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RE4 Resident Evil 4, revisited '23

In anticipation for the remake, I decided I wanted to give RE4 original another spin as it's been a couple years, and I haven't played it with the brilliant RE4 HD Project that was released in full.

As I revisit my favorite titles and get older, I typically find a newfound appreciation that only comes from another year wiser, healthier and more refined in taste. What makes gameplay and a story memorable becomes more memorable, and glaring weaknesses that much more prevalent if present.

Without getting too wordy, I'm just going to spitball a few things in no particular order that I've noticed in this most recent (and likely final) playthrough of RE4 original with modern enhancements, how I feel about it now since playing the game dozens of times over since release in '05, and what I think has to change to make the remake a superior version upon release in three months.

This '23 playthrough was done on Professional mode with the latest up-to-date PC HD Project version, modern controls using KBM, QTE's on for half the game, and Ashley's costume from the original beta to give that closer to remake-vibe. This is not a HD Project review, but simply what I notice and feel about RE4 these days, in the present moment.

- With the HD Project, the game feels like new. It doesn't replace the visual RE Engine uniformity needed to stand toe-to-toe with the other modern remakes, but it absolutely looks often very high-res and gorgeous. The weather, lighting, particle and volumetric effects are stunning, and really makes the darkest sections of the game pop in ways you would expect them to realistically. It was interesting going through sections that should've been dark in the regular version but weren't. The art direction still holds up, and fits closer in line with the likes of REmake and Zero now more than I remember. It truly looks as if it's in the same universe.

- Ashley's "new" costume from remake that is now more or less available in the HD Project as the original beta costume, is infinitely better. It gives more sophistication to the tone of the game and her character. I honestly probably never liked her original skirt and turtleneck in retrospect. The original devs made the wrong decision, here.

- To my biggest surprise, the HD Project and its modern controls, controls like a DREAM. It's the best controlling, snappiest RE prior to RE2 remake. Reminds me of the Wii version but better. I can't imagine experiencing this game on anything but KBM now.

- I played half the game with QTEs off, because I'm not a fan of them during cutscenes. During gameplay, however, made me feel like I was cheating, so I had to turn them back on. The game is too designed around this in its combat to have off completely.

- The game DOES have more horror elements and curated horror sections than what I used to give it credit for. Noticing this in 2023, this playthrough somehow felt LESS like an action game than I remembered for this reason. We have 5 and 6 to compare it to, but I'm even comparing it to itself and how I used to view it. The new lighting and visuals from the HD Project enhances the horror.

- Professional mode on a fresh playthrough does have more ammo management than I remembered, which makes the game as a whole feel closer to a true survival horror game. RE4 foregoing a lot of the survival horror design was always my biggest complaint, with its frequent colorful glowing item drops and insignificant backtracking that doesn't provide much player environmental agency or thought. The latter issues still haven't changed, but the need to watch out for your ammo helps the experience and tension, which I was reminded of. It's not complete survival horror mix with competent action like RE2 remake, but it's more than I used to view it as.

- Whether I loved or loathed a section, every area separated by a loading screen is ICONIC with an often completely unique layout and new angle on the gunplay. RE4 is still a MASTER of pacing for this reason. Every spot tells a story. A non-stop "just one more area" vibe.

- It's linear, but seeing how each section and cutscene leads into the next area as if its a grounded and well-realized location, feels like RE4 is a continuous adventure, which is essential to typical survival horror. This reason alone is why I consider RE5 to be nothing more than a shallow copycat with its often disjointed-feeling levels, parading as "RE4's Greatest Hits" arcade shoot-em-up.

