One of my favorite thing about Re4 and the thing that brings me back every year after all of these years is the pacing. I agree with the power trip feeling not feeling like classic resident evil but the moments it slows down and takes it's time is when Re4 truly shines. The sewer section with the bugs, the regenerators, hearing a chainsaw in the darkness it's those little moments that make this one special. Going from slow horror one section, to bombastic action in the next makes sure it never gets old and I'll always love it for that.
I think the pacing was perfect until the Island section. One of the things that make RE4 so great and scary is the suspension and slow menacing sounds. Hearing the villagers shouting and slowly approaching you or hearing the footsteps of the bug things scared the hell out of the players. But the island section kinda throws the suspension out of the window. Though it gave us one of the scariest enemy, Regenerator, it stands out so much compare to the other sections
Honestly, his power trip point makes absolutely no sense. Because, just look at RE2. You can finish that game with hella shotgun and magnum ammo regardless if you save well or not. Even RE3 and Code Veronica give you this feeling.
AMEN. At last after so many years someone shares the same opinion as me. I was gravely disappointed with this one... Especially the inclusion of a merchant and a codec. What are we playing ? An RPG? MGS ? Also, awesome content overall. Earned sub
Had great memories regarding this game. I do understand your criticism. Personally the strongest part I find in the beginning where you enter a village and all of a sudden are surrounded by too many enemies to shoot, and then the chainsaw guy drops in as well.
What's crazy about RE4 is that has it two things that I usually hate in other games yet somehow I don't mind them at all in RE4 (QTEs & escort missions) which really shows you how well designed the game is. I'm glad you defended Ashley, I honestly will never understand why people hate escorting her. She's arguably the most well implemented escort mission of all time. Never had a problem with her even on professional difficulty. Every time she died or got kidnapped it was my fault (and this is coming from someone who despises escort missions). Overall, I think RE4 is the best designed game in the series along with the RE1 remake and the original RE2. Mikami and his team really knocked it out of the park with this game, which is impressive when you think about its bizarre development history and the many iterations it went trough.
I remember at the time I played it loving the QTEs, I didn't hate them this time through i thought they were fine, it's funny how quickly following this game they turned into a horrible mechanic in gaming 🥴
I suppose at least she can move on her own and can hide. Emma in MGS2 you have to hold her by the hand and if you leave her anywhere, she is open to being found and killed instantly, granted that escort isn't nearly as long as RE4s. On top of that no matter what you do, she ends up dying anyways. I suppose if we were to compare her to other escort types in games she isn't the worst.
Your point at 5:15 is why RE4 works so well. The interactivity with enemies allows you to crowd control and manage the fight. See an enemy and more behind him? Then shoot his knee, run forward, roundhouse kick him into the crowd. There's a really nice pacing to surveying the threat and repositioning to manipulate the situation.
Another point you missed was the pre-rendered backgrounds. Seeing them was like looking at Renaissance art. It immersed you into a creepy, cozy, interesting experience. That's one of the reasons I didn't like CVX. I had a lot of fun playing the Wii version of RE4(best version hands down) but REmake and Zer0 were the pinnacle for me.
@@SSJdavey I might have answer for that but, if I told you. You would be sleeping on the couch or in the dog house tonight however, I'll salvage you the trouble.
The first time I played REmake was on PS3 a few months ago. When the game begins you're given the choice of difficulty, but it doesn't tell which is which. Taking a walk, climbing a mountain and stuff. There were three options so Easy, Normal and Hard, right? I always play a game for the first time on Normal because I think it was made with that difficulty in mind. So I chose the middle one and later I learned that was Easy. It was Very Easy, Easy and Normal. So I ended the game with more ammo and healing items I could have used in beating the game twice. Still, it was an amazing experience. I think it's the same with RE4. It takes some elements of the old ones. It also completely changes some of those elements. For me, I love it, it does the trick. But I can see the hate it gets sometimes. For me, RE2, 3 and Veronica aren't as good as the first ones because they failed to recreate the tension of the mansion, but 3 out of 4 people will tell you that 2 is the best. So to each their own. It was a really cool review and the points were all well made. No hate and stuff just giving your opinion. P.S.: If you didn't think 4 was a real RE I really want to know your opinion on 5 lol
well i love all of the r resident evil games all for different reasons and tbh i really love the classic ones and the remakes of the classic ones and now the RE4 remake is out and i had a blast, i still do agree with the “it’s not horror it’s action” and i respect everyone opinions of the games, i’m weird cause i liked the RE3 remake, i played tho original as well and i do like the original WAY more and even though there’s a divide in the RE fanbase with the action and horror im here for both, respect all the games for what they did and enjoy them all, but yes i like the horror RE games more then the action ones
Regarding the storyline of RE4, my issue was not so much the story itself, but rather its position in the timeline/titling, for these reasons: 1.) I like the idea of Resident Evil’s universe expanding to include other threats not directly related to Umbrella or the Progenitor Virus. Regarding Las Plagas, the classic games already set a precedent for similar parasitic B.O.W.s to exist, namely the Nemesis Alpha Parasite used on Lisa Trevor and RE3’s Tyrant. And when the second animated film came out, Resident Evil Damnation, it sold me on the idea of Las Plagas parasites coexisting with the older monsters like Lickers and Tyrants. 2.) That being said, if Capcom was going back to numbered titles for RE games set after the PS1 trilogy, then I feel they should have retroactively renamed RE: Code Veronica to “Resident Evil 4: Code Veronica”. In turn, this game should have been the one called RE5, while all numbered titles after that are higher by one. On Capcom’s part, I think calling this game RE4 was a bad move, which makes Code Veronica far less visible to potential newcomers and can create confusion over the apparent time jump between RE3: Nemesis and RE4. If Capcom had renamed Code Veronica into a numbered title, more clearly communicating that it is an important entry, then perhaps its current executives would feel more pressure to remake it, before going right to this RE4 game. 3.) I also thought it was a bad move to have the final collapse of Umbrella take place both offscreen and right before the events of this game. An event with that much importance and buildup should have been given its own mainline game, rather than being relegated to the Umbrella Chronicles spinoff game. Ideally, I think the fall of Umbrella should have been been the penultimate story, right before the events in Kijuju, where Chris Redfield finally defeats Albert Wesker for good. Therefore, I think RE4’s prologue should have instead framed the plot as the result of Umbrella’s declining influence, which slowly creates a power vacuum for multiple rival organizations to take hold in the black market: the remainder of Umbrella’s forces, Albert Wesker’s faction, and now Los Illuminados. 4.) I think RE4’s own narrative should have done more to establish Jack Krauser before he is introduced, as much as I commend The Darkside Chronicles for filling in that gap with its own engaging original story. Without that scenario from Darkside Chronicles, Krauser’s involvement in RE4’s plot reminds me of how people criticized - *Spoiler Alert for Book of Boba Fett* - Cad Bane’s usage in Disney’s latest Star Wars show. Without seeing the Clone Wars 3D show, people would have no idea who Cad Bane even is, before he is brought in and treated as an important character one should recognize. Not to mention, Cad Bane is supposed to have a history with Boba Fett, which viewers can barely see, since the Clone Wars episodes intended to delve into that were never finished. That is similarly to how Leon and Krauser are meant to already have a history together, without prior setup within RE4’s own narrative, while the spinoff game that directly shows their history had yet to see the light of day.
A lot of this next comment will involve me repeating what I mentioned during your Original RE1 livestream. But I have a complicated middle-of-the-road opinion, whether or not RE4 should be considered a proper Resident Evil game… I think you bring up a good point, about how RE4 deviates from the pure Survival Horror formula, by allowing combat to directly reward/empower the player. In all of the classic RE games before this, a player would generally only seek out combat, if killing a particular monster was mandatory to progress (such as most bosses), if leaving certain monsters alive was more trouble than the cost of ammo/healing items needed to kill them, and if injuring a monster was needed to temporarily get past or away from it. Very rarely was combat an end in itself. The classic RE games had some exceptions. In the Original RE2, Mr. X’s regular form would drop extra ammo for players, after they presumably just used ammo to knock him out. Also, when playing on Hard Mode in Original RE3, one could acquire extra upgrades, weapon parts, etc. by taking down Nemesis during the optional encounters. Aside from two of the live-selection choices, knocking out Nemesis was often very difficult. Yet those prizes encouraged the player to fight Nemesis more, despite how tough he was and how it was sometimes easier in the short-term to keep running away. *However,* those two situations in the classic games were exceptions, and not the norm. RE4 pretty much makes this the norm, by having much more of the regular enemies and bosses directly reward the player upon death. Occasionally, you can get back some of the ammo, grenades, and healing items used to defeat those enemies in the first place, like with the original Mr. X. Other times, you are rewarded with extra gold and treasures, which one can use to buy more weapons, upgrades, etc. In a way, the latter is like Nemesis’ bonus item drops, only with extra steps and choices. With that becoming the norm rather than the exception, I think this change in mechanics is the strongest argument for describing RE4 as an action game first, before a Survival Horror. *Before I move on, I want to say that most of RE4’s other mechanical changes, for me, either provided the same general challenges in different forms or were acceptable progressions of mechanics gradually introduced in earlier games.* For example, having a larger inventory without an item box meant that I was always as prepared as I could be for a fight, in the short-term. But it also meant that I could not store every item I found in the environment for the long-term, making me choose to permanently leave some items behind. In contrast, the classic RE games kept me from having everything in my immediate inventory, but the item box’s nigh-unlimited space meant that I could store everything I found for the long-term. And by the end of the classic RE games, I often had so many items stored away that I could blast through everything in the final levels, with even less regard for ammo conservation than in RE4, as long as I kept revisiting that item box. In the classic games, I almost never have to choose whether to permanently leave something behind. Arguably, RE4’s inventory system still imposes more choices on the player than other games we readily accept as Survival Horror (such as how “Silent Hill 2” lets you both keep everything you find in the environment and have everything you keep be available in your immediate inventory). *BTW, I 100% agree about the rocket launchers. At the very least, those should have either been much more expensive or only available on New Game Plus.* So I agree with you, mainly when it comes to that one specific change to the play style. Yet, I still think this game is worthy of bearing the RE name, albeit as a very different type of RE. Earlier, I suggested that if the classic RE games were Ridley Scott’s “Alien”, then RE4 is James Cameron’s “Aliens”. I think my comparison is mostly self-explanatory, with how the sequel introduced new elements that leaned it much more heavily into the genre of action. “Aliens” tried to toe the line, between providing some of that same dark, claustrophobic, desperate, suspenseful, and bodily horror from the first film, while providing some “bug hunt” action that feels like a fun power fantasy. “Aliens” also tried to keep the Xenomorphs a challenging threat, by having Ellen Ripley and the Colonial Marines go up against entire hordes of them, led by the newly introduced queen. Similarly, we both observed that RE4 gives Leon more scenes to function as an action star, like Ripley’s development in “Aliens”, and even throws large hordes of enemies at the player. Some people found “Aliens” to be a natural progression. Understandably, other fans felt that it strayed too far from the first film’s genre roots and made the franchise more like a spiritual adaptation of the “Starship Troopers” novel, rather than this subdued slasher film with flavors of cosmic horror. Even though having swarms of Xenomorphs leveled the playing field, they also felt it cheapened the horror and mystique that the individual Xenomorph could pose. Other fans like me felt that “Aliens” retained enough of its predecessor’s unique DNA to be part the same franchise, despite being notably different from the first movie’s style and partly crafting its own unique identity. Due to those latter qualities, I think it is important that both distinct types of Alien are honored. So it is good to have some installments like “Alien: Isolation”, which harken back more to the first movie’s style. Likewise, RE4 still gave me a lot of those elements I uniquely enjoyed in the classic RE gameplay. I found the locations to be creepy and atmospheric enough for my personal tastes. I felt there was still a decent amount of puzzles and free-roaming exploration. I still felt some pressure to be efficient with my resources and choose which items I wanted to acquire and hold onto. Aside from Del Lago, which was more of a gimmick fight, pretty much all of the boss battles felt like something I would see in the previous mainline and Outbreak entries. And there were various gameplay segments that evoked similar horror/tension for me, such as the village’s endurance rounds, the Chainsaw Ganados, the Plagas emerging from their hosts at night, the Novistadors’ caverns, the Colmillos-infested maze, the blind Garradors, the part where Ashley Graham is playable (which even had fixed camera angles in Japan’s versions, according to The Sphere Hunter), and the lab area infested with Regeneradores/Iron Maidens. And it managed to carve enough of its own identity to inspire other games like “Dead Space” and “The Evil Within”, which tried to recreate that hybrid of action and Survival Horror. This seems to be mainly subjective. But I drew that line at RE5/RE6, since those games seemed to mostly dumb down what classic elements were retained by RE4, while also doubling-down on its action-oriented elements at the expense of horror. And similarly to the Alien franchise, even if I did like RE5/RE6 as much as I did RE4, I still consider those games to be a different type of RE. So I thought it was important to have games like RE7 and the Revelations spinoffs, which revisited more of the franchise’s purely Survival Horror roots.
Davey this series is so good, it’s incredible how close out opinions about this game are, I’m an old time RE fan since 96, RE 1 always was my favorite ((now with 7 too). But 7 helped me to understand what RE is, after play the 2 and 3 remakes it all made sense. RE is about survival as much as about empowerment. The sense of progression that occurred in the games transcends to the series as the first game you really have the survival horror experience, but by the end you are quite powerful and equipped and the action takes hold of the gameplay. RE2 is like 1 but more action oriented. Re3 is Resident Evil, but almost no Survivor Horror, most action, so yes RE 4 is Resident Evil, but finally dropping more of the survival aspect in favor of the action continuing the trend. I could continue, but I think that all entries of the main series are RE and what it’s stand for, and by circle back to its roots with 7 all makes sense to me. And now village went back to the old loop and the action is growing once again. Hopefully with better results than the 4, 5 and 6 (trilogy).
