Resident Evil 4

Royta/Raeng wrote:Resorting to memes immediately, alas, that is the level of intellectual discussion one can expect from a Red9 user

Oh, come on! I had to find just the fitting videos here, reducing it to "memes" is highly dismissive! :D


And yeah, good find on the red zealot plaga footage (although, could this guy learn where to shoot maybe? Blacktail users, amirite? ). In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if there were multiple variables at play here, across the different weapons and melee moves and between the scripted and randomized plagas and everything. Which would explain the constant confusion!

In short: Plagas are complicated and we would have to play Inception within the game's code to know anything for sure. Use explosives or lethal fire damage if you want to prevent one from spawning. Otherwise, flash grenades are your best friend.

This is dangerous. Reading all of this and thinking about the game, I’m about to play it again. Fucking legendary. It’s amazing how well the enemies were designed and animated in relation to what Leon can do, it’s a really brilliantly made puzzle.

>fire and explosions

A Mikami staple, these really crush Ganados especially. Really good to keep in mind about them preventing plaga spawns if they kill.

>crows

I remember finding this out back when it first came out, being an ass of a kid I wanted to shoot the crows but I threw a flash because it was the only grenade I had and was giddy when I saw all the treasure drop from them(played a lot of JRPGs back then). Good times.

Royta/Raeng wrote:Fuck me I really want to play the game again now haha!

Infinity_Divide wrote:This is dangerous. Reading all of this and thinking about the game, I’m about to play it again. Fucking legendary.

I suppose this begs the question: Why aren't you lot already playing this godly game every six months like I do?

Get properly into Mercs afterwards, and you'll never have to pay for another video game in your life. Drowning in Elgato cables and ancient 240p highscore vids is but a small price to pay for eternal bliss.

>why not play every six months

Up until recently, this was a game I played a couple times a year actually, haha! I don’t think I’ve actually played all the way through since 2017 or so. This is absolutely a game that needs to be played on a regular basis, so much to appreciate and love.

>mercs

Man, my friend and I spent so much time on this back at release. We actually thought the handcannon was impossible to get because 60k points wasn’t achievable. Good times.

Just fyi: I just suplex-splooshed the Red Zealot in the sword room and no plaga. +1 for Team Red9.

What kind of poser doesn’t use the Red9, anyway?

Red9 is just too strong for me. I exclusively use Punisher as it is pretty crappy lol. Also love the Five-seveN.

I am surrounded by heretics Casual players that haven't yet seen the delight of wielding an actually good handgun. What is the world coming to... what's next? People saying they prefer the Semi Automatic Sniper over the glorious Bolt Action Rifle? Madness.

Hey now, I like every weapon in the game! I just love the red9, that power and reload animation...too good to pass up.

>semi auto over bolt action

I think most people will have this preference haha. I’ve always loved the bolt action for its raw damage and how little space it takes up compared to the semi auto.

I prefer the BAR as well unless I'm playing the NTSC GameCube version, in which case it's the semi-auto rifle and its obscene fire rate all the way.

The fire rate is insane given how it can just cleave through shields and groups of enemies.

Yep, it's arguably the main reason I still have the NTSC GameCube version up and running. Wesker has the exclusive upgraded SAR in its inventory by default and the enemies are more aggressive, which turns Mercs (especially Castle) a completely different and much more intense experience. One of the many things the later ports overlooked.

Doesn't he also have the fully upgraded Sniper in the PAL version though? Always felt those differences were neat. Knife damage got changed, but iirc also enemy agression and ammo drops etc. From what I recall the PAl version dropped less ammo, but had higher firepower to compensate (could be hearsay for all I know though). I do recall that you couldn't blow up the boulder with the RPG in the mines to skip that area in the NTSC version.

Seems in this video that he still has the super fast shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5JI9K037s0

They did change Mercenaries per region though iirc, something with different spawn rates and locations. And of course the German version which didn't have the mode at all.

> SAR vs BAR
That was more the joke, since basically any of the two are viable, just like all the handguns. Only weapon that imo is lacking in the endgame is the Shotgun and Riotshotgun, the Striker just leaves them in the dust imo. Always felt that was a shame.

