Resident Evil 4 is a classic survival-horror game that revolutionized the genre when it was first released in 2005. Even with the game making a departure from it’s Fixed Camera angles, Tank controls and opting for a somewhat action based approach while also popularizing Over-the-shoulder Aiming which is a staple in the 3rd Person shooters, the game went on to be a masterpiece of game design, with its atmospheric setting, engaging story, and thrilling gameplay.
So when it was announced that a remake of the game was in the works, many fans were excited to relive the horror once again. However, the Resident Evil 4 remake may have not lived up to the expectations of many fans, and some citing that it’s not as good as the original game for several reasons.
Reasons
One – Change in Aesthetics / Atmosphere
One of the main reasons is that Resident Evil 4 remake lacks the same level of tension and atmosphere. The original game was a masterclass in building tension not that the remake is bad at it but it pales in comparison with the original or that is what some say,
Popular YouTube Creator Crowbcat uploaded a video to specifically detail these changes in art-direction and cinematic direction and just the overall game in general…….. AND
…They have been receiving a lot of Heat from other Youtubers and it’s for a understandable reason which I’ll tell you later.
Judging from the beginning section of video, which focuses on the aesthetics and the environment and the overall vibe, it makes it seem that the RE4 Remake sacrificed a lot of stylistic choices for a much more realistic and a different aesthetic and vibe altogether.
In short if the Aesthetic/Atmosphere of RE4 was grey, murky and mysterious then the
RE4 Remake is dark, intense and gloomy. At least for me , Either way both are very fitting for the game regardless.
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Two – Change In the Narrative Tone
is how the tone of the overall game’s narrative has been changed for much more darker serious representation of the events, Gone is the badass chad-like Leon from the original that could rival Dante from DMC Franchise and now we have Leon from the remake who’s still a badass but now he could rival….well Dante from DMC 2.
No but on a serious note, the overall campiness and wacky dialogues and dramatic encounters like Leon meeting Salazar the first time, and Leon saying his meme-worthy one- liner
or Leon Vs Krauser
or how he met ada.
Be it Leon Flirting with hunnigan, over the top entrances, buch of front flips and back flips, matrix time slow motion, stylistic maneuvers all have been reduced to fit the newer tone a little better and be more realistic
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Third – Voice Acting
Another issue what people had with remake are the changes in the Voice actors , which is OK, I mean you can be a little displeased with not having the original actors not voicing your favorite characters but you might give the new guys a shot and who knows you might like it right, But no, many fans had so much say about the VA’s in the remake specifically Ada’s VA ” Lilly Gao “
and I don’t mean few comments on YouTube or some Social media platforms on how they didn’t like the Voice, no people were really harassing the actor very much and the whole incident escalated to a point where the Actor had delete everything related to her involvement to the project except for one post.
You can pretty much tell that fans were more than just sad with the VA for her to say this much.
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Four – Cut Content
The Cut Content might be the biggest takeaway for many of the fans of the original who waited long to witness iconic moments in the high fidelity and improved graphics.
Documenting each Cut content of the RE4 Remake would take a separate article on it’s own but I would like the mention some of them
U3 Boss Fight
Salazar Statue Chase
Laser Room
NOTE : I didn’t mention Cut content like separate ways as it obviously going to be DLC
Merits / in defense
There’s a lot to say In the defense of the RE4 Remake and how it not only improved from the original but also of how it additions made sense
ONE – The Game’s Lore is Given more Context
One of the biggest Changes/additions that were made was the added context how deepened the narrative is now. There is much more story and writing given to what was not in the original game.
The intro sequence is different this time, in the Remake we start off witnessing a gruesome execution of a unknown female by the members of the Los Iluminados, building the atmosphere right off the bat
We then Shown Glimpses of the Horror that transpired in Racoon City through the eyes of Leon and trauma that he faced while seeing the loss of the people how that day changed him forever all because of Umbrella
We not only see this but also get at what actually happened to Leon hand how he turned From a Rookie Cop to an Experienced Special Agent, we see him being recruited for the training and guess who’s training them Major Jack Krauser
Seeing this we witness the pain and the PTSD That Leon has been through which explains the change he has had over the years because of the incident
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That wasn’t the only thing changed narratively
Take Luis for example.
in the original he was a one-off / off beat character who was never taken seriously either due to the lack of Backstory given to him, and also being discarded early off in the game. We knew that he was a part of the village and stuff like helping the scientists in creation of the Las Plagas.