Glad you're enjoying the series! We'll have to see what they do with 4 remake next and the interpretation they bring to it. Its looking like its full of dread so that brings me some hope Glad to see a fellow lover of 7 here, I feel half the time that I'm the only one who loved it 😅
@@SSJdavey I feel the same about 7 sometimes, because everyone seems to prefer 2 or 4, but for me it was always 1 and then 7 which captures the atmosphere of the original game very well. About your work, I loving this series, But I’ve took a look on other videos and loved them too, like the one about Dead Space. RE 4 remake is looking good, It is not as appealing as 2 and 3 remake for me, but it a chance to make the sense playthrough the series more cohesive. I hope that they keep the mainline games firstperson and more in line with 7, but shadows of rose being in third persons is not a good sign for me. I know that if RE 1 get a remake (another) it should be in first person, many times throughout 7 I saw how close to RE1 the game was, the mansions, the courtyard x Marguerite second house, the difference was that the baker family was grotesque while the Spencer mansion was fancy. Both excellent horror settings. Keep going with the excellent work and I hope you get all the views and recognition you deserves! I already subscribed so now I’m catching up with you videos and waiting for more!!
Thanks for another great video! RE4 is fantastic, ahead of it's time, has a massive legacy, and I can't say enough good things about it. It plays just as well today as it did back then. Personally I would still say it is a "Resident Evil" game because it still nails all the things I love about RE titles. Horrific enemies, large atmospheric environments, inventory management (albeit a completely different kind than previous games). It shares enough DNA to fit in the existing series while also completely reinventing it and subverting expectations. Now I am in the camp that kind of rolls my eyes at the term "survival horror". I think game genres can get so granular and have so many different definitions, Survival Horror to me is more of a marketing term than anything. Ever since RE1, each subsequent game has changed something about the game to make it unique. RE2 introduced A/B Scenarios and expanded on the production of RE1 RE3 introduced RNG Elements and a persistent stalker, itself a more fully formed version of Mr. X from RE2 CVX introduced a 3D Environment, first person perspective weapons, as well as dual wielded weapons REmake introduced defensive items, kerosene, crimson heads RE0 introduced the partner mechanic RE4 just remixed SO many different ideas at once compared to previous entries. Ultimately Survival Horror is really going to be those aspects that resonate most with you, the player. One thing I do want to mention is that this game is often seen as "the beginning of the end", as you mentioned in your video. I can't say I agree with that. I don't particularly like RE5. I don't particularly like RE6. But I also do not see those games as the logical conclusion from RE4. If you've played The Evil Within (which was also directed by Shinji Mikami), it feels like it could also be a sequel to RE4. TEW has stealth mechanics, some light exploration and puzzles, limited ammo, etc. I think more than anything it demonstrates that the action-heavy direction was not inevitable. RE5 copy pasted the gameplay of RE4, introduced more melee mechanics, slapped a partner in there, and did not implement the tremendous pacing that RE4 does so well, the atmospheric environments, even the limited backtracking that exists in RE4. What you are left with is the gameplay of RE4 as you run through large set pieces with very few quiet moments where you can actually soak up the atmosphere. RE5 always felt to me like Capcom wanted to reinvent the success with RE4, but didn't understand what actually made RE4 work so well. Anyway, thanks for the video, long live RE4, excited to see what other titles you cover!
I loved reading this, very well put throughout 👏 I'm in the middle of writing my RE5 script right now and you're bang on. I would say that with the success of 4 you can see what Capcom thought made it so successful and that was a more streamlined action based game, now with 5 they double down on that and strip even more away from the RE formula and to their credit its been the highest selling entry thus far, albeit at the cost of turning alot of the fanbase off and that culminated in 6 which went even more off the deep end, really put the franchise in the mud. Without 4s success it wouldn't have gone down this path so I do blame 4 for it...but it's not the games fault like you said its capcoms misunderstanding on what made RE4....Re4.. if that makes sense
The evil within is something I need to give another chance at some point. I played about 2 hours of the first one and it just didn't vibe with me, not sure why to be honest
@@SSJdavey yup totally makes sense, I think you're right on the money. Excited for your RE5 video. And TEW definitely has its own unique feel to it, I loved both of them, especially TEW2. It does semi-open world horror and it works so well, it actually reminds me a lot of the original RE3 where you are roaming a small town freely that's been completely overtaken by monsters. Maybe worth another shot in the future (or a future video??)
@@8BitLifts certainly something I'll bare in mind. After this mainline resi series ends I was thinking of going to the series that was spawned from RE4 (DMC) but I think I'll put it out to a community vote and see what happens. Quite a few videos to get through yet 🥴
I think RE4 has to be played in the highest difficulty to evoke that tension you're looking for. The regenerators are def butch clenching when youre scarce in amo, health, etc. Its a common mistake many people make, thinking the game is boring, too easy, etc, thats because youve set it in a easy or normal setting where you can just run and blast through the game
I think that when you know the game it becomes more action that survival horror. When you know where all the valuable treasure is, what you should buy, what you shouldn't and how to kill each enemy with the minimal ampunt of ammo it is a straight up action game. But on first playthrough it is a survival horror game. Garrador is scary first time around, if you use the rocket launcher before verdugo it's a terrifying fight. When the plagas turn into facehuggers it's scary. Also, chainsaws, terrifying first time around.
I hadn't played it in donkeys years but it certainly didn't feel creepy or scary at all on my run, maybe if I'd gone professional difficulty out of the gate I'd have had a different take 🤷♂️
@@SSJdavey I'm doing a playthrough now for the first time in yonks so I do get what you mean. But the first time I played the game through at 11/12 years of age it was terrifying. Even now, I still know how to deal with most of the enemies so it makes the whole thing immeasurably easier. I do see your point though, and I suppose I am objectively biased in that I quite like resi 4&5 and am mostly indifferent to the earlier entries.
I always looked at the RPG as a nice way for less experienced players to get past a boss if they're stuck for a long time. Just don't use it if you're looking for more of a challenge, you can sell the one you find in the castle for more than most treasures.
i always find the idea of calling a game in this franchise not resident evil pointless (no offense though, i'm just generally speaking) because clearly this franchise has gotten bigger then the genre it defined, for better and worse... Resident evil 4, is a well paced action adventure game with sprinkles of horror throughout and very tense combat encounters, and a story that does not take itself seriously and has fun with it. so imo the problem was never re4, it's the games after it taking wrong notes from it or not being able to completely capture it's magic. i've heard a lot of people say re5 is better then 4 which is very interesting but i think re5 pacing and bossfights are not good as 4 and the story again takes itself semi-seriously (i guess they knew what they were doing with the boulder punch) which makes it an overall less sharp and confident title. and 6 is...well. then we got 8...while imo it got more things from re4 right then 5 it still didn't manage to be as good/satisfying as both 4 or 7. my point is resident evil always tries to walk in Action and survival horror spectrum, and it's at it's finest when it knows which side it's committing to and fleshes it out. 4 knew it was leaning more towards action and it delivered a really great action horror game. so even if it is different from it's predecessors in the style of it's gameplay it still has that DNA of "survival" + "action" + "horror", and it's good at it. my hope for re4R is that they learn the right lessons from 4 and try to lean towards one side of the spectrum instead of awkwardly mixing both of them that results in half-pleasing both crowd (which would be again re8)
I feel that if you want a more tense experience, you should probably try to avoid cheesing through various sections and actually fighting all of the bosses properly, this can lead you into quite a bullet squeeze through some sections of the game, especially with the fight with "It" and Krauser, I'm just replaying the game on pro difficulty, and when I got to the Krauser fight, I was almost completely out of ammo, and had to trade in my fully upgraded red9 so that I could get the exclusive upgrade on the striker to get 100 shotgun shells to even stand a chance against Krauser. Watching those shells gradually go down as Mike then refused to do anything about the minigun operators in the following section was quite nerve-wrecking, and a really enjoyable and tense experience! My favorite part of this playthrough has to be the double El Gigante fight! It was tough at first, but it was so much fun learning the behavior of the giants and finding opportunities to strike at them, leading to yet another bullet squeeze that made the section with the novistadors and the sections after that really quite tense, every bullet had to be planned.
While I do agree with you on pretty much everything, I still really like what they did with the game and the fact that they tried a new formula. The way I see it, while RE4 was action-oriented at times (like the military island towards the end), it still kept nice horror elements. The chainsaw guy, the novistadors, Mandez's transformation, the regenerators... but it wasn't just about enemies. What they also nailed in RE4 for me was the atmosphere, the village part really makes you feel alone and on your own in a place where no one speaks your language and where you can't expect any help from anyone and everyone just wants to kill you. Then there's the castle, where you come to realize just how creepy the religious cultists really are. The island is the only part where they didn't get the overall atmosphere right, although it still had great moments, like the U3 and Krauser fights. That's what they missed in RE 5 and 6 for me, the atmosphere was just not right. RE 6 was straight up a hollywoodian action movie, but RE 5 had potential but it just missed the spot. You're playing as Christ frecking Redfield and at no point does he stutter or hesitate, he just punches his way all the way through. And adding a permanent partner was the nail that sealed the coffin for horror ; having someone who constantly watches over your back simply makes you feel too safe to be afraid. I just miss older resident evil games where you'd play on your own. Overall, the only thing RE5 did better than 4 was, obviously, Wesker. RE5's story, however, while it fits very well into the resident evil world, had one big issue : it was way too serious. A serious story has to be thoroughly thought out and well written, you can't just have Christ punching boulders, or Irvin being the cringest character ever, or Wesker not killing Christ every time he could, and still make your story sound very serious. RE4, on the other hand, didn't take its own story seriously, with Leon's cheesy attitude and one-liners, the main villains literally calling him over the phone to mock him or just chat with him... and it actually worked very well. That way, you won't be surprised when you see Leon dodging lasers as if he was in a Matrix movie. It's just that, plotholes and cheesy moments are much easier to swallow or overlook in a story that doesn't take itself too seriously than in a very serious one. I just wanted to share some personal opinions on the matter, but your video was still great and I much appreciated watching it !
I hated everything about U3 chase sequence and the fact they do the same thing with Krauser. Basically it’s run away to pad the game then boss fight. It would have been ok for one of them,but they do this twice! Then the helicopter part is a chore and really drags down the experience!
I look at re5's story with a heavy dose of cheese too, its mega over the top and that's what sells it for me. I do agree 4 having the cheese it does helps it so much when it comes to leons attitude and the villians dropping in for a chat just to goad him. Loved reading your thoughts on it 👍
Funny things is I feel like RE7 isn't RE I want to play. And RE8 absolutely nailed it as a RE4 v2. Maybe because I played it when I'm so young. But RE4 manage to be fun and scary for me despite all you said. Screaming madmen with weapon make me never feel safe even I have all healing, weapon and ammo in the world. Or it's because I seen so many things RE experiment the pass years. So this game feel more RE if compare to more than half of RE I played.
Resident evil 4 is so different than zero-code veronica that if you played the game with out knowing it's name you wouldn't even realize that it was a resident evil game.
As I look around through the internet, it seems like the RE fandom is split between two opinions on RE4: those who love it and consider it one of the best RE games (if not THE best), and the rest who love it but dont really consider it RE, seeing it more as a pure action game than survival horror. Now, my experience with RE has been really different from yours. I'm a relatively new fan, but I've come to love the whole series, and am making my way through all the numbered games. I've played HD RE1, RE 2 & 3 remakes, RE4, RE5, and part of RE6. I'm going to start RE7 soon, and I'm hyped to play Village. But RE4 was the first one I played. Heck, it was my first game with any level of horror. I thought it was terrifying, and I was always stressed about how little ammo I seemed to have, scrounging the maps desperately for healing. To an RE veteran RE4 might not seem like a scary survival/horror game, but to me it sure felt like one. Overcoming what felt like insurmountable odds and getting through a tough swarm/boss/enemy was so thrilling to me. It still is. It ended up getting me to try the other RE titles that I'd always been intimidated by, and got me into survival-horror in general. Comparing 4 to 5&6 as a newbie, 5&6 are just action games, albeit with a few horror elements. I feel like RE4 did a masterful job balancing everything out, which makes it a good entry-point for newcomers. I also feel like the story does fit into the broader RE mythos very well. It introduces the idea of other Bio-mutigents, and that not everything has to be tied to umbrella, which RE7 and 8 seem to really expand on (havent played them yet and am avoiding spoilers). I see where you're coming from saying RE4 isnt RE, and seeing where 5 & 6 went I can see where that feeling comes from. But I feel like one of the great things about RE now is how much freedom capcom has to experiment and to allow the series to mutate (lol). I love RE4. It's my favorite game in what has become my favorite series. I'm playing it on professional mode for the first time right now, and there are moments that are nearly as scary still as RE1 (dogs in a hedge maze 😳). The precision shooting was a great addition to the series. Everyone's allowed to have their opinions and preferences obviously, but I really want to defend RE4 as a good RE game. It's what brought me into the whole series! I think that's probably true for a lot of people 😊
If you keep buying the rpg you'll never be able to afford the chicago typewriter or the ultimate weapon upgrades, I remember when I first beat the game and I found out you could get it. I ran through the game 3 times straight that day trying to save enough to get it
RE4 is the only one to scare me or make me feel dread, but it's been ages since playing the older ones. The game scared young so badly that I had avoided horror and RE games for years before manning up. Now, I have replayed it so many times over that even booting up today only takes a bit before I'm back in the swing of it. But to be fair, I only ever played bits of the older ones before and after RE4, so I don't have fond memories of the OG Trilogy, so RE4 is Resident Evil to me with it slow and fast moments along with running low on ammo so I need to get creative.
