After nearly 60 hours and 9 playthroughs, I think I have enough time playing this game to be able to properly express my thoughts.
Unlike many gamers, I never was into the classic RE games (tank controls filtered me at a young age). But like many gamers, I absolutely loved RE4 (I think the camera perspetive does a great job making the tank controls feel more palatable). I was obsessed with it back in high school and played the hell out of it, it's still an easy top 10 game of all time for me. I saw a remake coming when Capcom began continuing the remake project with 2 and 3, and obviously expectations where through the roof. Did it capture the magic of my first playthrough all those years ago?
It did, almost.
Some obvious changes were made to make the game palatable to a more modern audience, so the control scheme is closer to a lot of modern third-person shooters. To compensate, the enemies were tweaked and ended up being a lot more aggressive and sturdy. Methods that could guarantee stuns into counter kicks are much less reliable here (some enemies can take several headshots before the prompt appears), and it's very common to end up in a situation where you get bulldozed by an assembly line of enemies. I was used to the mechanics of OG 4, so I was constantly fighting my muscle memory as much as I was the enemies. The knife has durability now and it needs regular repairs (until you max out the post-game infinity knife), but it also adds a parry mechanic and which easily turn the tide in battle (you can even parry chainsaws!). You can now select up to 8 weapons to swap on the fly, and the game does a good job dropping ammo for weapons you're using so it's pretty hard to get stuck unless you're deliberately playing terribly.
The game in general is pretty challenging, even on standard (I can't imagine starting on hardcore like the game suggests for OG fans). Unlearning the old game while learning the new game and adjusting to the combat was super demanding. Once you unlock more upgrades, the combat is immensely fun and satisfying. New game plus runs are worth it just for their own sake, it's super satisfying to curbstomp fights you had trouble with the first time. Not to mention the bonus weapons you can unlock from completing tasks (like the infinity knife mentioned; sadly the chicago typewriter is a bit of a downgrade here).
Ashley's character is an improvement here, I found her much
more endearing than the OG, thanks to a lot more banter between her and Leon. Sadly you can no longer command her to wait, it's either follow closely or stray behind. It might not seem like a big deal, but there were a few moments where I'd have really appreciated it.
Luis is another point that has been covered so I'll be brief. He feels much more complete as a character and his banter with Leon is pretty entertaining. Ada's current VA and her performance have been criticized, and while I wasn't a huge fan I didn't think it's as bad as people have said, apparently she's a lot better in the DLC so we'll have to see. I feel the main villains got a bit of a downgrade here. Salazar hijacking Leon's radio in the OG lead to some of the most memorable quips in the game, here it doesn't happen and he feels like a side character in his own arc. Saddler doesn't actually appear until chapter 15, whereas in he appeared every so often in the OG and also had some memorable moments. This is also a more personal gripe, but I'm bummed out U-3 got cut. The fight itself wasn't too fancy, but the sequence he stalked you among the carrier crates was one of the highlights of the OG.
As you can probably tell, my thoughts on the game are super positive for the most part. While it's an excellent game, it stops just short of having that extra oomph-factor that made OG4 a true masterpiece. It's absolutely not a substitute for playing the original game, even if you play this first you should still get around to OG since the gameplay holds up immensely well. My last trophy to unlock is hardcore S+ and I might try it, but standard S+ was enough to knock me on my ass. Despite my criticisms, they're not enough to detract from the sheer enjoyment I had playing this game. I need to replay OG4 ASAP. In the meantime, I did get RE5 remastered so maybe I'll continue my RE marathon.
Strong 9/10
Unlike many gamers, I never was into the classic RE games (tank controls filtered me at a young age). But like many gamers, I absolutely loved RE4 (I think the camera perspetive does a great job making the tank controls feel more palatable). I was obsessed with it back in high school and played the hell out of it, it's still an easy top 10 game of all time for me. I saw a remake coming when Capcom began continuing the remake project with 2 and 3, and obviously expectations where through the roof. Did it capture the magic of my first playthrough all those years ago?
It did, almost.
Some obvious changes were made to make the game palatable to a more modern audience, so the control scheme is closer to a lot of modern third-person shooters. To compensate, the enemies were tweaked and ended up being a lot more aggressive and sturdy. Methods that could guarantee stuns into counter kicks are much less reliable here (some enemies can take several headshots before the prompt appears), and it's very common to end up in a situation where you get bulldozed by an assembly line of enemies. I was used to the mechanics of OG 4, so I was constantly fighting my muscle memory as much as I was the enemies. The knife has durability now and it needs regular repairs (until you max out the post-game infinity knife), but it also adds a parry mechanic and which easily turn the tide in battle (you can even parry chainsaws!). You can now select up to 8 weapons to swap on the fly, and the game does a good job dropping ammo for weapons you're using so it's pretty hard to get stuck unless you're deliberately playing terribly.
The game in general is pretty challenging, even on standard (I can't imagine starting on hardcore like the game suggests for OG fans). Unlearning the old game while learning the new game and adjusting to the combat was super demanding. Once you unlock more upgrades, the combat is immensely fun and satisfying. New game plus runs are worth it just for their own sake, it's super satisfying to curbstomp fights you had trouble with the first time. Not to mention the bonus weapons you can unlock from completing tasks (like the infinity knife mentioned; sadly the chicago typewriter is a bit of a downgrade here).
Ashley's character is an improvement here, I found her much
more endearing than the OG, thanks to a lot more banter between her and Leon. Sadly you can no longer command her to wait, it's either follow closely or stray behind. It might not seem like a big deal, but there were a few moments where I'd have really appreciated it.
Luis is another point that has been covered so I'll be brief. He feels much more complete as a character and his banter with Leon is pretty entertaining. Ada's current VA and her performance have been criticized, and while I wasn't a huge fan I didn't think it's as bad as people have said, apparently she's a lot better in the DLC so we'll have to see. I feel the main villains got a bit of a downgrade here. Salazar hijacking Leon's radio in the OG lead to some of the most memorable quips in the game, here it doesn't happen and he feels like a side character in his own arc. Saddler doesn't actually appear until chapter 15, whereas in he appeared every so often in the OG and also had some memorable moments. This is also a more personal gripe, but I'm bummed out U-3 got cut. The fight itself wasn't too fancy, but the sequence he stalked you among the carrier crates was one of the highlights of the OG.
As you can probably tell, my thoughts on the game are super positive for the most part. While it's an excellent game, it stops just short of having that extra oomph-factor that made OG4 a true masterpiece. It's absolutely not a substitute for playing the original game, even if you play this first you should still get around to OG since the gameplay holds up immensely well. My last trophy to unlock is hardcore S+ and I might try it, but standard S+ was enough to knock me on my ass. Despite my criticisms, they're not enough to detract from the sheer enjoyment I had playing this game. I need to replay OG4 ASAP. In the meantime, I did get RE5 remastered so maybe I'll continue my RE marathon.
Strong 9/10