I’m Excited for More ‘Resident Evil 4’ but I Can’t Decide if It Even Needs a Remake

During PlayStation’s State of Play stream, Capcom fans (like me) were treated to announcements that centered on the Resident Evil franchise and Street Fighter. While the Resident Evil news didn’t focus on a new game, it did reveal some updates to two existing properties. Resident Evil Village will be getting VR support for those of us who couldn’t get enough Lady Dimitrescu, and Leon S. Kennedy will have to deal with a certain terrifying village again in the upcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake.

When it comes to Resident Evil games, there are two that are often said to be the cornerstones of the franchise—Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4. Both of these games are my absolute favorites in the series and are also some of my favorite survival horror games of all time. I’m always happy to see more content for Resident Evil 4 as it’s a chance to revisit the game and watch newcomers get into it, at the same time, I don’t actually know if this game needs a remake in the same style as Resident Evil 2.

I loved the Resident Evil 2 remake, but…

When Resident Evil 2 was remade in 2019, it offered a fresh, new take on the game I loved and made it a hell of a lot scarier. By completely reworking the game we got better graphics, controls, more unsettling environments, and more to the story that had been explained via files found throughout the police station in the original adventure. The idea of putting that much care into an old classic is exciting to me, especially since I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII’s remake as well.

That being said … I can’t decide if Resident Evil 4 needs to be remade like this. With Resident Evil 2, there were things that definitely could’ve used some improvement. Technology was limited back then, so doing what we can do now with Resident Evil 2 worked to its advantage. Resident Evil 4, however, feels fine the way it is. In fact, it works so well that the Resident Evil 2 remake uses its control scheme (the “over the shoulder” angle that Resident Evil games started doing after the fourth one – save for the first-person perspective in 7 and Village) It’s been remastered as recently as 2019 for the Nintendo Switch, so I’m not sure what a “completely reworked” version could offer.

That’s not to say the trailer isn’t enticing. It very much is. Resident Evil 4 is a classic and it’s a game I wholeheartedly recommend. It’s just that the Resident Evil 2 Remake kinda felt like it was done to be similar to Resident Evil 4, so I don’t know what the Resident Evil 4 Remake could improve on.

What Resident Evil game would I like a remake for?

For me, I would want a remake of Resident Evil – Code: Veronica. One of the few games where Claire Redfield gets to take center stage, it would be really cool to replay this with updated graphics, more details to the story, and the control scheme we got with Resident Evil 4 and other installments of the franchise. I know it makes sense to Capcom to go straight to 4 since it’s such an iconic game (and after the remake for Resident Evil 3 didn’t hit as hard), but as far as games that could benefit from a redo, Code: Veronica is my choice.

I truly do think Resident Evil 4 is fine as is, but I’m also curious to see what it ends up looking like. What are they going to add? What are they going to change? How high of a frequency will Ashley hit when she’s screaming for Leon to help her? Good lord, are we gonna automatically lose if Ashley gets dragged off too far away from us??? Whatever the case, I know Leon’s gonna have yet another bad time (and we’ll have fun trying to get him through it).

(Image: Capcom)

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