Resident Evil 4: The Remake

What is it?

Did you hear? 4 gets the treatment. A dream come true (!). I mean, yeah, the original's qte's are not to my liking, but remaking the whole game...  

Blood.

I think it's plain cannibalism. Immure me now, for I have seen amazing periods of creativity, and I must go on to witness this in my own lifetime.

Whaddaya think?

I think it's a terrible idea whose funds could be better spent to making a great new game. I have zero doubt it will be a decent game, or even a good one, but it won't be better than RE4 (though I'd love to be taken by surprise).

I wish those designers were allowed to make their own games with their own ideas, instead of being relegated to rehashing ground-breaking works of their predacessors.

Moving while shooting will be in.

It's just... unnecessary? It's not a game that needs to be remade. I know you could say that about any remake, but... yeah.

That's not to say remakes are bad games. I know the RE2 remake was very highly regarded (not played it myself, only the original), but was it really necessary? I suppose Capcom's bank balance would argue "yes, it was".

Go on YouTube and look up a video of any PS2/Xbox/GC/DC you like - I bet you there's comments asking for the game to be remade for current systems. I wonder if its because they don't have access the old systems anymore, or if they aren't prepared to play old games despite clearly having fond memories of them? Maybe a mixture of the two.

It's interesting though - I don't feel like we really see this with other forms of media. You don't really get many people asking for films to be remade (although Hollywood does it anyway). You don't get people asking for books to be rewritten. Albums get remasters, but nobody asks the artists to rewrite the music to make it "better". I guess these are somewhat unfair comparisons, but it does make me wonder.

> Moving while shooting will be in.
I'm not a gambling man, but if I was, I'd bet my house on it.

This remake isn't needed and it will surely be worse than the original. Pretty graphics and "modern" controls are what I expect to see.

For dead/dying franchises I can understand it though, wanting a remake that is. It's an easy way to give the franchise new life or try new things. Speaking as a fan, I wouldn't mind a Golden Sun remake for example - saves on time/budget and might spark new interest.

But for RE4, the only reason I can think of remaking it is so that people can play the series new 'timeline' in the same style. In which case they'd still have to remake the RE1-remake, which is just fucking stupid in my eyes.

I've been thinking a lot yesterday about if I were to remake RE4, what would I change, and I seriously couldn't think of many things. The one thing I might change is very minor stuff like making the Mercenaries characters unlockable for the campaign, more (optional?) puzzles (the ones in it were pretty meh imo) and maybe have the team take another look at some of the bosses (while interesting, I do feel a lot of them fall flat on repeat runs).

But that's it really, and I'm pretty sure the remake won't do those things. It'll probably double down on the combat (which will somehow be worse), remove the "bingo" and maybe if we're really unlucky make Ashley a fully controllable co-op partner that wields a weapon and doesn't need no Leon haha.

> books be rewritten
One thing I've noticed though is that books tend to have a ton of versions however, comics as well, and I don't hear anyone talk about this. Batman comics have this a lot with later versions having entire balloons rewritten while books have small sentences changed. Even when translations aren't in order. Friend of mine is a big fan of Dune and owns like 20 copies of the book and they are all subtly different - very strange.

That said, books get remakes technically nearly every other week. You don't just have Lord of the Rings as a book. You have the illustrated version. The version with a forword from Neil Gaimen. A version with movie-styled covers. A version with thin paper and a map. A version with hardcover with no illustration. One with etc. Those are technically speaking the remakes of that medium I'd say. Just take a look at this haha: https://www.google.com/search?q=all+lord+of+the+rings+book+versions&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk00dy8F8AL8gjdBT5Abco3D04kA7KQ:1614671008555&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjoiJOfjpHvAhUH16QKHdovDzkQ_AUoAXoECBoQAw&biw=2560&bih=1256

> remakes in movies
There's a pretty good interview with Anthony Mackie about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj8JK6c5x3M
He also notes remakes.

> remakes and old systems
I think that it's mostly the SD vs HD era, which I can understand somewhat. I've now finally got a CRT so old games look gorgeous again, but playing a washed out version of a childhood favourite sucks. Most HD remasters are also terrible, so yeah, I get it sometimes. But I do feel we should remake more games that were actually broken/unfinished/bad/had potential. Like, Metal Gear Rising for example. Fantastic game, but very rushed and unfinished. That game could really benefit from a remake I'd say, or a revisitation at least. Not MGS2. Not MGS3. But MGRR.

