Do you agree that capcom should have simply remade RE4 with next gen visuals instead of completely reamagining the game? For example although Konami are Remaking MGS snake eater it's the same game as original just with superior graphics
Capcom could have taken this approach with the remake
- Thread starter Jamesy
- Start date
No. The original Resident Evil 4 already felt dated by the time Resident Evil 5 released and even more so after Resident Evil 2 remake. Sure, they could have updated the controls like they are with Snake Eater, but then you still have the same outdated, limited, and repetitive gameplay loop, with a rushed bare bones story, and linear level design comprised of senseless combat arenas and "puzzles" that amount to grabbing and placing key items on doors to progress.
The original Resident Evil 4 served its purpose 20 years ago in shaping modern gaming, but its contributions have long since been improved upon by the very games it inspired and helped create. The remake we got is proof of that. Not only is combat much more fluid, dynamic, and tense, its level design is also evocative of classic Resident Evil despite staying true to the original's linear progression. It's this delicate balance between the game's original vision and the series' current survival horror identity that they just absolutely nail in every single regard that makes the remake not just a superior action game, but a better Resident Evil game too.
The original Resident Evil 4 served its purpose 20 years ago in shaping modern gaming, but its contributions have long since been improved upon by the very games it inspired and helped create. The remake we got is proof of that. Not only is combat much more fluid, dynamic, and tense, its level design is also evocative of classic Resident Evil despite staying true to the original's linear progression. It's this delicate balance between the game's original vision and the series' current survival horror identity that they just absolutely nail in every single regard that makes the remake not just a superior action game, but a better Resident Evil game too.
I actually wish they re-imagined it more!
I really loved the gameplay improvements like stealth kills and multiple ways using the environment to dispatch enemies. The addition of locked drawers and small keys as a throwback to RE of yore was also nice. I feel like they listened to exactly what I suggested when I said the series should borrow some elements for The Evil Within and I appreciate that wholeheartedly.
Sadly though, it's still Biohazard 4 through and through as far as art direction, progression and story goes and not of that interests me in the 2020's. It was banal but fun in 2005 and it's banal but fun in the 2020's but at least in 2005 it didn't have that "run it's course" feeling etched into your subconscious. "Oh this stuff again" is not exactly inspiring.
Good job though in any case, they did the best they could with the blueprint they were obviously strictly confined to.
They also really need to fix the PC version still! It's still using Denuvo DRM and it's utilizing CPU cores very poorly which cramps performance and feels like a shoddy PS5 port.
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No, I think what they did was the best possible decision given the available tools and direction. If anything, I'd rather say that they missed an opportunity to make the game even more grounded and thereby more connected to the first three games in terms of atmosphere and realism. For example the fact that we still don't know Saddler's backstory or how he became a billionaire zealot, or why the village and villagers look like they came straight out of the 19th century despite the fact the game takes place in 21st century Spain - among a few.
That's a Mikami thing. He has this weird fetish with 19th century wealth hierarchy and themes. I mean look at the original Spencer Mansion from Biohazard 1! It has 19th century written all over it. The Evil Within also has 19th century themes of wealth hierarchy (Ruvik and sister come from a wealthy background and barn was torched by peasants with an axe to grind).
He very likely read lots of Karl Marx in his younger years.
While I love the game we got, there's a part of me that can't get over one of the alleged leaks from 4Chan that Dusk Golem claims was complete BS, but I can't help but feel is just him being gatekeepy over leaks due to how many specific details this leaker got correct and how much of it started making sense after Separate Ways. I think it was even Dusk Golem himself who said there was a development restart to make the game much closer to the original, which is what we got, so is it possible this leak was from an older build?
I remember when I first heard Krauser wasn't going to be in the game, I wasn't that upset. Considering how late in the game he was introduced and the fact that he had no prior involvement in the series but was treated like a ghost of Leon's past made his presence feel like just another random tacked on element to extend the absurdity of this dumb action game. So his absence would have come across as a careful examination of the original game and a necessary cut in order to maintain a specific feel and continuity with the other remakes.
