Resident Evil 4 (2023)

After finishing RE2 I wanted more so I started up Resident Evil 4 directly after. One of the most praised game in the series, so I had high expectations.

The story follows Leon Kennedy again, on a mission to rescue the president’s daughter Ashley. She’s been kidnapped and taken to a village in Spain. This mission turns out to be more complex with infected villagers and cults. I thought it was a entertaining story to follow.

This game is more packed with action than before and I enjoyed it a lot. The combat feels tight and a lot better, both melee and shooting. Really liked the inventory management with a briefcase that can be updated through the game at a merchant that pops up between new locations. Also to be able to upgrade and buy new weapons was a great addition.

It’s a great game and still holds up. Don’t really have bads things to say about it. Maybe the Bossfight against Ramón, it felt a bit frustrating. The scene was quite weird and the camera angles made it hard to follow him around.

Looking forward to play the next games of the serie that I’m gonna play, RE7 Biohazard.

Rating: 🌲🌲🌲🌲 ➕

I played and loved the original RE4 on GameCube when it first came out and it had remained my favorite Resident Evil game for decades.

I sort of stopped playing new RE games around the time RE6 came out and only got back in the series this year when I picked up RE Requiem for the Switch 2. I loved playing it, so I decided to play all the entries I had missed and saved RE4 Remake for last. I really adored RE Village and thought that was the new highlight of the series, until I just finished RE4 Remake a couple of days ago.

I absolutely can't believe how incredible it feels to play. It's such a great game, the updates to the combat feel outstanding and I think most of the changes made to the original narrative and game design are for the better.

I actually started a new playthrough of the original on Switch to refresh my memory and I still think that game is excellent in its own right, but there is something about the way RE4R feels to play that has me mesmerized, I started a new game + on PS5 and a fresh playthrough on Steam Deck so I can play it on the go.

I am hooked and I know I will be replaying this game over and over on a very regular basis.

This review includes my thoughts on the Separate Ways campaign and Mercenaries DLC.

Here we are with another Resident Evil remake. Unlike previous remakes, RE4 didn't necessarily need this treatment. The gameplay in the original is still great even though some of the script and sexism makes it dated. Happily, the latter portions have been improved with generally tighter writing, more exciting dialogue, and the removal of Leon being a weird pervert (Ada's stiletto's still feel out of place, but whatever I guess). You'd think this would make this the definitive RE4, but it doesn't quite make it to such a status.

Almost every aspect of gameplay, audio design, music, scenario, etc has been improved, but at any given moment, RE4R feels less like playing a video game. The original was mostly on rails as well, but everything in RE4R feels like a tight corridor in a restricting way. This is true in many Resident Evils, but typically that feeling isn't quite there and you are often making interesting little moment to moment decisions. This still occurs in RE4R, but specifically in the form of money management. It's difficult to not play this game optimizing for gold, especially with the merchant hanging out every 20 meters to sell you more stuff. It quickly became annoying, regularly breaking the tension, and I found myself wishing I could have slightly wider environments with less treasure to trip over. On the plus side, knives are super cool in this and I enjoyed the tank-like tromping about experience of being two heavily armed fighter people.

Ada's Separate Ways campaign, while even more of a corridor experience, is chock full of so much new stuff that It'd be difficult to not recommend this version. She is a blast to play with her grapple gun, interesting boss fights, fun spy music, and hot dialogue with Leon. Their chemistry is smouldering! It's good stuff. Oh, and The Mercenaries is as fun as ever.

Anyways, I'd still start someone curious about Resident Evil on the Resident Evil 2 Remake, then maybe go to this one if only because knife parries are the sickest shit ever. If they prefer horror and tension over action, send them to Resident Evil 1 HD.

The original was one of my favorites. This was a fantastic remake. I think that it was faithful to the original and expanded upon it in every way.

