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Resident Evil Village attempts to please every kind of Resident Evil fan at once, by including elements from past Resident Evil games, like puzzles and survival horror elements from Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, and 7, as well more action heavy gameplay, like Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6. But since it tries so many different things at once, it fails to find a proper focus, and the whole experience feels incredibly shallow as a result.
There's a lot of combat in this game, especially during the last third, however, none of it feels particularly good. The weapons feel weightless and weak, just like they did in Resident Evil 7. However, RE7 had far less combat encounters, and was a more puzzle focused game overall, so it isn't that much of a glaring issue in RE7, as it is in RE8. The minibosses are especially bad, since they do not react to your shots at all. It doesn't even seem like your dealing any damage, until they suddenly drop dead.
Combat encounters in general feel very dull and empty. You usually have a relatively open area, where you have to fight a couple of copy pasted enemies at once, and sometimes there is a singular enemy that is armored or has a unique weapon. Yet every encounter feels the same, because they don't give you unique ways to deal with them. Every time you simply take shots at the enemies, then you block, then you take a few steps back, rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Time.
You can also upgrade your weapons at the merchant, a mechanic taken from Resident Evil 4, and yet this game offers you no unique upgrades, unlike RE4. No 1,5 damage increase, no 100 slot magazine, no triple shot, nothing. Just regular stat increases that are sometimes just straight up useless. There's one upgrade for the magnum revolver that decreases the reload time by a tenth of a second. Why? You are barely going to use this weapon, and when you do, that tenth of a second is not going to make any difference. I'd much rather have something that actually shakes up the gameplay a bit. The merchant's a fun character though, i like him.
The titular village acts as the games hub world of sorts. You get to explore the village before every major area, and every revisit offers some slight changes, and new items to find. It's nothing special, but it does its job decent enough, even if there are no truly interesting things to find in it. It is pretty basic overall.
The castle tries to be a classic puzzle box dungeon, just like the mansion from RE1, the police station from RE2, the city streets from RE3, and the Baker house from RE7, but it fails to understand what made these dungeons special. They didn't hold your hand, guide you along a path, or give you any major hints. They let you explore and get lost in their halls at your own pace. The castle doesn't do that. It just gives you the illusion the illusion of choice. You may think that you can explore the castle as you please, but the game constantly keeps you on a scripted, linear path. In every playthrough, your journey through the castle will be the exact same. When you found an item in older RE games that was needed for a puzzle, then you usually had to look through the dungeon to find out where you can use it. Sometimes you had to store it away and keep it in your mind, until you find out where you have to use it. Sometimes you find an item in one corner of the map that you then have to in the opposite corner. The castle doesn't do that. If you find an item, the game usually proceeds to guide you straight to the puzzle that requires it. No critical thinking or problem solving needed. Just let the game take your hand and tell you what to do. The castle also has the worst stalker enemy in the franchise, Lady Dimitrescu. She is slow, doesn't have any unique tricks, and you only encounter her for like 5 minutes, in a dungeon that lasts about 2 hours.
The boss fight against Lady D at the end is also pretty mediocre. You mostly just run around in a big circle, while you have to take shots at her weakspot. Sometimes you gotta snipe her from afar, but that hardly makes the fight more exciting.
House Beneviento is the worst area in the entire game, especially on repeat playthroughs. There is no combat, and the whole thing is an escape room like puzzle, followed by a stealth section. The puzzles itself aren't bad, and the stealth section can be pretty scary...on your first playthrough. On repeat playthroughs, the Beneviento house quickly turns into a chore that takes about 20 - 30 minutes to complete every time. And since it's only puzzles and one very simple stealth section, it feels the exact same every time you go through it. No, it doesn't feel the exact same. It IS the exact same, which sucks, because RE games are meant to be replayed multiple times.
Donna Beneviento also has the worst boss fight in the game. You just have to look for her doll, while you're under a time limit. The whole thing can be done in a minute or two.
Moreau's Reservoir is...weird. Again, there are hardly any combat encounters, but this time there's also a glaring lack of puzzles. So what do you do instead? Well, you go through a "parkour" section with an instakill monster. I don't even know what to say about this area. I don't hate it, but i don't like it either. It's just kinda there.
The boss fight against Moreau is alright. Again, it mostly has you run around in circles, but there's more dangers this time, compared to Dimitrescu's boss fight.
The fortress sucks. It is one big combat encounter, where you'll have to fight against hordes of enemies, followed by a boring mini boss. Nothing else to say, other than that i do not like it in the slightest.
Heisenberg's factory is the last major area in the game, and a lot of people dislike it...and i don't know why. Sure, the visuals get boring pretty quickly, but the factory comes much closer to the classic puzzle box dungeons than the castle ever could. Sure, it is still pretty linear, especially when you compare it to the classic dungeons, but it doesn't take your hand as much, and while the puzzles still aren't difficult in the slightest, they are at least a bit more interesting than the ones in the castle. The factory also has the best and most unique combat encounters in the game, since every type of enemy has different weak spots and attack patterns. There are enemies with protective gear around their head, enemies that can dash, enemies wearing heavy armor, and they all offer a unique combat experience, when compared to the dull encounters you had to go through thus far.
Heisenberg's boss fight, while simple and super easy, is also pretty fun. Something about destroying his weak spots with a tank just tickles my brain the right way. Probably my favourite boss fight in the entire game.
The final boss sucks though. As a character, that is. The fight itself is alright. Not the worst final boss we've had in the RE franchise.
The story is a hot mess, and the entire game could have been avoided, if they didn't turn Chris into a fucking idiot. Ethan is also super annoying with his constant quips and his attitude. I prefer the mostly quiet Ethan from RE7.

Resident Evil Village isn't bad, but it's also far from good. It's a pretty mediocre, and soulless experience that might be entertaining enough for a single playthrough, but the more you play it, the more the massive cracks begin to show. The Marvel movie of Resident Evil games.