According to this leak, Luis would have had a much larger role extending onto the island and essentially filling Krauser's role, where he would have mutated and stalked the player... Mendez was also described as a stalker, specifically in his home. This is where my mind starts making connections because while there aren't really any traditional stalkers in the Resident Evil 4 remake, there are entirely brand new chase sequences that out of context, could appear to be stalkers like Mr. X. While Mendez chases Leon on the outskirts of the village, he does in fact also chase you out of his home in Separate Ways. Could this have been a Leon section in early development or is it possible these sections were just reworked from earlier builds where he was in fact a stalker-like enemy?
But most fascinating to me is Luis' supposed mutation on the island. At first glance there might seem to be no evidence of such a thing in the final game, but something that did kinda strike me as odd was how Luis gives Leon a key in the undergound tunnels of the castle to a lab that is located on some far off island that Leon only ends up at because he chased Krauser there... An oversight? Most likely. But could it also be a remnant of an earlier draft? I'd like to think so, especially after Separate Ways which gave us a shock with the Martinico sequence, a monster that never existed in the original. Could this have been Luis at one point in development?
Krauser's subplot in the final game does even feel a bit disconnected from his original role. I definitely thought his character was handled a lot better in the remake, but he also seemingly has no ties to Wesker, Umbrella, or even Ada this time and really only exists to flesh out Leon's government backstory. By removing his affliation with Wesker and Ada, it does kinda appear like he was a last minute addition to a story he was not originally included in.
Personally, I would have really preferred they grounded the game in the same way they did the previous 2 remakes. Just compare Marvin's performance to anyone in the RE4 remake and it's night and day. Marvin feels like a real human being while Luis and Ashley seem a lot more comfortable in their circumstances than any sane person would despite their improved writing and performances. This leak seemed to be describing something a lot darker and more grounded as well. From Saddler being more of a scientist to Salazar just being a frail old man.
I know most people wouldn't go for such a major deviation of its source, especially with a game this popular, but given how controversial the game was to the series to begin with, I would have appreciated a much bolder take on RE4 that follows the previous games closer and acts like a true sequel to what the series was setting up at that point. I know DC Douglas himself was responsible for some of the earlier leaks, which showed Wesker with a scarred and bandaged arm, which would have been a nice continuity detail after what had transpired in Code Veronica. Wesker was also supposed to be the game's true final boss, which would have been amazing given that we have never seen Leon and Wesker interact before. Missed opportunity and definitely the kind of thing I wouldn't mind the remakes taking liberties with.
But one of my favorite details was the supposed female Jester character who would have chased Leon through some dark basement in the castle and acted as a tribute to the Hookman. Which I find interesting because right after Leon falls down Salazar's trap in the remake, you do navigate dark corridors with invisible novistadors and after you climb up, we then do get a reference to the hookman beta with Leon's infection briefly turning his world blue. Saddler does also have these mysterious female guards who we never take on in gameplay. The novistadors were also claimed to have been cut from the game and then put back in. So the dark sewer section could have very well been occupied by something else at one point and a lot of the novistador encounters do feel like they were just kinda thrown into entirely new and repurposed sections since none of their original areas return.
Salvador was even said to have had a larger role, being the same character with each appearance, becoming bigger and more mutated each time and with some sort of backstory. This honestly sounds really cool and I think Dusk Golem had even alluded to this once. The Sphere Hunter also made a great observation about Salvador that the game never really explores, but Salvador's head appears to be split in half, with the sack protecting the plaga from sunlight. I also find it kind of strange that the demo for the game has a Chainsaw Mode with a unique Salvador variant that doesn't exist in the actual game.
Whether it was all BS or not, I don't know. This series has certainly attracted some of the most elaborate liars who are bound to get some things right, but there were definitely some details that were just way too oddly specific that ended up true for me to completely write off. Like how they knew Chris would have a cameo in the form of a picture, which he does on Wesker's screen at the end... And as I've tried to highlight with this post, some of the more wild claims don't seem that wild when you consider certain factors and examine the final product.
Regardless of its validity, though, it does paint an interesting vision for an alternate Resident Evil 4 that could have really p*ssed off fans of the original, which they did anyway by being faithful to it, but could have potentially intrigued and satisfied fans of not just the classic games but survival horror in general.
I remember when I first heard Krauser wasn't going to be in the game, I wasn't that upset. Considering how late in the game he was introduced and the fact that he had no prior involvement in the series but was treated like a ghost of Leon's past made his presence feel like just another random tacked on element to extend the absurdity of this dumb action game. So his absence would have come across as a careful examination of the original game and a necessary cut in order to maintain a specific feel and continuity with the other remakes.