They've upgraded the gameplay to modern standards but kept the core of it. They've upgraded the visuals, which look absolutely amazing and more atmospheric than the original, making it creepier and more well-lived in. Particularly the detail on the ganados and all the enemy models are amazing and varied. They're added multiple side missions for the merchant that enhance the game, which is great. They've given the story a bit more seriousness to it, without removing the cheesiness which made the original so great. They've improved some bosses and added some new weapons. Most importantly, Ashley is NOT annoying in this game, she cannot gain "damage" to where you need to use healing items on her, and she's just generally less annoying. That is amazing because thats the most annoying part of the original.

They've kept the things that are important though, such as most of the bosses and encounters and they've tweaked them JUST so, to give small surprises throughout that only original fans would notice.

This game is amazing and I love it!

Resident Evil 4 Remake is an interesting case. It had the gargantuan challenge of remaking a game that is as classic and well-regarded as games can be. How do you go about remaking that? You'd think that remaking a 18 years old game would require some drastic modernising and altering the formula to suit today's trends and needs. That wouldn't be like the original then?

To my surprise, Resident Evil 4 Remake keeps very close to the original and sticks the landing. Of course, there's new stuff, QoL features and mechanics but playing the game feels very familiar. It was fun to find a blue medallion in same place as I did 15 years ago. It was fun to see similar combat strategies working here as they did in the original. And even though I'm sucker for a more horror-oriented tone, it was also fun to see the cheesy vibe of the original retained here. Was Leon always this sassy?

While the old school feel of the game is mostly a big plus, a few times I felt the game was a bit clunky to control. Even at later parts of the game, I still messed up here and there because of camera angles, quick turns and knife combat. And as is the Resident Evil tradition, there are some clumsy fights and parts but overall it's pretty remarkable how much good stuff there is in the game.

Interestingly, the game suggests you to choose Hardcore difficulty if you played the original. While I managed to beat the game with it, it still felt a bit weird way to frame the difficulty option. That's because Hardcore was pretty damn hard even with my (shaky) knowledge of the original.

While the game feels like the old-school original, it looks brand spanking new. Once again the RE engine is put through its paces. The game looks really good with environments that are distinctly reminiscent of the original but a lot more detailed and atmospheric. It's also a nice continuity to go from RE2 Remake to this and see Leon's character model look like the same person.

Sound-wise the game is pretty close to the original. Mainly you'll be hearing a lot of gunshots, explosions and Spanish chants and excalamations. New voice actors are fitting and corny in their delivery – as they should be. As for music, once again, for the life of me, I can't really remember much of it except for save room music being nice, shooting range music being fun and end credits rock song being cheesy. Of yeah, I guess Salazar fight had a pretty epic music in it? I don't know what it is with RE games' music that doesn't register on my memory.

The main campaign of the game follows the original rather closely and kept me occupied for about 18 hours. I think that's a bit longer than the original? At times I was getting a bit tired of a stream of similar fights and encounters but it felt like the developers understood the risk of this happening. So, usually at these points, the game introduced some new enemy or twist to keep things fresh. This happened all the way through until the end of the game.

Speaking of the end of the game, one thing I really liked in the original was the Mercenaries mode that you got after beating the game. In RE4 Remake, Mercenaries mode was added as a free download (probably a bit after release). After beating the game, I gave it a quick go and it's still fun here. It's pretty surprising how a surival horror game turns into a arcade shooter so easily.

Also, as was the case with the original. Ada also has her own bit of story in the Separate Ways DLC/episode. I can't remember whether I played it in the original but I might give it a go here. Probably more of the same good stuff.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is, in my opinion, a good example of a remake done right. It keeps the core of the original intact and where it does things differently, it does it so that feeling stays close to the original. I had fun with it.

Now that I've recently played more Resident Evil games than I ever imagined I would in such a short time, I have a pretty good grasp of where the series is at. While this game was undoubtedly really fun, I kinda feel Resident Evil Village is the high point of the newer games in the series. And I'm still waiting for a Resident Evil game that wins me over completely. The series is in a really good spot now so maybe Resident Evil 9 will be the one?

P.S. It's funny how I never find much to say about music in games. That's surprising since music plays such a big role in my life otherwise (and I also kind of write music reviews for my own enjoyment as well). Similarly, I write pretty limited insight about graphics even though that's something that I'm constantly keeping an eye on while playing. Let's see if I can think about presentation more critically with the next game I review whatever it may be.

