This is the version of RE4 I’ve always wanted and workshopped in my head since I first played it, having come to pass. Capcom didn’t just skimp out on this game because they knew it would sell like the Bible. Even if we, or at least I, didn’t get to see this much love and care given to the remakes of 2 and 3, it’s good to see it happen when it does.
An overhaul to the furthest it can go, even if at first it feels kind of off after having gotten used to the original and how it plays, as funny as that sounds, is what it turned out to be. Since you have full input, the enemies have, accordingly, been made more aggressive, but even then the game still feels very fair. Hardcore isn’t for players of the original game Capcom, get real.
Also that parry mechanic, damn that was so genius. Parrying the melee attack of a ganado and seeing their arm being severed is so raw. Ammo seems noticeably scarcer while somehow still keeping in line with the flow state of the original RE4, where combat is encouraged rather than meant to be avoided like the original trilogy. Adding crafting with gunpowder and resources makes for a slightly different but equally investing gameplay loop that’s more in-keeping with classic RE too.
Capcom was also flexible enough as to add rudimentary stealth in the game, and somehow, it doesn’t feel out of place. The original’s mine thrower was replaced with the bolt thrower, which serves the same general purpose, while also being an optional stealth weapon to thin out the herd. Best of all, bolts are retrievable, so they work kind of like the arrows in The Last of Us, where as long as you use them efficiently, you can reuse them as much as you want. It finds ways to keep you changing up your play-style every once in a while.
Sound tweaks and changes aplenty. A lot of these are the types of things I wish we could’ve seen the first time, and none of them are concessions like in the RE2 and RE3 remakes. Yes, set-pieces were changed, the QTEs are gone (thankfully), and U-3 is absent in the base game, but that’s as far as it goes. Any cuts that were made were REPLACED, as in the gaps were filled. Either way, the good stuff doesn’t just apply to gameplay, but to the rest of the aspects that make up the game too, whether it’s important to you or not, which for me, it most certainly is.
It finally has a story that’s worth a damn and ACTUALLY acknowledges the events of RE2. Ashley, Luis, Leon, and the rogues gallery have gotten heightened, arguably improved roles in the story. There’s a pay-off I won’t talk about here that makes one moment from the original game feel MUCH more earned this time around, and that goes for a lot of other moments in the game.
I’m only really iffy about the new voice for Ada. Jolene Andersen, following up her role from RE2, did not reprise it in RE4, with Lily Gao’s from the Welcome to Raccoon City movie taking over. But the new blood did a fine enough job with what she was given. Not to get too serious here but it’s sickening to watch people online harass her, it always sucks to see and it’s never justified. Constructive criticism is one thing, but you should never take it that far.
Anyway, dog bless the peeps over at Capcom Division 1. In the end, they did it. They made an excellent remake that not only lives up to the original, but honestly exceeds it in literally every way, while leaving room for some of the OG fans to be happy in spurts. I can’t wait to see what they do with RE5, and hopefully, Code Veronica as well! This has been me with an impromptu word salad, never to be repeated, signing out, have a good one.
An overhaul to the furthest it can go, even if at first it feels kind of off after having gotten used to the original and how it plays, as funny as that sounds, is what it turned out to be. Since you have full input, the enemies have, accordingly, been made more aggressive, but even then the game still feels very fair. Hardcore isn’t for players of the original game Capcom, get real.
Also that parry mechanic, damn that was so genius. Parrying the melee attack of a ganado and seeing their arm being severed is so raw. Ammo seems noticeably scarcer while somehow still keeping in line with the flow state of the original RE4, where combat is encouraged rather than meant to be avoided like the original trilogy. Adding crafting with gunpowder and resources makes for a slightly different but equally investing gameplay loop that’s more in-keeping with classic RE too.
Capcom was also flexible enough as to add rudimentary stealth in the game, and somehow, it doesn’t feel out of place. The original’s mine thrower was replaced with the bolt thrower, which serves the same general purpose, while also being an optional stealth weapon to thin out the herd. Best of all, bolts are retrievable, so they work kind of like the arrows in The Last of Us, where as long as you use them efficiently, you can reuse them as much as you want. It finds ways to keep you changing up your play-style every once in a while.
Sound tweaks and changes aplenty. A lot of these are the types of things I wish we could’ve seen the first time, and none of them are concessions like in the RE2 and RE3 remakes. Yes, set-pieces were changed, the QTEs are gone (thankfully), and U-3 is absent in the base game, but that’s as far as it goes. Any cuts that were made were REPLACED, as in the gaps were filled. Either way, the good stuff doesn’t just apply to gameplay, but to the rest of the aspects that make up the game too, whether it’s important to you or not, which for me, it most certainly is.
It finally has a story that’s worth a damn and ACTUALLY acknowledges the events of RE2. Ashley, Luis, Leon, and the rogues gallery have gotten heightened, arguably improved roles in the story. There’s a pay-off I won’t talk about here that makes one moment from the original game feel MUCH more earned this time around, and that goes for a lot of other moments in the game.
I’m only really iffy about the new voice for Ada. Jolene Andersen, following up her role from RE2, did not reprise it in RE4, with Lily Gao’s from the Welcome to Raccoon City movie taking over. But the new blood did a fine enough job with what she was given. Not to get too serious here but it’s sickening to watch people online harass her, it always sucks to see and it’s never justified. Constructive criticism is one thing, but you should never take it that far.
Anyway, dog bless the peeps over at Capcom Division 1. In the end, they did it. They made an excellent remake that not only lives up to the original, but honestly exceeds it in literally every way, while leaving room for some of the OG fans to be happy in spurts. I can’t wait to see what they do with RE5, and hopefully, Code Veronica as well! This has been me with an impromptu word salad, never to be repeated, signing out, have a good one.