Well folks, here it is. One of the biggest releases of this year, a remake of one of the most beloved and influential games in the genre’s history, and top 2 most anticipated 2023 games for yours truly. Did it deliver? Did Capcom succeed in producing the GOTY contender I was confident they would? You know damn well what the answer is, but if you’d like to stick around and read the ramblings of a man consumed, settle in. This one’s gunna be a ride. 😌
(if you don’t please just skip to the end and like it tyily)
-- Warning, I went Overboard --
I suppose I should start with a confession. Despite being a huge Resident Evil fan for most of my life, I was actually never massive on the original Resimid Evil 4. I enjoyed playing it way back in the day, and there’s really no denying how important it was for gaming as a whole, but the more I was spoiled by better mechanics over the years, the harder it became to go back and play it again. I know this is still something of a hot take, but tank controls and standstill aiming are such a hurdle in the original that the challenge never felt like it was by design, but due to restrictions of the game’s mechanics. One might argue that the mechanics were factored in as a part of the design to be fair, but idk, it just doesn’t feel right for me, and worse yet it breaks my immersion a lot.
Anyway! The reason I bring that up is because I don’t really remember all that much from the 2005 game, and as such will not be using it as a basis or reference for my opinions. I know the reception to this title has been absurdly positive, but almost every criticism I’ve seen has been “but x was better in the original” and I don’t really see things that way personally. It’s okay to prefer the things that the original did differently, but if you’ve played this game then you surely recognise that it’s not a straight remake, it’s a new version. It’s not there to replace the original like the 2001 Resident Evil remake, it’s a new take on the title, just like the RE2 and RE3 remakes were.
-- Reinventing the Wheel - Gameplay --
So let’s talk about the actual game, shall we? It’s amazing. Genuinely it is handcrafted to be the absolute best that it can be with the resources available. It looks gorgeous, it feels fantastic and the design as a whole is top tier honestly. Every area works exactly as intended, there’s not a single battle in the game that I can think of where the arena felt too easy, unfair or restrictive. Sure not every single room or part of a map looks entirely unique, but having beaten the game three times I didn’t find myself tired of a setting even once, and that’s pretty cool.
Further to this, the enemies are handpicked and diverse enough to ensure that you never feel entirely safe. You can approach each area or enemy differently, but with the inclusion of opponents that require a different strategy, you quickly find yourself having to adapt to every situation almost independently. This is especially effective for players like me, who tend to find weapons they’re most comfortable using and make them their primary arsenal. Personally I ran with the SG pistol and Riot shotgun, with a rifle for certain enemies and an smg for close quarter crowd control. Tactical, right? You might think I’m prepared for anything, I certainly did. That was until the introduction of a later enemy that almost demands penetrative or explosive damage. Suddenly my backup rifle I’d mainly been using to safely pop tentacle-y heads became my new best friend. Friendship ended with laser sight SG pistol and shallow but strong Riot shotgun, now the Stingray rifle is my best friend… For now.
Every weapon in this game holds on its own and the upgrades are really effective at allowing you to kit yourself out however you want to play, but what I’m getting at here is that no matter how well optimized everything can be, the game won’t ever become a monotonous “use pistol on approach, use shotgun when close, loot and leave” ordeal - you’re going to need to get into a groove of how to handle different enemies, and this groove is one of my favourite things in any game ever.
I know I said I wasn’t going to compare and I swear this is the only time, but being able to move while aiming and so effortlessly switch weapons, reposition yourself and effectively maneuver in general is such a godsend for this game. The flow of combat never stops being fun and for me personally that flow was a huge part of why I never loved the original. I couldn’t be more happy with how improved this is and Capcom have really gone above and beyond in making this version of the game feel like you’re in total control at all times.