Another great video as usual. I see what you are saying. Yes, RE4 is a great game but not a great Resident Evil game because there is no G Virus or T Virus. Also, fun fact about RE4: Did you know you could kill the Merchant? I had no idea until I actually shot him. Lol
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it! Haha yeah with the merchant I remember blasting him away back on the gamecube, having to complete that run without him was a nightmare 🤣
@@SSJdavey I just saved my game before I killed him, so I just loaded my recent save. Damn. So once you kill the merchant, he is dead for the rest of the game? I never knew that. I thought he just reappears later in the game. Actually, I am still unclear if it is the same merchant for the entire game or a different merchant at each location.
This was my first Resident Evil game. And Capcom did name the game Resident Evil 4. Because it was my first game in the series, it is the benchmark I use to compare and contrast other RE titles. Sometimes I get a little sandy because some people say I'm not a true RE fan because my fav in the series are 4 and 5. But those are the games that made me obsessed with the series...and they are in fact called Resident Evil. I guess the argument going around is "...well does that mean the film Aliens isn't actually an Alien film because it is a drastically different genre than the original"? I liked your video though :) And one thing I think we can all agree on is RE4 is an awesome game.
No matter which one is your favourite you're still a real fan. People seek to want to get on a hill and not accept others opinion, sure 4 isn't my favourite but I respect people's opinion
I thought I was the only one that I didn't find Ashley annoying. For years I heared people online dreading scorting ashley. So I was hesitant to play it. I finally did in 2019 ( I even completed on professional) And honestly most of my game overs were Leon dying and very few Ashley dying/captured.
I've always paralleled it with Metallica's The Black Album, or at least my interpretation of their legacy before and since. The Black Album was a big departure from their early stuff, more accessible, had more of an emphasis on "hooks" and less on how the chorus, solos, etc. melded into these singular epic songs. The songs were more defined by their catchiness, not the story they were telling. Maybe I'm projecting, but for me when I think of something like "Fade To Black" I think of the entire song, I don't just fixate on one thing like the chorus or the solo. But with something like "Enter Sandman," the chorus is where I go to automatically and I think barely of anything else. I think of the chorus of Master of Puppets a lot, but I explore the rest of the song in my mind, too. That doesn't happen with The Black Album's offerings nearly as much. But that's not bad, necessarily. It shot their popularity to the stratosphere where people that weren't fans of them before. This is a lot like Resident Evil 4, to me. It did the exact same stuff. It took elements we were familiar with and twisted them, but it still has the Resident Evil feel, in my opinion. It stood as the peak of transition for the series until RE7, I'd say. But it had the tank controls... with a twist. It had the typewriter.... with a twist. It had the infected... with a twist. It had the absurd story with some laughable but endearing dialogue that the series is known for. The resource management isn't a big thing in this game, but they do try to replace the tension of that with tension of other things, like the sheer number of characters that can swarm you or the types of characters you have to deal with. In the other games I think it boiled down to just... shoot things. But in this one, they do switch it up with some enemies. The regenerators are a good example even if you have found a workaround that works for most enemies in the game. The body horror aspect, the designs of the bosses... Like you mentioned, it still has some basic puzzles in line with the ideologies of the series. It still uses specially-shaped keys. It still has rankings for your playthroughs and infinite weapons to unlock, as well as rewards for doing well in each difficulty. It had the unlockable super weapons and costumes if you did super well on some of the difficulties. It was designed with replayability in midn. There are elements of Resident Evil ALL OVER that I think you're sort of not acknowledging! Back with the Black Album. Elements of Metallica all over, became very popular. Became so popular that it shifted their entire musical focus for many years. It was a peak before a big downfall, where each album got further and further away from what Metallica was known for. I think this is the same thing with RE4. A peak before a big fall where they learned and applied the wrong lessons gradually, with RE5, then culminating in the largest heck-up with RE6. Then they tried to completely reinvent their sound with St. Anger / RE7. Unfortunately not nearly as much of a success for Metallica. Somewhere down the line I think you could argue Death Magnetic could be like RE: Revelations, where they tried to correct course but something about it didn't quite fit. Anyways. I think that it's a lot like The Black Album. Still Metallica / Resident Evil, just in different ways than one would come to expect from the series. And small side note, I think the series was already going towards the action genre more with each game. RE1 -> 2, more action. 2-> 3, even more. Code Veronica? Elements of an action movie in its cutscenes. RE4 was a logical step in the ideology of furthering the divide between action and survival-horror, I think. It's just it did so many other things to go along with that, too, that I think it's hard to see that.
Tried to replay it a few years ago and man was I sad that it just wasn’t what I remembered it to be. So clunky. The remake is solid no doubt, but with the increase in action of this title, I never felt any horror or fear. Fun action yes, but no fear.
Yeeeeah... i alway had a love/hate relationship with that game. Its one of my favorite action game who deserve most of the praise and yet, this had to be one of my least favorite RE game...
I, for one, do disagree with your take on what is resident evil. This gate keeping idea that resident evil has to be this one specific thing is arbitrary and rediculious. Resident evil is a franchise, not a genre. And a varied one at that. Whatever theme resident evil dips it's toes in, it makes it it's own and does it with it's own flare. The original resident evils are just as much resident evil as the the action resident evils. The action resident evils are just as much resident evil as the "renaissance" resident evils. Things in this world are fluid, and resident evil's nact for being flexible with what it does and what it allows itself to be defined as is resident evils own special quality as a franchise. Some franchise are static, and others are more complex in their own ways. The resident evil franchise is complex in it's own way
I agree with some of what you've said. Resident evil is very varied and flexible across its entries and sure its what makes it unique across its entries but any franchise needs a unifying theme across itself, and when it deviates from that its going to lose its "original core fanbase" to varying levels. Its difficult to word this but I'll try my best (and this is only my take of course) if we take some of the biggest franchises in gaming: Mario, COD, GTA. Mario's unifying theme across its core games 2d or 3d is a platformer, GTA is a sandbox open world action game, COD is an FPS. Resident evil should always be a survival horror, regardless of how thats delivered be that first or third person, by deviating from that you lose what makes Resident Evil....Resident evil. Spin offs is a different beast but mainline that should be the unifying theme and when they lost that for 4,5&6 it became something else entirely. Entertaining?...yeah but it's not resident evil. Returning to the examples of other franchises to try and close this; if GTA 6 was a linear experience would it still be GTA? If COD moved to a tactical simulation shooter game is it still COD? You can do alot within boundaries determined by an overarching theme and still be relevant 25+ years later you can reinvent all you like as long as you stay true to the core ideal... Tried my best to explain my thought process 😅 Thank you for commenting, always interesting trying to formulate my thoughts on this 🤣
@@SSJdavey I can see what you're saying. The thing is, why should one's existence have to invalidate the other? Why can't both co-exist? No matter what new entry there is, the previous entries have left their permanent mark in the definition of a franchise. With every new entry, a franchise can be allowed to expand it's definition and indulge it all the same.
I finished the game on Sunday, I loved it I've got to cover 7 on the channel which should be out next Thursday and then I'll have my spoiler review of 8 out the week after. I wanted to give it a few weeks after release so I can talk openly on what works and doesn't for me 👍
Don't mind me just binging these reviews lol. Quite a Hot take gonna be many mad fans 😅. It will be okay I like RE4 but it was never to me what it was to my friend. I never beat it but I did enjoy what I have played and seen.
@@SSJdavey it was financially successful and critically acclaimed for sure. I just feel that RE4 raped the soul from the series lure which was true survival horror not action adventure.
@E.Gi-Knight CV is actually the most important to the entire story lure. Real Resident Evil fans know this. The game is highly critically acclaimed and back when it came out was the most critically acclaimed of the entire series. So your opinion of the game is in the minority. Furthermore CV was definitely a true survival horror. Wesker having powers was explained and actually made sense. Without CV Resident Evil 4 and 5 wouldn't have made any sense.
@E.Gi-Knight Yeah you definitely didn't pay attention to the storylines in the games to make such a ridiculous statement. It was explained how Wesker survived. There is actually a video on it explaining it in detail on TH-cam from other games in the series. It was a story plan outline from the creator of the series which can be read in the Resident Evil outlook novel. Wesker hated Chris because he ruined Weskers plan to overtake or put Umbrella out of business which ultimately caused him to have to start working for another pharmaceutical company. Everything was literally explained in multiple games starting with CV.
GI Knight In the special giveaway fictional documentary titled Wesker's Report (rewritten in 2003 to include details from Resident Evil 0 and the Resident Evil remake[17]), Wesker reveals that he planned to sell the Tyrant to Umbrella's rival company in the B.O.W. field as a means to buy his way into a high position, and he deployed the elite STARS against it in order to obtain combat data to prove the Tyrant's effectiveness to the company. However, his plan was ruined after the Tyrant was destroyed by his former subordinates, and he survived his apparent death in the first game by injecting himself beforehand with an experimental variant of the T-virus, provided by his former Umbrella colleague William Birkin, that revived and augmented him with superhuman strength, speed and regeneration, but at the expense of his humanity. Wesker returned in Resident Evil - Code: Veronica, augmented with superhuman powers and working as an agent for "H.C.F." (Hive/Host Capture Force), a Special Forces unit of the rival company opposed to Umbrella. He orchestrates a raid on Rockfort Island in order to capture Alexia Ashford, creator of the T-Veronica virus who now holds the only remaining sample of the virus within her body. When Chris Redfield knocks his sunglasses off during a brief struggle, Wesker's orange, almost reptilian eyes are seen for the first time. He confronts both Chris and Alexia and he took the corpse of Steve Burnside in order to extract the T-Veronica virus. In the expanded release, Code: Veronica X, he briefly confronts Chris's younger sister Claire and nearly kills her in order to torment Chris, but is called away by his associates and thus chooses to spare her life.[14][15] Wesker then appeared alongside William Birkin in Resident Evil Zero, a prequel to the original game where it is revealed that he attended the Umbrella Executive Training School as a prospective executive, and later in Resident Evil 4 as a conspirator manipulating events from behind the scenes, where he would issue orders to Ada Wong. He is also unlockable in "The Mercenaries" scenario. He is also the protagonist of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and a playable character in several of the game's scenarios, expanding upon events alluded to in early games, as well as his involvement in Umbrella's downfall after the events of Code: Veronica and his development in Resident Evil 4. In the end he kills Sergei Vladimir, a loyal Umbrella executive.[14] Wesker also very briefly appears in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, as he at one point is seen by Jack Krauser. He also gave Javier a sample of the virus within Steve Burnside. A real fan would know this regarding RE story lure.
After playing so many RE games I came to the realization that RE Revelations 1 is a better RE 4 than RE 4. I say this because it has the action and the over the shoulder perspective but it also has the claustrophobic contained map that requires back tracking and puzzle solving, and of course it has the horror. Tbh RE4 is more acclaimed for its impact in video game design than as a RE game. Between 4, 5 and Revelations 1, if we could rewrite time and pick one at random to be RE4 the game would be as huge as the real RE4 is.
Idk why re revelations 1 was one of the worst re games I’ve played none of the enemy’s fit the bosses are easy (on the hardest difficulty) and without having a inventory finding a new weapon I hated cause I’m not driving my burst 3 damage 2 charge 1 and spread 1 shotgun for a ar that shoots 3 bullets at that same time re revelations2 has to be one of my fav re games just don’t like how long it loads
@@xero1152 I mean.. the enemies are the result of the virus mutating fish pretty much. I'm surprised you thought the boss fights were easy, to me they're by far the hardest bosses in the franchise. I never played an RE game that almost demanded that I learned the dodge i-frames to beat a boss. The last boss is gimmicky but also a cool fight. I had a lot of fun with Revelations 2 but not as much as 1 because it reverted to the linear level design of 4. What I liked about Rev 1 is that (to me) it feels like an oldschool RE game with the over the shoulder style games. Like I said, it's the perfect transition game IMO.
@@xero1152 yeah true. I don’t like the enemy designs. They look pretty boring and uninspiring compare to 4 and 5. The scan mechanic is fun at first, but it gets tedious later on. The bosses were pretty boring too, except for Rachel and the Comms Officer. I mean I love RE Rev 1 but it is not as good as RE4, though I think it’s better than 5. 4 has a great map, enemy designs, gameplay that actually fits the mechanics of the game, and the cheesy dialogues are cherries on top.
Revaltion is still the worst game by any mean... Control is mote tankier bad boss fights monotone pacing etc etc.. But at least it's got endaring story (if you care enough to begin with) the gameplay is bloated to constantly scanning things for every 5 seconds is bonker.