- Despite what is probably going against popular opinion, the CASTLE is the most repetitive worst part of the game when it comes to level design... NOT the Island. While the setting itself is cool, there are a LOT of shitty rooms made for gunplay alone that are heavy on the combat for far too long. If Capcom took out the long series of gallery rooms, I wouldn't miss them. That's without saying how absolutely dumb some of the traps are, too. The giant statue and lava room speak for themselves. Memes aside, they are terrible. The Island gets a lot of hate by fans, but the Castle feels the most rushed to me and needlessly action-packed on a room-to-room basis for what it is. The Island has its moments of being too much, but it's honestly not that much better or worse than the Castle that comes before it with both its high points and lows. TDLR; the Castle sucks more than you remember, with the Island being not completely worthy of the bad rap it gets. They're both pretty even on the enjoyment level factor to me, and the Island is more than 'just' that Regenerator part.

- The writing is still awkward as hell, with great voice acting.

- I enjoy Leon's flirtatious comments. They will be missed.

- The story uses notes to fill in the plot holes and reasoning of characters' actions, even though it doesn't always make sense. i.e. - Why are the leaders and their Ganado communicating with each other through writing letters if they're supposed to be a hive-mind collective? There is a good narrative behind these issues with RE4, but the moment to moment story logic needs work.

- The big bads being in the same room as Leon, and doing next to nothing about him, over and over again. It drives me nuts.

- Luis' death scene by Saddler is as convenient and random as it is ass. He deserves better, and so does the story.

- Krauser still feels shoe-horned into the story. I like him, but he should've just been a new character that was working for Wesker. Lazy on the writers' part for us to just imagine Leon's prior relationship with him.

- The soundtrack is filled with genuinely unnerving tracks, similar to REmake. Rest/save themes are perfect.

- The option to "skip" a boss with a rocket launcher in exchange for a load of money collected is kind of a neat approach in game design.

- The village at night is still my favorite section of the game.

- Ada is peak Ada here. She might be MVP as far as intrigue and scene-stealing goes.

- Red9 = Best sounding handgun ever.

- RE4's animations are incredibly underrated. Top-notch. Sometimes looks better than anything I've seen in recent years from other more modern games. Combat largely in due part to location-sensitive reactions make it almost never get old. The quality here is unique.

- The length of RE4 I still believe to be a part of its identity. I love how long of an adventure it is, with little fluff. Even at its "worst" moments, they pass, and then you're on the parts you better enjoy again, which is often.

- The puzzles and gates that trigger because you killed 'the thing' does take you out of the immersion. RE4's puzzles aren't very imaginative or logical, which again, reminds you you're playing a video game. "Krauser took the three things that you need and spread them around the ruins! Better go get them, Leon!" It's stupid and doesn't match the brilliance of the gunplay.

- ATMOSPHERE.

That's really all I could think of. This was my favorite RE4 playthrough yet, probably since my first ever one back in '05. There's still nothing quite like it.

If there's anything I'd like to improve in the remake, it's the following in no particular order:

- More open-ended, interconnected level design, aka less linear and more like classic RE.

- More believable object placement, both interactable (ammo, money) instead of glowing colored beacons of light and non-interactable (level design geometry) that looks realistically placed. Ammo shouldn't just drop from any old villager. Village did this well.

- A better balance between traditional survival horror item and enemy management instead of being a constant shooting gallery at times. RE2 remake and Village, both succeeded here.

- A more cohesive story with more believable character actions and reasoning, with the same or similar story beats. Have Krauser's inclusion make sense, and Wesker ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING with his version of Umbrella, retconning RE5 and his untimely death as we know it.

- Get rid of the jump the shark moments that plagues the Castle section and sullies the entire original game, tonally. People mostly don't take RE4 seriously due to the moments in the Castle, even though Island gets all the flak. I can see a revised, interconnected Castle being much less linear in the remake and working well like a larger Spencer Mansion. If anything, save more of the action for parts on the Island, as it still can have a place in the gameplay and narrative.

- General tightening up of the dialogue and character believability.

- Ditch the QTEs (Thanks for this already, Capcom.)

- Don't make Leon overly serious.

- More logical, well-thought out puzzles, event triggers.

That's it! I thought I'd want more out of the remake, but I guess, not really! Honestly, I was almost expecting to like RE4 original LESS, but found myself only appreciating it more, especially because there's still room for improvement on very specific key areas in the remake on top of an already incredibly beautiful addition to the franchise and overall work of art.
 