-- Leon Kennedy: Survivor - Character & Tone --
As someone who for their teen years was mostly into Resident Evil through the Milla Jovovich movies and playing Resi 5’s co-op with half a dozen people, Leon Kennedy was always someone that I knew was cool, but didn’t really get to know properly until a few years ago. I’d played through his campaign in RE6, but as I’m sure you know that isn’t the best title to refer to when considering these beloved characters. So as you can expect, the RE2 remake was when I got my first real taste of Leon and of course I grew to love him quickly, but there was always a faint hint of “but I prefer Claire” when thinking of that entry on its own. Naturally they’re their own, very different characters, but this meant that Leon still hadn’t had a chance to shine brighter than anyone else. To me he was only “the bingo guy” from my long forgotten RE4 (2005), and now the lovable baby faced cop from RE2. Resident Evil 4 (2023) changed that.
Leon is such a bonafide badass in this game that he easily skyrocketed to the top tiers of my favourite characters in the series. Combined with my existing love from RE2R, seeing how different he was this time around was like reuniting with someone after they’ve had years to train and come to terms with what happened to them. A stark contrast to the original RE4’s Leon being comically smug and campy - Traits that make for some really great lines, but that don’t quite fit the tragic character arc that our boy has been on and is still going through. This remake is no stranger to silly one-liners and dorky quips, but none of them compromise the core theme that the title is going for. The campy moments feel more to me like Leon letting out his inner dork (or badass), enjoying those brief moments that he can and taking pride in his abilities, but not in a way that undermines how seriously he’s taking the situation. Leon truly cares every step of the way, he’s been through a hell of a lot and he’s allowed to be confident in himself after surviving something that would’ve killed almost anyone else. He’s true to his goals and every triumph makes that endgame feel just a little bit more possible:
“This time, it has to be different.”
-- The Controversial & The Cheese Lover - Side Characters --
I’ll have to stress here again that my memory of the original is lacking, so you might have guessed that until this remake my opinion of Ashley was pretty much “LEON!~” - I always thought she was a highschool student that had quite possibly never been outside before and was allergic to doing as she was told (So just any teenager really) - but alas! ‘New Ashley’ is here and she is just wonderful.
The updates to her appearance and demeanor have ultimately resulted in a different character to what I find most people remember. Now much more clearly a young adult, Ashley is a very welcome companion throughout the game, feeling much closer to the likes of Bioshock Infinite’s Elizabeth or TLOU’s Ellie, in the sense that I actually liked having her around and seeing her contribute on our journey. [Who knew that could be done by a character whose name wasn’t a variation of the name Ellie!?]
This reimagined Ashley works perfectly within the setting of the game, and the moments she shares with Leon as well as the way she reacts to things do well to establish the kind of character she is, despite her limited role in the overall plot. She’s not just a damsel in distress to be saved, she wants nothing more than to go home and she knows that the only way that happens is if she follows Leon’s lead, getting involved only when it’s really going to help, and otherwise letting him do his thing. I won’t go into specifics, but the way Ashley and her relationship with Leon develop over the course of the game made it impossible for me not to come away from it loving them both.
I have rambled so much so I’m afraid Luis and Ada are getting smaller parts, but the short version is that I enjoyed them both. Luis was a bit of an enigma for a lot of the game, and I can’t say I loved every single part of his story, but looking back at the full picture I really appreciate his role and actually quite like his personal arc. He’s fun to be around and somehow despite being a badass himself, he’s able to make Leon look even more like a badass by comparison, which is really something. One of the earlier scenes in the game with the two of them is one of the hottest scenes from a game in recent memory, and I mean that in the least gay way possible.
As for Ada.. Well Ada is an interesting character. I’ve heard a lot of takes on her performance in this and honestly I don’t know where I land. I’m hoping that the inevitable Separate Ways DLC gives us a better insight into why she behaves the way that she does. I’ve heard a lot of hate about the way she talks but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as the drama makes out. To me it just sounds like everything she says is in a slightly erotic voice, but where she doesn’t fully want to be there in the first place? Like the director told her to be hot but distracted lol, idk. I didn’t find her character nor performance to be a detriment to the game and I look forward to coming back to see more of her. (Especially because her character model is stunning, seriously) - Speaking of coming back..