I mostly agree with you. The same part is the only part I found scary. I never thought Regenerators scary, they just are slow. Garradors are just annoying, El gigante is meh, Salvador is cheap and common enemies are not as interesting as zombies, Chaingun guys are what killed the the game. Novistadors are creepy I give it that and their parts are rising tension. RE4 is a good game and revolutionary thanks to over the shoulder camera but not a good Resident evil game. Once you have no resource limitation, no puzzle and no fear of enemies, it isn't a survival horror game anymore. The weird part is RE4 has less connection with the over all RE story. Only thing make it connect with story is Leon and Ada, if you change them nothing lefts. Now the parts I disagree with you, I'm not fan of bosses. The only boss I like is U3. They are diverse and colorful but no place in a RE game. Mendes and Verdugo are okay but I can't stand Salazar. He is cringe as hell. Krauser seriously has no place and no development (they ggave him development after he died can you belive it). Saddler just has not enough screen time because of Salazar and Krauser and sadly easy as hell for final boss. For level design, I think village and Castle are good but I can't say last part is good. Military Base is not interesting place compared to labs from older games. That's why the game gets less interesting after Castle. Ashley is not that bad compared to Sheeva. The game balanced escort parts but some parts still annoying as hell. And one thing really ruined this game is QTEs. I never liked them and it gets worst with every new entry. What saves this game is dynamic difficulty. The better you play, game gets harder. It makes this game somewhat challenging otherwise it is would be easy as hell. Now the real question does it hold up? For me, No. How people say it is age well suprises me so much. This game has tank controls, people can't understand that? People blames classic style for tank controls but those games are not action heavy games, this is an action game tank controls makes no sense. That's the reason I prefer Revelation titles for action RE games. Even RE6 which I hate so much is superior in that case. Its controls are better than RE4. On graphics part RE5 still looks much better than RE4 and RE6. But what did RE4 right is unlike RE5 and RE6 it didn't overkill. RE4 has better balnce than other two maybe that's the reason many people adores that game. For me cringy writing and bad controls make this game dated. I look forward for RE4 remake and hope they fix story and writing.
Great comment really enjoyed understanding your pros and cons 👍 I'm playing 5 right now and so far it's just RE4 all over again but with less camp and even more enemies. Thank god I'm choosing to play it through coop with my Podcast co-host or it would be a shocker (shevas ai is abysmal)
@@SSJdavey I'm looking forward for your RE 5 retrospective. My first experience with RE5's AI partner horror is another level of experience. I'm gonna watch your other RE videos, seeing videos of classic RE fans like me is always entertaining.
@SSJdavey really loved how RE4 embraced its campiness. RE5 and RE6 were just to melodramatic and considering how silly this series can get, it just did not work 😂
I feel the same. Re4 is one of the most revolutionary games created. Top 2 of it's console generation, and super fun. I like it a lot. But it is a terrible resident evil game. If it wasn't for 5 it would be the worst at being RE imo. At least 6 had zombies for a while. Also when you review 6 I really hope you don't shit on it. It's a better Re4 imo. I'll leave more about what I mean under that video though lol.
Top 2!? What's #1? I'm playing 5 right now and you're not wrong, it's the furthest possible thing away from RE. Just finished the chase sequence on the back of the jeep 🤦♂️
@@SSJdavey 😭😭 that part is nuts. And I think GTA San Andreas is slightly more fun to play. And it also has a multiplayer mode which boost it to me as a game. But if someone was to argue me about it, my stance isn't that strong, they're both great games
@@kaidms the PS2 gen was so stacked for great games, MGS 2&3 are up there for me but I havnt really stopped to think about my favourite over the generation. Chuck a cheeky bit of God of war 2, gta vice city and San andreas in the mix and that's a stacked top 5 🤔 I'd need a good while to figure out where re4 sits
At the end of the day everyone has different games that resonate with them so I'd never judge 👍 Its well worth playing through them... I might end up covering the series down the line
Its funny. I heard that soooooo many people complained about the RE4. But almost every review or person I talk to talk about how it's an amazing game. No one really seems to "hate" it. I call it a Resident Evil game. Instead of horror, it specs into tension. Who's behind me? Is Ashley safe? Am I safe? What am I doing next? Where am I going? Certainly not horror though so it takes the L there. Alright puzzles. Good fights. I like it. I still liked the review. It was competent and made sense. I disagree that it isn't an RE game but that's just my opinion. For me 1-4 are the best of the bunch. 5, 7, 8 are alright. And 6, which I've only started playing, is kinda doo doo. I simply see 4 as them trying something new. And saying it didn't work at all would be a lie. The game was still very fun. But copy and pasting it into RE5, and then turning it up to 10 with RE6 was definitely a shit move. And I can see why people consider 4 the downfall. For me, RE4 is a RE game. RE4 is fun. I was never bored. I liked the story, and everything just screamed "enjoy." Even in it's more tense segments I never got mad at the game when I died or Ashley died. It was just a very very good game.
4 is certainly entertaining, I can definitely see why people love it so much, and for the time it runs the pacing is excellent. I really enjoyed reading this comment! Good luck with 6....its a struggle to get through 😅
@@SSJdavey seemed like this was the game that kinda started the QuickTime trend, every game seemed to have them for a while and they’re always so annoying. Nice review btw, I really like this game tho, I don’t really mind they ditched the resi elements as at the time it was really fresh. I think now looking back it doesn’t seem so different as so many games copied what it did. I really like how they went back to that style for resi 7. I played it so much back on ps2, still seems like it plays real nice I might have to get it on switch.
I think you really brought up some good points about why this isn't a good *Resident Evil* game and why it isn't survival horror. Too many people try to defend it as such, but I have to wonder if those same people even played the classics or any other real survival horror game. For the longest time I had a love/hate relationship with the game. I got it as a Christmas present not long after its original release on PS2, and I had fun with it at the time but it wasn't what I wanted/expected from Resident Evil. The fond memories of originally playing the game made me not want to hate on the game. But when playing all of the classics and then jumping into this one again, I couldn't help but think of how it changed my favorite franchise into something it wasn't. I blamed this one for taking away classic Resident Evil from me, and I could only see the negative aspects of the game outshining the positives. It always felt like a boring, linear shooter to me where all you really did was go from one room to the next clearing out enemies, rinse and repeat for 13+ hours. It was my least played RE game up to RE6, where I used to frequently go back and play all of the games at least once a year. (Since then life has kept me too busy to really do that anymore.) I haven't played the game in nearly a decade I think, but it has since warmed up to me. Funny enough, I'd sooner play this and call it Resident Evil than the nonsense called "Village" that they are trying to pass off as Resident Evil. I'd even take another RE game in this style than the games they are trying to push out now with the "Resident Evil" title. As for the game itself, my favorite part of the game was always Ashley. Playing as her was the best section of the game because it always felt closest to the classic games. It definitely annoyed me though when I found out the the US release removed the fixed cameras from her section! That would've been so much better! Also...I just really love Carolyn Lawrence so I enjoy listening to her voice as Ashley. :) So even though I still think it's an overrated game and overstays its welcome by becoming repetitive and old towards the end, time has definitely warmed me up to it and I can appreciate the things it does right and the more fun aspects of the gameplay.
Loved reading this comment and learning about your experience with it We feel very differently about 7 and village by the seems of it though, what is it about 7/village which turns you off?
Who buys Rocket Launchers? Lol I only ever pickup the free one in the castle and always use it on Verdugo and that's it not once have I ever purchased the RPG in my life. Waste of pts and Inventory space
RE4 has the best pacing in the series (arguably one of the best in game in general) As far as "Definitive" Resident Evil Experience goes.. REmake take the cake! Hats off to Shinji Mikami-san really knows what he freaking doing when developing re games.
@@SSJdavey it is very difficult and agravating, but imma try to complete the old games (or at the lease the 1 and 0 remakes and code veronica because i already bought them)
RE4 is the best game in the series, but RE4 isn't the best Resident Evil game if that makes sense. Let's say the game wasn't called Resident Evil, Leon was replaced by another MC and the story was reworded a bit to remove references to previous RE games, then you would have no idea it's a RE game. But to be honest, as someone that identifies as a "pussy" when it comes to horror games, RE4 is my personal favorite, it still has scary moments, but it's not too scary. The gunplay and graphics hold up really well, the environments are very atmospheric and varied...etc. Sure there are some sections were there is TOO much action, but there also are some sections were the game makes up for by being solely horror like the Freezer room or when you control Ashley, that being said I'd still say there's more action than horror in the mix (60-40), but the game is still GOATed.
@Emo Gamer R 18 RE7 as a game isn't bad, but it feels like it was made as a trend of all the first person horror games that came out around that time like Outlast. Capcom sees that RE2Make and other 3rd person RE games make bank, but they chose to ignore that for some reason when making the newest games, maybe because RE7 also sold pretty well. Then again RE7 is better than Village, which feels like a bad attempt at recreating RE4 in first person with it's mix of action prevailing over the horror element. But then again, game companies can be surprisingly stupid and greedy so no wonder, Capcom was playing dumb for the whole PS3 generation of consoles for them to become somewhat good in the PS4 generation and I guess they're back to dumb for PS5.
You're confused about how they got his number? They jacked the line to contact him. I guess u haven't played the game for so long to remember everything... Ps: Shinji himself said if RE followed the same formula like the classic ones, it wouldn't have been a success. Cause ppl and fans we're getting tired of the same gaming style over and over. Also if u shoot the regenerators in the legs they'll start scrolling on the ground and jumping towards you for a bite. I hope you'll get more accurate info for ur reviews next time.
Even if they attack afterwards you still have ample time to run right past regenerators after a rifle shot to the leg reducing their impact. Nothing incorrect on that The how they got his number joke was just a bad joke 😅 It just cracked me up that a CIA secure line could be taken over by literally everyone that wants to 😂
@EGR18 the arkham games are incredible, one day I'll do that series just so I can have an excuse to play them again! My mind always goes to bioshock, everyone seems to be able to get you on the radio in those games without any effort or explanation 🤔
@@SSJdavey ur kidding me right? RE:Village has the easiest puzzles in the entire series. Nothing thoughtful about them. Village took everything wrong about RE4 and used it to copy it since RE4 was a huge success and was well received. Village was only hyped for Lady D That's it. and the castle section was so short with no real exploration. Village IS NOT SCARY. the only creepy/scary part the baby and that's it. Every boss is genetic and boring tbh.... it's a decent game but tried to copy RE4 so bad for the fans to like it. Hell it even has a merchant who mentioned the merchant from RE4 !! Like damn.
I get your view point I really do, personally though I love the puzzles in village even if they are straight forwards because at least they included them and tied them into exploration, the house benevento section is such a stand out for me its pure fear 😨 It borrows a lot from RE4 as you've rightly stated, it mixes that with 7 and some of the older series to give it its own identity (imo of course no right answer on this)
Saying its not resident evil because you don't have to worry about ammo is ridiculous. If you played your game right in any other RE games you would have the same outcome. RE 2 original, was one of the easiest and its very much a real RE game 🙄🙄
Its not just the ammo, it's having all your weapons available at all times, being rewarded for killing enemies, the lack of puzzles and overall lack of dread. Its a mixture of things. I'm not denying its a great game because it is, I'm just saying to me it moves so far away from what resident evil is its not even resident evil anymore Just my take anyway 🤷♂️
Old Resident Evils are outdated and terrible. They were never scary. The only thing scary was how bad they were. Puzzles don't belong in games. They are just a waste of time that takes away from the actual game, and once you've done them the first time and already know how to do them, they just become a complete time waster in every regard. The old camera angles are outdated and terrible. Hell you can't even aim. The combat is so braindead that you can point in the general direction of enemies and hit them even if you're aiming at a wall. Zombies that move 2 miles per hour in 1996 graphics from a far away camera angle is not scary. No Resident Evil should even have the title of horror in them until 7. Not to mention all the old Resident Evils were literally just soulless copy and paste of their predecessors with the exact same gameplay but in a new campaign. Almost nothing was different. 4, 5, 6, and the Revelations games all had the same core gameplay, but had their own flare and style as opposed to being copy paste games of 4. Voice acting was awful in the old games as well to the point you needed to mute the game as well. How could you find a game scary with some of the cringiest voice acting ever? It's clear RE4 was the best thing that happened to RE because it realizes that the franchise was never scary and embraces good gameplay and combat over requiring you to run away from most of the enemies you fight and spin in circles around the map to solve puzzles. The old REs were some of the worst video games I've ever played. Yes RE4 isn't the old Resident Evil franchise... It made Resident Evil not terrible and evolved it into something great. Hell 6 had objectively some of the best combat in TPS games in general. It only suffered from too many QTE's and too much minigame style things shoved into the campaign. But it was overall alright and its Mercenaries was some top tier Resident Evil. Overall the RE4 era/style of Resident Evil is the best so far. 7's is alright and I look forward to 8, but I don't see it coming anywhere near 4's era. 1996 era was the worst objectively, even if one personally likes it.
Thank you for sharing your opinion, it's good to hear the other side. I completely disagree with you I find 1 fear inducing now solely because it creates a sense of doubt whereas 4,5&6 lost that giving you ammunition and essentially 0 choice. But it's each to their own and I encourage everyone to speak their mind so we can all have an open discourse. We're all fans at the end of the day 🙌
Only thing I'll push back on is where you say puzzles don't belong in games because once you solved them they aren't a challenge on subsequent playthroughs. You can say the same thing for boss or enemy encounters, when you know the attack pattern or the gimmick it isn't a challenge anymore, but the fun is in learning that yourself. Puzzles work exactly the same as bosses and when implemented well it elevates an experience. Or it does for me anyway
@@SSJdavey Well personally I am against bosses that are extremely memory based like "IT" near the end of Resident Evil 4. I think bosses are best left as beefed up enemies that require you to out skill and think it compared to killing it with a gimmick or memorizing some specific thing to do to kill it. But at least bosses are much shorter and more engaging as opposed to puzzles. But yeah, I'm glad there's a fan who can have a civil disagreement. Most fans of the old REs I see are extremely hostile elitist who don't listen to anything you say and just act pretentious and insult anyone who disagrees. So good on you for being chill about things. Also I agree with your point on the RPGs. They should be way more expensive.
