RE:4 RE4 Remake Map Analysis

[Rikitatsu]

This was posted with the Collector Edition, a map showing the Village and the Castle.



The stuff that stood out:

The Quarry: Is it not the location you enter after meeting with the Merchant and acquiring the sniper rifle?

Fish Farm: It seems like it's that swamp place with all the TNT

The Hunter's lodge, Village, Farm, and Church are well known and are in the same place.

Villa: Not sure... Is it not chief Mendez house? If so, then did the position change?

Lakeside settlement: I don't know what this is? I only remember a small hut near the lake.

Abandoned Factory: Is this supposed to be new? Because I don't remember a factory in the village section.

The Castle: I can't tell if it's the same layout, but I remember the Cathedral where the giant Salazar statue was in, and it was connected to the main castle through a massive bridge, I don't see such a bridge here, but the map is cut off at the top of the castle so there may be a continuation.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

Thanks for posting this.

 

[Rikitatsu]

This gentleman breaks it down very nicely:

Seems like everything is faithful to the original up until you rescue Ashley from the church.

Something else I noticed is that when you reach the church the first time and then proceed to the lake, it's taking place at Sunset. That means there is a steady time of day progression... In the original there is only Day... Then you pass out after the lake in a cabin, and then its night until the end of the game.

Here, you start the game at Dawn, then progress steadily. Sorta like REVIllage

 

[Yama]

This gentleman breaks it down very nicely:

Seems like everything is faithful to the original up until you rescue Ashley from the church.

Something else I noticed is that when you reach the church the first time and then proceed to the lake, it's taking place at Sunset. That means there is a steady time of day progression... In the original there is only Day... Then you pass out after the lake in a cabin, and then its night until the end of the game.

Here, you start the game at Dawn, then progress steadily. Sorta like REVIllage

I wanted to reply earlier, but didn't necessarily know how to break it down. This video does it perfectly. Good call on the time of day, I appreciate that aspect too. A lot of the talk still remains about the Island and such, but I think the map is more just a collectors piece for an iconic locations more so than a full scale map of the game entirely. If the Island relied more on the labs and less the action packed exteriors I'd very much enjoy it, personally. That was my least favorite tone shift in the original.

 

[Rikitatsu]

I wanted to reply earlier, but didn't necessarily know how to break it down. This video does it perfectly. Good call on the time of day, I appreciate that aspect too. A lot of the talk still remains about the Island and such, but I think the map is more just a collectors piece for an iconic locations more so than a full scale map of the game entirely. If the Island relied more on the labs and less the action packed exteriors I'd very much enjoy it, personally. That was my least favorite tone shift in the original.

Yeah, I'm sure the map doesn't show every location, plus it's clearly cut off at the top (Unless they repurposed the Island as a subterranean area under the castle xD)

I really enjoy the Island, most of the game's memorable moments are from there, Krauser, MIIIIIKE, Regenerators, Bulldozer sequence, "IT", Laser QTE, etc... It felt like a suitable climax to the game, all REs tend to get actiony and high octane as they near the end... But as you say some of the exterior segments needs to be improved, like the mini gun guys.

 

[TheSeth]

Yeah, I'm sure the map doesn't show every location, plus it's clearly cut off at the top (Unless they repurposed the Island as a subterranean area under the castle xD)

I really enjoy the Island, most of the game's memorable moments are from there, Krauser, MIIIIIKE, Regenerators, Bulldozer sequence, "IT", Laser QTE, etc... It felt like a suitable climax to the game, all REs tend to get actiony and high octane as they near the end... But as you say some of the exterior segments needs to be improved, like the mini gun guys.

Yeah I think they know people would freak if the regenerators or gosh forbid Krauser isn't in the game so they either aren't cutting the island or are getting an equally big part to replace it which seems pointless.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

Oh, you're kidding me. If they remove the Regenerators, we'll all be annoyed.

Yeah. Things will be cut. I don't doubt that. But just don't remove the Regenerators.

They're like, one of the only scary creatures in the entire original game. Removing them will incur our digital wrath.

 

[Yama]

Yeah I think they know people would freak if the regenerators or gosh forbid Krauser isn't in the game so they either aren't cutting the island or are getting an equally big part to replace it which seems pointless.

Yeah, agreed. I'm okay with taking several liberties to change the tone of it, such as a heavier focus on regenerators and the labs. Scrapping it altogether would be unfathomable though, I don't see that happening.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

I think we're safe, and Capcom won't remove too much.

 

[Rikitatsu]

I think we're safe, and Capcom won't remove too much.

They probably got too much flak for RE3R so they won't cut too much, I hope.

At least there should be some new stuff in place of cut content... Like how in RE2 there were the huge monsters in the sewers instead of the spiders.

 

[Jitsu]

I think the Castle and Island have equal amount of rooms that I wish were designed better that lean towards action. The Island gets a bit too much flak, but I understand why the tone could be off-putting for some. I still think it's a great section that could be toned down a bit in a few areas, or made to be more practical to game design.

It's also important to keep in mind that the entire point of the island was to be a military outpost for the Los Illuminados for their Plan B invasion, were their Plan A of infecting the US government from the inside to only fail. ONLY having a lab and nothing else, would probably take away from that idea that they're an actual military getting ready to mobilize. RE4's original underrated lore is worth remembering, here.

With Leon's new and improved controls, I actually wouldn't mind some of the Ganado having machine guns other than J.J. instead of just bowguns, since it makes complete sense to the lore with what they were trying to do (they were readying warships for God sakes), and the gunplay could actually be a lot of fun compared to the limited movement of the original. That's the only tip from RE5 that I'd approve of, since it fits here.

Overall, the night mission "infiltration" feeling in both the setting and music does it for me,, but more survival horror is always appreciated. I'm mostly curious about that: How they'll balance level design between traditional mostly linear RE4 and the full-on "open" survival horror titles that came before it - which is the true Resident Evil. I can't imagine it having worse level design than RE3R, which was almost entirely held up by its solid presentation and characters.

TLDR; Island could be kept and revamped into something beautiful, and it's already a bit misunderstood by fans.