I've beaten the original Resident Evil 4 over 30 times now. Needless to say, I really enjoy it, and still find reason to revisit it from time to time.
With that in mind... I personally was not demanding a Resident Evil 4 remake by any means. But, since I also didn't demand a Resident Evil 2 remake (I still think the original RE2 is excellent), yet ended up adoring the Resident Evil 2 remake when that released - I figured I kinda had to at least see what the Resident Evil 4 remake was about.
When the RE4 remake was announced, I figured it should ideally focus on two things -
1. deliver its own take on the story/gameplay of Resident Evil 4 - don't just give us a bland retread of what we've already played
2. consider revisiting some of the story elements in the original RE4 that felt kind of rushed or half-baked, so that they make more sense from a narrative perspective
I am pleased to say, that this remake delivers on both of those fronts! The Resident Evil 4 remake is not a replacement for the original, nor is it trying to be one. It is very clearly aiming to be its own thing, and as a huge fan of the original, I appreciate this all the more for that. From the de-emphasis of the knife (giving the knife a durability meter, while also adding parrying, really makes it a much more defensive mechanic, so that you cannot rely on using the knife 100% of the time to save ammo - and thus, the ammo drops are actually valuable here!), to the added layer of stealth (not a significant part of the game's design, but it is satisfying to dabble in it here and there, prior to an all-out battle igniting), to this game's removal of certain tricks that Resident Evil 4 players had grown to rely on (in the original RE4, you could initiate an animation, such as meleeing an enemy or hopping a fence, in order to get free I-frames and avoid oncoming damage, from an enemy weapon or explosive or etc. In REmake 4 however, you can actually be attacked while hopping a fence or climbing a ladder or etc., so you can't cheese these moments anymore!)... this really kept me on my toes throughout. It was very exciting.
The revised story was nice to see, as well. It still retains the cheesy over-the-top vibe of the original, while also providing added context, and recontextualizing certain character motivations and actions. The shuffling around of different story elements and scenes from the original, also helps the pacing here, and genuinely surprised me at a few points, without feeling unnecessary. It ends up feeling like it took a rough first draft, and refined it to make a much more interesting story. The original game's still very charmingly silly fun, of course, but I'm glad to have a new take on the story, here.
I should note that I played this on Hardcore difficulty, however. The game itself states that Hardcore difficulty is for people who have played the original Resident Evil 4 before, and that is just... straight-up wrong. A complete, utter lie. It's ridiculous that Capcom insists that this is the case, because your Resident Evil 4 skills will not carry over to this game, at all! I did eventually develop some strategies that helped me through to the end of the game, without lowering the difficulty - but my gosh it was brutal. There were several sequences that I spent literally hours retrying, because of how hard this got at times. Part of me wonders if I would have had a better time playing on Standard difficulty instead... but either way, I adapted. If I ever replay this, I might consider dropping it to Normal, so that I can get a feel for the default difficulty here. If I get to the point where I'm replaying this a lot, and starting to find the lower difficulties too easy, then I might consider trying Hardcore again, or even Professional difficulty. We'll see.
But at any rate - REmake 4 is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a new kind of Resident Evil 4 experience. Now I just hope that Capcom goes back and actually remakes a game that wasn't very good in the first place, like Code Veronica. I really hope Capcom doesn't skip that again in favor of just remaking Resident Evil 5 or something. But we'll see...
With that in mind... I personally was not demanding a Resident Evil 4 remake by any means. But, since I also didn't demand a Resident Evil 2 remake (I still think the original RE2 is excellent), yet ended up adoring the Resident Evil 2 remake when that released - I figured I kinda had to at least see what the Resident Evil 4 remake was about.
When the RE4 remake was announced, I figured it should ideally focus on two things -
1. deliver its own take on the story/gameplay of Resident Evil 4 - don't just give us a bland retread of what we've already played
2. consider revisiting some of the story elements in the original RE4 that felt kind of rushed or half-baked, so that they make more sense from a narrative perspective
I am pleased to say, that this remake delivers on both of those fronts! The Resident Evil 4 remake is not a replacement for the original, nor is it trying to be one. It is very clearly aiming to be its own thing, and as a huge fan of the original, I appreciate this all the more for that. From the de-emphasis of the knife (giving the knife a durability meter, while also adding parrying, really makes it a much more defensive mechanic, so that you cannot rely on using the knife 100% of the time to save ammo - and thus, the ammo drops are actually valuable here!), to the added layer of stealth (not a significant part of the game's design, but it is satisfying to dabble in it here and there, prior to an all-out battle igniting), to this game's removal of certain tricks that Resident Evil 4 players had grown to rely on (in the original RE4, you could initiate an animation, such as meleeing an enemy or hopping a fence, in order to get free I-frames and avoid oncoming damage, from an enemy weapon or explosive or etc. In REmake 4 however, you can actually be attacked while hopping a fence or climbing a ladder or etc., so you can't cheese these moments anymore!)... this really kept me on my toes throughout. It was very exciting.
The revised story was nice to see, as well. It still retains the cheesy over-the-top vibe of the original, while also providing added context, and recontextualizing certain character motivations and actions. The shuffling around of different story elements and scenes from the original, also helps the pacing here, and genuinely surprised me at a few points, without feeling unnecessary. It ends up feeling like it took a rough first draft, and refined it to make a much more interesting story. The original game's still very charmingly silly fun, of course, but I'm glad to have a new take on the story, here.
I should note that I played this on Hardcore difficulty, however. The game itself states that Hardcore difficulty is for people who have played the original Resident Evil 4 before, and that is just... straight-up wrong. A complete, utter lie. It's ridiculous that Capcom insists that this is the case, because your Resident Evil 4 skills will not carry over to this game, at all! I did eventually develop some strategies that helped me through to the end of the game, without lowering the difficulty - but my gosh it was brutal. There were several sequences that I spent literally hours retrying, because of how hard this got at times. Part of me wonders if I would have had a better time playing on Standard difficulty instead... but either way, I adapted. If I ever replay this, I might consider dropping it to Normal, so that I can get a feel for the default difficulty here. If I get to the point where I'm replaying this a lot, and starting to find the lower difficulties too easy, then I might consider trying Hardcore again, or even Professional difficulty. We'll see.
But at any rate - REmake 4 is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a new kind of Resident Evil 4 experience. Now I just hope that Capcom goes back and actually remakes a game that wasn't very good in the first place, like Code Veronica. I really hope Capcom doesn't skip that again in favor of just remaking Resident Evil 5 or something. But we'll see...