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They can change how the main story is handled in RE5.. but outright retconning it would be extreme. That would mean the past 12 years of RE titles would also be retconned because of the lore that is deeply rooted in the series now. The origins of Progenitor, the BSAA, and the deaths of Wesker and Spenser need to happen. You must keep in mind that Wesker was using Umbrella's resources as a means to an end to track down Spenser and spread viruses on the black market. This was even more evident with how he handled T-Veronica in South America, by giving it to Javier Hidalgo which almost caused a viral outbreak in a jungle where it would have thrived and spread rapidly. He also had a god complex like all the other higher ups at Umbrella, which was basically a conglomerate of psychopaths. What else could they have possibly done with him to keep the story fresh and interesting?

I used to be an avid hater of RE5 when it first came out but its lore is one of the most important to the series as a whole and helped pushed the narrative forward so future writers can have more creative liberties. Some things could have been handled better like injecting more horror and it was similar to the beats of RE4 in ways.. but the same can be said for many other titles when compared to one another. Many fans here have either dismissed the "RE: titles" as either cliff note versions to the originals, or belonging to a completely new rebooted timeline entirely.

Anyway, I like your analysis of RE4 HD and I hope they explore more on how exactly the Nemesis Project is linked to the Plaga. In retrospect, I appreciate RE4 for trying something fresh and new which this franchise needed desperately. I always wanted a conclusion to the main story, but main titles have become more standalone as the years went on so there will never be an end to it. The simple fact they pushed the timeline to 2037 with Shadows of Rose is a problem in itself. They will be spending the next 5-10 years filling in the gaps in those vacant years much like how RE4 pushed the story past 1998 at the time.
 
They can change how the main story is handled in RE5.. but outright retconning it would be extreme. That would mean the past 12 years of RE titles would also be retconned because of the lore that is deeply rooted in the series now. The origins of Progenitor, the BSAA, and the deaths of Wesker and Spenser need to happen. You must keep in mind that Wesker was using Umbrella's resources as a means to an end to track down Spenser and spread viruses on the black market. This was even more evident with how he handled T-Veronica in South America, by giving it to Javier Hidalgo which almost caused a viral outbreak in a jungle where it would have thrived and spread rapidly. He also had a god complex like all the other higher ups at Umbrella, which was basically a conglomerate of psychopaths. What else could they have possibly done with him to keep the story fresh and interesting?

I used to be an avid hater of RE5 when it first came out but its lore is one of the most important to the series as a whole and helped pushed the narrative forward so future writers can have more creative liberties. Some things could have been handled better like injecting more horror and it was similar to the beats of RE4 in ways.. but the same can be said for many other titles when compared to one another. Many fans here have either dismissed the "RE: titles" as either cliff note versions to the originals, or belonging to a completely new rebooted timeline entirely.

Anyway, I like your analysis of RE4 HD and I hope they explore more on how exactly the Nemesis Project is linked to the Plaga. In retrospect, I appreciate RE4 for trying something fresh and new which this franchise needed desperately. I always wanted a conclusion to the main story, but main titles have become more standalone as the years went on so there will never be an end to it. The simple fact they pushed the timeline to 2037 with Shadows of Rose is a problem in itself. They will be spending the next 5-10 years filling in the gaps in those vacant years much like how RE4 pushed the story past 1998 at the time.
I want extreme. Extreme, extreme, extreme! Toss out EVERYTHING between RE4 remake and RE7. Every sequel, every spin-off, every piece of overdone lore. To me, those installments felt like they were never meant to exist, creatively and as narratives, other than to feed the fans something after Mikami left because Capcom had to use their most profitable IP at the time. RE4 original and Shadows of Rose might've been standalone, but at least they were mostly contained, had good direction and were harmless to the overarching narrative.

RE4 remake is the perfect opportunity to change the trajectory of that entire era of the series. By the time we get back to 7, Wesker could already be dead or M.I.A., but with a radically different way in which he and his original plot for Umbrella (as well as Ada's organization) gets there. I believe it's a poorly kept secret that Capcom regrets their decision for killing him off. In a volcano, no less.