-- Different this Time - Replayability --
Resident Evil games have always been famous for their replay value, they encourage or even demand that you run through them more than once, often with specific handicaps or conditions in order to unlock certain rewards. When I first heard that this remake was gonna take around 17 hours on the first run, the thought of doing a second one quickly became more of a fear than a goal. I was convinced that no matter how much easier it was the 2nd time, it’d be nothing but a slog and there’s no way you could beat it in 1 or 2 sittings like all the games before it… More fool me, because Capcom simply does not miss. My first standard playthrough took me just shy of 18 hours to complete, with a number of deaths along the way and a slew of missed collectables and trophy opportunities. Being who I am, this meant that a replay was necessary, if only for the sake of breezing through to get the easy trophies. But that’s not what I decided to do.
I don’t quite remember what inspired this decision, perhaps just over-confidence from having beaten the game once, but I decided to try my hand at a NG+ Professional run. At the time, I had not unlocked any of the bonus rewards or weapons. I had a B in Standard difficulty and I’d missed about 13 of the Castellan dolls needed to unlock the knife that can become unbreakable. I also didn’t use a guide, but decided that if everyone online was beating the game in 4-5 hours the second time, then I could too.
This run would take me 5 hours and 35 minutes, just 5 minutes too long for me to get an S Rank. 😔
In my attempts to be as fast as possible I played fast and loose, running past or through as many encounters as I could, ignoring almost all loot that wasn’t within arms reach and regretting it dearly when I found myself without ammo going into a boss fight. This run was so much fun that I wasn’t even mad when I ended it so close yet so far from getting the S rank I wanted. I’d be lying if I said that some parts weren’t really fkn hard and equally as annoying, and I was torn up when the clock struck 6am and I finally conceded, buying an RPG for the final boss that I’d been too ill-equipped to beat for dozens of attempts, but I had fun.
And it wasn’t in vain! This A rank meant that I now had a bonus weapon that could be upgraded to have infinite ammo, and a costume for Ashley that, well if you read this far you know damn well what it does lol. Even after a collective 22+ hours (it was actually closer to 40 bc of deaths and idle time oop) and 2 completions under my belt, I wanted more.
I was hoping to use my new gun, but given the trophy list I instead decided to work on an Assisted run, in which I would get the trophies for all treasures, all Castellan dolls, no recovery items, no merchant, and pistol + knife only, in a single run. This went about as well as you might expect. I won’t break it all down again but what a challenge this was, every room had to be treated differently to the last two times and with my no healing nor merchant I couldn’t repair my knife/armour or regain any health if something went wrong. I’m telling you I’ve seen people complain that the knife durability is pointless, but when you can’t repair it even starting out with 2 fully upgraded ones will not help you. I went through every knife in the game and ended with about 10% hp on the one you unlock after your first playthrough. By chapter 12 I was finishing off downed enemies with bullets because stabbing them would’ve meant having no way to parry, and this was on Assisted.
This run was challenging as hell, but I beat the entire game - final boss included - using nothing but the SG-09R, the Punisher, and knives. Fuck yeah. 😌
The only bad news to come from all of this is that playing the game on NG++ Assisted with only 1 or 2 hits worth of hp per battle did NOT equip me for playing New game Professional at all lmao. But I’ll get there eventually!
-- Final Thoughts - Thank You for your Time --
In conclusion, it finally makes sense to me now why Resident Evil 4 is so often called the best game in the series, and this remake may even be just that. If the 2005 gamecube release was this mind-blowing to the players of its time, I get it.