I don't know. Maybe its just too long and repetitive. Maybe its that compared to other games I've played recently such as Pizza Tower, Balatro, Dark Souls 2, Celeste, Yakuza like a Dragon, I'm not running to tell people about the experience.

It's a solid game with great acting animation and gameplay. It's possible there are just too many games like this now as the original sort of set a lot of standards for third person action games. I kept myself up at night thinking how the original inspired Uncharted and design of those games fed back into this one. More with the presentation than moment to moment gameplay.

It's worth it to play if you have the time and can find it for pretty cheap I do wonder where they will take the franchise rebooting from here. I

Leon Kennedy is back and better than ever in the RE4 Remake. I was a bit weary of this after the way RE3 Remake was done, especially with the loads of cut content and underwhelming presence that RE2 had.

Happy to say that the talent behind RE2 at Capcom was behind the wheel on RE4! They really delivered a faithful yet improved experience of the much beloved game entry in this series.

With amazing visual fidelity it really builds the presence for the games world somewhere in Europe. Leons VA put in work in really giving us a character that was evolved and actively present in the events of the game.

9/10

I didn't enjoy it as much as I would've liked to simply because I've beat the original four times already. However, RE4 Remake more or less the same game, so it deserves the same rating. There are some noticeable improvements such as:

• Graphics (duh)
• Shooting Gallery (I can actually win this time)
• Customization options for case and weapons
• New weapons like the Bolt Launcher
• More side quests
• Overall better horror vibes
• Enemy variety (You won't fight the same 4 villagers each time)
• Better Ashley controls (though they don't make much of a difference)

There's a few downgrades too, in my opinion:

• One of the major bosses is missing
• I don't like the Merchant's new VA
• Your knife can break (seriously wtf)
• No cool one-liners, including the ballistics line (I can see why they removed this line, but it's one of the best lines in gaming history)
• Cut down on the B-movie vibes to make it more "serious" (even though the original was plenty scary)
• The Water Room is way too easy

The original will always hold a special place in my heart, but this remake will be a great way to introduce one of the greatest video games of all time to a new generation

RE4 R is a safe, unfinished, inferior re-imagining of one of the greatest games ever made that has unnecessary monetization (day one DLC plus more added after reviews) and doesn't need to exist. However I still really enjoy it and recommend it.

The crazy level of mainstream praise this game has received is bad for the future of the medium. The dismissal of the original, the claims that the original needed modernizing and that this new version of RE4 is better or on par with the original is awful. I thought video games were a medium deserving respect. Doesn't the gaming community get pissed off anytime someone from TV or film makes an ignorant comment about games. So why are we treating one of our classics like this because there is a shiny new but inferior version out. Could you imagine this happening to a classic film, TV show, book etc? Are video games disposable toys that we get rid of when new ones come out or are they art?

The way the original plays is so good. The combination of the way Leon moves/controls, standing your ground, accurate shooting, melee attacks, knife, repositioning when needed and using the environment to your advantage with the way enemies move/attack/behave/react, enemy variety, level design, the weaponry and set pieces just works so damn well. It doesn't have any right to be this good but it is. It is near perfect. This re-imagining takes this gameplay and tries to modernize it, make it more realistic and play similar to other modern 3rd person shooters. In doing so they upset the near perfect balance. So they tried adding new things and re-balancing to get it near perfect again but failed. What we are left with is a game that is good to play but less fun and more frustrating than a game made almost 20 years ago. Nearly every part of the gameplay needs adjusting. But I think with further tweaking it could play different but maybe as good as the original.

The re-imagining does do a better job with the story and lore but loses so much of what made the original special. The characters have more depth now but lose almost everything that made them so entertaining. Why focus on these changes? It's not what RE4 needed, this is RE4 not The Last of Us. The original story and characters were about fun and entertainment and serving the gameplay. There is so much cut from this game and none of the changes or additions make up for it. The pacing is also worse. How did this re-imagining drag on longer than the original when it has less content? Why do the merchants side missions and back tracking for treasures feel like unnecessary bloat?