I can't force myself to like the RE4 afterbirths because of the lore they've happened to pile on and the lousy conclusion to the earlier titles. Capcom's eagerness to push the narrative forward after becoming directionless, pushed it right off a ledge. We pushed off the main series antagonists' plot, main series protagonists with their exclusions, as well as the pacing of survival horror itself. I didn't return to the series until RE7, because I felt exploited for my attention and money as a fan, expecting me to buy games with Resident Evil in name but nothing else.

It's also worth reminding people that RE4 original had Code Veronica before it as a main installment, and that was a good title for narrative progression if you ask me. RE4 being a self-contained story (for the most part) still didn't call for RE5 to IMMEDIATELY end it thereafter, like the series was truly dragging along. It wasn't. They did this because they hit a creative wall. Just look at the game design of RE5 and tell me that literal copy and paste of a game didn't show a reflection on the EFFORT of storytelling as well. There was SO much room for narrative growth at that point. It's not like we had multiple titles after CV that decided to do what RE4 did with its story.

Would Capcom do such a thing as I'm suggesting? I'm not holding my breath, but I'm also hopeful. I'm not the only fan who has expressed desire for a schism of narrative/titles at this very exact point. The old 2009 - 2017 narrative could exist in its own old timeline (unfortunately) for those who want it, and then Capcom can take new creative liberties with the next few remakes, to eventually fit in line with the RE Engine titles, interchangeably. It's the perfect opportunity for redemption.
 
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I like the it that enemies drop ammo. It gives incentive to take them on and don't have to worry about ammo. Enemies drop ammo according to the weapon leon has in his inventory. Rather than being in boxes i will like enemies to drop it. And it's always random. It depends on how much ammo we have in our inventory and what kind of ammo we need. It all ties into dynamic difficulty. I am not a fan of dynamic difficulty in post RE4 games but RE 4 handles it perfectly.
 
I can understand those ammo drops if the enemies have firearms to begin with. Many villagers however are holding tools, so having bullets appear out of thin air afterwards makes no sense.
 
I can understand those ammo drops if the enemies have firearms to begin with. Many villagers however are holding tools, so having bullets appear out of thin air afterwards makes no sense.
Games should not be completely realistic. It should be balanced. There are somethings just for the game to work. RE4 is a lot of fun because of these things. Mikami always used to say games should be not like real. Like 50% real like and other 50% game world like. Question is what will be alternative way to give ammo. Which has to be random based on the weapons the player has in his inventory.

I remember reading RE4 guide once which said mine thrower has no ammo in the game. Which shows the guide writer obviously didn't played the game using mine thrower. I have played with it. Enemies drop it's ammo too.

Breaking boxes for ammo is not as fun as killing enemies in the game.
 
Toss out EVERYTHING between RE4 remake and RE7.
Needless to say, that's not going to happen. We may all have different opinions about certain games and additional sources, but they have established their contribution, which the series does not cease to take into account.

Moreover, reimaginings are not designed to rewrite continuity. For better or worse, they are like "soap bubbles" that make a minimal contribution to the series' lore and serve more as an alternative way to experience old stories and entry points for a new audience.

But if I had an actual choice, I personally wouldn't want to change anything either. A substantial part of my enjoyment with Village is related to how the game is heavily based on Biohazard 5 to the point that this new game uses BIO5's wording and explores BIO5's obscure parts. Those people who are annoyed by Spencer's presence and the corrupt BSAA don't appreciate the importance of these additions because they don't know that they are exploring already established aspects of the series' history. It is always easy to say that some knowledge is unnecessary and forced when a person doesn't follow the whole context. And this is a kind of tragic situation, because the pedantic work of developers seems to be in vain.

Of course, the root of this problem is related to English, French, German, Russian and any other translations, but personally I don't get these complaints, because fans have spent their time and even money so that people can open the website and read the translated material.

