When it comes to Resident Evil, there’s always plenty of game left after beating the final boss. The original Resident Evil on PS1 incentivized replay value through multiple characters whereas Resident Evil 2 featured a dynamic campaign split across four unique story modes. While Resident Evil has lost its branching paths in its moden years, Resident Evil Village will have audiences coming back for more long after credits roll.

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Resident Evil Village is one of the longest games in the franchise, not just for its story but thanks to a copious amount of post-game content. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Resident Evil Village has just as much content as Resident Evil 7 had with all its DLC.

10 New Game Plus

Ethan Winters Resident Evil Village
Ethan Winters Resident Evil Village

After beating the final boss, you’ll be prompted to save your completed data. Rather than needing to start a new playthrough like in Resident Evil 7 to keep playing, Village lets players boot back up with their clear data. Total play time will be reset, but your file will mark how many times you’ve completed the story and Ethan carries over everything except his Key Items. This makes it considerably more manageable for less skilled players to tackle harder difficulties.

9 Tackle Challenges

Resident Evil Village Challenges

Challenges and the Bonus Shop make a surprise comeback from Resident Evil 3 Remake. After beating the game once, the Bonus Shop will unlock in the main menu. By completing Challenges through basic gameplay (killing bosses under a set amount of times, killing a certain number of enemies with a specific gun type,) etc., players can earn CP to redeem in the Bonus Shop. Challenges not only add a massive amount of longevity to Resident Evil Village – essentially giving weight to Achievements/Trophies – most are designed to encourage players to break out of their comfort zone and experiment with all the different mechanics.

8 Purchase Infinite Ammo

Resident Evil 8 Infinite Ammo

Between Figurines, Concept Art, and weapons, Resident Evil Village’s Bonus Shop has a lot of content to unlock. This being Resident Evil, any franchise veteran will want to get their hands on infinite ammo ASAP. Unlike other titles, infinite ammo works a bit differently in Village and requires a fair bit of effort.

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For infinite ammo to so much as be available for purchase, you need to fully upgrade the weapon you want infinite ammo for. This does mean that all of Ethan’s weapons can theoretically have infinite ammo, but upgrading everything and earning the CP to actually buy the ammo will take a few more playthroughs.

7 Upgrade Every Weapon

Resident Evil Village Weapon Upgrade
Resident Evil Village Weapon Upgrade

Upgrading every weapon will undeniably be a pain, but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Not only do fully upgraded weapons unlock Infinite Ammo variants in the Bonus Shop, they don’t lose their upgrades when sold to the Duke. A fully upgraded gun will need to be bought back for a high price, but you’ll also be selling them for just as high and the Duke will keep your weapons in his stock through subsequent playthroughs. Anything upgraded stays upgraded, which ends up being an enormous help for higher difficulties if you prep accordingly.

6 Mercenaries Mode

Resident Evil Village Mercenaries
Resident Evil Village Mercenaries

Mercenaries Mode finally makes a triumphant comeback and is available for purchase in the Bonus Shop for a measly 10 CP. Although Ethan is the only playable character this time around (rare for Mercenaries), the mode is arguably better than ever. Players can fully customize their loadouts, the core combat is extremely engaging, and the ability system adds an extra layer of depth to gameplay that would be out of place in the main story, but is more than welcome in Mercenaries.

5 Defeat Every Mini-Boss

Resident Evil 8 Varcolac
Resident Evil 8 Varcolac

Resident Evil games don’t shy away from side content, but they also don’t embrace it on the same scale as Village – at least not when it comes to the main story. There are several mini-bosses who can be fought during Resident Evil Village or downright ignored by players. On a first playthrough, it makes sense to avoid mini-bosses in order to save ammo, but mini-bosses often drop rare treasure that makes killing them worthwhile. For anyone too timid to take on the likes of Varcolac the first time around, make sure to drop them on New Game Plus.

4 Find Every Treasure

Resident Evil Village Treasure
Resident Evil Village Treasure

Treasure was one of the best additions Resident Evil 4 made to the series and while Resident Evil 5 continued the trend, Village was the game that really perfected the mechanic. Treasure tends to be very well hidden in Resident Evil, requiring an observant eye and rewarding players who actually pay attention to their surroundings.

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There are also several major Treasures that the Duke marks on your map on a first playthrough. The Village’s elaborate level design (and the nature of point of no returns) might inevitably lock players out of some Treasure. Fortunately, everything is reset on New Game Plus. It also goes without saying that this is the single fastest way to make money in-game.

3 Cook Every Meal

Resident Evil Village Cooking
Resident Evil Village Cooking

Crafting isn’t new to Resident Evil by any means, but the inclusion of cooking is. Ethan unlocks cooking at the Duke after completing Castle Dimistrecu. The Duke can cook an assortment of meals for Ethan that permanently increase his health, defense while blocking, or speed, but you need to hunt the ingredients first. Animals will appear all over the Village, dropping either Meat, Poultry, or Fish. There are also Legendary Animals who drop Legendary Ingredients with their own photo hints. Once you’ve eaten every meal, selling leftover ingredients ends up being a great way of making extra Lei.

2 Break Every Goat Of Warding

Resident Evil Village Goat of Warding
Resident Evil Village Goat of Warding

Goats of Warding are Resident Evil Village’s main breakable collectible. Unlike in Resident Evil 2, 3, or 7, there’s no tangible reward for breaking all of the Goats of Warding. Instead, players get 16,000 CP (which is nothing to scoff at considering how pricey the Bonus Shop can be). The Goats of Warding can be difficult to track down, but they make a distinct rocking noise whenever one is in your general vicinity.

1 Beat Village Of Shadows

Resident Evil 8 Village of Shadows
Resident Evil 8 Village of Shadows

Village of Shadows is the single hardest difficulty mode in Resident Evil Village and has been giving franchise veterans a hard time since release. Village of Shadows is comparable to Madhouse from Resident Evil 7, but the more aggressive nature of RE8 means that players will be juggling more enemies, forced to conserve more ammo, and generally fighting for survival on a more consistent basis. While it’s possible to prepare for Village of Shadows by upgrading everything and buying some Infinite Ammo through playthroughs on lower difficulties, you shouldn’t expect VoS to ever get easy. Bosses in particular will break down even the most skills gamers.

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