Thank you all for your responces. Seems I'm not that freaky with my point. To hear that news is some kind of whammy for me. How it is so influential on so many things that followed. Even be imitated. And than the men upstairs decide to let the money bags roll in, again. "Just make it contemporary. You know what's hot today, just take a look around. But don't upset the nerds to much, eh? Throw a little in for 'em. Don't let it backlash too hard."

Royta/Raeng wrote:I've been thinking a lot yesterday about if I were to remake RE4, what would I change, and I seriously couldn't think of many things.

Oh, you took it farther than a first reaction. Through an inspection. When I think about What is it? I'm not uneasy about what will be deemed "upgradeable" in terms of technology and presentation. I'm sure they will automaticlly cut anything that is even remotly quirky. Dialog or script. Character or equipment. And that's something I would not abide. "I was sure you would be OK if you landed on your butt!" or "Your right hand comes off?!" ( my fave being "A senior moment, perhaps?") That doesn't fly anymore. Change it. Make it "clean". That other remake with that blonde guy? I'm guessing he's not cross-dressing to infiltrate a slum mansion anymore like the original? ( please don't answer that, I mean it )

Note that all those one-liners were not in the original script, but added in by David Crislip and Eric Bailey, who translated the script. The original Japanese script has none of those. Leon is, in fact, quite a ... dry piece of cardboard in that version (that only exists in the Japanese Subs, since the game never got a JPN VA).

Pretty sure the modern translation-team wouldn't get that freedom, so Leon will just say "Where is everyone going"? instead of "Where's everyone going, Bingo?". Which would be a big loss imo. That said modern Leon from RE2make is still quite youthfull, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a new game, emphasis on "new".

I am opposed to this on every level. RE4 is about as close to perfect as a game I’ve ever seen, it also obliterates nearly every game of its type that came afterward. The original is already on modern consoles FFS, this at least made sense for RE2/3.

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I think Capcom deserves credit for polishing up and re-releasing so many of their classic games. But RE4 is probably the last game on Earth that needs remade.

Hm, personally I'd prefer to see the older games ported over with door-loads removed (or made optional) i.e. RE1, 2, 3, CVX, Outbreak etc. Same as what they do with RE4 every year. Just make a 'master collection', scale up the games a bit (or do a "Kiwami") etc.

One fear I would have with other studios is that RE4make would result in RE4 not being ported anymore. One of the upsides of it being so famous was that it was always available on modern systems, making sure that each generation could discover this beast of a game. Usually a remake would negate this as it replaces it (regardless of quality).

But thankfully, this is Capcom! So we'll probably get two RE4s re-released each year haha.

> RE4 still ahead of its time
Graphics aside (and even then, its artstyle is king), I fully believe that players who play RE2make and RE3make and then go to RE4HD will experience a huge jump up in gameplay quality. Which is just...sad haha

If they're going to do it, they need to get the team that did the Shadow of the Colossus remake. Seems like they just painted over the old code. The graphics are updated and there's a few extras here and there but other than that the mechanics are identical. To the point where there's probably no point buying it if you don't care about graphics. It's really incredible.

>I fully believe that players who play RE2make and RE3make and then go to RE4HD will experience a huge jump up in gameplay quality.

Depends on whom you speak with... I recall someone saying how RE4 was 'archaic' for not allowing you to run and shoot... and that the remakes were way superior because they incorporated just that.

That's true, for some reason move+shoot is really baked into people's brains as a huge upgrade for whatever reason.

For what it's worth, the idea of remaking RE4 consistently gets quite a bit of pushback online whenever it's brought up...

I think it also doesn't help that it's a game from the PS2/GC/X era, I can't really recall straight up remakes on games of that era. Only remasters. Correct me if I'm wrong though. At least, not one that comes to mind immediately.

If I have to be completely honest I hope they just leave the game alone. RE4 to me is closest to be a perfectly designed game. Pacing, movement, how enemies interact with the player, encounter design everything is fantastic, and I have zero hope the modern industry will be able to do it justice.
Like you guys said, shooting while moving will probably be there and that alone will completely change the design.
The game is also available on every platform so there is no need for a remaster either.

