Playing A Game Resident Evil 4 (2023) PC

Twenty years ago, Resident Evil 4's blend of "tense zombie-survival thriller" and "loud zombie-killing adventure" was a pretty radical franchise shift -- and though this led to ... debatable narrative decisions in RE5 and RE6, RE4 remains a landmark, even historic gaming event.

It's very much to the 2023 remake's credit that, without checking (i.e. without reading some superfans' documentation) I couldn't always tell what changed from the original. Some differences stuck out to me - like the removal of cutscene quick-time events (yay) and the absence of Salazar's tricorne hat (boo) - and I frequently got a "sense" while playing that it'd changed a mechanic for accessibility, or spiced-up some previous level design. But the overall experience felt like an appropriate blend of old and new; faithful to 20-year-old ideas, while approachable by a modern player.

This makes for a great nostalgia opportunity, though not exactly a modern masterpiece: RE4's nonsensical story and its vapid characters still feel like relics of a bygone era. Like most games of the early- or mid-2000s, its writing is more functional than substantial, serving to move the action from one level to the next. Don't expect any Uncharted-caliber banter; do expect glib and absurd one-liners.

And, in line with my Wii Edition experience:

In general, I feel like the areas with a lot of not-zombies require several retries to perfect a battle plan...

... then continuing:

Starting up is a little rough - the first chapter is a real trial-by-fire, in some ways, e.g. ammo conservation, just as difficult as the late game.

The remake is still tactically challenging, despite totally overhauling the classic Tank Controls, through severe combat encounters and scarce supplies. A fan of the original game's difficulty should feel right at home here.

... or, you can downgrade to the "Assisted" mode for more ammo and lower merchant prices. So of course I did that -- to more easily enjoy the power trip of upgrading Leon's arsenal and blasting the shit out of Las Plagas.

This is just the experience I was hoping for: exploring the map to collect treasure, trading for power-ups, and barreling through the videogame equivalent of a dumb, fun action movie.

(I do wish that the remake would've let me re-visit old areas, to complete more side missions at my own pace; or that it was clearer about points of no return.)

Action-adventure games have come a long way since 2005, and so the now-classic campaign of Resident Evil 4 doesn't stand quite as tall as it once did. But this remake does an exceptional, commendable job of re-creating that journey in a way that plays like it's brand new.

Better than: NieR: Automata
Not as good as: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered
Although I appreciate the New Game Plus option to become even more overpowered: I'll probably just settle for the additional content in Separate Ways.

Rating: Good