The original Resident Evil 4 is my favourite Resident Evil game, bar none. I have way too many fond memories of playing it with my friend non-stop on the PS2, and I must have finished the game myself like 6 times.

This remake is stunning in many ways, but it also feels very different from the original. A lot of what was in the original is present, and slightly remixed, such as iconic encounters, bosses and the map itself, and it was a joy to play through and see all the slight tweaks and improvements that were made. The gameplay overhaul is also amazing, and the game just feels great to play. Everything is responsive and smooth and handles well, and the addition of things such as the knife parry and removing Ashley's health bar make the game just overall enjoyable to actually play. The hands-on experience is unrivalled in terms of third-person shooter gameplay.

The caveat though, is that the game changes a lot of what makes the original fun. The more serious tone of the story and characters in this, for one. I miss the campiness of the original, especially Leon just being an absolute sass queen, with quips and one-liners for every conversation. There are also a lot of quality-of-life features that were introduced in the RE2 Remake that are noticeably absent from this game, such as the ability to unload unused guns to get the ammo back, or to store items other than guns and attachments. Like these features were already in the other Remakes, why leave them out of this one?

Overall, I did have a good time with this game, but I do feel the story suffers from trying to take itself too seriously. I would much rather have the campy tone and silliness of the early RE games than the deathly seriousness and angsty protagonist thing for this series. In terms of the Remake series, it's a solid entry - way better than 3 by miles, but lagging behind 2. Compared to the original, there is no comparison.

Reviewed on Jun 09, 2023


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