I need to replay this. I barely used anything handgun other than the default one. It was just a headshot>stun tool and critical.

I really want to take each handgun for a full game run.

Royta/Raeng wrote:Doesn't he also have the fully upgraded Sniper in the PAL version though?

Seems in this video that he still has the super fast shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5JI9K037s0

They did change Mercenaries per region though iirc, something with different spawn rates and locations. And of course the German version which didn't have the mode at all.

So, this has been driving me insane fort the past half an hour and I think I've just stumbled upon something I didn't know before about the game.

I watched the video you just posted and thought "Huh yeah, this doesn't seem to be much slower than Wesker's rifle in the NTSC version I'm used to".

I've since tested the GC NTSC version, the GC PAL version and the PS4 version and have come to the conclusion that the firing rate of Wesker's rifle is basically the exact same across all versions, despite the exclusive upgrade of the NTSC GC version being displayed as twice as fast. A full clip of 24 bullets always takes roughly 18.6 seconds to empty when the button is being held down.

And to top it all off, I also tested the SAR in the main game of the GC NTSC version, and even then it fires at the exact same 0.80 rate as all the other version, despite the exclusive upgrade being displayed as 0.40! So from the looks of it, it appears as if that regional difference was only about the SAR exclusive upgrade number being displayed incorrectly without any actual mechanical difference!

This is blowing my mind right now, I'm gonna ask around if anybody else knows about this or if I'm just being dumb.


PS: And yeah, there are definitely other (real!) changes between the GC NTSC version and all the later ones in terms of enemy spawns and general aggression.
Those I know for sure.

Mine Thrower is best gun

Mine thrower can do it all.

Interesting. Might make you wonder if something went wrong with the visual display of the numbers. Would be interested to see if perhaps the BAR, Red9 and Blacktail's number differences in the PAL version are also just a visual glitch. Think you could give some of those a try?

Would be pretty scary to find out that all we knew was just a lie..

Royta/Raeng wrote:Would be interested to see if perhaps the BAR, Red9 and Blacktail's number differences in the PAL version are also just a visual glitch. Think you could give some of those a try?

It's a bit tricky to test those out without dedicated software. I would have to play through the main game until I could find some of the meatier enemies to try them on and gain some reliable data. But as far as I know, the damage stats differences in those other weapons are legit. I remember playing through the GC NTSC version a few-ish years ago and being shocked at how weak the BAR felt in comparison to what I was used to from the other versions.

Feelings are a tricky thing regarding this (note, me believing for 20 years straight that Suplex doesn't void plagapops). If everyone is saying the BAR is weaker in the NTSC version, you're gut feeling is already biased. Would be interesting to test though. I think you can test one pretty early, which is the knife. IIRC it was noted the knife got a damage boost in PAL from 1.4 to 1.7. You can easily test it the Cow in the village, he has enough HP to tank some things I'd reckon.

While delving through this data I do find it interesting that the suplex apparently deals more damage to soldiers (4.4 instead of 3.6).

Poor Luis has just met his demise - he was a good guy after all. RIP, sweet prince.

I groaned when I saw I had a section to play as Ashley, but to be fair, it was fine. Short and sweet, was interesting enough to be a 10 minute break, didn't outstay it's welcome.

I think one of my favourite parts so far has been what I'm assuming is supposed to be a secret - you shoot the bottle on the painting to open the room with the treasure in, only to find it's a trap and be locked in a cage with Mr Claws. It took me a few goes to figure out how I was going to do it, but through the adversity I met my new best friend - the Mine Thrower. Plus, Leon wears it like it's the Mega Buster, which is rad.

Also, fuck those stealthy bugs in the sewer, and ESPECIALLY the part where you can hear something you running straight at you from behind, but when you turn round, nothing. It took me 3 goes to get through that section, and I still had to turn round each time - damn you Mikami!

Royta/Raeng wrote:Feelings are a tricky thing regarding this (note, me believing for 20 years straight that Suplex doesn't void plagapops). If everyone is saying the BAR is weaker in the NTSC version, you're gut feeling is already biased. Would be interesting to test though. I think you can test one pretty early, which is the knife. IIRC it was noted the knife got a damage boost in PAL from 1.4 to 1.7. You can easily test it the Cow in the village, he has enough HP to tank some things I'd reckon.

