Resident Evil 4 Remake just fucking rules. The original game was maddeningly stressful with some real ass-clenching sequences and this remake recreates similar stress, but with new scenarios. The enemies are faster and more aggressive, but Leon also has so many more options. This game has hands down one of the most satisfying parry mechanics. Parrying anything made me feel unstoppable. One of the more interesting nuances is how Leon moves. A lot of games have tight movement, but the character still feels like they are being led on by a thread. Not here though. Every step Leon takes is substantial and I actually got the sense that he was walking rather than skating. It did not feel as silky as a lot of other games, but once I wrapped my head around how his body positions itself, controlling Leon became second-nature and more engaging than any other game. Furthermore, the overall balance is superb. Calling this a horror game is admittedly dumb in the traditional sense of the genre, but the stress felt by the quantity of enemies, managing resources, managing health and a myriad of other factors provoke a nearly headache-inducing level of tension.

However, I can't help but feel nihilistic about RE4 Remake. This game is so good that I find little reason to revisit the original. It changes a lot of details, but the narrative never had the depth to make these changes feel structurally significant. I don't need or want RE4 to be as self-aware as Final Fantasy VII Remake, but I also do not want it to replace the original. Inherently, RE4 2005 will always be there, but how much of it is being overshadowed by 2023's rendition? I was not alive when RE4 first came out, so I have no attatchment to it and I played RE4 before the remake was even rumored. But for the next generation of players, RE4 2023 will likely be the first thing they see, leading to even less people playing the original. Given the amount of times Capcom re-released RE4, I doubt this will be the end of RE4 2005 as we know it, but remake culture continues to set troubling precedents for long-term media preservation.