Did some digging, the only games actually remade from that era are Warcraft 3, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, Yakuza 1 and 2, Chronicles of Riddick, Dragon Quest VIII (more of a demake'ish), Ninja Gaiden Black (Sigma version), CoD4,

This would make RE4 (and the later, and now delayed Sands of Time Remake) stand out a lot I feel and might also contribute to why people aren't that all for it. This generation is still pretty new to being remade.

Remakes inherently have an implicit idea that they're either improving the product or reimagining it. Some of the content problems with 2 and 3 Remakes is that they did incorporate some neat ideas at the expense of others (far more prevalent in 3R, which strikes me as a cash grab with incomplete concepts - not a bad game, far from it, but certifiably a disappointing one) So, the idea of improving 4 is, as stated, probably too broad a challenge because part of what makes 4 so good is that it is so accessible. It covers so many genres with so much content that cutting things out would seem to make a completely different game with completely different rules. So what could you add or modify - seems more like a question to ask. Though it seems pointless. As for reimagining, it would be interesting maybe seeing what kinds of creativity or scenes they could make out of the game with maybe a different direction? I'm not imaginative enough to think what they could do - let alone them doing it well (3R did not give me a ton of confidence). I'll be interested, albeit with the caveat that it probably isn't going to be that interesting. Already said in this thread, yet it bears repeating: A game that is still fairly recent and as polished as RE4 needing a remake is a strange direction. A reimagining is risky, but probably not worth it and is inherently going to be inferior. Though it would have a chance of being decent, so I think keeping our eyes open is fair enough.

> So what could you add or modify
A good question. I think the top of the list would probably curtail an increase in 'horror' as opposed to the campy B-movie plot, while also implementing move+shoot. The former would take away the extremely quotable dialogue, while the later would honestly immediately require a complete rewrite of at least all the weapons and enemies for balancing purposes.

As noted, I do not envy the team working on this.

So, the game is here and it's real!

Not too sure what to think about it. Thoughts?

I never beat RE4 (beat like 2/3 of it 3 years ago, I need to start it again I know), but what I've played was indeed a superb and very polished game that I would never imagine needing a remake.

Having said that, it would be interesting to see an alternative take on RE4 that might use some of its scrapped ideas. AFAIK Haunting Ground was based on the castle version of RE4 and I love that game, so I wouldn't mind seeing another scrapped concept getting a new life, even if in the form of a remake.

Judging by the trailer RE4make will have more of an horror focus, and ideally, it could lead to an interesting alternative take on it. RE4 is very accessible anyway so I don't think Capcom mean for the remake to replace the original.

They know (I hope they know) that they can't make a better action game than the OG, so going in a different direction seems like the logical thing to do, and it seems to be like that judging by the trailer. Also I think that Ashley will have more playable segments. I'm curious about the combat and I hope it doesn't use the same base as RE2make and RE3make. Even on that front they should try something new.

Yeah I'm in the same boat: really hope they bring something original to the table as just doing the same game again is only going to end in "it's...decent" results.

Going by the footage they might be aiming for a A-B scenario this time around with an Ada and Leon campaign perhaps, while also focusing more on the horror-element. One thing that does worry me though was the lack of gameplay shown. The game is already coming out quite fast, and RE3make wasn't that succesful, you'd think they want to put people at ease.

One big, big fear, I have is that Mendez will be the 'invincible guy who hunts you' in the village part. Saw a note that he now has a hat which you can 'shoot off' just like with Mister X in RE2make and honestly I'm so fucking tired of this mechanic I really hope they don't do it.

Keep in mind RE4 is the only RE I made any substantial progress in: Is Mister X in RE2 remake supposed to be like the stalkers in Haunting Ground in terms of how you can deal/interact with him, or is he more of a "scripted set piece" type of thing without the gameplay depth you have in Haunting Ground?

A year or two ago, I would have been mad at this existing and would have been eager to find every possible reason to hate it. But honestly…games are so dead to me right now that attempting to remake my favorite game is actually kind of exciting. I know it won’t be as good as the original, and I know they’ll completely fuck some things up. But I really don’t care. I’m sure it’ll still be a good game and that they’ll take it in a slightly different direction, which is necessary since the original is so close to perfect as it is.

>Mendez is Mr. X
I had a feeling they would do this. The team just can’t help themselves for some reason.