Point taken. I'll check on occasion!

Gregorinho wrote:Also, fuck those stealthy bugs in the sewer, and ESPECIALLY the part where you can hear something you running straight at you from behind, but when you turn round, nothing. It took me 3 goes to get through that section, and I still had to turn round each time - damn you Mikami!

Fun fact: The Novistadors (the insects in the sewers) aren't completely invisible. When they stand still, their breath and eyes are still slightly visible if you look carefully. If you walk very slowly and check your surrounding with the sniper rifle a lot, you can sometimes see them before they can see you!

> Ashley section
I still don't quite understand why they put that in, it's not bad but nothing special either. Funnily enough you can kill all the enemies in those areas with her. Fun stuff.

> secret cage
I think you're forced to do that encounter.

> Novistadors
Important note is that they take absolutely massive bonus damage when flying, to the point that even a single TMP bullet OHKO's them. I recall there also being a way to lure them into a kick QTE. As Ksub noted you can generally see them beforehand and snipe them if you wish. You can also see what kind of eyes they have, fun detail. Personally I always skip the sewers, if you know the layout you can just run through it pretty easily.

> Novistadors
I did notice that there was a little "aura" to them that gave them away. Do they jump up to the ceiling after a knockdown? I was doing okay fighting them until they jumped right out of my line of sight!

> Secret Cage
Ah, I'm not as cunning as I thought then. It was still a cool encounter though. I figured that I could get out of the cage almost immediately by tagging one of the mumbling goths (I should really learn the enemy names) with the mine thrower, as he and his friend seem to stand by the cage door. You can get two kills and break the lock before Mr Claws can open his ey-...er...ears.

Royta/Raeng wrote:> Ashley section
I still don't quite understand why they put that in, it's not bad but nothing special either.

So you could have a neat little classic RE throwback with the fixed camera angles! Very unfortunate that they would remove that from all the localized versions...

Royta/Raeng wrote:> Ashley section
Funnily enough you can kill all the enemies in those areas with her. Fun stuff.

I only know how to kill the monks with the lamps in the starting areas. Is there a way to kill the Armaduras I'm not aware of, though?

Royta/Raeng wrote:> secret cage
I think you're forced to do that encounter.

Wait, what? No, you can just shoot the cage lock and run for the exit. The exit door isn't locked or anything. I always stick around for that fight because I love fighting Garry but it's completely optional. Every speedrunner I've ever watched just shoots the padlock and bails out.

Unless you mean the cage will always come down no matter what, in which case you're right!


PS: On the Novistadors, we should probably clarify that there are two different types so as to not confuse poor Greg: The invisible type and the flying type. The flying ones you encounter later on are definitely OHKO if you shoot them in the air, but I don't think the invisible ones can fly. They do love to run on the ceiling and walls, though. Very easy to lose sight of them after they whack you!

KSubzero1000 wrote:

Royta/Raeng wrote:> Ashley section
I still don't quite understand why they put that in, it's not bad but nothing special either.

So you could have a neat little classic RE throwback with the fixed camera angles! Very unfortunate that they would remove that from all the localized versions...

I feel like I knew this once but forgot, that's lame we didn't get the classic cam

>section with fixed camera angles

Wut. How did I never know about this??

Ashley's segment has fixed camera angles in the Japanese version? For real?
Damn, you're right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myHiKaZ3YFM

Never knew this, that's really freak'n sweet. Looks weird though, but honestly quite impressed by how the visuals hold up despite not being pre-rendered. Shame that they removed this. Perhaps in reference to the hookman build somehow?

> Armaduras
Forgot about those guys, but there used to be some talk that you could kill them using door-pushes. I remember discussions on Gamefaqs about it back in the day regarding 100% Kill runs. But I don't know if someone ever went and tested it or even did it. Doorpushes do deal damage and can kill enemies and bosses like Verdugo (takes forever though). I remember one guy doing it decades ago on his knife-only run since he managed to loop Verdugo into doorpushes somehow.

