Trigger Cut Game Reviews

The original Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games of all time and I have beaten it countless times. When I saw Capcom was remaking it, I questioned why since the original holds up well to this day.  After playing the remake, I am still not convinced this game needed to be remade.  I am not saying I did not enjoy this game, I did, but I have mixed feelings on some of the changes Capcom made.  My issues with the remake mostly come down to narrative choices.  The remake has a more grounded and dark feeling to it which I think many players will prefer to the more over the top, cheesy tone of the original.  I personally prefer the cheesy over the top tone of the original over what is presented here.  The bosses such as Salazar are toned down and do not talk to you over the radio like they did in the original.  This leads to the bosses in the remake having less personality than they did in the original.  The remake removes some of my favorite parts of the original which was disappointing.  Gameplay wise this remake is mostly an improvement over the original.  Leon can move while shooting and overall is much easier to control.  This leads to the combat being more expressive than the original.  Leon has more moves and now has the ability to counter projectiles with his knife.  While I didn’t engage with this mechanic much, it is a cool addition to the combat. The remake adds side quests in the form of merchant requests. While they give you important resources, they mostly all come down to finding collectibles instead of adding any story element to the game which feels like a missed opportunity. Some of the areas are expanded and remixed and it’s cool to see a different spin on these iconic levels that I remember so fondly. The endlessly enjoyable and replayable gameplay of the original is retained and refined in this remake however, the narrative choices and change of tone might not be for every fan of the original.