And if they do that, they'll be able to notice such cool details:

I am Oswell E. Spencer. Founder and leader of Umbrella.
I am the shining light who will usher humanity to a higher plain.



The fruits of your research were simply overwhelming, for your approach of "mutating organisms via infection" shocked me like a bolt of lightning as well.

I am convinced that this is precisely the means for manifesting my dream of what I call evolving humanity toward a higher plain.



When I revisited BIO5 after Village, things began to play with different colors and even made more sense.

Needless to say, BIO5 itself did exactly the same for the rest of the series. For example, the way Albert Wesker had a programmed interest in Spencer explains his almost unmotivated obsession with figuring out the old man's true intention that was established earlier.

There can be no doubt that these things are retcons, but these are very clever examples of retroactive additions that enrich the series' history while remaining true to its knowledges. For a franchise that has been active for almost three decades, this is a huge achievement, and I genuinely don't understand why many people refuse to see it.

Sometimes I think that the desire to complain just overshadows the actual interest in this mythology. People find reasons to be close-minded in order to stagnate in constant frustration that developers are not doing what they imagined. And this condition or state is so ubiquitous that many great folks just left the series' fandom eventually.

I think that someday it will be my turn too. I was so upset by the fans' negativity that I started behaving ugly and turned some people against me.
 
I think it could be that some fans prefer the creepy, atmospheric style of the franchise in the early days. Later games have too much action and feel corny in general. Other fans actually dislike the older games because of how they look and play. Even 7 which returned to horror, is often dismissed.

It's a series that has divided many...
 
Needless to say, that's not going to happen. We may all have different opinions about certain games and additional sources, but they have established their contribution, which the series does not cease to take into account.

Moreover, reimaginings are not designed to rewrite continuity. For better or worse, they are like "soap bubbles" that make a minimal contribution to the series' lore and serve more as an alternative way to experience old stories and entry points for a new audience.

But if I had an actual choice, I personally wouldn't want to change anything either. A substantial part of my enjoyment with Village is related to how the game is heavily based on Biohazard 5 to the point that this new game uses BIO5's wording and explores BIO5's obscure parts. Those people who are annoyed by Spencer's presence and the corrupt BSAA don't appreciate the importance of these additions because they don't know that they are exploring already established aspects of the series' history. It is always easy to say that some knowledge is unnecessary and forced when a person doesn't follow the whole context. And this is a kind of tragic situation, because the pedantic work of developers seems to be in vain.

Of course, the root of this problem is related to English, French, German, Russian and any other translations, but personally I don't get these complaints, because fans have spent their time and even money so that people can open the website and read the translated material.

And if they do that, they'll be able to notice such cool details:

I am Oswell E. Spencer. Founder and leader of Umbrella.
I am the shining light who will usher humanity to a higher plain.



The fruits of your research were simply overwhelming, for your approach of "mutating organisms via infection" shocked me like a bolt of lightning as well.

I am convinced that this is precisely the means for manifesting my dream of what I call evolving humanity toward a higher plain.



When I revisited BIO5 after Village, things began to play with different colors and even made more sense.

Needless to say, BIO5 itself did exactly the same for the rest of the series. For example, the way Albert Wesker had a programmed interest in Spencer explains his almost unmotivated obsession with figuring out the old man's true intention that was established earlier.

There can be no doubt that these things are retcons, but these are very clever examples of retroactive additions that enrich the series' history while remaining true to its knowledges. For a franchise that has been active for almost three decades, this is a huge achievement, and I genuinely don't understand why many people refuse to see it.

Sometimes I think that the desire to complain just overshadows the actual interest in this mythology. People find reasons to be close-minded in order to stagnate in constant frustration that developers are not doing what they imagined. And this condition or state is so ubiquitous that many great folks just left the series' fandom eventually.