If you read this whole thing then you have my dearest thanks. This game has become something of an obsession since it was released and it felt only right that I give it a ‘proper’ review to boot. (That and this is the best excuse I have to just talk about it lmao) - I hope this was enjoyable or interesting to read, I know a lot of my reviews are just me word vomiting every thought I have, often without a real point or through-line, but I choose to lazily write that off as passion. 😌
If anything I said was wrong, gave you a new perspective on something or was worth responding to at all please do let me know. It means a lot to know these reviews serve as even a little bit of engagement between y’all and I. Thanks again everyone, hope you’re having a wonderful week, and I look forward to seeing your own reviews or seeing you back for my next one… Whenever that may be. Take care! 🙏
(if you don’t please just skip to the end and like it tyily)
-- Warning, I went Overboard --
I suppose I should start with a confession. Despite being a huge Resident Evil fan for most of my life, I was actually never massive on the original Resimid Evil 4. I enjoyed playing it way back in the day, and there’s really no denying how important it was for gaming as a whole, but the more I was spoiled by better mechanics over the years, the harder it became to go back and play it again. I know this is still something of a hot take, but tank controls and standstill aiming are such a hurdle in the original that the challenge never felt like it was by design, but due to restrictions of the game’s mechanics. One might argue that the mechanics were factored in as a part of the design to be fair, but idk, it just doesn’t feel right for me, and worse yet it breaks my immersion a lot.
Anyway! The reason I bring that up is because I don’t really remember all that much from the 2005 game, and as such will not be using it as a basis or reference for my opinions. I know the reception to this title has been absurdly positive, but almost every criticism I’ve seen has been “but x was better in the original” and I don’t really see things that way personally. It’s okay to prefer the things that the original did differently, but if you’ve played this game then you surely recognise that it’s not a straight remake, it’s a new version. It’s not there to replace the original like the 2001 Resident Evil remake, it’s a new take on the title, just like the RE2 and RE3 remakes were.
-- Reinventing the Wheel - Gameplay --
So let’s talk about the actual game, shall we? It’s amazing. Genuinely it is handcrafted to be the absolute best that it can be with the resources available. It looks gorgeous, it feels fantastic and the design as a whole is top tier honestly. Every area works exactly as intended, there’s not a single battle in the game that I can think of where the arena felt too easy, unfair or restrictive. Sure not every single room or part of a map looks entirely unique, but having beaten the game three times I didn’t find myself tired of a setting even once, and that’s pretty cool.
Further to this, the enemies are handpicked and diverse enough to ensure that you never feel entirely safe. You can approach each area or enemy differently, but with the inclusion of opponents that require a different strategy, you quickly find yourself having to adapt to every situation almost independently. This is especially effective for players like me, who tend to find weapons they’re most comfortable using and make them their primary arsenal. Personally I ran with the SG pistol and Riot shotgun, with a rifle for certain enemies and an smg for close quarter crowd control. Tactical, right? You might think I’m prepared for anything, I certainly did. That was until the introduction of a later enemy that almost demands penetrative or explosive damage. Suddenly my backup rifle I’d mainly been using to safely pop tentacle-y heads became my new best friend. Friendship ended with laser sight SG pistol and shallow but strong Riot shotgun, now the Stingray rifle is my best friend… For now.
Every weapon in this game holds on its own and the upgrades are really effective at allowing you to kit yourself out however you want to play, but what I’m getting at here is that no matter how well optimized everything can be, the game won’t ever become a monotonous “use pistol on approach, use shotgun when close, loot and leave” ordeal - you’re going to need to get into a groove of how to handle different enemies, and this groove is one of my favourite things in any game ever.
I know I said I wasn’t going to compare and I swear this is the only time, but being able to move while aiming and so effortlessly switch weapons, reposition yourself and effectively maneuver in general is such a godsend for this game. The flow of combat never stops being fun and for me personally that flow was a huge part of why I never loved the original. I couldn’t be more happy with how improved this is and Capcom have really gone above and beyond in making this version of the game feel like you’re in total control at all times.
-- Leon Kennedy: Survivor - Character & Tone --
As someone who for their teen years was mostly into Resident Evil through the Milla Jovovich movies and playing Resi 5’s co-op with half a dozen people, Leon Kennedy was always someone that I knew was cool, but didn’t really get to know properly until a few years ago. I’d played through his campaign in RE6, but as I’m sure you know that isn’t the best title to refer to when considering these beloved characters. So as you can expect, the RE2 remake was when I got my first real taste of Leon and of course I grew to love him quickly, but there was always a faint hint of “but I prefer Claire” when thinking of that entry on its own. Naturally they’re their own, very different characters, but this meant that Leon still hadn’t had a chance to shine brighter than anyone else. To me he was only “the bingo guy” from my long forgotten RE4 (2005), and now the lovable baby faced cop from RE2. Resident Evil 4 (2023) changed that.