The old Resident Evil games are comedy to me. Especially RE3 and all the funny moaning noises the zombies make. lol the zombies sound like old grandpas having a heart attack and it's hard to take them seriousoly now. They did not age very well lol
I know it’s been a while but Dante ravioli is a you tuber and he makes tones of resident evil challenges including the knife only for almost all resident evil games
One of my favorite thing about Re4 and the thing that brings me back every year after all of these years is the pacing. I agree with the power trip feeling not feeling like classic resident evil but the moments it slows down and takes it's time is when Re4 truly shines. The sewer section with the bugs, the regenerators, hearing a chainsaw in the darkness it's those little moments that make this one special. Going from slow horror one section, to bombastic action in the next makes sure it never gets old and I'll always love it for that.
Totally agree with you, the pacing is excellent. I do wish it had a few more moments where it slowed down but to the games credit its always enjoyable
I think the pacing was perfect until the Island section. One of the things that make RE4 so great and scary is the suspension and slow menacing sounds. Hearing the villagers shouting and slowly approaching you or hearing the footsteps of the bug things scared the hell out of the players. But the island section kinda throws the suspension out of the window. Though it gave us one of the scariest enemy, Regenerator, it stands out so much compare to the other sections
I might be lynched for this, but to be honest, I think the castle part drags on for just a little too long...Otherwise, 10/10 game
Re5 and village are better than re4.
Honestly, his power trip point makes absolutely no sense. Because, just look at RE2. You can finish that game with hella shotgun and magnum ammo regardless if you save well or not. Even RE3 and Code Veronica give you this feeling.
AMEN. At last after so many years someone shares the same opinion as me. I was gravely disappointed with this one... Especially the inclusion of a merchant and a codec. What are we playing ? An RPG? MGS ?
Also, awesome content overall. Earned sub
Had great memories regarding this game. I do understand your criticism. Personally the strongest part I find in the beginning where you enter a village and all of a sudden are surrounded by too many enemies to shoot, and then the chainsaw guy drops in as well.
It immediately seperates itself from what's come before in the series with the village. Its an iconic moment in video games for sure
The back of the box on the (PAL) PS2 version actually says "forget survival horror, this is survival action".
Really!?
That is more apt
What's crazy about RE4 is that has it two things that I usually hate in other games yet somehow I don't mind them at all in RE4 (QTEs & escort missions) which really shows you how well designed the game is. I'm glad you defended Ashley, I honestly will never understand why people hate escorting her. She's arguably the most well implemented escort mission of all time. Never had a problem with her even on professional difficulty. Every time she died or got kidnapped it was my fault (and this is coming from someone who despises escort missions).
Overall, I think RE4 is the best designed game in the series along with the RE1 remake and the original RE2. Mikami and his team really knocked it out of the park with this game, which is impressive when you think about its bizarre development history and the many iterations it went trough.
I remember at the time I played it loving the QTEs, I didn't hate them this time through i thought they were fine, it's funny how quickly following this game they turned into a horrible mechanic in gaming 🥴
I suppose at least she can move on her own and can hide. Emma in MGS2 you have to hold her by the hand and if you leave her anywhere, she is open to being found and killed instantly, granted that escort isn't nearly as long as RE4s. On top of that no matter what you do, she ends up dying anyways. I suppose if we were to compare her to other escort types in games she isn't the worst.
I would always tranq Emma and carry her, the only time she was walking was when you're giving her Sniper cover 🤣
I liked QTEs in Heavy Rain and Shenmue, but yh your right, they feel so forced in most games
Your point at 5:15 is why RE4 works so well. The interactivity with enemies allows you to crowd control and manage the fight. See an enemy and more behind him? Then shoot his knee, run forward, roundhouse kick him into the crowd. There's a really nice pacing to surveying the threat and repositioning to manipulate the situation.
Very true 👍
I guess that's what makes it so enjoyable to replay for people, that and the ditman
Recently 100% completed this on steam and watching random reviews like yours now lol
I love going down the YT rabbit hole. I'm glad you've found my stuff, being tiny it's hard to get noticed 😅
Another point you missed was the pre-rendered backgrounds. Seeing them was like looking at Renaissance art. It immersed you into a creepy, cozy, interesting experience. That's one of the reasons I didn't like CVX. I had a lot of fun playing the Wii version of RE4(best version hands down) but REmake and Zer0 were the pinnacle for me.
Pre-rendered in RE0 and REMAKE I swear never age. They still look incredible all these years later
Re0? 💀
I cant have been the only one where in every cutscene where an important villain character is talking was just shouting “SHOOT HIM JUST SHOOT HIM!”
you can't be alone I'd love to see an Indiana Jones moment where someone gets blasted away during a monologue 🤣
3:51 ok you tickled my gut on the names of some of these bosses
If only my wife found me funny 😅
@@SSJdavey I might have answer for that but, if I told you. You would be sleeping on the couch or in the dog house tonight however, I'll salvage you the trouble.
@@1angelicdemon1 😂😂
@@SSJdavey well at least i can say I reciprocate a good laugh for you bud. enjoy your night.
Cheers man, just finished my audio on the next video so I'm heading to bed - take care x
The first time I played REmake was on PS3 a few months ago. When the game begins you're given the choice of difficulty, but it doesn't tell which is which. Taking a walk, climbing a mountain and stuff. There were three options so Easy, Normal and Hard, right? I always play a game for the first time on Normal because I think it was made with that difficulty in mind. So I chose the middle one and later I learned that was Easy. It was Very Easy, Easy and Normal. So I ended the game with more ammo and healing items I could have used in beating the game twice. Still, it was an amazing experience.
I think it's the same with RE4. It takes some elements of the old ones. It also completely changes some of those elements. For me, I love it, it does the trick. But I can see the hate it gets sometimes.
For me, RE2, 3 and Veronica aren't as good as the first ones because they failed to recreate the tension of the mansion, but 3 out of 4 people will tell you that 2 is the best. So to each their own.
It was a really cool review and the points were all well made. No hate and stuff just giving your opinion.
P.S.: If you didn't think 4 was a real RE I really want to know your opinion on 5 lol
I did the exact same thing with REMAKE when I replayed it a while back
ill be honest, resident evil 4 is a game i respect far more than i actually like
Thats very poetic
well i love all of the r resident evil games all for different reasons and tbh i really love the classic ones and the remakes of the classic ones and now the RE4 remake is out and i had a blast, i still do agree with the “it’s not horror it’s action” and i respect everyone opinions of the games, i’m weird cause i liked the RE3 remake, i played tho original as well and i do like the original WAY more and even though there’s a divide in the RE fanbase with the action and horror im here for both, respect all the games for what they did and enjoy them all, but yes i like the horror RE games more then the action ones
Bruh you said it perfectly. Same.
Regarding the storyline of RE4, my issue was not so much the story itself, but rather its position in the timeline/titling, for these reasons:
1.) I like the idea of Resident Evil’s universe expanding to include other threats not directly related to Umbrella or the Progenitor Virus. Regarding Las Plagas, the classic games already set a precedent for similar parasitic B.O.W.s to exist, namely the Nemesis Alpha Parasite used on Lisa Trevor and RE3’s Tyrant. And when the second animated film came out, Resident Evil Damnation, it sold me on the idea of Las Plagas parasites coexisting with the older monsters like Lickers and Tyrants.
2.) That being said, if Capcom was going back to numbered titles for RE games set after the PS1 trilogy, then I feel they should have retroactively renamed RE: Code Veronica to “Resident Evil 4: Code Veronica”. In turn, this game should have been the one called RE5, while all numbered titles after that are higher by one. On Capcom’s part, I think calling this game RE4 was a bad move, which makes Code Veronica far less visible to potential newcomers and can create confusion over the apparent time jump between RE3: Nemesis and RE4. If Capcom had renamed Code Veronica into a numbered title, more clearly communicating that it is an important entry, then perhaps its current executives would feel more pressure to remake it, before going right to this RE4 game.
3.) I also thought it was a bad move to have the final collapse of Umbrella take place both offscreen and right before the events of this game. An event with that much importance and buildup should have been given its own mainline game, rather than being relegated to the Umbrella Chronicles spinoff game. Ideally, I think the fall of Umbrella should have been been the penultimate story, right before the events in Kijuju, where Chris Redfield finally defeats Albert Wesker for good. Therefore, I think RE4’s prologue should have instead framed the plot as the result of Umbrella’s declining influence, which slowly creates a power vacuum for multiple rival organizations to take hold in the black market: the remainder of Umbrella’s forces, Albert Wesker’s faction, and now Los Illuminados.
4.) I think RE4’s own narrative should have done more to establish Jack Krauser before he is introduced, as much as I commend The Darkside Chronicles for filling in that gap with its own engaging original story. Without that scenario from Darkside Chronicles, Krauser’s involvement in RE4’s plot reminds me of how people criticized -
*Spoiler Alert for Book of Boba Fett*
- Cad Bane’s usage in Disney’s latest Star Wars show. Without seeing the Clone Wars 3D show, people would have no idea who Cad Bane even is, before he is brought in and treated as an important character one should recognize. Not to mention, Cad Bane is supposed to have a history with Boba Fett, which viewers can barely see, since the Clone Wars episodes intended to delve into that were never finished. That is similarly to how Leon and Krauser are meant to already have a history together, without prior setup within RE4’s own narrative, while the spinoff game that directly shows their history had yet to see the light of day.
Great read!
I wish that CV had been numbered it would have pushed me towards playing it much sooner than I did
A lot of this next comment will involve me repeating what I mentioned during your Original RE1 livestream. But I have a complicated middle-of-the-road opinion, whether or not RE4 should be considered a proper Resident Evil game…
I think you bring up a good point, about how RE4 deviates from the pure Survival Horror formula, by allowing combat to directly reward/empower the player. In all of the classic RE games before this, a player would generally only seek out combat, if killing a particular monster was mandatory to progress (such as most bosses), if leaving certain monsters alive was more trouble than the cost of ammo/healing items needed to kill them, and if injuring a monster was needed to temporarily get past or away from it. Very rarely was combat an end in itself.
The classic RE games had some exceptions. In the Original RE2, Mr. X’s regular form would drop extra ammo for players, after they presumably just used ammo to knock him out. Also, when playing on Hard Mode in Original RE3, one could acquire extra upgrades, weapon parts, etc. by taking down Nemesis during the optional encounters. Aside from two of the live-selection choices, knocking out Nemesis was often very difficult. Yet those prizes encouraged the player to fight Nemesis more, despite how tough he was and how it was sometimes easier in the short-term to keep running away.
*However,* those two situations in the classic games were exceptions, and not the norm. RE4 pretty much makes this the norm, by having much more of the regular enemies and bosses directly reward the player upon death. Occasionally, you can get back some of the ammo, grenades, and healing items used to defeat those enemies in the first place, like with the original Mr. X. Other times, you are rewarded with extra gold and treasures, which one can use to buy more weapons, upgrades, etc. In a way, the latter is like Nemesis’ bonus item drops, only with extra steps and choices. With that becoming the norm rather than the exception, I think this change in mechanics is the strongest argument for describing RE4 as an action game first, before a Survival Horror.
*Before I move on, I want to say that most of RE4’s other mechanical changes, for me, either provided the same general challenges in different forms or were acceptable progressions of mechanics gradually introduced in earlier games.* For example, having a larger inventory without an item box meant that I was always as prepared as I could be for a fight, in the short-term. But it also meant that I could not store every item I found in the environment for the long-term, making me choose to permanently leave some items behind. In contrast, the classic RE games kept me from having everything in my immediate inventory, but the item box’s nigh-unlimited space meant that I could store everything I found for the long-term. And by the end of the classic RE games, I often had so many items stored away that I could blast through everything in the final levels, with even less regard for ammo conservation than in RE4, as long as I kept revisiting that item box. In the classic games, I almost never have to choose whether to permanently leave something behind. Arguably, RE4’s inventory system still imposes more choices on the player than other games we readily accept as Survival Horror (such as how “Silent Hill 2” lets you both keep everything you find in the environment and have everything you keep be available in your immediate inventory).
*BTW, I 100% agree about the rocket launchers. At the very least, those should have either been much more expensive or only available on New Game Plus.*
So I agree with you, mainly when it comes to that one specific change to the play style. Yet, I still think this game is worthy of bearing the RE name, albeit as a very different type of RE. Earlier, I suggested that if the classic RE games were Ridley Scott’s “Alien”, then RE4 is James Cameron’s “Aliens”. I think my comparison is mostly self-explanatory, with how the sequel introduced new elements that leaned it much more heavily into the genre of action. “Aliens” tried to toe the line, between providing some of that same dark, claustrophobic, desperate, suspenseful, and bodily horror from the first film, while providing some “bug hunt” action that feels like a fun power fantasy. “Aliens” also tried to keep the Xenomorphs a challenging threat, by having Ellen Ripley and the Colonial Marines go up against entire hordes of them, led by the newly introduced queen. Similarly, we both observed that RE4 gives Leon more scenes to function as an action star, like Ripley’s development in “Aliens”, and even throws large hordes of enemies at the player.
