SaddlerFan
Well-Known Member
For me it all began back in 2008 when I got the Wii version of the game (I got a used copy at GameStop, the dude at the counter was like "for the stuff you just brought in you can pick a game from that pile over there" and I saw 'Resident Evil 4' and since I was familiar with the movies from the franchise I thought I'd give it a go). It took me quite a while to get used to the controls - I liked the Wii somewhat but I never really became "friends" with mine, it just wasn't as awesome to me as the GameBoy, the SNES and the N64. I think RE4 was the only game I played obsessively on my Wii back then. Unfortunately, my interests then shifted towards other games because like I said, the Wii was a console I was happy to leave behind as fast as I could because the whole idea of waving your controller around to play a game never sat well with me. I didn't get the appeal, and I still don't get it. It's hectic and stressful to me. But RE4 remained a fond memory.
Fast forward to 2022 and the remake announcement for RE4. Now, I don't have a PS5 yet but the idea of a remake got me super excited anyway (I'm the type who's cool with remakes, I don't mind them), so I grabbed my old Wii and tried to play RE4 again... but I absolutely couldn't get used to the awful controls anymore, no matter how much I tried. So I sighed, put the Wii away and downloaded the game on my PS4. And there you go, much better. It still took me a bit to get used to Leon's rather clunky way of moving around but I got the hang of it in no time and now I'm back to playing the game again almost every day. It still holds up.
Why?
I think one reason for me is the inventory. I... umm... like for things to be in order (putting it mildly) and I love to put all the ammo and the weapons in their little corners so that everything looks neat and orderly. It's so satisfying! And it calms me down.
Also, I like that I know what happens next. It gives me a sense of security. The game does have a few jump scares, but not too many and I know where and when they happen so it's fine.
The PS4 graphics look fine to me (I'm an 80s kid, I come from a time when pixel-ish Super Mario Land on the Game Boy was THE game to play). I would LOVE to play that amazing new HD project version, it looks AMAZING, but that one is only available on PC, I guess. Sadly! (I'm really, really not a PC gamer. Consoles all the way for me.)
I love that RE4 has an easy mode. Yes, I play games on easy mode because I don't like to get stressed out by difficulty settings. And I must say, RE4 is not an easy game to play even on easy mode, at least not without the Chicago Typewriter and/or the Infinite Rocket Launcher.
Somehow I STILL find new things to either collect or look at or think about whenever I play the game all the way through again. I don't know how Capcom did this, but the replay value of this game is INCREDIBLE, at least to me as someone who tends to focus on things and then ponders them for a long time and in that time I miss other things to look at and then I notice the next shiny thing to ponder on my next playthrough... and so on.
I adore the general "okay what on Earth is going on, ah well, we're just gonna roll with it I guess" tone of the game, even more so now than back in 2008. i guess it's because my own life is like that as well now, lol. I also VERY much appreciate the dramatic fabulous camp ("Write in my cage of torment, my friend.") and the silly humor ("Your right hand comes off?").
I also love the characters (well okay, maybe not Ashley... it's not so much her behavior but more the voice that gets to me and the constant LEOOOON LEEOOOON HEEEELP screaming at various points in the game - I know it's the same voice actress who voices Sandy on SpongeBob... which doesn't help). I love Leon's sassy humor, Luis' dry remarks and Ada being mysteriously awesome and Salazar's over-the-top drama and Mendez' quiet menace and Krauser's stereotpical soldier speeches AND, of course, The Merchant being able to teleport himself and revive himself (or is it an army of Merchant clones? We just don't know) and his wonderful and iconic salesman lines... I dunno, this is such a wild and weird mix of people that I just love it all. I love weird. Did I ever mention that?
And, of course, there's Osmund Saddler. I don't want to turn this into a LORD SADDLER LORD SADDLER LORD SADDLER thing (I totally could, I have a lot of THOUGHTS and QUESTIONS), so let me just say he's awesome to me. I love him as a villain, I love how camp his humor is and how he somehow constantly ignores every single opportunity to get rid of Leon, lmao. I love how he seemingly lives everywhere and nowhere because he literally pops up everywhere and yet doesn't seem to have a place to stay (a guy like him I would expect to live in a mansion), at least we never get to see anything in the game even though he's the big bad final boss. And I actually love that so little is known about him. There's almost no backstory provided. Where is he even from? What is his accent? To my German ears it sounds like a wild mixture of various European accents. I was watching a new video podcast interview with Saddler's voice actor Michael Gough a few days ago and he didn't even seem to remember that he gave Saddler an accent. So I really don't think even HE knows, haha. I'm pretty sure the remake will give him a backstory, but since this isn't about the remake I guess I'll stick to what the original says. Which is almost nothing. Which adds to Saddler's fascination. To me, at least.