> Garador
Wish we could have him attack allies, think that'd be a neat touch to have in a game like this (surprised in general that friendly fire is so rare in this game outside of explosives).

> cage fight
Yeah I meant that you're forced to start that encounter, that it's not a hidden fight But yeah you can just nuke the lock and dash to the exit!

> invisible Novistadors
I'm starting to think you're right now that you mention it. I don't recall invisible ones flying. Enfin, still good information to have. If they fly, nuke em :D

Yeah, and as far as I can tell, they've kept the classic camera in the Ashley section for every single japanese re-release. It's a shame it never got localized, even as an option or an unlockable. Plus, I assume it would have broken the collective brain of the "Them Controls Don't Work, Jeanine!"-hivemind, which means that it would only have sold 5 copies and nobody would even be thinking of remaking this long-forgotten classic by now.

Come to think of it, that's why I even imported the JPN GC version years ago!

Royta/Raeng wrote:> Garador
Wish we could have him attack allies, think that'd be a neat touch to have in a game like this (surprised in general that friendly fire is so rare in this game outside of explosives).

I dunno, I'm not a huge fan of those friendly fire mechanics. They sound cool in theory, in a simulation-oriented sort of way, but they often end up dictating a lot of the optimal strats and reduce player agency. Keep that stuff in Far Cry and whatnot. The idea of sitting back and manipulating Enemy X into smacking Enemy Y around sounds like the polar opposite of RE4 to me. This game's perfectly balanced asymmetrical combat system is its greatest asset, I'd rather it not being messed with too much. Explosives are more than enough!

Depends on the game and how it's handled imo. Doom 1 and 2 still do it the best way I feel. Enemies deal low damage to each other, same type foes can't harm each-other and they need to deal a specific amount of damage before in-fighting begins. Don't feel that in-fighting belongs here at all, but it'd be interesting if for instance Salvador would knock enemies to the side during his charge, or Garrador could be used to harm or kill other zealots. Nothing too fancy, just some fun diversions.

This just popped up on my recommends, pretty cool

Made my last regulated save 'fore JK, and right enough, it's been a long time, comrade. Not the nuts and bolts, mind you. The time limit. Back to super-agent school, boy. I love the animation of JK storming straight forward long distance like a wild beast and the rustling sounds of his equipment. Fast forward to final boss. All clear. And then I lost the race against the waves on my jet-ski. Not once but twice in one day. Yeah, laugh it up if it rubs you funny, but it can happen to you, too. I am reminded that in DMC the last bit is infallable and just for fun. Going at it again.

Done. The first part of credits have a vibrant motif in some European fairy tale sense. Peasant life. And then they came into town... Nice fill-in backround.

Never did a New Round. Does rank go up? Like in shmps? Or is it just 'I survived this, let's boogie!' with maxed-out guns-thing?

Zenyn wrote:
Never did a New Round. Does rank go up? Like in shmps? Or is it just 'I survived this, let's boogie!' with maxed-out guns-thing?

New Round is just the main game again with the inventory and health status of your completed save file. Nowhere near as sophisticated as CAVE's Ura Loop, I'm afraid. Rank is only determined by the selected difficulty setting and in-game behavior.

If you wanna get real, play Mercs.

Yeah. Used Mercs to improve. Over 100 000 pts in every stage. New cap ever so possible.
Anyone interested to run some score tables in-topic? Seperated in version, character, and stage?
You might surpass old scores that way.

Watched some of the earlier gameplay footage. Pretty interesting, the older builds that have totally different gameplay aside, there's some things different still in the first version shown of the build we got. For one, Leon's placeholder voice is *hilarious* and enemies seem to have a 'leap' grab that makes them seem very animalistic.

https://youtu.be/ojtbdcJP6SU?t=539
Enjoy. At 10:12 you're in for a shock.

Zenyn wrote:Anyone interested to run some score tables in-topic? Seperated in version, character, and stage?

Ah, I don't think we need to go that far just yet. But do keep us updated if you get a nice score! Always nice to see people give Mercs a shot, I think it's an incredibly well designed mode that hardly gets any attention these days.

