Capcom is having a bit of a Resident Evil resurgence lately, announcing new ports of the classic games and bringing Resident Evil Village to the Mac and PlayStation VR2. One of the new things the company is showing off this year at TGS is a sneak peek of the Shadows of Rose expansion for Resident Evil Village.

A part of the Winters' Expansion DLC, Shadows of Rose is a single-player story expansion that occurs 16 years after the events of the main game. You play as a teenage version of Rose, Ethan and Mia's daughter, who is cursed with powers. She finds the Megamycete and enters the dream-like world of its consciousness. Because the Megamycete contains the memories of everyone it has encountered, Rose will run across characters and locations that players have seen before, but they won't necessarily be exactly the same.

The flexibility of a dream world allows the designers to use familiar enemies, without them having to be the same characters. It also allows Rose to relive some of Ethan's memories and learn about what her father experienced when she was just a baby. The TGS demo was limited in both time and scope, so I didn't get to play through all of Shadows of Rose, but a Capcom representative confirmed that this expansion is meant to wrap up the story of the Winters family.

Shadows of Rose is played from the third-person perspective, and it feels slower and more deliberate than the faster-paced action of Resident Evil Village. Maybe it was because I was playing the opening portion of the expansion, but the pacing reminded me more of the first game or two in the series. Rose has limited weapons and limited ammo, and the face eater zombies that you fight are rather durable. Avoiding the face eaters is best, but if you have to shoot, unloading multiple rounds is a requirement.

In addition to the face eaters, the Megamycete world also has a black ooze that reminded me of Armus in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode, "Skin of Evil." It seems to be everywhere in the Megamycete dream world. Rose can briefly step into the ooze, but if she doesn't immediately step out, it sucks her down, and you're just as dead as you are when a face eater gets you.

On paper it doesn't sound like much, but in motion, the tension was palpable. The feeling of wondering what you're going to run into around the next corner is ever-present. I found myself trying to scope out exit routes when I entered a new room, and I had to make sure I had plenty of space to back up if needed. There's no shame in shooting while walking in reverse.

Rose's ultimate goal may be to eliminate her powers, but she needs to embrace them if she plans on surviving. During my time with the demo, I was able to use Rose's ability to freeze the face eaters and destroy the black mold/ooze that was blocking my path, which opens up new areas to explore. It's something that comes in quite handy once learned, especially when dealing with face eaters in small spaces.

Capcom representatives refused to comment on the length of the expansion, so there's no way to say how much of the story was covered in the playable demo. It could have been a small part, or it could have been one-third of the expansion. There's no way to know for sure. What I do know is that as someone who first played the original trilogy on the PlayStation, the return to third-person and the more deliberate pacing was enjoyable.

Shadows of Rose reminded me a lot of classic Resident Evil, and that's a good thing. Assuming the story holds up to the gameplay, it should be a satisfying conclusion to the current story arc.

Editor's Note: Shadows of Rose will be available as part of the Winters' Expansion DLC for players who already own Resident Evil Village. It is also included as part of Resident Evil Village Gold.