Leon is such a bonafide badass in this game that he easily skyrocketed to the top tiers of my favourite characters in the series. Combined with my existing love from RE2R, seeing how different he was this time around was like reuniting with someone after they’ve had years to train and come to terms with what happened to them. A stark contrast to the original RE4’s Leon being comically smug and campy - Traits that make for some really great lines, but that don’t quite fit the tragic character arc that our boy has been on and is still going through. This remake is no stranger to silly one-liners and dorky quips, but none of them compromise the core theme that the title is going for. The campy moments feel more to me like Leon letting out his inner dork (or badass), enjoying those brief moments that he can and taking pride in his abilities, but not in a way that undermines how seriously he’s taking the situation. Leon truly cares every step of the way, he’s been through a hell of a lot and he’s allowed to be confident in himself after surviving something that would’ve killed almost anyone else. He’s true to his goals and every triumph makes that endgame feel just a little bit more possible:
“This time, it has to be different.”
-- The Controversial & The Cheese Lover - Side Characters --
I’ll have to stress here again that my memory of the original is lacking, so you might have guessed that until this remake my opinion of Ashley was pretty much “LEON!~” - I always thought she was a highschool student that had quite possibly never been outside before and was allergic to doing as she was told (So just any teenager really) - but alas! ‘New Ashley’ is here and she is just wonderful.
The updates to her appearance and demeanor have ultimately resulted in a different character to what I find most people remember. Now much more clearly a young adult, Ashley is a very welcome companion throughout the game, feeling much closer to the likes of Bioshock Infinite’s Elizabeth or TLOU’s Ellie, in the sense that I actually liked having her around and seeing her contribute on our journey. [Who knew that could be done by a character whose name wasn’t a variation of the name Ellie!?]
This reimagined Ashley works perfectly within the setting of the game, and the moments she shares with Leon as well as the way she reacts to things do well to establish the kind of character she is, despite her limited role in the overall plot. She’s not just a damsel in distress to be saved, she wants nothing more than to go home and she knows that the only way that happens is if she follows Leon’s lead, getting involved only when it’s really going to help, and otherwise letting him do his thing. I won’t go into specifics, but the way Ashley and her relationship with Leon develop over the course of the game made it impossible for me not to come away from it loving them both.
I have rambled so much so I’m afraid Luis and Ada are getting smaller parts, but the short version is that I enjoyed them both. Luis was a bit of an enigma for a lot of the game, and I can’t say I loved every single part of his story, but looking back at the full picture I really appreciate his role and actually quite like his personal arc. He’s fun to be around and somehow despite being a badass himself, he’s able to make Leon look even more like a badass by comparison, which is really something. One of the earlier scenes in the game with the two of them is one of the hottest scenes from a game in recent memory, and I mean that in the least gay way possible.
As for Ada.. Well Ada is an interesting character. I’ve heard a lot of takes on her performance in this and honestly I don’t know where I land. I’m hoping that the inevitable Separate Ways DLC gives us a better insight into why she behaves the way that she does. I’ve heard a lot of hate about the way she talks but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as the drama makes out. To me it just sounds like everything she says is in a slightly erotic voice, but where she doesn’t fully want to be there in the first place? Like the director told her to be hot but distracted lol, idk. I didn’t find her character nor performance to be a detriment to the game and I look forward to coming back to see more of her. (Especially because her character model is stunning, seriously) - Speaking of coming back..