Beat the game a few hours ago - overall, I really enjoyed it. I should have gotten round to playing it a lot sooner! I did worry for the first few hours that I wasn't going to like it as much as I ought to, but like any action game, it gets much more enjoyable as the combat system opens up. I'm looking forward to getting in to the Mercenaries mode.

Gregorinho wrote:Beat the game a few hours ago - overall, I really enjoyed it.

Yay! Very happy to hear that. It's always tricky to get into games that have such unconventional fundamentals, especially fifteen years after their initial release, but I'm glad it clicked with you eventually. I have so many questions!


What's your opinion of the Krauser boss fight? Did you try to exploit his weakness to knife attacks or decided to play it safe?

How would you rank the three main locations (Village, Castle, Island) overall?

Did you notice any effects of the Dynamic Difficulty system, like enemies becoming less aggressive after multiple deaths? What is your opinion on it if so?

Do you prefer real-time inventory systems like in RE5 or the one in this game?

Gregorinho wrote:I'm looking forward to getting in to the Mercenaries mode.

Wonderful! You won't regret it if you like the combat, I promise.

The scoring system and advanced strategies can be a bit complicated at first. I'd say just try to have fun and get a feel of the various maps and characters at first.




Protip: Some humanoid sub-bosses lose their Super Armor during active and recovery frames, which makes them significantly easier to stagger. Have fun!

> Krauser
Using my superior gamer intellect, it only took me maybe 2 or 3 deaths (once you reach the final phase) to realise that you're supposed to shoot him in the legs. Up to that point, I thought I was supposed to get close and bait him in to using his non-QTE attacks, and then shoot him during his recovery for a stagger. I didn't realise he was weak to knife attacks (I wasn't brave enough to try and knife a boss) but that's good to know for future runs. I enjoyed the fight, and I quite liked the structure of it being split in to "phases", if that's the right term.

> Locations
Ranking these is pretty tough. For the most part, I found that I enjoyed the game more and more as it advanced, which was mostly due to the enemy design, both in an individualistic sense as well as how they are combined with other types to create the combat encounters. My enjoyment also came from the weapons and upgrades that you gradually acquire over the course of the game, but they don't directly relate to the locations themselves. I think I would rank Village in last, despite it starting strongly. I wasn't too fussed on the El Gigante or Del Lago bosses, and while the combat was still good, the more interesting weapons and enemies were introduced later. It's tough but I think i'd put Island in the middle, as I think some of the sections against the infected soldiers were less interesting than the ones against the cultists in the Castle.

> Dynamic Difficulty
I actually didn't notice that enemies were less aggressive. I could tell that the items being spawned were tailored to what I needed and how I was doing. Does the dynamic difficulty make the game harder when you're doing well? If it did, I couldn't say I noticed that either. I think it's a fine system to implement for the standard difficulty setting - I know it's absent for Professional, which in my opinion is how it should be. I think it's fine to help players out a bit on their first run and then test what they've learned on the next one.

> Inventory System
This is another tough one, because the question leads me to compare the RE4/5 systems. I think each inventory system works fine in their own respective games. I like how in RE5 you can open your inventory in the middle of actions and reload your gun. In RE5, this adds an extra layer to mastering the mechanics, but if you could do it in RE4 and never needed to reload in battle it'd just break the game. I'd maybe have to replay RE5 to figure out if I have a preference, but comparing my experience with both games, I can't say I had any particular issues with either system. It's like comparing the DMC1 and 3 systems for weapon switching - each system works fine in it's own game because of how the combat was designed.

> Mercs
I had a quick go on it before with Leon on the Village stage, and I definitely have a lot to learn! You seem to get overwhelmed much quicker so it's definitely a good combat challenge.

Whoops, completely forgot to answer this!

Gregorinho wrote:I didn't realise he was weak to knife attacks (I wasn't brave enough to try and knife a boss) but that's good to know for future runs.

Yeah, it's a really nice little detail meant to encourage maximum risk-vs-reward playstyle during the boss fight as a follow-up from the QTE cutscene! But the game doesn't explicitly draw attention to it and it's perfectly possible to fight him using conventional weaponry (or even the rocket launcher for those who are really struggling). Layers upon layers in this game!

