Not that this game even needed a remake, but they knocked it out of the park. It's a good sign when I can't decide if I like the original or the remake better. Outside of a kinda weird stitched-on extra phase for the final boss and Ada's frankly god awful new voice actress, I think nearly every change was for the better here, even if again those changes were mostly unnecessary (removing the quicktime events was probably the biggest change that actually felt fully warranted and unquestionably beneficial). I do think the original has a bit more charm, but this was unbelievably solid and fun. You can't go wrong with either one, RE4 is just a must-play.

The first couple hours of this game are absolutely brutal. This was my third attempt at playing this game and it finally clicked, but yeah, getting used to the new combat mechanics and unlearning your Dark Souls muscle memory is a steep hill to climb.

Once it clicks though, the game is a blast. Bosses are super satisfying to take down, sneaking around and killing weaker enemies is really fun, and the areas are enjoyable to explore without being so big that you don't know where to go. Learning new skills, powering up your health/posture/attack, finding new prosthetic tools, slowly getting better at the game's combat in general, it's all great.

Then you get about 75% through the game and it stops being interesting at all. You start fighting reused miniboss after reused miniboss, sometimes almost right next to each other. Sometimes you fight a reused MAIN boss. And every time there is either no change, or an extremely obnoxious change. Fight this guy again but now he calls dogs to fight with him the entire time. Fight this guy again but now he's in a poison swamp with 7 other enemies you have to stealth kill first. Fight this guy again but now he's underwater. It turns what was a super satisfying and exciting adventure into a tedious chore really fast. The second memory world is by far the worst offender, and I'll fully admit I didn't even bother finishing that. I doubt the second fight against Owl and his 2 new moves are cool enough to be worth fighting a drunkard miniboss for like the 5th time.

Thankfully the final two areas really pull things back (for the most part, Ashina Castle v.3 is still flooded with reused minibosses but Demon of Hatred and of course the final boss are fantastic) and remind me why I was enjoying the game so much before. If it wasn't for this already shorter than usual game reusing sooo much of its content, it'd be one of FromSoft's best. As it stands, it's pretty good.

I have to say it's not quite as bad as people make it out to be. Nor is it as "misunderstood," though. No, the bosses are not all just big guys in armor. No, the map design is not awful. But the game is just straight up not fun at points. The handful of good areas in the game (I really like areas like Drangleic Castle, Shaded Woods, and Dragon Aerie/Shrine) pale in comparison to the sheer amount of fucking obnoxious areas (The Gutter, Black Gulch, Iron Keep, Shrine of Amana, No-Man's Wharf, the list goes on). Most areas in this game are too fucking long and flooded with boring ass enemies, making runs back to bosses a major pain (until your 15th time of course! weird mechanic btw).

The bosses are also a real mixed bag. Some are really cool (Flexile Sentry, Smelter Demon, Looking Glass Knight), some are interesting ideas with mixed execution (Executioner's Chariot, Old Iron King, Lost Sinner), some are blatant DS1 rehashes (Belfry Gargoyles, Old Dragonslayer, Royal Rat Authority), and some are just complete fucking ass (Ruin Sentinels, Twin Dragonriders, Skeleton Lords and Royal Rat Vanguard). At the very least, every boss in the game is piss easy, but you'll still have to run back after dying to the horrible hitboxes and i-frames (and yes I did level up adaptability a bunch and they are still bad) and the game just feeling like complete shit most of the time. I just finished playing Demon's Souls before this and this game somehow feels WORSE, like it's in slow motion or something.

It's got its highlights for sure, and some genuinely interesting mechanics and ideas, but most of this game is just a complete chore to play. It's way more bloated than the other games, it's too fucking long for its own good and several areas and bosses could've been removed. It's probably the only game in the franchise that I have no urge to replay.