It does look quite good after turning off lens distortion and chromatic aberration but I still prefer the originals art direction by far. The original was surreal, bleak, unnerving and gruesome. The re-imagining is overtly 'horror,' dark and clichéd. The original character and enemy designs were better too. I do like the new brute enemies swapped for JJ though, this was a good idea. It runs well and I only noticed a little jankiness and the frame rate only dipped a little when things got busy in the rain. There was a little pop in too.

Why was Mercenaries not at launch and why does that mode feel underdone? Why are there little things I need to pay extra for? (Like the original soundtrack) Why have they added more little things to pay for? Are these going to make the game easier? Did they deliberately make the game harder/more frustrating/grindy hoping to push some to buy these? (Please don't buy them). Why wasn't all this at launch during the review window? What dlc is coming and how much are they going to charge for it? Why are so many people just okay with this?

Why am I already tired of this game while looking forward to continuing to replay the original for another 18 years? It is just such a huge missed opportunity. Capcom took something brilliant and instead of remaking it, building on it, trying to improve it and leaning more into what made it one of the best ever they decided to make it something different. But not different or bold and fresh enough to stand on it's own.

• This game and the original are not survival horror, stop calling every horror game survival horror. It sucks seeing one of your favourite genres being erased by mislabeling and wilful ignorance.

• This is a re-imagining not a remake. A remake is the same again but hopefully better. A re-imagining is a reinterpretation or adaptation which is very familiar but different.

• Now this re-imagining exists it means there will never be an official remake or high quality remaster.

• The original Resident Evil 4 is affordable, available everywhere and comes with all the content and no microtransactions.

I'm still giving this game a high 7, even though this has been a pretty negative review, because even an inferior re-imagining of RE4 is still RE4, which is unbelievably good. There's still plenty of fun to be had here, there are some good moments and ideas and it's a pretty polished game.

So go play the original if you haven't or replay it again if it's been a while. But still check out this new version just don't take the mainstream reviews seriously, keep your expectations reasonable, enjoy it for what it is and it'll be a good time. I paid full price day one, got the platinum trophy on PS5 and I don't regret it.

7.8/10

Oh man, what a ride. I couldn't ask for a better remake of my favorite game of all time. Of course, I am extremely biased, so take my review with a grain of salt.

I admit that I didn't want this remake. The old RE4 was so good, and still felt great, so why bother. Better do a remake of Code Veronica! (I still believe Code Veronica deserves a remake). Then I started to feel excited about it, looking at trailers and stuff. Then I got to play it, the day before my birthday. What a birthday present!

Honestly, I loved everything about it. They kept the essence of what made RE4 special, and then made it even better. I do appreciate that they kept the characters very similar to the older version. I like this version Leon way better. Still has some sassy dialogue, but not as much as the older version, so it feels more realistc. Ashley isn't as annoying. The Ganados are relentless and smarter in a way, and the Regeneradors will give me even more nightmares. The merchant was ok, but I think I still like the older one better (it's probably nostalgia). Now, I didn't like the versions of Ada Wong and Ramón Salazar in this version. I never understood the Salazar boss fight...

The script was very well executed and they added more lore into the game, which I really appreciate. Combat was ok, although I feel it was a little bit clunky at times. Sometimes I had issues changing weapons, don't really know why. I like the added parry with the knife and the stealth kills. Best of all, they actually recorded voice acting in Spanish with the correct accent. I remember making fun of the old version because the Ganados sounded like Latinos in a game taking place in Spain. I appreciate the effort for making something more authentic.

I can't choose the remake over the old version as my favorite, because although very similar, they are different. They are definitely tied up there. And very close to them is Village. Capcom has been doing a great job with these new games. Now I need to play the remakes of 2 and 3. For some unknown reason I haven't done it!

