The remake of Resident Evil 4 does a lot of things the same, yet differently. Vali is most excited about five very specific changes

Resident Evil 4 is great, but the remake should make it even better. How does Capcom plan to do that? It”s simple: keep the quintessence of the original and only lend a hand where it needs to be lent. This already worked brilliantly with the remake of Part 2, but the Resident Evil 3 remake failed to reach the same high standards.

As a long-established fan of the series and a Resi veteran, I am therefore looking all the more closely at the changes promised before the release. Capcom has now revealed previously unseen gameplay a few weeks before the launch on 24 March 2023, in which a few important innovations caught my eye. What they are and why I”m looking forward to them, you can find out in the following lines.

1: Parrying with the knife

The original Resident Evil 4 was the first in the series to really delve into the melee combat system. Sure, before that “knife only” runs had long been popular of course, in Resident Evil 3 Jill Valentine could make use of dodges and in the Outbreak games some of the survivors knew how to defend themselves without a weapon.

Resident Evil 4, however, really went all out in this regard: A well-aimed body hit staggers the Los Ganados and in the next moment Leon makes use of a spectacular roundhouse kick or wrestling move. This rewarded aggressive play immensely, but also always entailed great risk: for anyone who ventures too close to the undead vermin is naturally an easy target.

In the remake, Leon and Krauser settle their differences as usual in the course of a good old-fashioned knife fight. This time, however, we play the sequence directly ourselves and don”t just complete a quicktime event.)” src=”https://www.global-esports.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Leon-and-Krauser.jpg” width=”1280″ height=”720″ /☻

In the remake, the new parry mechanic compensates for this. Leon can now parry just about any attack using a knife – from simple melee attacks to fired crossbow bolts to Dr. Salvador”s thrice-cursed chainsaw! In addition to the familiar action gameplay and new stealth mechanics, parrying brings much greater gameplay freedom.

Of course, with new gameplay tricks, there is always the danger that they become too overpowered. In terms of parrying in the Resident Evil 4 remake, however, I”m sure the developers aren”t making it too easy for us.

For example, you had to learn how to dodge in Resident Evil 3, and the knife is supposed to wear out a bit more with each use, just like in the remakes of Parts 2 and 3.

(Leon can now even parry attacks with a chainsaw. Badass.)
(Leon can now even parry attacks with a chainsaw. Badass.)

2: Ashley”s personality

Ashley Graham from the original Resident Evil 4 likes to be demonised at times, or aside from Sheva Alomar from part five as worst AI companion ever reviled. If I”m honest, I could never really understand the gameplay criticism of Ashley in Resi 4.

Once I understood the tricks of the companion mechanics, Ashley was actually pretty easy to handle – even on the higher difficulty levels and without knight armour. And even in the most dicey situations, a bin (no joke) or a spot where you could place Ashley out of reach of Saddler”s followers, at least in the meantime, wasn”t far away.

However, I can certainly understand the criticism of Ashley”s rather overdrawn portrayal or her shrill shrieks after LEEEEEEEOOOOON . To be fair, Ashley wasn”t the only overdrawn aspect to the original Resident Evil 4, but that”s another topic again…

I”m all the more looking forward to a modernised, but more importantly, more nuanced portrayal of the President”s daughter Ashley is still a frightened woman (which is perfectly understandable under the circumstances) but, unlike the original, also seems to undergo development as the plot progresses. At least that is what is implied by the footage I have been able to see of the remake so far.

You can see more about it in the following story trailer:

3: Lui”s role in the story

Similarly to Ashley, Luis Serra is also getting a makeover for the remake. Based on the scenes shown so far, the mysterious … researcher (at least that”s what he calls himself) doesn”t seem to lose too much of his old familiar personality, but instead plays a much bigger role in the story. Attention: Be warned of potential story spoilers in this section!

In the original, Luis didn”t get too much to do. Leon”s ally in the fight against Osmund Saddler mainly provided additional exposition and some context for the story. Serra was then taken out of the game relatively quickly and almost casually – literally.

(Already the character of Carlos was massively improved for the Resident Evil 3 remake. I am therefore optimistic about Luis from part 4.)
(Already the character of Carlos was massively improved for the Resident Evil 3 remake. I am therefore optimistic about Luis from part 4.)

In the remake, Luis seems to survive this point of the game! For example, he”s in the fight against Los Gigantes and in Leon”s merry mine cart ride. Furthermore, there are quite promising theories about how Luis will meet his end in the remake and that this time a completely different opponent of Leon”s could be responsible for it. One can be curious!

4: Suitcase? Item box? Both!

In the Resident Evil 4 remake, one of my favourite features from the original returns: suitcase tetris. Arranging weapons, ammo, healing herbs and even fish to make the most of inventory space? Absolutely satisfying.

In the new edition, Leon is even provided with different suitcase variants, each of which can bring its own advantages. For example, you can find items of a certain category more often.

At the same time, the remake comes with a classic Resi element that Part 4 originally did without: The item box. You can get them at any typewriter and they offer unlimited storage space for all weapons and equipment.

Why do I think it”s great that the remake has the case AND the item box
? It”s simple: If I want to try out a new weapon and don”t have the necessary space in my inventory, I can simply store equipment I don”t need at the moment without having to sell or throw anything away. For me, this feature is a practical convenience function that allows me more freedom and dynamism when playing.

5: More horror despite action focus

There has always been a difference of opinion about the direction Resident Evil took with Part 4. Because of course Shinji Mikami”s game became a milestone in gaming history, there wasn”t too much left of the classic survival horror of the series in it. Not too few veterans and fans of Resident Evil still view Resident Evil 4 critically today – especially in view of the even more action-oriented sequels Parts 5 and 6.

The people responsible for the remake now seem to want to combine the best of both worlds: While the action-heavy and fast-paced gameplay is retained, the horror factor has been turned up a notch for the game world and the enemy design.

You can get a little taste of it in the following gallery:

So the environment and atmosphere looks much denser than in the original – which is of course also thanks to the powerful RE engine – while already unsightly enemies have been given a wonderfully disgusting upgrade. Especially the 08/15 enemies like the Ganados look more disgusting than ever as soon as the Las Plagas parasite sprouts from their previously non-existent body orifices.

(The enemies will definitely not get prettier Resident Evil 4 Remake. The graphics, on the other hand, will.)
(The enemies will definitely not get prettier Resident Evil 4 Remake. The graphics, on the other hand, will.)

Thanks to the remake, Resident Evil 4 finally has a chance to actually be scary. And it does so without losing any of its original identity. How much horror is actually in the Resident Evil 4 remake remains to be seen, of course, until the final release on 24 March 2023 – but I”m actually optimistic in this regard.

What are your hopes and expectations for the remake of Resident Evil 4? Are you looking forward to the return of the modern horror classic or could you do without it? What other remakes would you like to see in the Resident Evil series? Let us know in the comments!