Some people found “Aliens” to be a natural progression. Understandably, other fans felt that it strayed too far from the first film’s genre roots and made the franchise more like a spiritual adaptation of the “Starship Troopers” novel, rather than this subdued slasher film with flavors of cosmic horror. Even though having swarms of Xenomorphs leveled the playing field, they also felt it cheapened the horror and mystique that the individual Xenomorph could pose. Other fans like me felt that “Aliens” retained enough of its predecessor’s unique DNA to be part the same franchise, despite being notably different from the first movie’s style and partly crafting its own unique identity. Due to those latter qualities, I think it is important that both distinct types of Alien are honored. So it is good to have some installments like “Alien: Isolation”, which harken back more to the first movie’s style.
Likewise, RE4 still gave me a lot of those elements I uniquely enjoyed in the classic RE gameplay. I found the locations to be creepy and atmospheric enough for my personal tastes. I felt there was still a decent amount of puzzles and free-roaming exploration. I still felt some pressure to be efficient with my resources and choose which items I wanted to acquire and hold onto. Aside from Del Lago, which was more of a gimmick fight, pretty much all of the boss battles felt like something I would see in the previous mainline and Outbreak entries. And there were various gameplay segments that evoked similar horror/tension for me, such as the village’s endurance rounds, the Chainsaw Ganados, the Plagas emerging from their hosts at night, the Novistadors’ caverns, the Colmillos-infested maze, the blind Garradors, the part where Ashley Graham is playable (which even had fixed camera angles in Japan’s versions, according to The Sphere Hunter), and the lab area infested with Regeneradores/Iron Maidens. And it managed to carve enough of its own identity to inspire other games like “Dead Space” and “The Evil Within”, which tried to recreate that hybrid of action and Survival Horror.
This seems to be mainly subjective. But I drew that line at RE5/RE6, since those games seemed to mostly dumb down what classic elements were retained by RE4, while also doubling-down on its action-oriented elements at the expense of horror. And similarly to the Alien franchise, even if I did like RE5/RE6 as much as I did RE4, I still consider those games to be a different type of RE. So I thought it was important to have games like RE7 and the Revelations spinoffs, which revisited more of the franchise’s purely Survival Horror roots.
Davey this series is so good, it’s incredible how close out opinions about this game are, I’m an old time RE fan since 96, RE 1 always was my favorite ((now with 7 too).
But 7 helped me to understand what RE is, after play the 2 and 3 remakes it all made sense.
RE is about survival as much as about empowerment.
The sense of progression that occurred in the games transcends to the series as the first game you really have the survival horror experience, but by the end you are quite powerful and equipped and the action takes hold of the gameplay.
RE2 is like 1 but more action oriented.
Re3 is Resident Evil, but almost no Survivor Horror, most action, so yes RE 4 is Resident Evil, but finally dropping more of the survival aspect in favor of the action continuing the trend.
I could continue, but I think that all entries of the main series are RE and what it’s stand for, and by circle back to its roots with 7 all makes sense to me.
And now village went back to the old loop and the action is growing once again.
Hopefully with better results than the 4, 5 and 6 (trilogy).
Glad you're enjoying the series!
We'll have to see what they do with 4 remake next and the interpretation they bring to it. Its looking like its full of dread so that brings me some hope
Glad to see a fellow lover of 7 here, I feel half the time that I'm the only one who loved it 😅
@@SSJdavey I feel the same about 7 sometimes, because everyone seems to prefer 2 or 4, but for me it was always 1 and then 7 which captures the atmosphere of the original game very well.
About your work, I loving this series, But I’ve took a look on other videos and loved them too, like the one about Dead Space.
RE 4 remake is looking good, It is not as appealing as 2 and 3 remake for me, but it a chance to make the sense playthrough the series more cohesive.
I hope that they keep the mainline games firstperson and more in line with 7, but shadows of rose being in third persons is not a good sign for me.
I know that if RE 1 get a remake (another) it should be in first person, many times throughout 7 I saw how close to RE1 the game was, the mansions, the courtyard x Marguerite second house, the difference was that the baker family was grotesque while the Spencer mansion was fancy. Both excellent horror settings.
Keep going with the excellent work and I hope you get all the views and recognition you deserves!
I already subscribed so now I’m catching up with you videos and waiting for more!!
Thanks for another great video!
RE4 is fantastic, ahead of it's time, has a massive legacy, and I can't say enough good things about it. It plays just as well today as it did back then.
Personally I would still say it is a "Resident Evil" game because it still nails all the things I love about RE titles. Horrific enemies, large atmospheric environments, inventory management (albeit a completely different kind than previous games). It shares enough DNA to fit in the existing series while also completely reinventing it and subverting expectations.
Now I am in the camp that kind of rolls my eyes at the term "survival horror". I think game genres can get so granular and have so many different definitions, Survival Horror to me is more of a marketing term than anything. Ever since RE1, each subsequent game has changed something about the game to make it unique.
RE2 introduced A/B Scenarios and expanded on the production of RE1
RE3 introduced RNG Elements and a persistent stalker, itself a more fully formed version of Mr. X from RE2
CVX introduced a 3D Environment, first person perspective weapons, as well as dual wielded weapons
REmake introduced defensive items, kerosene, crimson heads
RE0 introduced the partner mechanic
RE4 just remixed SO many different ideas at once compared to previous entries. Ultimately Survival Horror is really going to be those aspects that resonate most with you, the player.
One thing I do want to mention is that this game is often seen as "the beginning of the end", as you mentioned in your video. I can't say I agree with that. I don't particularly like RE5. I don't particularly like RE6. But I also do not see those games as the logical conclusion from RE4.
If you've played The Evil Within (which was also directed by Shinji Mikami), it feels like it could also be a sequel to RE4. TEW has stealth mechanics, some light exploration and puzzles, limited ammo, etc. I think more than anything it demonstrates that the action-heavy direction was not inevitable. RE5 copy pasted the gameplay of RE4, introduced more melee mechanics, slapped a partner in there, and did not implement the tremendous pacing that RE4 does so well, the atmospheric environments, even the limited backtracking that exists in RE4.
What you are left with is the gameplay of RE4 as you run through large set pieces with very few quiet moments where you can actually soak up the atmosphere. RE5 always felt to me like Capcom wanted to reinvent the success with RE4, but didn't understand what actually made RE4 work so well.
Anyway, thanks for the video, long live RE4, excited to see what other titles you cover!
I loved reading this, very well put throughout 👏
I'm in the middle of writing my RE5 script right now and you're bang on.
I would say that with the success of 4 you can see what Capcom thought made it so successful and that was a more streamlined action based game, now with 5 they double down on that and strip even more away from the RE formula and to their credit its been the highest selling entry thus far, albeit at the cost of turning alot of the fanbase off and that culminated in 6 which went even more off the deep end, really put the franchise in the mud. Without 4s success it wouldn't have gone down this path so I do blame 4 for it...but it's not the games fault like you said its capcoms misunderstanding on what made RE4....Re4.. if that makes sense
The evil within is something I need to give another chance at some point. I played about 2 hours of the first one and it just didn't vibe with me, not sure why to be honest
@@SSJdavey yup totally makes sense, I think you're right on the money. Excited for your RE5 video. And TEW definitely has its own unique feel to it, I loved both of them, especially TEW2. It does semi-open world horror and it works so well, it actually reminds me a lot of the original RE3 where you are roaming a small town freely that's been completely overtaken by monsters. Maybe worth another shot in the future (or a future video??)
@@8BitLifts certainly something I'll bare in mind. After this mainline resi series ends I was thinking of going to the series that was spawned from RE4 (DMC) but I think I'll put it out to a community vote and see what happens. Quite a few videos to get through yet 🥴
I just realized Ramon Salazar reacts more realistically to getting his hand impaled than Ethan Winters...
Ethan has knives inbedded in him on the daily, that's just a scratch to him 🤣
i mean if you’ve seen the ending of re8 you’d understand. i don’t wanna spoil anything in case you haven’t played or finished it
Yeah I have 👍
Working on my RE7 video now and then its script time for RE8 🤞
I think RE4 has to be played in the highest difficulty to evoke that tension you're looking for. The regenerators are def butch clenching when youre scarce in amo, health, etc. Its a common mistake many people make, thinking the game is boring, too easy, etc, thats because youve set it in a easy or normal setting where you can just run and blast through the game
Great point! I'll give it a try and see if it changes my mind. Havnt played professional difficulty in a long time
That can be said for any fps
I think that when you know the game it becomes more action that survival horror. When you know where all the valuable treasure is, what you should buy, what you shouldn't and how to kill each enemy with the minimal ampunt of ammo it is a straight up action game. But on first playthrough it is a survival horror game. Garrador is scary first time around, if you use the rocket launcher before verdugo it's a terrifying fight. When the plagas turn into facehuggers it's scary. Also, chainsaws, terrifying first time around.
I hadn't played it in donkeys years but it certainly didn't feel creepy or scary at all on my run, maybe if I'd gone professional difficulty out of the gate I'd have had a different take 🤷♂️
@@SSJdavey I'm doing a playthrough now for the first time in yonks so I do get what you mean. But the first time I played the game through at 11/12 years of age it was terrifying. Even now, I still know how to deal with most of the enemies so it makes the whole thing immeasurably easier. I do see your point though, and I suppose I am objectively biased in that I quite like resi 4&5 and am mostly indifferent to the earlier entries.
I always looked at the RPG as a nice way for less experienced players to get past a boss if they're stuck for a long time. Just don't use it if you're looking for more of a challenge, you can sell the one you find in the castle for more than most treasures.
Thats fair, I just can't resist it 😅
i always find the idea of calling a game in this franchise not resident evil pointless (no offense though, i'm just generally speaking) because clearly this franchise has gotten bigger then the genre it defined, for better and worse...
Resident evil 4, is a well paced action adventure game with sprinkles of horror throughout and very tense combat encounters, and a story that does not take itself seriously and has fun with it. so imo the problem was never re4, it's the games after it taking wrong notes from it or not being able to completely capture it's magic. i've heard a lot of people say re5 is better then 4 which is very interesting but i think re5 pacing and bossfights are not good as 4 and the story again takes itself semi-seriously (i guess they knew what they were doing with the boulder punch) which makes it an overall less sharp and confident title. and 6 is...well. then we got 8...while imo it got more things from re4 right then 5 it still didn't manage to be as good/satisfying as both 4 or 7.
my point is resident evil always tries to walk in Action and survival horror spectrum, and it's at it's finest when it knows which side it's committing to and fleshes it out. 4 knew it was leaning more towards action and it delivered a really great action horror game. so even if it is different from it's predecessors in the style of it's gameplay it still has that DNA of "survival" + "action" + "horror", and it's good at it.
my hope for re4R is that they learn the right lessons from 4 and try to lean towards one side of the spectrum instead of awkwardly mixing both of them that results in half-pleasing both crowd (which would be again re8)
No disrespect taken, you make some great points 👍
@@SSJdavey thank you for reading all of it. I got carried away lol
@@psychon2083 😄 no worries, it was a good read
I feel that if you want a more tense experience, you should probably try to avoid cheesing through various sections and actually fighting all of the bosses properly, this can lead you into quite a bullet squeeze through some sections of the game, especially with the fight with "It" and Krauser, I'm just replaying the game on pro difficulty, and when I got to the Krauser fight, I was almost completely out of ammo, and had to trade in my fully upgraded red9 so that I could get the exclusive upgrade on the striker to get 100 shotgun shells to even stand a chance against Krauser. Watching those shells gradually go down as Mike then refused to do anything about the minigun operators in the following section was quite nerve-wrecking, and a really enjoyable and tense experience!
My favorite part of this playthrough has to be the double El Gigante fight! It was tough at first, but it was so much fun learning the behavior of the giants and finding opportunities to strike at them, leading to yet another bullet squeeze that made the section with the novistadors and the sections after that really quite tense, every bullet had to be planned.
After watching RE 8 gameplay I automatically wanted to revisit RE 4
Similar DNA runs through them thats for sure!
Same! 8 trys so hard to be 4 but it tended to feel more like 5 to me
While I do agree with you on pretty much everything, I still really like what they did with the game and the fact that they tried a new formula. The way I see it, while RE4 was action-oriented at times (like the military island towards the end), it still kept nice horror elements. The chainsaw guy, the novistadors, Mandez's transformation, the regenerators... but it wasn't just about enemies. What they also nailed in RE4 for me was the atmosphere, the village part really makes you feel alone and on your own in a place where no one speaks your language and where you can't expect any help from anyone and everyone just wants to kill you. Then there's the castle, where you come to realize just how creepy the religious cultists really are. The island is the only part where they didn't get the overall atmosphere right, although it still had great moments, like the U3 and Krauser fights.
That's what they missed in RE 5 and 6 for me, the atmosphere was just not right. RE 6 was straight up a hollywoodian action movie, but RE 5 had potential but it just missed the spot. You're playing as Christ frecking Redfield and at no point does he stutter or hesitate, he just punches his way all the way through. And adding a permanent partner was the nail that sealed the coffin for horror ; having someone who constantly watches over your back simply makes you feel too safe to be afraid. I just miss older resident evil games where you'd play on your own.
