There is an interesting dance lying at the heart of this game between the increased randomness on its ranged options and the consistent but limited fallback option that is the knife parry. I suppose this does create less predictable outcomes: I fire off three shots with no stagger, consider switching to a different weapon, end up forced into a situation where I have to parry, might miss the parry or be forced to reposition myself if my durability is too low. That's sort of interesting and a meaningfully different flavor from the original, even if I can't think of a scenario where I would necessarily prefer it to that game's more proactive decision-making and accommodating feedback.
It gets bizarre when you consider the inclusion of several bandaids to allow the player to make things more consistent: the laser sight as well as weapons with varying levels of stagger, bloom and target acquisition speed. Some of these are further contingent on a new currency primarily earned through optional side quests, which themselves include highlights such as "kill five rats in every area of the game" or "shoot eight medallions in every area of the game." This certainly makes loadout options more diverse, but at least for me it's self-defeating in that I will always pick loadout options that make the game more consistent (read: more immediately and intrinsically enjoyable) and possibly feel pushed into engaging with side content I'm not actually interested in. This gets away from the original's pick-up-and-play appeal where all loadout options are "normalized" to the point that I can pick literally any weapon and have a blast.
This new approach to combat is definitely at its best when you're getting cumstered from all sides in the early game: rather than constantly cutting your path through the crowd like in the original, you're often forced to find safe ways to back away from it and not lock yourself into a bad position. However, just like the original, level design gets more constricted once we reach the island, and whereas that gives the 2005 version a refreshing bit of momentum in that final stretch, the remake seems to run out of ideas here: it's been a minute since release but my memories of that portion are a blur of tunnels with maybe two or three guys coming at me where I'd stand in the opposite corner and just pick them off. The less accommodating mechanics feel ill-suited to these ultra-basic fights.
One of the original's best qualities is how it constantly reinterprets its core mechanics for interstitial moments connecting the larger combat arenas: the cable car sequence, the Garrador cage fight, riding on the back of the disposal truck with Ashley, the U3 boss, etc. The remake either excises these entirely or replaces them with much more limited set-pieces like the now on-rails mine cart segment or the El Gigante ramparts escape scene, which feels like a much more modern AAA (derogatory) way of introducing variety and fails to utilize most of the mechanics on offer. This probably warrants a more nuanced scenario analysis than what I can offer here, but it can't help but feel like a much same-ier, soupier game across its run, which is disappointing given how strong the remake starts with all its small but meaningful subversions in the village section.
Still cool to see one of the most important games in my life reimagined this way and has too much RE4 DNA to not be pretty fun in the end, but I don't expect it to have a similar staying power.
It gets bizarre when you consider the inclusion of several bandaids to allow the player to make things more consistent: the laser sight as well as weapons with varying levels of stagger, bloom and target acquisition speed. Some of these are further contingent on a new currency primarily earned through optional side quests, which themselves include highlights such as "kill five rats in every area of the game" or "shoot eight medallions in every area of the game." This certainly makes loadout options more diverse, but at least for me it's self-defeating in that I will always pick loadout options that make the game more consistent (read: more immediately and intrinsically enjoyable) and possibly feel pushed into engaging with side content I'm not actually interested in. This gets away from the original's pick-up-and-play appeal where all loadout options are "normalized" to the point that I can pick literally any weapon and have a blast.
This new approach to combat is definitely at its best when you're getting cumstered from all sides in the early game: rather than constantly cutting your path through the crowd like in the original, you're often forced to find safe ways to back away from it and not lock yourself into a bad position. However, just like the original, level design gets more constricted once we reach the island, and whereas that gives the 2005 version a refreshing bit of momentum in that final stretch, the remake seems to run out of ideas here: it's been a minute since release but my memories of that portion are a blur of tunnels with maybe two or three guys coming at me where I'd stand in the opposite corner and just pick them off. The less accommodating mechanics feel ill-suited to these ultra-basic fights.
One of the original's best qualities is how it constantly reinterprets its core mechanics for interstitial moments connecting the larger combat arenas: the cable car sequence, the Garrador cage fight, riding on the back of the disposal truck with Ashley, the U3 boss, etc. The remake either excises these entirely or replaces them with much more limited set-pieces like the now on-rails mine cart segment or the El Gigante ramparts escape scene, which feels like a much more modern AAA (derogatory) way of introducing variety and fails to utilize most of the mechanics on offer. This probably warrants a more nuanced scenario analysis than what I can offer here, but it can't help but feel like a much same-ier, soupier game across its run, which is disappointing given how strong the remake starts with all its small but meaningful subversions in the village section.
Still cool to see one of the most important games in my life reimagined this way and has too much RE4 DNA to not be pretty fun in the end, but I don't expect it to have a similar staying power.