> mister X
It's a hotly debated topic generally. In vanilla 2 and vanilla 3, the 'chasers' could be interacted with. You could damage them, avoid them, or even 'kill' them in which case they dropped unique items or weapon-upgrade parts. There was a distinct 'fight of flight' in the situations, as you had to make quick choices i.e. do I stay and fight, risking the ammo and health for upgrade parts, or do I run, forgoing the upgrade parts. Usually this was a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment you had to decide in, made even better by RE3's choices system resulting in nearly every run being different.
In terms of appearances RE2s were scripted, while RE3's were a mixture of scripted and random.

Now in RE2make, they basically just did this: Mister X can warp to where you are, is invincible. You can damage him to 'slow him down' a bit or 'kneel him' which gives you a few minutes of breathing room. You can't kill him for upgradeparts. He's very simplistic in his design. You see him, you run away - the end. Hence why I'm so critical of him in general.

the approaches of vanilla RE2 and RE3 in particular (mixture of random and scripted) sound similar to how it works in Haunting Ground, which is even more of a reason for me to start playing RE soon.

All the things you listed apply to Haunting Ground as well in how you can play and interact with your stalkers, and they also drop items if knocked down (although it has no upgrade parts).

I take it that Mister X in RE2 remake lost most of the nuances and interactions that made him what he is in vanilla RE2?

Yeah as noted, he's basically a neutered version. He just chases you, there's no thought process to your engagements with him; you see him, you walk away. No interaction possible. RE3make is mostly the same, with some exceptions IIRC (haven't touched that, though I know Infinity did).

> play RE soon
Make room in your calendar haha. It's quite a replayable series and it rewards it too (ton of bonus modes, costumes and the like). RE1make still set the bar for how remakes should be done, and RE2 and 3 are just masters of their craft. The original RE1 is also still worth playing mind you.

Code Veronica is hit and miss, I kinda liked it but not sure if I'll still do so now. RE4 is ofc. the goat. RE5 is overhated, probably one of the best co-op games of its time. Get a friend, some beers/beverage of choice and it's an absolute blast. Outbreak is interesting too.

So what are we predicting will be cut or added?

Moving while shooting?
Dodge rolling?
Ashley censored?
Not funny Leon?

>Moving while shooting?
100%

>Dodge rolling?
No but I think they'll add some kind of parry ala RE3.

>Ashley censored?
She seems to be wearing her skirt, but with leggins under. Better than jeans at least. And there's no way that the ballistics line will remain in the game.

>Not funny Leon?
Worse, he'll be cringe. I'm afraid they'll try to recreate the camp, but camp only works when it's earnest. If you try to force it it'll come out cringe instead.

Also expect a gutted upgrade system, Mr. X segments, more solo Ashley segments, nerfed Rocket Launchers, nerfed contextual animations (no iframes, I'm sure), nerfed Regenerators/Iron Maidens, no ringouts, bigger inventory by default and half the island will be transformed into a lab segment.

Should be noted that the 'funny Leon' was only in the West, in the original Japanese script he's a fucking cardboard cut-out. That was all the translator's work (this is also why he's legit a different guy in every game/movie since then). That said I'm absolutely 100% positive Leon will not joke in this game, but when he fires the RPG at Salazar he will say "bingo". Calling it now.

Game will defnitely have move+shoot. Pretty sure Ashley will either now be a strong independant ex-military chick with basic training somehow that has her own gun and campaign.

> Changes
I'm sure contextual actions are gone completely, same with the upgrade system/merchant. Regenerators will probably just be powerful zombies, Island removed into a lab (as Malcar noted). Also pretty sure the entire Castle will be reworked and our lovely midget-miniboss is gone completely.

El Gigante is probably also gone, same with the other wacky things the game offered. Also fully expect the village to be a more 'open' area where you can explore and backtrack like in RE2make's police-station.

I wonder if they have the balls to put a QTE in there.

> in the original Japanese script he's a fucking cardboard cut-out
Heard about this. Reminds me of the Japanese version of MGR. I know almost nothing of the language but Raiden sounds super serious all the time.

Wondering what the Krauser boss will be like.

Oef that's another one. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd cut Krauser all together.

https://www.gematsu.com/2022/06/resident-evil-4-remake-atmosphere-gameplay-screenshots

Video is at the bottom. Is that moving while aiming I see?

Yeah that one was a given, apparently there's also a crouch-button from the looks of things. Can't say I'm too thrilled as of yet, but we'll have to wait until we see more.

