Resident Evil 4 (2005)

Happy 15th Anniversary to this game. I had no idea this game came out on this day until now because I wasn't interested in it until recently.

I'm currently playing Chapter 3 of this game and I can easily see why this game is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. The controls are clunky, but there is an art to them as they can build tension in between battles. It's fun to manage inventories with rotating items, making room for more items, and combining treasures to increase their value. Despite having no interest anything that is horror (because I'm a wuss), I was really interested in how this game will surprise me. I wanted to keep going. I was never bored. The village map has been etched into my mind after a few hours. The game compliments you as you see Ashley fist pumping for every kill (which is just adorable).The pacing is immaculate. Everything about this game keeps building up the tension, that I become so excited to kill some parasitic cult members.

This game holds up so goddamn well after 15 years that, Resident Evil 4 could possibly be one of my favorite games ever. Maybe top 5 even. I'll definitely keep playing until the end.

To say it again, Happy 15th anniversary, Resident Evil 4. You deserve all of the praise.

Beat the main game on normal and both Ada campaigns. Controls took a while to get used to. Almost got killed by the first enemy and I was like "What the hell, this is how aiming works?!" I used the knife and environmental kills to conserve ammo whenever possible. I favored the pistol and only used more powerful weapons when necessary; I used the punisher you get for the little shooting sidequest because it was free. I also liked how it shot through shields and multiple enemies, so I felt no need to even try out the other pistols.

I kept the basic shotgun for quite some time, and used it mostly for close quarters and powerful enemies. Eventually I upgraded to the riot gun, though never upgraded to the final shotgun. I bought the rifle + scope early on, but I regret doing so because I did not use it much. I switched to the semi auto rifle as soon as I could, and it was my favourite weapon (though I saved it unless I absolutely needed it). I also got the tmp + stock, which I used to kill normal enemies sometimes when I was out of pistol ammo, but it was mainly my boss killer. I got the 44 revolver at the end of the castle and used it exclusively for bosses. I never bothered to get the better 44 gun. I never bothered to buy an rpg or the treasure maps. The one free rpg I found was used in the fight vs those 2 blind mini bosses; I hate those. I saved most of my grenades for mini bosses and bosses.

The most trouble I had with the game were the damn quick time events, especially that one boss fight which was entirely quick time events. How many times did I die there? That and the stupid laser corridor. There were a few times where I was frustrated enough to need a break from the game. I did well with the parts of the game that were not quick time events though, and ended with more ammo and healing than I needed.

I tried the shooting gallery mini game, but did not care enough to spend significant time on it. Both Ada campaigns were more challenging but also less annoying due to fewer quick time events, and I finished both with an excess of supplies again. I tried mercenary mode for a little while, but did not care much for it; I fundamentally do not like time limits and the mode is too fast paced for the controls of this game.