My only genuine problems with this game comes from Hardcore feeling oddly unbalanced and sometimes just flat out unfair during the middle of the game, stealth kills (THIS IS A RESIDENT EVIL GAME, C'MON), Ada's voice (not due to the actress, I feel she wasn't directed the best - I've watched The Expanse and while she wasn't a star actress there, she definitely didn't feel phoned in like here), certain dialogue triggers feeling a lil too sensitive to activate, a specific incredibly short but annoying section at the end of the game, and stuns being reportedly RNG.
[Edit: Stuns aren't RNG, it's an invisible meter - just some guns have not very good stun values. The bolt thrower has APPARENTLY the best stun stats in the game.]

Literally everything else is perfect. The gameplay is amazingly fluid outside of stuns, feeling like the best action RE to date at it's peak, the game is shockingly well-optimized and ran at a perfect 60 on pretty high settings barring a certain two sections, I'd argue the story is played up in it's more divergently serious and dramatic lens incredibly well barring Saddler, almost the entire cast is really well voice acted with few exceptions, and for every cut from the original game there's about 3 new, equally interesting - or arguably more interesting - additions.

Even a few changes I was originally iffy on kinda grew on me. Luis's face change that I originally really didn't like at all felt completely natural a few scenes from his introduction. Krauser and Salazar's voices took a while for me to like, but their respective bosses sold me on their voices a lot, and honestly their characterizations too. Saddler's was pretty mediocre at the beginning of the game, but during the latter half of the game it was much, much better despite his kinda lamer personality - which again makes me think something was up with the voice director rather than the VAs.

I think my favorite part of the game is with Leon's character. Leon in the original didn't really have a personal stake in showing up. It felt like it was just professional, and that's fine. He really only got personal stakes beyond "just get Ashley home and not die" in original RE4 when Ada showed up. This version of the story is much more in line with more of what I love about horror as a genre; people fighting both external and internal struggles, surviving with or for people they care about, and coming out on top.

An event like Raccoon City would leave a good chunk of mental scars on someone, and even if they cope with it by joking like Leon does, going through it again would do horrific things to a person. He has more to fight for this time - his mental state and the people he forges a relationship with during his mission. Letting RE2 happen all over again, where he had to watch so many die for no real, rational reason, it's something he can't do now that he has the ability to put a stop to it before it starts. Like Leon says in the intro; "this time, it has to be different." (Of course, these changes are invalidated by RE6, but lmao RE6.)

And it STILL carries the original's amazing atmosphere and action movie tone during most of the game.

I can see why people would not like this shift away from the more all-encompassing b-movie feel of the original, but this shit is exactly what I need in my veins. I love this. While it's more serious, there's no questioning it still carries the original material with it, without being a replacement for it.

And honestly? I think I like this game just as much as the original. Both are just incredibly solid games with so much to offer, and with potentially more coming out of RE4R if Capcom is doing what I think they're doing with a few select characters.

Of course, I still have my nitpicks with stuff like the gacha-keychains and sidequests such as "kill 3 rats" repeated a few times but they're harmless additions that are by all means completely optional, don't kill the pacing or balance, and you can go the entire game without using. Even then, the sidequests have more interesting alternatives with mini-bosses if someone really insists on doing them.

This is another hallmark remake. Despite it's handful of problems, those problems are in a sea of good changes and a overall amazing package that does not disappoint, nor is a replacement for the original game - and both are sure to co-exist for a long time knowing that RE is the one series Capcom will port to everything.

I can understand the fear of looping back into RE5 and 6 again because of this game. I feel this is is a direct upgrade to 8 in my opinion - the true perfect blend of horror and action. I feel that's a really great path forward for the series - having the old guard like Chris, Jill, Claire and Leon be in the picture, being able to tell stories with them still and the absolutely crazy bullshit they all do; but they feel like they're in a completely different world than newer blood like Ethan due to how hyper-experienced they are with zombie plagues, parasitic cults and mold monsters. As long as Capcom still makes new RE games instead of remaking 5 and 6, this is a path I'm fine with the series taking.

Of course, Capcom could just completely fumble the execution and we're right back at RE6 again, but I have faith that the current devs know their history with this franchise and won't just rear end it to the same spot it was in 2012.

In my opinion at least, Capcom actually did it. Holy shit.