According to this leak, Luis would have had a much larger role extending onto the island and essentially filling Krauser's role, where he would have mutated and stalked the player... Mendez was also described as a stalker, specifically in his home. This is where my mind starts making connections because while there aren't really any traditional stalkers in the Resident Evil 4 remake, there are entirely brand new chase sequences that out of context, could appear to be stalkers like Mr. X. While Mendez chases Leon on the outskirts of the village, he does in fact also chase you out of his home in Separate Ways. Could this have been a Leon section in early development or is it possible these sections were just reworked from earlier builds where he was in fact a stalker-like enemy?
But most fascinating to me is Luis' supposed mutation on the island. At first glance there might seem to be no evidence of such a thing in the final game, but something that did kinda strike me as odd was how Luis gives Leon a key in the undergound tunnels of the castle to a lab that is located on some far off island that Leon only ends up at because he chased Krauser there... An oversight? Most likely. But could it also be a remnant of an earlier draft? I'd like to think so, especially after Separate Ways which gave us a shock with the Martinico sequence, a monster that never existed in the original. Could this have been Luis at one point in development?
Krauser's subplot in the final game does even feel a bit disconnected from his original role. I definitely thought his character was handled a lot better in the remake, but he also seemingly has no ties to Wesker, Umbrella, or even Ada this time and really only exists to flesh out Leon's government backstory. By removing his affliation with Wesker and Ada, it does kinda appear like he was a last minute addition to a story he was not originally included in.
Personally, I would have really preferred they grounded the game in the same way they did the previous 2 remakes. Just compare Marvin's performance to anyone in the RE4 remake and it's night and day. Marvin feels like a real human being while Luis and Ashley seem a lot more comfortable in their circumstances than any sane person would despite their improved writing and performances. This leak seemed to be describing something a lot darker and more grounded as well. From Saddler being more of a scientist to Salazar just being a frail old man.
I know most people wouldn't go for such a major deviation of its source, especially with a game this popular, but given how controversial the game was to the series to begin with, I would have appreciated a much bolder take on RE4 that follows the previous games closer and acts like a true sequel to what the series was setting up at that point. I know DC Douglas himself was responsible for some of the earlier leaks, which showed Wesker with a scarred and bandaged arm, which would have been a nice continuity detail after what had transpired in Code Veronica. Wesker was also supposed to be the game's true final boss, which would have been amazing given that we have never seen Leon and Wesker interact before. Missed opportunity and definitely the kind of thing I wouldn't mind the remakes taking liberties with.
But one of my favorite details was the supposed female Jester character who would have chased Leon through some dark basement in the castle and acted as a tribute to the Hookman. Which I find interesting because right after Leon falls down Salazar's trap in the remake, you do navigate dark corridors with invisible novistadors and after you climb up, we then do get a reference to the hookman beta with Leon's infection briefly turning his world blue. Saddler does also have these mysterious female guards who we never take on in gameplay. The novistadors were also claimed to have been cut from the game and then put back in. So the dark sewer section could have very well been occupied by something else at one point and a lot of the novistador encounters do feel like they were just kinda thrown into entirely new and repurposed sections since none of their original areas return.
Salvador was even said to have had a larger role, being the same character with each appearance, becoming bigger and more mutated each time and with some sort of backstory. This honestly sounds really cool and I think Dusk Golem had even alluded to this once. The Sphere Hunter also made a great observation about Salvador that the game never really explores, but Salvador's head appears to be split in half, with the sack protecting the plaga from sunlight. I also find it kind of strange that the demo for the game has a Chainsaw Mode with a unique Salvador variant that doesn't exist in the actual game.
Whether it was all BS or not, I don't know. This series has certainly attracted some of the most elaborate liars who are bound to get some things right, but there were definitely some details that were just way too oddly specific that ended up true for me to completely write off. Like how they knew Chris would have a cameo in the form of a picture, which he does on Wesker's screen at the end... And as I've tried to highlight with this post, some of the more wild claims don't seem that wild when you consider certain factors and examine the final product.
Regardless of its validity, though, it does paint an interesting vision for an alternate Resident Evil 4 that could have really p*ssed off fans of the original, which they did anyway by being faithful to it, but could have potentially intrigued and satisfied fans of not just the classic games but survival horror in general.