I've struggled with what to write about this game for a while because I have mixed opinions on remakes. On one hand, I'd rather there be more original ideas in gaming than recycled versions of old ones. However, if every remake was as good as the Resident Evil 4 remake, I don't think I'd have a issue playing any of them.
A lot of people argue RE4 didn't have to be remade, and I do think the original still stands on its own. Having said that, I think RE4 absolutely benefits from a more modern control scheme, and the developers were clearly very careful to not drastically change the parts of RE4 everyone loved (the village) and instead tweaked the parts of the game that were generally less liked (the castle and the island). Re4make does an excellent job of reminding you why the original RE4 was so good while sanding down the parts that haven't aged as well, and I don't think there's a better way to remake a game like this.
When I was 15, I remember playing RE4 at my parents house on a tiny CRT TV. I got to the boss fight against Mendez (aka The Village Chief), and once I saw the entire farmhouse engulfed in flames, I remember being amazed that a game could look this good. Flash foward to this year - I'm 33, playing RE4make at my own place in 4K, and during the Mendez fight I'm just as amazed at the setpiece as I was when I played the original over 15 years ago. The fact that Capcom was able to replicate the same feelings I had with the original but with modern visuals and presentation is an enormous accomplishment that shouldn't be understated.
A lot of people argue RE4 didn't have to be remade, and I do think the original still stands on its own. Having said that, I think RE4 absolutely benefits from a more modern control scheme, and the developers were clearly very careful to not drastically change the parts of RE4 everyone loved (the village) and instead tweaked the parts of the game that were generally less liked (the castle and the island). Re4make does an excellent job of reminding you why the original RE4 was so good while sanding down the parts that haven't aged as well, and I don't think there's a better way to remake a game like this.
When I was 15, I remember playing RE4 at my parents house on a tiny CRT TV. I got to the boss fight against Mendez (aka The Village Chief), and once I saw the entire farmhouse engulfed in flames, I remember being amazed that a game could look this good. Flash foward to this year - I'm 33, playing RE4make at my own place in 4K, and during the Mendez fight I'm just as amazed at the setpiece as I was when I played the original over 15 years ago. The fact that Capcom was able to replicate the same feelings I had with the original but with modern visuals and presentation is an enormous accomplishment that shouldn't be understated.