Managed to finish this up last night. This was pretty brutal so I don't really feel bad for using many of the skips. I think the only one that's a bit too free is the door glitch in Island with Ashley. Also, apparently you can kill Ramon with two golden eggs it's quite amusing. Ch.6-10 are probably the most difficult parts of the game(ch10 is the bug room, double garrados, into verdugo and it's a messed up chapter). You really need to manage your resources and optimize areas you just run through enemies in these chapters, as you really need all you can going into mines, clock tower, Krauser, and ch.15's gauntlet. I used my 15th save for the Krauser fight, so I was sweating bullets during the escape sequence at the end, hoping I wouldn't suddenly make a mistake and die. While it was frustrating, it was still alot of fun. I'm seriously reconsidering changing my score to a 5, as knowing what to expect makes each run more fun and this is a game that very much wants you to do multiple playthroughs. And honestly, I just might based on how Separate Ways and Mercenaries goes. Gonna go for the rest of the achievements on Assisted and just blast through with the bonus stuff I've unlocked.

this game is actually giving me an identity crisis

i thought i was an indie gamer who doesn't play AAA games and doesn't like real-time action combat games, just turn-based/strategy/narrative games and platformers.

but i'm not gonna lie, i am having more fun with this game with, like, any of the dozen indie metroidvanias i've played so far this year. it's just phenomenal. i don't have to motivate myself to play - i have to force myself to stop.

i'd never be playing any modern RE games if i didn't have nostalgia from playing the originals as a kid and tried them on a whim back in 2020. i was surprised i could actually handle the real-time shooting if i pushed myself. i remember the last time i'd tried to play RE4 before that, i died to the first room a dozen times and gave up and knew action games weren't for me.

i'm still really trash at it, i think my playtime is about 3x everyone else's because i die so much, but god it's just so good. it's not the combat per se, it's the immersion of it, it feels so good to run around leaping over fences and shooting enemies. the sound effects, physics, everything, it's soooo satisfying, and the environments are just beautiful.

Around 1/3rd to halfway through RE4 remake.

It's just majestic, you guys.

Capcom's RE engine and their teams' mastery of it are impressive. I'm currently in a fancy castle section and it shares a lot of imagery with RE8. But it looks gorgeous. I'm wondering to myself, did RE8 look this good too, and did I just not appreciate it? I'll have to find out by doing another playthrough when I finish this treat of a game.

The only negatives I can say about this game are subjective. I do not like Ada's voice actress. That's where my complaints stop so far. EDIT: Sucks that so-called fans are harassing her. I should clarify - I don't like that they changed her actress. If Ada's voice actress was the same across both games, I wouldn't have been bothered one bit.

The combat was tricky for me at first. Once I embraced the parry mechanic, it opened up for me and now the combat is a total blast. Switching between gadgets and weapons while parrying and roundhouse-kicking enemies makes you feel like the badass Leon is.

The voice actor for the Merchant deserves all the praise in the world. His lines are delivered with infectious enthusiasm. The entire voice cast besides Ada is equally as strong, but there's something about the Merchant - I just think whoever did those lines deserves a raise.

I enjoy the boss and enemy designs far more in RE4 than the other games and the remake variants are wholly improved. They're the stuff of actual nightmares.

Ugh, my love affair with Resident Evil just deepens. I really can't get enough of these games. I'm grateful for this game because of the sheer replayability it carries with it. I know it's going to be a while before we hear about another RE game.

Capcom is easily up there with my favorite developers right now. I'm keeping an active eye on just about everything they produce.

First playthrough thoughts:

My initial thoughts are very similar to when I first played Metroid Dread where I enjoyed myself, but I'm gonna need to do another playthrough for my thoughts to settle in. Hope it's still the same situation where I adored Metroid Dread on my 2nd playthrough. It's a very faithful remake to RE4 in terms of how it varies its level design, enemy encounters, and the core combat while adding a bit more mechanics that are welcome such as molotovs. It is a vast improvement over Resident Evil Village. All of this is incredible stuff which is what I loved about RE4. I really like how they wrote Ashley and Luis in this remake. Leon is fine. He has some good one liners, but the delivery just isn't there and few were as good as those in the original. His delivery just lacks ham, IMO. While it makes more sense for Salazar to be talking through this speaker rather then jacking the line between Leon and Hunnigan, I miss the back and forth between him and Leon that happened throughout the original. Will definitely replay it to solidify them, but for now, I love OG RE4 more.