The Resident Evil 4 remake is finally upon us, bringing all the horrors of the original Resident Evil 4 back in 2005, now in ultra HD. As expected of a remake, the game has several graphical and technical improvements over its original, with players everywhere praising the direction that Capcom has taken. With the Resident Evil 3 remake falling somewhat flat, the Resident Evil 4 remake has been a breath of fresh air to long-time fans of the series.
As such, several noticeable differences exist between the original Resident Evil 4 and its remake. Most of them stick out in terms of graphical changes, gameplay overhauls, and even some character personality tweaks, to make for a more streamlined and concise gaming experience that still manages to stay true to the original.
Differences between the original and Resident Evil 4 remake
As mentioned, there are some notable differences between the original game and the remake. These are all of the major changes we have found.
1) Ashley Graham
The change that sticks out like a sore thumb is the tweaks that Capcom has made to all of the Ashley Graham sequences. The daughter of the President of the United States is no longer the target of several sexist remarks that existed in the original game. She also has a stronger and more independent personality befitting the daughter of the POTUS that many fans have taken to.
Her interactions in the game have been improved as well, with Ashley being able to help you more frequently and in more ways than before. She is not as one-dimensional as she once was in the original and will now either hide behind Leon or find a place to take cover if she is asked to. Both actions differ based on the location you are currently in.
2) Luis Serra Navarro
Dr. Luis Serra Navarro was a debatable character in the original Resident Evil 4. Some characters found his suave, charming personality likable while others thought he took it too far a few times through the story. Regardless of what the final outcome was, Capcom thought it necessary to tweak Luis in the remake and make him more of a memorable character compared to his original iteration.
Luis now has a bigger part to play in the overall story, with a much bigger survival rate than in the original story. With so much extra time to spend with Luis, many players feel like he is the best part of the game since his personality now meshes well with Ashley and Leon. If you also took a liking to him, however, you might be disappointed by the eventual outcome once the story ends.
3) Quick-time events
One major change that most fans have praised (and some fans miss) is the lack of Quick-Time Events, or QTE, as they are better known. These are button-mashing sequences that have to be executed in a certain order to be successful. Since these sequences would pop up frequently during action-oriented events and cutscenes, they could be quite annoying and immersion-breaking.
Well, none of that anymore, says Capcom. The devs have completely done away with all of the QTE sequences, although button-mashing is still necessary during certain situations, such as escaping from an enemy. Parrying also requires pressing buttons in a certain order but it is nowhere as egregious as the cutscene-specific QTEs used to be.
4) Optimized gameplay
This includes no loading screens and an overhaul of the story into chapters instead of smaller parts. Everything about the remake feels more natural and events occur in real-time as well, such as conversations with Ingrid Hunnigan. Enemy encounters feel more fluid and natural as well, leading to a more enjoyable combat experience than the original.
Certain sections of the game, such as the Water Hall, have been tweaked, making them less annoying to traverse through. Ashley will now be more careful and stick closer to Leon while he protects her with the sniper. Other sequences have a smoother progression similar to the Water Hall section and are much more newbie-friendly.
New features in Resident Evil 4 remake
While there have been subtle differences and some downright meaningful changes from the original Resident Evil 4 formula, the remake has also added some new features that did not exist before.
1) Optional side quests
A feature that is somewhat debated by the fanbase. While some players feel like the inclusion of these side quests adds more depth to the story, others feel like it makes the game longer for no good reason. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, these side quests give players more to do in the game. They can be accessed through bright blue notes posted in certain areas of the game.
Each note will task you to complete certain objectives such as destroying medallions or killing enemies. They might also involve you going to areas you have already been to before, so be prepared to backtrack if you want to complete all of them. Once you complete these side quests, you can turn them into the Merchant for a variety of rewards.
2) New enemies
As the title says, Resident Evil 4 remake adds new enemies that weren’t present in the original game. Without spoiling too much, these enemies can either be original designs or mutations of existing enemies, making them interesting encounters when you run into them. None of them seem out of place, however, and they look like something you would expect to fight in a Resident Evil game.
3) Auto-saving
One feature that the original did not include simply because it was a new feature and not many games back in 2005 had it was auto-saving. The idea that any game in the modern era does not feature auto-saving is quite a nightmare since many surprise encounters can ruin a perfect run if players forget to save their game.
As essential as this feature is, if you choose to play at the Professional difficulty level, auto-saving will be done away with entirely, giving you an experience more faithful to the original game.
4) Combat mechanics
With the parry feature mentioned earlier, there were a few more tweaks that were made to the overall combat system in Resident Evil 4 remake. The knife is no longer a purely offensive weapon since it can now be used to block or parry certain attacks, making combat feel more immersive and natural. This, however, whittles down the weapon’s durability, which will eventually cause it to break and it will be unavailable to use until it is repaired or temporarily replaced.
Crouching is another combat mechanic that was not initially present in the original Resident Evil 4. This allows Leon to get into a more defensive position, hiding from enemies’ line of sight and setting him up for a deadly counter-attack from stealth. The remake also brings back an old mechanic by allowing you to quick-swap between weapons once you assign them to their appropriate slots.