I think that someday it will be my turn too. I was so upset by the fans' negativity that I started behaving ugly and turned some people against me.
Never say never. We'll see the direction Capcom takes with these remakes since it's safe to assume by now that RE4's story is one of the most criticized in the series, and I have heard an outcry from some fans outside of myself for a few years now to leave room for the possibility of such an "extreme" decision to heavily retcon the "action" saga of the series, starting with the direction of 4; One that I'm in complete favor of. Not because of the action gameplay-direction as much as I believe what came after 4 to be complete disgraces of game design and story direction, not to mention complete character assassination (overly serious Leon, dumb-as-rocks Redfield, a sexually-active Albert Wesker) for many games and movie-tie ins to come.

Since we're on the topic of RE5 somehow, I will admit that I think there is some rich lore from 5, were it to be isolated from what I otherwise feel is an absolutely abysmal conclusion for Spencer, Umbrella, Wesker, Jill and Chris. The files were the only thing about 5 I thought was quality, aside from the graphical presentation. The origin story of Progenitor and the fate of the Tribe that surrounded it was some A-Tier backstory for the series if you were to ask me, and was appropriate to the prior games' direction. It's the only bit of Umbrella connection we got, and the whole game could've been centered around that without the other bullshit.

The intro to RE5 is the damning fan-fiction by the then-writers that I believe came out of terrible executive decision to wrap up a still developing story. Some will blame the time-jump that RE4 provided, but the narrative whiplash that RE5 forced us fans into I still believe to be unsatisfactory to an otherwise slow-burning yet developing character-driven series up until that point. "Yeah, let's just SHOVE Jill, Chris, Wesker and Spencer into a random secret estate with NO lead up to create an unlikely but action packed scenario. Let's "kill off" a main character and essentially create a completely new villain that looks like Wesker, with a new organization and unheard of bioweapon... then volcano. Scene. Clearly a creatively bankrupt time for Capcom and the series, without even mentioning gameplay.

With that said, I do not care about who likes what games in the series or how much time and money they spend on it in the forming of an opinion. That's not my problem and shouldn't be the reason why a story should move forward with what I feel are bad decisions for the plot and characters because of other fans' willingness to accept whatever into a franchise as family. This doesn't mean I don't respect those that dive into the lore, either. It's just that the cohesion and integrity of the series is my main priority, only. I'll use the perfection analogy for my reasoning: Which is the Halo series.

343 has absolutely driven the story, quality and overall uniformity of the Halo series into the ground. The Halo series that Bungie created had a dedicated fanbase to the lore, which concluded gracefully. 343 was heavily criticized for YEARS for their mismanagement of the material, and despite this, still had many fans, old and new, that bought into their newer titles with expanded lore. This ranged to comics, novels and films. New fans that got invested into the Halo series through these new additions, obviously grew attached to the energy and style of what 343 added to the original story. This in itself isn't a bad thing, if I felt that the new lore matched the quality as a natural extension and flow of the old lore. Unfortunately, I didn't see that to be the case.

Like how I feel about fans who became fans of the series through RE5, RE6 and the Revelation spin-offs, I believe a lot of the new 343 fans WEREN'T fans because of the love and understanding for Bungie's original vision (the very same vision that 343 OPENLY expressed they wanted to change willy-nilly just to be different.) 343 created a BYPRODUCT of destroying Halo, and that were "fans" that didn't all completely get it, or were just willing to accept ANY new Halo lore because they were desperate for SOMETHING. This can be a problem in itself if you're willing to be a fan of any new material out of obsession and a fix of dopamine. The best comparison even more is probably a Star Wars fan who "loves it all." I'd say to those people, "Sure, guy", but they can do them. I'm not the thought police. My only responsibility is to my own opinions and explaining them. If someone genuinely loves the entirety of the Resident Evil series, or those titles I don't see as worthy to be in the series, more power to them.

In summary, Halo is the PERFECT example for why we shouldn't make sure to cater to new fans and new story additions if it means reworking an entirety of the the series for the better, simply because time and money has been invested by NEW fans into those what I believe to be soulless and lackluster additions. I know Yama and I personally know that Master Chief never left his cryo pod.