Overall, the only thing RE5 did better than 4 was, obviously, Wesker. RE5's story, however, while it fits very well into the resident evil world, had one big issue : it was way too serious. A serious story has to be thoroughly thought out and well written, you can't just have Christ punching boulders, or Irvin being the cringest character ever, or Wesker not killing Christ every time he could, and still make your story sound very serious. RE4, on the other hand, didn't take its own story seriously, with Leon's cheesy attitude and one-liners, the main villains literally calling him over the phone to mock him or just chat with him... and it actually worked very well. That way, you won't be surprised when you see Leon dodging lasers as if he was in a Matrix movie. It's just that, plotholes and cheesy moments are much easier to swallow or overlook in a story that doesn't take itself too seriously than in a very serious one.
I just wanted to share some personal opinions on the matter, but your video was still great and I much appreciated watching it !
I hated everything about U3 chase sequence and the fact they do the same thing with Krauser. Basically it’s run away to pad the game then boss fight. It would have been ok for one of them,but they do this twice! Then the helicopter part is a chore and really drags down the experience!
I look at re5's story with a heavy dose of cheese too, its mega over the top and that's what sells it for me. I do agree 4 having the cheese it does helps it so much when it comes to leons attitude and the villians dropping in for a chat just to goad him. Loved reading your thoughts on it 👍
RE4 perfectly blended action and horror. Village was just straight up action. Didn’t give me RE4 vibes aside from the merchant.
I found Village far more horror filled than 4 🤷♂️
@SSJdavey the downside of RE4 was it made Leon’s popularity explode and now we can’t have a damn CGI without him. 😓
We need Jill back 😭
@SSJdavey definitely! After getting the shaft so long she should be in the next 4 or 5 sequels while Leon and Chris be benched for a good long while.
Any excuse to get her or Barry back is good news for me
Funny things is I feel like RE7 isn't RE I want to play. And RE8 absolutely nailed it as a RE4 v2.
Maybe because I played it when I'm so young. But RE4 manage to be fun and scary for me despite all you said.
Screaming madmen with weapon make me never feel safe even I have all healing, weapon and ammo in the world.
Or it's because I seen so many things RE experiment the pass years. So this game feel more RE if compare to more than half of RE I played.
Theres something there with nostalgia that's super powerful, it's probably why old resi resonates with me so much compared to 4 🤷♂️
Resident evil 4 is so different than zero-code veronica that if you played the game with out knowing it's name you wouldn't even realize that it was a resident evil game.
It really is, its mental how far removed it is
As I look around through the internet, it seems like the RE fandom is split between two opinions on RE4: those who love it and consider it one of the best RE games (if not THE best), and the rest who love it but dont really consider it RE, seeing it more as a pure action game than survival horror.
Now, my experience with RE has been really different from yours. I'm a relatively new fan, but I've come to love the whole series, and am making my way through all the numbered games. I've played HD RE1, RE 2 & 3 remakes, RE4, RE5, and part of RE6. I'm going to start RE7 soon, and I'm hyped to play Village.
But RE4 was the first one I played. Heck, it was my first game with any level of horror. I thought it was terrifying, and I was always stressed about how little ammo I seemed to have, scrounging the maps desperately for healing. To an RE veteran RE4 might not seem like a scary survival/horror game, but to me it sure felt like one. Overcoming what felt like insurmountable odds and getting through a tough swarm/boss/enemy was so thrilling to me. It still is. It ended up getting me to try the other RE titles that I'd always been intimidated by, and got me into survival-horror in general.
Comparing 4 to 5&6 as a newbie, 5&6 are just action games, albeit with a few horror elements. I feel like RE4 did a masterful job balancing everything out, which makes it a good entry-point for newcomers. I also feel like the story does fit into the broader RE mythos very well. It introduces the idea of other Bio-mutigents, and that not everything has to be tied to umbrella, which RE7 and 8 seem to really expand on (havent played them yet and am avoiding spoilers).
I see where you're coming from saying RE4 isnt RE, and seeing where 5 & 6 went I can see where that feeling comes from. But I feel like one of the great things about RE now is how much freedom capcom has to experiment and to allow the series to mutate (lol).
I love RE4. It's my favorite game in what has become my favorite series. I'm playing it on professional mode for the first time right now, and there are moments that are nearly as scary still as RE1 (dogs in a hedge maze 😳). The precision shooting was a great addition to the series.
Everyone's allowed to have their opinions and preferences obviously, but I really want to defend RE4 as a good RE game. It's what brought me into the whole series! I think that's probably true for a lot of people 😊
I loved reading this and hearing your experience with the series and how much re4 means to you, thanks for sharing!
Love your videos i hope your channel can grow more
Thank you! I'm glad your enjoying them, I'm having fun making them for you all 💪
If you keep buying the rpg you'll never be able to afford the chicago typewriter or the ultimate weapon upgrades, I remember when I first beat the game and I found out you could get it. I ran through the game 3 times straight that day trying to save enough to get it
RE4 is the only one to scare me or make me feel dread, but it's been ages since playing the older ones. The game scared young so badly that I had avoided horror and RE games for years before manning up. Now, I have replayed it so many times over that even booting up today only takes a bit before I'm back in the swing of it. But to be fair, I only ever played bits of the older ones before and after RE4, so I don't have fond memories of the OG Trilogy, so RE4 is Resident Evil to me with it slow and fast moments along with running low on ammo so I need to get creative.
Love the video. This is irrelevant but you sound exactly like this one famous game commentator I know. It’s crazy!!!!!!
I'm glad you enjoyed it 👍
No way! Who is it?
@@SSJdavey I did, thanks! And for a perfect example, look up the channel “PNDK&M”!
Ah mustard and ketchup for MK?
Love those guys
Perfect point man 100% agree
Great minds think alike 😎
Another great video as usual. I see what you are saying. Yes, RE4 is a great game but not a great Resident Evil game because there is no G Virus or T Virus. Also, fun fact about RE4: Did you know you could kill the Merchant? I had no idea until I actually shot him. Lol
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Haha yeah with the merchant I remember blasting him away back on the gamecube, having to complete that run without him was a nightmare 🤣
@@SSJdavey I just saved my game before I killed him, so I just loaded my recent save. Damn. So once you kill the merchant, he is dead for the rest of the game? I never knew that. I thought he just reappears later in the game. Actually, I am still unclear if it is the same merchant for the entire game or a different merchant at each location.
Yeah he's gone! It's the same one as far as I know. He's magic 🤣
He just respawns at the next area you would find him next
I thought he was gone for good?
Been a while since I did it on gamecube so my memory is hazy 😂
Subscribed
Thank you 😊
This was my first Resident Evil game. And Capcom did name the game Resident Evil 4. Because it was my first game in the series, it is the benchmark I use to compare and contrast other RE titles. Sometimes I get a little sandy because some people say I'm not a true RE fan because my fav in the series are 4 and 5. But those are the games that made me obsessed with the series...and they are in fact called Resident Evil.
I guess the argument going around is "...well does that mean the film Aliens isn't actually an Alien film because it is a drastically different genre than the original"?
I liked your video though :) And one thing I think we can all agree on is RE4 is an awesome game.
No matter which one is your favourite you're still a real fan. People seek to want to get on a hill and not accept others opinion, sure 4 isn't my favourite but I respect people's opinion
I thought I was the only one that I didn't find Ashley annoying.
For years I heared people online dreading scorting ashley. So I was hesitant to play it. I finally did in 2019 ( I even completed on professional)
And honestly most of my game overs were Leon dying and very few Ashley dying/captured.
I've always paralleled it with Metallica's The Black Album, or at least my interpretation of their legacy before and since. The Black Album was a big departure from their early stuff, more accessible, had more of an emphasis on "hooks" and less on how the chorus, solos, etc. melded into these singular epic songs. The songs were more defined by their catchiness, not the story they were telling. Maybe I'm projecting, but for me when I think of something like "Fade To Black" I think of the entire song, I don't just fixate on one thing like the chorus or the solo. But with something like "Enter Sandman," the chorus is where I go to automatically and I think barely of anything else. I think of the chorus of Master of Puppets a lot, but I explore the rest of the song in my mind, too. That doesn't happen with The Black Album's offerings nearly as much.
But that's not bad, necessarily. It shot their popularity to the stratosphere where people that weren't fans of them before.
This is a lot like Resident Evil 4, to me. It did the exact same stuff. It took elements we were familiar with and twisted them, but it still has the Resident Evil feel, in my opinion. It stood as the peak of transition for the series until RE7, I'd say. But it had the tank controls... with a twist. It had the typewriter.... with a twist. It had the infected... with a twist. It had the absurd story with some laughable but endearing dialogue that the series is known for.
The resource management isn't a big thing in this game, but they do try to replace the tension of that with tension of other things, like the sheer number of characters that can swarm you or the types of characters you have to deal with. In the other games I think it boiled down to just... shoot things. But in this one, they do switch it up with some enemies. The regenerators are a good example even if you have found a workaround that works for most enemies in the game.
The body horror aspect, the designs of the bosses...
Like you mentioned, it still has some basic puzzles in line with the ideologies of the series. It still uses specially-shaped keys. It still has rankings for your playthroughs and infinite weapons to unlock, as well as rewards for doing well in each difficulty.
It had the unlockable super weapons and costumes if you did super well on some of the difficulties. It was designed with replayability in midn.
There are elements of Resident Evil ALL OVER that I think you're sort of not acknowledging!
Back with the Black Album. Elements of Metallica all over, became very popular. Became so popular that it shifted their entire musical focus for many years. It was a peak before a big downfall, where each album got further and further away from what Metallica was known for. I think this is the same thing with RE4. A peak before a big fall where they learned and applied the wrong lessons gradually, with RE5, then culminating in the largest heck-up with RE6. Then they tried to completely reinvent their sound with St. Anger / RE7. Unfortunately not nearly as much of a success for Metallica. Somewhere down the line I think you could argue Death Magnetic could be like RE: Revelations, where they tried to correct course but something about it didn't quite fit.
Anyways. I think that it's a lot like The Black Album. Still Metallica / Resident Evil, just in different ways than one would come to expect from the series.
And small side note, I think the series was already going towards the action genre more with each game. RE1 -> 2, more action. 2-> 3, even more. Code Veronica? Elements of an action movie in its cutscenes. RE4 was a logical step in the ideology of furthering the divide between action and survival-horror, I think. It's just it did so many other things to go along with that, too, that I think it's hard to see that.
I loved reading this, you made some really great points and i love the analogy with the black album
Yeah RE 3 and Outbreak plus the first 2 is resident evil.. I love 4 but it's not resident evil
Totally agree 👍
100% agree great game but not a resident evil game besides Leon and green herbs 🌿
The money is called Pesetas. Spain old currency. We use pesos where I live so I find it weird hearing it xD
Yeah thats my bad, I'm old enough to have used them before they went to euro too. So I have no excuse
I still enjoy RE4 even through I much perfer the fixed camera angles
It is really fun, I wish the trophy list was better on psn though 😕 would love running a platinum on it
Tried to replay it a few years ago and man was I sad that it just wasn’t what I remembered it to be. So clunky. The remake is solid no doubt, but with the increase in action of this title, I never felt any horror or fear. Fun action yes, but no fear.
Yeeeeah... i alway had a love/hate relationship with that game.
Its one of my favorite action game who deserve most of the praise and yet, this had to be one of my least favorite RE game...
Which one is your favourite?
I wont be original but that would be RE2.
@@HUDJ0679790 hey my fav is RE1 remake I can't judge you 🤷♂️ Generally it's going to be a choice between 1,2 or 4 for most people
The inventory management is over looked and for some reason they won’t bring it back in anything, if they do a remake they better put it in!
It's in village 👍
I, for one, do disagree with your take on what is resident evil. This gate keeping idea that resident evil has to be this one specific thing is arbitrary and rediculious. Resident evil is a franchise, not a genre. And a varied one at that. Whatever theme resident evil dips it's toes in, it makes it it's own and does it with it's own flare. The original resident evils are just as much resident evil as the the action resident evils. The action resident evils are just as much resident evil as the "renaissance" resident evils.
Things in this world are fluid, and resident evil's nact for being flexible with what it does and what it allows itself to be defined as is resident evils own special quality as a franchise. Some franchise are static, and others are more complex in their own ways. The resident evil franchise is complex in it's own way
I agree with some of what you've said. Resident evil is very varied and flexible across its entries and sure its what makes it unique across its entries but any franchise needs a unifying theme across itself, and when it deviates from that its going to lose its "original core fanbase" to varying levels. Its difficult to word this but I'll try my best (and this is only my take of course) if we take some of the biggest franchises in gaming: Mario, COD, GTA. Mario's unifying theme across its core games 2d or 3d is a platformer, GTA is a sandbox open world action game, COD is an FPS. Resident evil should always be a survival horror, regardless of how thats delivered be that first or third person, by deviating from that you lose what makes Resident Evil....Resident evil. Spin offs is a different beast but mainline that should be the unifying theme and when they lost that for 4,5&6 it became something else entirely. Entertaining?...yeah but it's not resident evil. Returning to the examples of other franchises to try and close this; if GTA 6 was a linear experience would it still be GTA? If COD moved to a tactical simulation shooter game is it still COD?
You can do alot within boundaries determined by an overarching theme and still be relevant 25+ years later you can reinvent all you like as long as you stay true to the core ideal...
Tried my best to explain my thought process 😅
Thank you for commenting, always interesting trying to formulate my thoughts on this 🤣
@@SSJdavey I can see what you're saying. The thing is, why should one's existence have to invalidate the other? Why can't both co-exist? No matter what new entry there is, the previous entries have left their permanent mark in the definition of a franchise. With every new entry, a franchise can be allowed to expand it's definition and indulge it all the same.