But in the remake his character his far more better written, we’re given information that he was working with Umbrella Corp and also being a part in the creation of the Nemesis, yeah let that sink in. Just Speaking about him Specifically, That’s not all we even stumble upon a lot of journals speaking about Luis’s past also. And just to point it out Luis really helps you in your journey in the Remake and doesn’t have an insulting death like he had in the original and actually helps you in the game saving Leon at a crucial time.
I love how they took a ridiculous character from the original and made him into a tragic hero like figure.
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The Remake also gave backstory for many other characters like Chief Mendez.
while finding a lot of documents concerning his past and tells that Mendez was close to Luis since Luis’s childhood.Also giving us information on who was the chief of the place before Mendez took the mantle. I like how Capcom gave characters like this enough backstory instead of just brushing it off and just keeping him the same
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Krauser in the remake
In the original he came out of nowhere and if that wasn’t enough it was unknown who exactly he was with only a little backstory.
In the remake however, we’ve actually seen him in the intro sequence and his role in Leon’s life as a mentor made more sense and their interaction addressing each other as Rookie and Major and also referencing Operation Javier
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I would link another video, this one by Gaming Harry. I would highly suggest you to view the video above as he goes in-depth
TWO – Removal Of QTE
The Removal Of the QTEs made sense from every direction. The original was made in 2005, There’s a good chance that almost all games during that time had QTEs in some form or another, be it in a small section, a particular part of the game or just more frequently around the whole game and Resident Evil 4 was no different.
But since The remake is from 2023 and QTEs are long forgotten it only made sense from a Modern game design perspective to not include them.
This resulted in several places not having QTEs, Like cutscene when one of the Salazar’s men throws a knife at you, The infamous Del Dago Boss fight I now a fully functional boss fight and so is The knife fight against Jack Krauser
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THREE – Better Graphics & Controls
This a no brainer considering the remake came 18 years later than the original game made for the then powerful console PS2 ( although it’s still a powerful console ). But now after years of advancement in technology and game development practices, we’re able witness what the original game intended to portray.
Be it the Environment, the villagers, Leon and the gang or whatever, the difference between them is night and day. Added with Weather simulations, Hair physics, Cloth physics, Dynamic and accurate lighting the remake is tailor made for modern gen gaming.
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Speaking of controls as I previously mentioned since the game is almost 2 decades old you might find the original’s controls a bit clunky albeit it was revolutionary at the time and still holds well to this day also.
But another thing I do have to mention is that you will very much find Leon being more confident in execution of his actions and movements compared to his RE2 Remake Counterpart further adding to the effect that this Leon is very much capable than the one you control in RE2 Remake.
FOUR – Details Added
Certain mechanics / interactions and details were added in order make the world more realistic, some were possible due graphical advancements and some were made in gameplay perspective some were obvious like the water in the puddle’s being interactable or blood splatter on your clothes and etc. but these are some you might not have tried or noticed
The First level in the game ends with the Villagers suddenly stop being hostile, drop their weapons and leave the area when the church bell is rung. Something that immediately came into Players mind was that since that’s how the level ends, some players tried to shoot the bell of the church immediately after entering the level
To everyone’s surprise it triggered same cutscene you would see at end of the level and thus progressing us to the next level
These are one of many skips you can do in the game, another would be finishing the galley bridge fight before it even begins
That’s not all, they even added small details that only may go unnoticed but to the keen eye and people interested in observing these really sell the effect of being a realistic world that has been created. Like Example:
You can see the tendrils of the parasite if in case you are able to dismember your enemy by various means you would able to see something like this
or Leon’s aim losing accuracy when low in health
These are just some of many more details added to the game going to show the level of detail they have given in the remake as much as the original had
Conclusion
So In conclusion, the RE4 Remake is definitely a masterpiece in all sense, and it rightfully deserves to be one as it did what remakes are supposed to do instead of seeing it as just a graphical update, it should rather change things that most people didn’t like and build upon and improve things that fans of the original loved.
But as always all of these changes may not always be a good decision, the remake did take some creative decisions and change certain things and aspects which did eventually trigger fans of the original all of these changes could be because any reasons but going so far as calling a great game as ” soulless ” if your purposefully manipulating something to look bad and Harassing someone because you didn’t like their performance too much in is unacceptable.
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“ On a Closing Note the Original Resident Evil 4 has it’s charm and I love it ( I’m a PS2 Kid ) be it’s campiness, stylistic and dramatic cutscenes and everything also but I also love the Remake and it’s aesthetics fit the vibe and tone of the story their going for this time. Overall they may seem different game but both have the love for the franchise as much as we do “
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also this fight among many scary fights in the game gave me nightmares
Woah that was a long essay,