I do not care about RE5 fans. I do not care about RE6 fans. I do not care about anything that has come out during those years that I felt Resident Evil was being used as a medium for profit instead of survival horror and integrity. Period. It's nothing personal to them as actual people. Works of fiction are a perfect place to have extreme opinions. We can all agree that we're passionate about what we're passionate about, but not to confuse negativity with honesty.

99% of the material between 2009 and prior to 2017 for Resident Evil SUCKS. I've backed up my reasons why and I'm standing by that until further notice. I'll never be against the possibility of thinking differently.

If there's concern about the newer lore not having a place because of a mid-series retcon, I think 7 and 8 would be in the perfect position to retroactively have its lore connected to Spencer and the BSAA, in brand new mid-series titles that can do it WAY better.
 
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I like the idea of a more horror oriented RE4, but I still think it's going to be full of bombastic sequences just the same. You get way too many guns in RE4.

Unless ammo ends up being scarce or something, I don't see the game receiving any downgrade in the shooting department.
 
I think it could be that some fans prefer the creepy, atmospheric style of the franchise in the early days. Later games have too much action and feel corny in general. Other fans actually dislike the older games because of how they look and play. Even 7 which returned to horror, is often dismissed.

It's a series that has divided many...
Which goes to show how far-gone the fandom has been since 5 due to Capcom's multiple personality disorder at the time. They didn't know what to make of it as a game before deciding on an RE4-clone that loosely wrapped up the series, only to be followed by whatever the hell focus-tested game 6 was for.

That division could possibly be a good thing, too! Separated the wheat from the chaff between survival horror fans and an actual well-done narrative and those who weren't.

I wouldn't be typing here right now were it not for 7. Appropriately enough for this thread, 4 would've been my last chronological love and worthy of the RE name.
 
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I like the idea of a more horror oriented RE4, but I still think it's going to be full of bombastic sequences just the same. You get way too many guns in RE4.

Unless ammo ends up being scarce or something, I don't see the game receiving any downgrade in the shooting department.
I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they'll balance both pretty well. Even though I felt 4 could be improved upon in the area of tone and certain areas with atmosphere, it wasn't terrible. I don't think the guns were ever my problem, personally. The variety was nice.

P.S. - Just to mention this: Village is a flawed game, and obviously inspired by RE4, but what it did do better than RE4 was item scarcity survival mixed with the action parts. The most praise I can give Village is on that. It seemed like a test-run for RE4R in that manner.
 
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The intro to RE5 is the damning fan-fiction by the then-writers that I believe came out of terrible executive decision to wrap up a still developing story. Some will blame the time-jump that RE4 provided, but the narrative whiplash that RE5 forced us fans into I still believe to be unsatisfactory to an otherwise slow-burning yet developing character-driven series up until that point. "Yeah, let's just SHOVE Jill, Chris, Wesker and Spencer into a random secret estate with NO lead up to create an unlikely but action packed scenario. Let's "kill off" a main character and essentially create a completely new villain that looks like Wesker, with a new organization and unheard of bioweapon... then volcano. Scene. Clearly a creatively bankrupt time for Capcom and the series, without even mentioning gameplay.
While I can get the frustration about the game's storytelling and game design, none of that lore came out of nowhere.

Forced evolution has always been Albert Wesker's true goal since 1996. This is what Kenichi Iwao stated directly:
Wesker was using the giant organization Umbrella and had his own separate ambition to create a second humanity of his own design. For that reason he believed that the Tyrant, which produces the Tyrant Virus, would also be useful as a resource to threaten Umbrella. Umbrella's aim was to sell the Tyrant to every country as a weapon and take advantage of every nation's weakness and substantially control them, but as they advanced that plan, Wesker aimed for another objective… To filter humanity using the Tyrant… he was scheming mass extinction and forced evolution. Ultimately the Tyrant was going to gain the ability to manipulate the virus and design living things. It was a "Creator."

Source.