Here's the quickest and cleanest strat, although there are plenty of ways to exploit his weakness:

Gregorinho wrote:I think I would rank Village in last, despite it starting strongly. I wasn't too fussed on the El Gigante or Del Lago bosses, and while the combat was still good, the more interesting weapons and enemies were introduced later. It's tough but I think i'd put Island in the middle, as I think some of the sections against the infected soldiers were less interesting than the ones against the cultists in the Castle.

Interesting. I would put the Village ahead of the Island, personally, but I agree that the Castle is probably the highlight of the game. Just one well-designed combat scenario after the other. And that medieval architecture!

Gregorinho wrote:Does the dynamic difficulty make the game harder when you're doing well?

Yeah, and it makes the game easier if you're taking a lot of damage and missing a lot of your shots. Some enemies only spawn on a certain level of dynamic difficulty, and the enemy AI becomes generally more aggressive if you're doing well (faster attacks, for example). It's a pretty complex, nuanced and deliberately opaque system, mostly a cool bit of trivia to pay attention to on repeated playthroughs.

Gregorinho wrote:> Mercs
I had a quick go on it before with Leon on the Village stage, and I definitely have a lot to learn! You seem to get overwhelmed much quicker so it's definitely a good combat challenge.

Cool! Any progress?

> Krauser

That is a super optimised strategy! I did have a Rocket Launcher, but sold it. Wanted to try and beat the game without it.

> Location Rankings

It's difficult for me to rank them as I associate the locations with the weapons and upgrades I had available. I think aesthetically that the Village is much more interesting than the Island, but I didn't have my favourite guns then (and I had a weaker understanding of the combat system). I liked them all a similar amount, really.

> Dynamic difficulty

The game will have definitely been easier for me then if it tracks your accuracy and damage I think it's a pretty good system, especially with how invisible it seems to be to players who aren't in the know. I believe some of the DMC titles feature a dynamic difficulty system too, but I couldn't tell you any specifics on it.

> Mercs

Unfortunately, no, not yet - I've moved on to the next game in my Capcom binge (Ace Attorney Trilogy). I can see myself coming back to it, though! I understand the characters have different loadouts and play differently too. I think Ada is the fastest, Krauser has his arm, Wesker has that crazy melee attack that sends enemies through time and space - is Leon considered the weakest character or does he have any mechanical advantages over the others?

Gregorinho wrote:> Mercs

Unfortunately, no, not yet - I've moved on to the next game in my Capcom binge (Ace Attorney Trilogy). I can see myself coming back to it, though!

Fair enough, it is an acquired taste. Hope you give it another chance, it has a lot to offer!

Gregorinho wrote:I understand the characters have different loadouts and play differently too. I think Ada is the fastest, Krauser has his arm, Wesker has that crazy melee attack that sends enemies through time and space - is Leon considered the weakest character or does he have any mechanical advantages over the others?

Leon's only real advantage is that he's the only character with a shotgun, so if that's your crowd control weapon of choice he might be worth investing time into. But he struggles to keep the combo alive and lacks any real long-distance option, so he's certainly one of the weaker characters. Some players really like him, though!

Ada has a great loadout and fantastic mobility, so she has a lot of potential. She's basically like a more beginner-friendly, slightly weaker version of Wesker without the massive burst damage potential.

Krauser is super hard to master on account of the sheer precision required to handle his bow properly. His arm is devastating but has a relatively long cooldown, which often leaves him without any reliable crowd control option apart from his melee moves. I'm still struggling with him and I've been playing this game for 10+ years, so...

Hunk is super straightforward in terms of his loadout and damage output (Custom TMP + Grenades). Very beginner-friendly and an absolute beast on the Village stage thanks to his OHKO on the Bellas.

Wesker is by far the strongest character thanks to his Killer7 and SAR (his melee is borderline useless, this isn't RE5). He doesn't start with any ammo in his inventory however, so he requires a solid knowledge of the stage layouts and top resource management skills to really shine. Once you get good with Wesker though, he's in a league of his own.


