hood that developer Capcom has to fix. These issues mainly pertain to the lack of good accessibility options which, according to accessibility advocates, range from the game’s controls to its audio settings.
In light of this, Capcom has revealed to The Gamer, that the accessibility features of the game are “under consideration” and that future updates will bring the required changes.
When asked about criticism that RE Village has received for its accessibility issues, Capcom PR didn’t reveal much except for the fact that the development team is working on things and that there is no feedback at the moment. Nonetheless, they assured The Gamer that the company will share more information once things are more definite.
Most of the aforementioned criticism is focused on the game’s implementation of subtitles. Currently, they neither clarify who is saying what nor do they outline any of the environment’s sounds; the latter is crucial to survival in the game. Additionally, the subtitles are also impossible to read due to white-colored text appearing on snow. Furthermore, the options to remap controls are very limited.
These issues have been cited in a number of reviews with prominent accessibility website Can I Play That? deeming the game an “inaccessible mess”. Underscoring the importance of accessibility in video games, the review said,
“accessibility isn’t a list of things you tick off upon including them in your options menu, it’s a design process that goes far beyond providing options and time and again, Capcom and its Resident Evil series seems to be blissfully unaware of this.”
Game Review
This probably refers to the franchise’s habit of not paying enough attention to accessibility – remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 also scored low on this front scoring a 5/10 and 3/10 respectively on ‘Can I Play That?‘.
A decent level of accessibility should feature in every video game so that disabled gamers don’t suffer. In fact, this consideration has gained significant traction in the gaming industry with AAA titles like The Last of Us: Part 2 and the upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart including extensive accessibility options so that players with visual and auditory impairments can enjoy the game as well.
Let’s hope Capcom takes this just as seriously and brings a robust accessibility framework with their next set of updates. If they can scale back the horror settings of the game to not scare players too much, they can surely make it more accessible too.
About Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Village is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and the tenth major installment in the Resident Evil series.
The story begins with Ethan Winters and his wife Mia living happily in a new place, free from their past nightmares, a few years after the horrifying events in the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7 biohazard. Just as they are starting their new life together, they are once again struck by tragedy. When Captain Chris Redfield of the BSAA attacks their house, Ethan has to go to hell again to get back his kidnapped daughter.
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