-- Different this Time - Replayability --
Resident Evil games have always been famous for their replay value, they encourage or even demand that you run through them more than once, often with specific handicaps or conditions in order to unlock certain rewards. When I first heard that this remake was gonna take around 17 hours on the first run, the thought of doing a second one quickly became more of a fear than a goal. I was convinced that no matter how much easier it was the 2nd time, it’d be nothing but a slog and there’s no way you could beat it in 1 or 2 sittings like all the games before it… More fool me, because Capcom simply does not miss. My first standard playthrough took me just shy of 18 hours to complete, with a number of deaths along the way and a slew of missed collectables and trophy opportunities. Being who I am, this meant that a replay was necessary, if only for the sake of breezing through to get the easy trophies. But that’s not what I decided to do.
I don’t quite remember what inspired this decision, perhaps just over-confidence from having beaten the game once, but I decided to try my hand at a NG+ Professional run. At the time, I had not unlocked any of the bonus rewards or weapons. I had a B in Standard difficulty and I’d missed about 13 of the Castellan dolls needed to unlock the knife that can become unbreakable. I also didn’t use a guide, but decided that if everyone online was beating the game in 4-5 hours the second time, then I could too.
This run would take me 5 hours and 35 minutes, just 5 minutes too long for me to get an S Rank. 😔
In my attempts to be as fast as possible I played fast and loose, running past or through as many encounters as I could, ignoring almost all loot that wasn’t within arms reach and regretting it dearly when I found myself without ammo going into a boss fight. This run was so much fun that I wasn’t even mad when I ended it so close yet so far from getting the S rank I wanted. I’d be lying if I said that some parts weren’t really fkn hard and equally as annoying, and I was torn up when the clock struck 6am and I finally conceded, buying an RPG for the final boss that I’d been too ill-equipped to beat for dozens of attempts, but I had fun.
And it wasn’t in vain! This A rank meant that I now had a bonus weapon that could be upgraded to have infinite ammo, and a costume for Ashley that, well if you read this far you know damn well what it does lol. Even after a collective 22+ hours (it was actually closer to 40 bc of deaths and idle time oop) and 2 completions under my belt, I wanted more.
I was hoping to use my new gun, but given the trophy list I instead decided to work on an Assisted run, in which I would get the trophies for all treasures, all Castellan dolls, no recovery items, no merchant, and pistol + knife only, in a single run. This went about as well as you might expect. I won’t break it all down again but what a challenge this was, every room had to be treated differently to the last two times and with my no healing nor merchant I couldn’t repair my knife/armour or regain any health if something went wrong. I’m telling you I’ve seen people complain that the knife durability is pointless, but when you can’t repair it even starting out with 2 fully upgraded ones will not help you. I went through every knife in the game and ended with about 10% hp on the one you unlock after your first playthrough. By chapter 12 I was finishing off downed enemies with bullets because stabbing them would’ve meant having no way to parry, and this was on Assisted.
This run was challenging as hell, but I beat the entire game - final boss included - using nothing but the SG-09R, the Punisher, and knives. Fuck yeah. 😌
The only bad news to come from all of this is that playing the game on NG++ Assisted with only 1 or 2 hits worth of hp per battle did NOT equip me for playing New game Professional at all lmao. But I’ll get there eventually!
-- Final Thoughts - Thank You for your Time --
In conclusion, it finally makes sense to me now why Resident Evil 4 is so often called the best game in the series, and this remake may even be just that. If the 2005 gamecube release was this mind-blowing to the players of its time, I get it.
If you read this whole thing then you have my dearest thanks. This game has become something of an obsession since it was released and it felt only right that I give it a ‘proper’ review to boot. (That and this is the best excuse I have to just talk about it lmao) - I hope this was enjoyable or interesting to read, I know a lot of my reviews are just me word vomiting every thought I have, often without a real point or through-line, but I choose to lazily write that off as passion. 😌
If anything I said was wrong, gave you a new perspective on something or was worth responding to at all please do let me know. It means a lot to know these reviews serve as even a little bit of engagement between y’all and I. Thanks again everyone, hope you’re having a wonderful week, and I look forward to seeing your own reviews or seeing you back for my next one… Whenever that may be. Take care! 🙏
3 Comments
Thank you! Glad to hear it :D
Couldn’t agree more. Wonderful review and insight!
Thompson
1 year ago