And Wesker's lines from the game itself reflected this reasoning:
WESKER: The Tyrant Virus infects Homo sapiens and creates life-forms surpassing humans. That life-form, Tyrant, is the ultimate, most powerful bioweapon!
JILL: Don't tell me you've been experimenting on people!..
WESKER: It's truly beautiful. And it's all mine.
JILL: All for something like that…
WESKER: Such whining! The weak are made to suffer.

This is something that BIO5 has elaborated:
Perhaps it was a mere coincidence that his former subordinates Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine had stepped in.
To Wesker, it appeared like a revelation.
The Homo sapiens who had thwarted his own plans many times.

There appears to surely still be some room for evolution.

Wesker muttered to himself.


The truth that Spencer revealed, as well as the murder of the old man, didn't alter Wesker's character. They only explained that things in the series, such as Albert's obsession with the old man's true goal, weren't pure chance, and also contextualized the parallel of the attack on Wesker by his creation, the Tyrant.

This retcon elaborated Spencer's character as well, thereby opening the veil of the real historical context of the British conjuncture. The way Oswell chose the children of gifted families for his new humanity, as well as the way Albert explained that there were too many "useless" people in the world, so he had to push for selection, refer to Morel and Galton's theories. Many eugenicists tried to influence institutions so that people with hereditary diseases and people from undesirable social groups, such as the poor, prostitutes, and so on, could not have the right to have children, so as not to "ruin" the gene pool. The Nazis used this theoretical basis for genocide.

Needless to say, these circumstances are reminiscent of Noboru Sugimura's idea of how Spencer was killed by his own son, who then became the leader of his company. Many of the ideas that later games used were already written in the late 1990s. And Wesker more than deserved such a place, since even Spencer was retroactively based on him, not vice versa.

But this is only the part with Wesker's motivation. TRICELL and Wesker's relation to it were established in BIO4's Separate Ways. The company itself was elaborated in Degeneration.

The bioterrorism era was teased by both BIO4 and The Umbrella Chronicles, as it is tied to Wesker's plan for the return of Umbrella to the public.

With that said, I do not care about who likes what games in the series or how much time and money they spend on it in the forming of an opinion. That's not my problem and shouldn't be the reason why a story should move forward with what I feel are bad decisions for the plot and characters because of other fans' willingness to accept whatever into a franchise as family.
When fans are not native Japanese speakers, it is difficult for them to follow the series properly and understand the reasoning of the developers. Of course, this does not mean that fans should like many decisions, however, in many cases criticism comes from the incorrect narrative of the English versions or lack of knowledge. That is why folks from the communities are trying to improve the situation by making information more accessible.

If the fans had the power, it would be a disaster. They never know what they want and are not informed enough to do any character justice. And the developers from Capcom are distinguished by a sense of validation. For this very reason, remakes don't rewrite continuity, and we never saw Ethan's face. They have this dignity of respecting ideas that they may disagree with when fans are ready to easily neglect what they don't like, so in their hands the series will become a blanket that will quickly tear because of how people try to pull it on themselves.

That is why I am more than sure that the director of the new remake, who also shaped BIO5, will not reboot the series' timeline.
 
RE6 may get a lot of heat in general, but I think it's more reminiscent of older RE games than 4 and 5, as it's set in multiple cities with zombies. 5 only really had zombies in the DLC. I also thought 6 gave you more freedom to move around and shoot at things.

That's such a pain in RE4. I generally enjoy 4, but it definitely required a much needed update.
 
True, but that's what a lot of fans identify the franchise with. But it gets boring having to revisit Raccoon City in all of these mediums.

Again, I think Capcom just doesn't find much success taken the storylines overseas. They tried with 6, and the results were mixed. But going to 1998 all of the time starts to feel like the series has been subjected to a downgrade.

The original RE3 even has better exploration than the remake from 3 years ago. I don't know how that's acceptable in this era, when there was a 21 year gap, so they could have taken their time. Even the first remake came out only 6 years after the original, and was amazingly detailed, and rather faithful. So it was either laziness or just a lack of good creative ideas.

They even had to recycle the first person gameplay from RE7 in one brief section. Not to mention Ethan's car. LOL.
 
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