Game Finished In 2024 #12:
I think Resident Evil is cool. It's a series that contains a lot of things that appeal to me specifically. Despite only having ever played 1 Remake to completion, I was fully sold from it and my experience with RE5. I had tried to play RE4 OG last year, in anticipation of the remake, but I stopped at around Castle when I realized I had taken the wrong difficulty and would have had to replay all of Village on easy to get back to where I was. Additionally, it seemed like every time I was annoyed at a bit of the game, I found out that it was removed or otherwise changed for the better in Remake. So I quit and decided to wait until I could just play Remake instead, and I'm very glad I did, because Remake is good as fuck.
To start: yeah, basically every issue I had with Village and what I played of Castle was fixed in Remake. Without a full game playthrough to compare it to, I can't speak for later Castle or Island, but I'm sure the same applies there. The game feel is just as good as if not better than OG, too. It took a bit to adjust to the more modern control style but when I did it worked really well. Significantly helping matters is the implementation of gyro aim, which I am an ardent advocate of. Being able to make minute adjustments makes shooting even more natural, without significantly breaking things like the Wii version's god aiming.
The most obvious change Remake makes is in presentation. Luckily, despite what some clip compilation youtubers posited, the game managed to preserve the soul of the original quite well while updating the graphics, sound, and characters. The remake looks great, runs great, the new voice cast [EXCEPT FOR ADA] is great, and all the character's personalities remain intact, and at times expanded. Leon still makes a lot of great quips often, goofy shit still happens on the regular, and the plot still has a lot of the proper RE charm to it. Ashley getting an entire segment to prove she's capable only to get hit with the damsel stick stings, but otherwise it works. A lot of the most interesting changes, however, are in the gameplay. The knife has been reworked, allowing you to parry and use it as a sort of get out of jail button in dire situations, in addition to the normal uses. It has a durability feature, which helps make deciding when to use it interesting. Durability systems are notoriously hard to manage, but the well done pacing of the game ensures you have access to a way to restore it fairly frequently. Ammo crafting is now a feature, with gunpowder and resources being used to make ammo and bombs. Treasures have been expanded, allowing you to combine gems for optimal combinations. As a small complaint, I wish that red gems were not so overcentralizing. Matching colors on treasures with three or less slots gives you the best bonus, so if there are any treasures with more than one shape, you have to be hoarding your rubies and red beryls for them. Sidequests have also been expanded, giving you access to a whole separate shop menu for spending a new currency. These changes expand the game overall, and make it a better experience.
In terms of flaws, I only have a few and they could be very easily remedied upon a replay. Of these, the biggest one is that,I think ammo management is kind of dire. The game modifies ammo drops based on a factors, and this can make you really feel droughts. This isn't inherently an issue, it is the core of survival horror, after all, but the game has so many different weapon types and I found it annoying to constantly get handgun ammo, to the point all of my non-handgun weapons had to be relegated to only the biggest threats, and 90% of my playtime was spent firing exactly the Red9. Even still, encounters found me nearly running out of that too. Crafting, while adding an enjoyable dynamic, also felt like it is the ONLY consistent way to get ammo for some weapon types. The loss of the free ammo refill upon upgrading a weapon's ammo will be sorely missed, too. On a replay, I'll likely invest more in the Bolt Thrower. There are also some annoying segments, like the fight with Ramon, that I will be more prepared for knowing they're coming.
RE4R is a really good remake of an industry changing game. It kept all of the things I liked about OG while improving it in the areas that mattered. The best part about it is that the original, if you prefer it, is still available everywhere, which is a lesson I wish more devs, including Capcom themselves, took. Please let me buy an RE1-3 PS1 collection.
I think Resident Evil is cool. It's a series that contains a lot of things that appeal to me specifically. Despite only having ever played 1 Remake to completion, I was fully sold from it and my experience with RE5. I had tried to play RE4 OG last year, in anticipation of the remake, but I stopped at around Castle when I realized I had taken the wrong difficulty and would have had to replay all of Village on easy to get back to where I was. Additionally, it seemed like every time I was annoyed at a bit of the game, I found out that it was removed or otherwise changed for the better in Remake. So I quit and decided to wait until I could just play Remake instead, and I'm very glad I did, because Remake is good as fuck.
To start: yeah, basically every issue I had with Village and what I played of Castle was fixed in Remake. Without a full game playthrough to compare it to, I can't speak for later Castle or Island, but I'm sure the same applies there. The game feel is just as good as if not better than OG, too. It took a bit to adjust to the more modern control style but when I did it worked really well. Significantly helping matters is the implementation of gyro aim, which I am an ardent advocate of. Being able to make minute adjustments makes shooting even more natural, without significantly breaking things like the Wii version's god aiming.
The most obvious change Remake makes is in presentation. Luckily, despite what some clip compilation youtubers posited, the game managed to preserve the soul of the original quite well while updating the graphics, sound, and characters. The remake looks great, runs great, the new voice cast [EXCEPT FOR ADA] is great, and all the character's personalities remain intact, and at times expanded. Leon still makes a lot of great quips often, goofy shit still happens on the regular, and the plot still has a lot of the proper RE charm to it. Ashley getting an entire segment to prove she's capable only to get hit with the damsel stick stings, but otherwise it works. A lot of the most interesting changes, however, are in the gameplay. The knife has been reworked, allowing you to parry and use it as a sort of get out of jail button in dire situations, in addition to the normal uses. It has a durability feature, which helps make deciding when to use it interesting. Durability systems are notoriously hard to manage, but the well done pacing of the game ensures you have access to a way to restore it fairly frequently. Ammo crafting is now a feature, with gunpowder and resources being used to make ammo and bombs. Treasures have been expanded, allowing you to combine gems for optimal combinations. As a small complaint, I wish that red gems were not so overcentralizing. Matching colors on treasures with three or less slots gives you the best bonus, so if there are any treasures with more than one shape, you have to be hoarding your rubies and red beryls for them. Sidequests have also been expanded, giving you access to a whole separate shop menu for spending a new currency. These changes expand the game overall, and make it a better experience.
In terms of flaws, I only have a few and they could be very easily remedied upon a replay. Of these, the biggest one is that,I think ammo management is kind of dire. The game modifies ammo drops based on a factors, and this can make you really feel droughts. This isn't inherently an issue, it is the core of survival horror, after all, but the game has so many different weapon types and I found it annoying to constantly get handgun ammo, to the point all of my non-handgun weapons had to be relegated to only the biggest threats, and 90% of my playtime was spent firing exactly the Red9. Even still, encounters found me nearly running out of that too. Crafting, while adding an enjoyable dynamic, also felt like it is the ONLY consistent way to get ammo for some weapon types. The loss of the free ammo refill upon upgrading a weapon's ammo will be sorely missed, too. On a replay, I'll likely invest more in the Bolt Thrower. There are also some annoying segments, like the fight with Ramon, that I will be more prepared for knowing they're coming.
RE4R is a really good remake of an industry changing game. It kept all of the things I liked about OG while improving it in the areas that mattered. The best part about it is that the original, if you prefer it, is still available everywhere, which is a lesson I wish more devs, including Capcom themselves, took. Please let me buy an RE1-3 PS1 collection.