Anyways, I thought I'd share what makes RE4 so special to me even after all these years. I have tried other RE games but none of them could reach the perfection that is RE4 on my list of Awesome Games. Maybe some of you have the same love for the game? Or for one of the characters in it? I know everyone usually discusses the gameplay mechanics and the guns and which one is best and whatnot but honestly those things are just secondary stuff to me.
Fast forward to 2022 and the remake announcement for RE4. Now, I don't have a PS5 yet but the idea of a remake got me super excited anyway (I'm the type who's cool with remakes, I don't mind them), so I grabbed my old Wii and tried to play RE4 again... but I absolutely couldn't get used to the awful controls anymore, no matter how much I tried. So I sighed, put the Wii away and downloaded the game on my PS4. And there you go, much better. It still took me a bit to get used to Leon's rather clunky way of moving around but I got the hang of it in no time and now I'm back to playing the game again almost every day. It still holds up.
Why?
I think one reason for me is the inventory. I... umm... like for things to be in order (putting it mildly) and I love to put all the ammo and the weapons in their little corners so that everything looks neat and orderly. It's so satisfying! And it calms me down.
Also, I like that I know what happens next. It gives me a sense of security. The game does have a few jump scares, but not too many and I know where and when they happen so it's fine.
The PS4 graphics look fine to me (I'm an 80s kid, I come from a time when pixel-ish Super Mario Land on the Game Boy was THE game to play). I would LOVE to play that amazing new HD project version, it looks AMAZING, but that one is only available on PC, I guess. Sadly! (I'm really, really not a PC gamer. Consoles all the way for me.)
I love that RE4 has an easy mode. Yes, I play games on easy mode because I don't like to get stressed out by difficulty settings. And I must say, RE4 is not an easy game to play even on easy mode, at least not without the Chicago Typewriter and/or the Infinite Rocket Launcher.
Somehow I STILL find new things to either collect or look at or think about whenever I play the game all the way through again. I don't know how Capcom did this, but the replay value of this game is INCREDIBLE, at least to me as someone who tends to focus on things and then ponders them for a long time and in that time I miss other things to look at and then I notice the next shiny thing to ponder on my next playthrough... and so on.
I adore the general "okay what on Earth is going on, ah well, we're just gonna roll with it I guess" tone of the game, even more so now than back in 2008. i guess it's because my own life is like that as well now, lol. I also VERY much appreciate the dramatic fabulous camp ("Write in my cage of torment, my friend.") and the silly humor ("Your right hand comes off?").
I also love the characters (well okay, maybe not Ashley... it's not so much her behavior but more the voice that gets to me and the constant LEOOOON LEEOOOON HEEEELP screaming at various points in the game - I know it's the same voice actress who voices Sandy on SpongeBob... which doesn't help). I love Leon's sassy humor, Luis' dry remarks and Ada being mysteriously awesome and Salazar's over-the-top drama and Mendez' quiet menace and Krauser's stereotpical soldier speeches AND, of course, The Merchant being able to teleport himself and revive himself (or is it an army of Merchant clones? We just don't know) and his wonderful and iconic salesman lines... I dunno, this is such a wild and weird mix of people that I just love it all. I love weird. Did I ever mention that?
And, of course, there's Osmund Saddler. I don't want to turn this into a LORD SADDLER LORD SADDLER LORD SADDLER thing (I totally could, I have a lot of THOUGHTS and QUESTIONS), so let me just say he's awesome to me. I love him as a villain, I love how camp his humor is and how he somehow constantly ignores every single opportunity to get rid of Leon, lmao. I love how he seemingly lives everywhere and nowhere because he literally pops up everywhere and yet doesn't seem to have a place to stay (a guy like him I would expect to live in a mansion), at least we never get to see anything in the game even though he's the big bad final boss. And I actually love that so little is known about him. There's almost no backstory provided. Where is he even from? What is his accent? To my German ears it sounds like a wild mixture of various European accents. I was watching a new video podcast interview with Saddler's voice actor Michael Gough a few days ago and he didn't even seem to remember that he gave Saddler an accent. So I really don't think even HE knows, haha. I'm pretty sure the remake will give him a backstory, but since this isn't about the remake I guess I'll stick to what the original says. Which is almost nothing. Which adds to Saddler's fascination. To me, at least.
Anyways, I thought I'd share what makes RE4 so special to me even after all these years. I have tried other RE games but none of them could reach the perfection that is RE4 on my list of Awesome Games. Maybe some of you have the same love for the game? Or for one of the characters in it? I know everyone usually discusses the gameplay mechanics and the guns and which one is best and whatnot but honestly those things are just secondary stuff to me.