Anyway, the real challenge comes from learning the stages! Since you can't just camp out in a corner and wait for the enemies to come to you, you need to come up with the most efficient route so as to make the best use out of the limited time available to you. Optimizing your course of action in order to deal with the enemies and sub-bosses in a time- and resource-efficient manner while collecting the various items, time extensions and bonus chests scattered around the stage is where Mercs really comes into its own.

Curious to hear why you say his melee is borderline useless. IIRC his Palm Strike is still an area of effect attack that deals a ton of damage, Chagi is an OHKO on most foes and an OHKO on plagas if I recall correctly. Do they take too long compared to use and set up?

Wesker's melee moves are useless because there is virtually no situation in which they prove to be advantageous. Your main weapon should always be the SAR, which is an instant-kill on any non-plaga enemy (not including sub-bosses, of course) and can kill several depending on their positioning. Your secondary weapon should be the Killer7, which is just as deadly as the SAR and has a knockback effect. If you need to quickly get rid of a bunch of enemies at the same time, use a hand grenade. If you need to delay kills for combo purposes, use an incendiary.

The only time you should ever have your handgun out is when your other weapons are out of ammo, and even then it's usually more time-efficient to stay at a distance and try to land head shots thanks to the exclusive upgrade. By the time you stagger one enemy with the pistol and then kill him plus maybe stagger three others using the Thrust Punch, you could have just as easily killed all four of them with almost any other option in your arsenal.

RE5 Mercs meta-game is all about chaining melee kill after melee kill until you grow old and die. But RE4 Mercs meta-game is all about dispatching enemies as quickly and safely as possible. There is simply never any reason to use anybody's melee moves apart from Hunk's Neckbreaker unless you're trying to exploit i-frames in a very specific scenario. Even though Wesker's do look kinda cool.

Good point! I never really went for highscores as a kid, and I loved Wesker's silencer, so I mostly used that weapon for cool headshots. IIRC most high-score Wesker players ditch the silencer immeidately and I think also the handgun to make room for more Sniper ammo.

Depends on the version, really. I almost exclusively play NTSC GC for Wesker since his ammo drops are so much more generous on that version, so I always discard the handgun as soon as I'm done opening barrels. On the regular version though, it's best to keep it just in case because the probability of running out of SAR ammo mid-run is unfortunately rather high.

Silencer has zero purpose, no matter the version.

I'm curious, have you played this at all in the 15 years since it came out?

Mercenaries or the main game?

I haven't touched Mercenaries seriously since at least 2005, in RE4 that is. I was never that big on score-attack modes. Got the required ranks for the Handcannon and then only aiming to beat one score with Wesker. There was this cool Mercenaries website at the time that I'm sure you remember as well, where people could send in pictures via email, pretty cool, managed to get top 10 which was my goal, other than that, barely touched it. Funnily enough I lasted only for a day, got downgraded to top 20 pretty fast haha. That website was seriously cool though, it also featured some videos from Asian runners. I remember this aweinspiring Leon run of Waterworld being on there, by what we would probably call "recorded with a potato" these days haha.

In terms of the campaign I still pop in RE4 every few years, think last time I played it was maybe 2 years ago? But I generally only play the Village these days, the Castle is cool so I sometimes also play that but the Island is where I generally zone out. Currently I'm saving my desire to play it until I buy a good CRTV again. Think the last full run I did of the game was my knife run which must be at least 8 years back.

Why do you ask haha? Am I making that big a fool of myself?

Been watching some of the japanese cutscenes, copying text and sending them to my fiance's aunt for translation. They really didn't have any ham at all in the original script it seems, hats off to the translators. Leon is a dry piece of cardboard in the Japanese version's writing.

Have you played the Japanese version of MGR? I felt Raiden sounded super serious. Nothing like his English VA.

Royta/Raeng wrote:Why do you ask haha? Am I making that big a fool of myself?

No, don't worry! I was asking about Mercs, out of curiosity. It's really one of these semi-hidden gems that barely anybody appears to have paid any attention to. Mainstream audiences only ever care about the main game (if they can get adjusted to the controls, that is), but even dedicated action game players seem to ignore it in favor of RE5 or RE6 Mercs, generally speaking.