If there's crouching, there's stealth. Probably stealth kills. Might as well throw in a 'spidey sense' too.

It could have a dedicated crouch button, or maybe it's a general "interact with environment" button, like when jumping between platforms in the original game. I hope it's the latter, I don't really see what a crouch button would add to the general experience. Maybe they are looking at stealth sections like Birdman suggests.

On the one hand, it's nice to see Capcom put more effort into making money than "let's port RE4 again" but what is a remake really going to do for a title like this? At least you can argue remaking RE2/3 into a third-person shooter is transformative, but here we're just getting a TPS again - and no doubt it won't have the same intricacies in combat that the original did.

It's Resident Evil, so it'll sell well and ultimately be worth it for Capcom. The introduction of moving-while-shooting already kills most of the combat philosophy that made RE4/5 work so well. I'd love for this game to be a banger but I just can't imagine it. Prove me wrong, Capcom.

> what is a remake doing for this title
I was talking to a friend of mine lately and we kinda agreed it would've been interesting had RE4make used static-camera angles and more traditional RE gameplay (even moreso than the other remakes). Would make for a nice change of pace and a fun nod to how RE4 sort of 'flipped the script'.

That said the only two reasons I can think of why they're doing this is that they want to remake the entire series with a newer more consistent lore, and that they want to make money. I mean regardless of output, we'll buy RE4make. I will be critic of its every waking moment, but I'll be there day one probably.

At this point though I'm pretty confident RE10, when we get there, will be in the remake-timeline with softremakes of 5 and 6 having already been made in the interim.

> move and shoot
It's scary how so many people don't understand how well done this mechanic is and how changing it throws a wrench in everything that made the games great. And when it IS added, not a lot is done with it (see also: Dead Space, great game, but move+shoot did nothing there).

I think they're just going to copy all the other shooters.

>It's scary how so many people don't understand
Yeah and this applies to so many games. Lollipop Chainsaw topics are popping up now and the mechanical blindness is on full display.

>we'll buy it
Nah, unless it's legitimately bringing something new and high-quality to the table I'll pass. Hopefully they can figure out something...

While I bought RE2 Remake on sale, I barely touched it. Didn't bother with 3.

Once it's released I'll watch videos and decide if it's something I want to run out and buy. Hopefully we'll get a demo.

Lots of new gameplay surfaced today, that also confirms earlier leaks. Basically QTEs are gone, there's now a QTE knife attack (love the double sided irony), Ashley can be given orders, dumpsters are gone, on the fly weapon switching with d-pad, perks, more built as "RE4, but turned up to 11".

So far I admit it looks better than expected, still not fully sold on it though. Thoughts?

>down stab
Looks like a generic down attack. Takes away knife management completely.

>leg shot
At least this is a thing.

>Ashley
Looks like they've made her easier to deal with even though she was no issue before

>auto stab enemy carrying Ashley
Lame.

>new big guy enemy
Sounds good.

>wolves everywhere
Good. Those things terrified me but you find them in one place.

>quick weapon select
Good.

>parry indicator
Stupid. The fact you can parry at all is lame.

Overall looks OK I guess. The easy knife stuff could mean there will be more enemies and more aggressive.

>Roy

that's all well and good but let's get down to the most important stuff: do Ashley's funbags still bounce and can you still look up her skirt?

> Ashley
She seems to have been nerfed in both degrees sadly, this is the 'modern era' after all :/

yeah it's gonna be a pass for me

Special demo coming soon, also Mercenaries Mode confirmed though uncertain if that will be at launch or dlc.

Wouldn't surprise me if they make Mercenaries DLC. I won't support that.

Trailer looked really good to me. We saw:

-Water room in the castle
-Elevator ride before Salazar
-Mine cart ride
-Krauser
-MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE
-SA Rifle
-Some kind of mine
-Suplexes
-Ducking under projectiles
-Garrador
-Novistador(though I'm not sure if this is really a good thing)
-Mercenaries

I could be jaded and act like this looks bad but it doesn't. This and Street Fighter 6 are shaping up really nicely.

It doesn't look bad, but it also still looks like "why does this even exist" to me. Wish they'd either just made something new or really took some ballsy decisions. Now it's just "RE4, again, but worse and more pretty".

SF6 looks fire though.