Resident Evil 4 (2023)

[Cornelius_Smiff]

Demo is now available.

I seriously hope Capcom don't mess this up like they sort of did with the Resi 3 remake.

[Alex79]

Cool! Will download as soon as I find it on the Xbox store. Can't see it anywhere at the moment.

[markfm007]

Played through the demo yesterday on PS5 and really enjoyed it! Looks amazing, runs smoothly and feels great. Movement and shooting have weight without feeling overly cumbersome. The village section is really well done, very intense and made me aware of my limitations, both with the controls and being outnumbered. I spent most of my time running around like a headless chicken! Got a few good leg shots and kicks in. Part of me wants to play it again and fix some of my mistakes, use my supplies more intelligently and get more comfortable with the controls. Think I'll save it for the full game though.

I've been really impressed with the previews for this game, and the demo has only increased that. I normally admire horror from a distance as I don't like being scared. As thrilling as the village section is as a game, it also leaves me feeling kind of drained and miserable due to the panic. It's not a big deal or anything but it means I tend to be selective. There's a balance to finding something that is scary enough to be exciting, but not so bad that I'm not enjoying it. This game seems to sit in that wheelhouse pretty well, and everything I've seen of it looks awesome, so I'm looking forward to trying it.

[rob25X]

Played the demo the day in came out. I think it's a very good remake and I'm sure most fans of the original game will like it. As mentioned above by Markfm, it runs very smoothly and does feel great.

One thing I'd mention is the incredible 'photo mode'. I spent more time playing with that than I did the actual game!

I wonder what will be next for RE. A Code Veronica remake maybe?

[Magical_Isopod]

Is it petty to dislike this game on the principle they skipped out on a Code Veronica remake? I like RE4 well enough, but I have ZERO enthusiasm for this game. The original still exists, and still holds up pretty well... And this remake doesn't seem to really be changing things up at all. It's not quite as egregious as Last Of Us Part 1, but this feels like a really unnessisary remake to me.

Plus I stand by my episode commentary that the Wii controls made the game much more playable for me, personally.

I'll also add that, of the mainline numbered entries, RE0 is definitely the one most in need of a remake. My brother played it for the first time last year, and actually texted me from JAPAN to complain about the monkey enemies that can stun lock you.

[ratsoalbion]

The fact that it's still a week until my preinstalled copy of this (courtesy of game sharing with Our dezm0nd) unlocks is physically painful:

https://opencritic.com/game/14200/resid ... 23-remake-

I have a long weekend, with no football, and I cannot wait to get stuck in.

[GKBracken]

Is it petty to dislike this game on the principle they skipped out on a Code Veronica remake? I like RE4 well enough, but I have ZERO enthusiasm for this game. The original still exists, and still holds up pretty well... And this remake doesn't seem to really be changing things up at all. It's not quite as egregious as Last Of Us Part 1, but this feels like a really unnessisary remake to me.

Plus I stand by my episode commentary that the Wii controls made the game much more playable for me, personally.

I know purists contend the Wiimote makes the game too easy (not something I'd argue at all given my death count), but can hardly imagine playing RE4 without the Wiimote — it's so intuitively integrated that you'd be forgiven in thinking RE4 was designed with the Wii in mind.

[ratsoalbion]

Yeah, pretty sure I sang the praises of the Wii version on both of our RE4 podcasts!
It definitely does make the game easier though, if you get used to it.

I'm quite happy to play the new version with traditional controls, however.

[Magical_Isopod]

The Wii controls do make it easier, but it made the game beatable for me. The reticule on the GC version (the only one I had played) always felt too slow, like I could not control the game fast enough to keep up with the threats on screen.

I'm a big advocate for games having difficulty options, as I've never found bashing my head against the wall in frustration to be especially fun.

[ratsoalbion]

[Rhaegyr]

Have to go to a bloody stag do this weekend instead of playing this.

In all fairness the groom himself is gutted he can't do the same.

[Caligulas Horse]

I decided to return to Uni in October, and I handed in my first two essays this week Tuesday. That this game is being released today is clearly a sign that I should reward myself with a weekend indoors suplexing zombies.

[ratsoalbion]

I played for around 10 hours yesterday and found it as hard to put down as the original.
I think they've really (re)captured the flow and balance of one of my all-time favourites.

There are however some niggling issues with the versions out now as it stands.
Check out our friend John's video:

[ratsoalbion]

RE4 until 1am again. I think it's fair to say I approve this venture.

Currently finding statue heads and just ridden the first ornate castle travel car mechanism. Big game is big!

[markfm007]

Just made it through to Chapter 6. Really enjoying it so far. I'm taking it slow and admiring the gorgeous scenery. I love how every time I'm feeling a bit more confident, the game will throw something new at me, or crank up the intensity. Only minor issue I experienced is an apparently common one, where the bottom of the screen will flicker a bit. Restarting the game has sorted it out though.

[Will Marley]

Looks great but the demo gave me motion sickness, even with the accessibility settings on. I think it's possibly something about the RE engine unfortunately because I get it from all the modern RE games, first and third person. Probably also I sit too close to the telly but that won't be changing.

[Caligulas Horse]

Didn't end up playing this as much over the weekend as I'd hope, and still yet to perform a suplex, but very impressed so far. Seems like they've managed to flesh out and tweak nearly every aspect of the original whilst retaining the core structure, tone (so happy the cheesy dialogue remains!), and gameplay. The lake area expansion was an especially nice touch, hoping there are more areas like that to come.

[ratsoalbion]

I'm right near the end of RE4 now after <>16 hours. I feel the Capcom team has done a stellar job of retaining the mystical flow, balance and pacing of the majestic original. Myriad improvements beyond audiovisual, too - not least of which is that QTEs are gone.

[Rhaegyr]

Any chance of doing an 'add-on' to the current RE4 podcast, similar to the one TLOU received after the remake? Or is it different enough to eventually get its own show?

[ratsoalbion]

The latter, I reckon. It's been put on the big list.

Tune into the next Patreon monthly podcast for some spoken word review from me in the meantime.
Should be out around 8th or 9th April.