Great point, I suppose its just me wanting the different experiments relegated to spin offs 😅
I cacked my pants playing re3 as a kid, nemesis used to put the fear of god into me! Wish that was still the case 😭
@@SSJdavey Well that is pretty sad
Oh boy I wonder what you think of Village. The entire game, even the credits sequence, is a callback to RE4.
I finished the game on Sunday, I loved it
I've got to cover 7 on the channel which should be out next Thursday and then I'll have my spoiler review of 8 out the week after. I wanted to give it a few weeks after release so I can talk openly on what works and doesn't for me 👍
"I haven't played this game in over 15 years."... Holy crap, me neither.
Scary isn't it 😳
Don't mind me just binging these reviews lol. Quite a Hot take gonna be many mad fans 😅. It will be okay I like RE4 but it was never to me what it was to my friend. I never beat it but I did enjoy what I have played and seen.
RE4 was only resident evil in title alone. RE4 was the start of the series turning into crap imo..
Its success no doubt turned resident evil down a dark path for a long time 😪
@@SSJdavey it was financially successful and critically acclaimed for sure. I just feel that RE4 raped the soul from the series lure which was true survival horror not action adventure.
@E.Gi-Knight CV is actually the most important to the entire story lure. Real Resident Evil fans know this. The game is highly critically acclaimed and back when it came out was the most critically acclaimed of the entire series. So your opinion of the game is in the minority. Furthermore CV was definitely a true survival horror.
Wesker having powers was explained and actually made sense. Without CV Resident Evil 4 and 5 wouldn't have made any sense.
@E.Gi-Knight Yeah you definitely didn't pay attention to the storylines in the games to make such a ridiculous statement. It was explained how Wesker survived. There is actually a video on it explaining it in detail on TH-cam from other games in the series. It was a story plan outline from the creator of the series which can be read in the Resident Evil outlook novel.
Wesker hated Chris because he ruined Weskers plan to overtake or put Umbrella out of business which ultimately caused him to have to start working for another pharmaceutical company. Everything was literally explained in multiple games starting with CV.
GI Knight In the special giveaway fictional documentary titled Wesker's Report (rewritten in 2003 to include details from Resident Evil 0 and the Resident Evil remake[17]), Wesker reveals that he planned to sell the Tyrant to Umbrella's rival company in the B.O.W. field as a means to buy his way into a high position, and he deployed the elite STARS against it in order to obtain combat data to prove the Tyrant's effectiveness to the company. However, his plan was ruined after the Tyrant was destroyed by his former subordinates, and he survived his apparent death in the first game by injecting himself beforehand with an experimental variant of the T-virus, provided by his former Umbrella colleague William Birkin, that revived and augmented him with superhuman strength, speed and regeneration, but at the expense of his humanity. Wesker returned in Resident Evil - Code: Veronica, augmented with superhuman powers and working as an agent for "H.C.F." (Hive/Host Capture Force), a Special Forces unit of the rival company opposed to Umbrella. He orchestrates a raid on Rockfort Island in order to capture Alexia Ashford, creator of the T-Veronica virus who now holds the only remaining sample of the virus within her body. When Chris Redfield knocks his sunglasses off during a brief struggle, Wesker's orange, almost reptilian eyes are seen for the first time. He confronts both Chris and Alexia and he took the corpse of Steve Burnside in order to extract the T-Veronica virus. In the expanded release, Code: Veronica X, he briefly confronts Chris's younger sister Claire and nearly kills her in order to torment Chris, but is called away by his associates and thus chooses to spare her life.[14][15]
Wesker then appeared alongside William Birkin in Resident Evil Zero, a prequel to the original game where it is revealed that he attended the Umbrella Executive Training School as a prospective executive, and later in Resident Evil 4 as a conspirator manipulating events from behind the scenes, where he would issue orders to Ada Wong. He is also unlockable in "The Mercenaries" scenario. He is also the protagonist of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and a playable character in several of the game's scenarios, expanding upon events alluded to in early games, as well as his involvement in Umbrella's downfall after the events of Code: Veronica and his development in Resident Evil 4. In the end he kills Sergei Vladimir, a loyal Umbrella executive.[14] Wesker also very briefly appears in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, as he at one point is seen by Jack Krauser. He also gave Javier a sample of the virus within Steve Burnside.
A real fan would know this regarding RE story lure.
The Merchant has become one of the most memorable characters from this game.
What're ya buying
@@SSJdavey What're ya sellin'!?
After playing so many RE games I came to the realization that RE Revelations 1 is a better RE 4 than RE 4. I say this because it has the action and the over the shoulder perspective but it also has the claustrophobic contained map that requires back tracking and puzzle solving, and of course it has the horror.
Tbh RE4 is more acclaimed for its impact in video game design than as a RE game. Between 4, 5 and Revelations 1, if we could rewrite time and pick one at random to be RE4 the game would be as huge as the real RE4 is.
Idk why re revelations 1 was one of the worst re games I’ve played none of the enemy’s fit the bosses are easy (on the hardest difficulty) and without having a inventory finding a new weapon I hated cause I’m not driving my burst 3 damage 2 charge 1 and spread 1 shotgun for a ar that shoots 3 bullets at that same time re revelations2 has to be one of my fav re games just don’t like how long it loads
@@xero1152 I mean.. the enemies are the result of the virus mutating fish pretty much. I'm surprised you thought the boss fights were easy, to me they're by far the hardest bosses in the franchise. I never played an RE game that almost demanded that I learned the dodge i-frames to beat a boss. The last boss is gimmicky but also a cool fight.
I had a lot of fun with Revelations 2 but not as much as 1 because it reverted to the linear level design of 4. What I liked about Rev 1 is that (to me) it feels like an oldschool RE game with the over the shoulder style games. Like I said, it's the perfect transition game IMO.
@@xero1152 yeah true. I don’t like the enemy designs. They look pretty boring and uninspiring compare to 4 and 5. The scan mechanic is fun at first, but it gets tedious later on. The bosses were pretty boring too, except for Rachel and the Comms Officer. I mean I love RE Rev 1 but it is not as good as RE4, though I think it’s better than 5. 4 has a great map, enemy designs, gameplay that actually fits the mechanics of the game, and the cheesy dialogues are cherries on top.
I just played RE4 for the first time and I do have to say RER 1 is so much better
Revaltion is still the worst game by any mean... Control is mote tankier bad boss fights monotone pacing etc etc.. But at least it's got endaring story (if you care enough to begin with) the gameplay is bloated to constantly scanning things for every 5 seconds is bonker.
I mostly agree with you. The same part is the only part I found scary. I never thought Regenerators scary, they just are slow. Garradors are just annoying, El gigante is meh, Salvador is cheap and common enemies are not as interesting as zombies, Chaingun guys are what killed the the game. Novistadors are creepy I give it that and their parts are rising tension.
RE4 is a good game and revolutionary thanks to over the shoulder camera but not a good Resident evil game. Once you have no resource limitation, no puzzle and no fear of enemies, it isn't a survival horror game anymore. The weird part is RE4 has less connection with the over all RE story. Only thing make it connect with story is Leon and Ada, if you change them nothing lefts.
Now the parts I disagree with you, I'm not fan of bosses. The only boss I like is U3. They are diverse and colorful but no place in a RE game. Mendes and Verdugo are okay but I can't stand Salazar. He is cringe as hell. Krauser seriously has no place and no development (they ggave him development after he died can you belive it). Saddler just has not enough screen time because of Salazar and Krauser and sadly easy as hell for final boss. For level design, I think village and Castle are good but I can't say last part is good. Military Base is not interesting place compared to labs from older games. That's why the game gets less interesting after Castle.
Ashley is not that bad compared to Sheeva. The game balanced escort parts but some parts still annoying as hell. And one thing really ruined this game is QTEs. I never liked them and it gets worst with every new entry. What saves this game is dynamic difficulty. The better you play, game gets harder. It makes this game somewhat challenging otherwise it is would be easy as hell.
Now the real question does it hold up? For me, No. How people say it is age well suprises me so much. This game has tank controls, people can't understand that? People blames classic style for tank controls but those games are not action heavy games, this is an action game tank controls makes no sense. That's the reason I prefer Revelation titles for action RE games. Even RE6 which I hate so much is superior in that case. Its controls are better than RE4. On graphics part RE5 still looks much better than RE4 and RE6. But what did RE4 right is unlike RE5 and RE6 it didn't overkill. RE4 has better balnce than other two maybe that's the reason many people adores that game.
For me cringy writing and bad controls make this game dated. I look forward for RE4 remake and hope they fix story and writing.
Great comment really enjoyed understanding your pros and cons 👍
I'm playing 5 right now and so far it's just RE4 all over again but with less camp and even more enemies.
Thank god I'm choosing to play it through coop with my Podcast co-host or it would be a shocker (shevas ai is abysmal)
@@SSJdavey I'm looking forward for your RE 5 retrospective. My first experience with RE5's AI partner horror is another level of experience. I'm gonna watch your other RE videos, seeing videos of classic RE fans like me is always entertaining.
@@nemesis3587 fingers crossed it'll be out on Thursday 🤞
@SSJdavey really loved
how RE4 embraced its campiness. RE5 and RE6 were just to melodramatic and considering how silly this series can get, it just did not work 😂
The camp in 4 is excellent, leons one liners are 👏
I feel the same. Re4 is one of the most revolutionary games created. Top 2 of it's console generation, and super fun. I like it a lot. But it is a terrible resident evil game. If it wasn't for 5 it would be the worst at being RE imo. At least 6 had zombies for a while. Also when you review 6 I really hope you don't shit on it. It's a better Re4 imo. I'll leave more about what I mean under that video though lol.
Top 2!? What's #1?
I'm playing 5 right now and you're not wrong, it's the furthest possible thing away from RE. Just finished the chase sequence on the back of the jeep 🤦♂️
@@SSJdavey 😭😭 that part is nuts. And I think GTA San Andreas is slightly more fun to play. And it also has a multiplayer mode which boost it to me as a game. But if someone was to argue me about it, my stance isn't that strong, they're both great games
@@kaidms the PS2 gen was so stacked for great games,
MGS 2&3 are up there for me but I havnt really stopped to think about my favourite over the generation. Chuck a cheeky bit of God of war 2, gta vice city and San andreas in the mix and that's a stacked top 5 🤔 I'd need a good while to figure out where re4 sits
@@SSJdavey ohh I've heard a lot of talk about mgs but never sat down to play the series lol that's probably why my top 2 looks crazy 😂
At the end of the day everyone has different games that resonate with them so I'd never judge 👍
Its well worth playing through them... I might end up covering the series down the line
Its funny. I heard that soooooo many people complained about the RE4. But almost every review or person I talk to talk about how it's an amazing game. No one really seems to "hate" it.
I call it a Resident Evil game. Instead of horror, it specs into tension. Who's behind me? Is Ashley safe? Am I safe? What am I doing next? Where am I going? Certainly not horror though so it takes the L there. Alright puzzles. Good fights. I like it.
I still liked the review. It was competent and made sense. I disagree that it isn't an RE game but that's just my opinion. For me 1-4 are the best of the bunch. 5, 7, 8 are alright. And 6, which I've only started playing, is kinda doo doo. I simply see 4 as them trying something new. And saying it didn't work at all would be a lie. The game was still very fun. But copy and pasting it into RE5, and then turning it up to 10 with RE6 was definitely a shit move. And I can see why people consider 4 the downfall.
For me, RE4 is a RE game. RE4 is fun. I was never bored. I liked the story, and everything just screamed "enjoy." Even in it's more tense segments I never got mad at the game when I died or Ashley died. It was just a very very good game.
4 is certainly entertaining, I can definitely see why people love it so much, and for the time it runs the pacing is excellent.
I really enjoyed reading this comment! Good luck with 6....its a struggle to get through 😅
How could you not mention the single worst thing about this game...
the QuickTime events
They aren't THAT bad especially compared to the other flaws I raised. They get nuts with 5 though if I remember right
@@SSJdavey seemed like this was the game that kinda started the QuickTime trend, every game seemed to have them for a while and they’re always so annoying.
Nice review btw, I really like this game tho, I don’t really mind they ditched the resi elements as at the time it was really fresh. I think now looking back it doesn’t seem so different as so many games copied what it did. I really like how they went back to that style for resi 7.
I played it so much back on ps2, still seems like it plays real nice I might have to get it on switch.
@@thomaswilliams7924 its a great game but... I just can't see it as a resi 🤷♂️
@@SSJdavey wait till you play survivor mate
@@thomaswilliams7924 I was waiting for this 🤣🤣
I’m glad I played it but it feels just a smidge too long
The pacing really worked for me although in saying that, it may have been even better as a tighter experience 🤔
My favourite game imo
Favourite game ever or in the series?
@@SSJdavey ever idk why I just love it
Nothing wrong with that! My favourite is REmake but there's loads of fans who feel the same as yourself 👍👍
Resident Evil 4 is so much different than the rest of the series that I don't know if we can call it a resident evil game.
I’ll like to point out that the money is not pesos, they are call pesetas. After all they are Spaniards not Mexicans.
Its been a long time since the Euro replaced them, I completely forgot!! Thanks for the correction 👍
I think you really brought up some good points about why this isn't a good *Resident Evil* game and why it isn't survival horror. Too many people try to defend it as such, but I have to wonder if those same people even played the classics or any other real survival horror game.
For the longest time I had a love/hate relationship with the game. I got it as a Christmas present not long after its original release on PS2, and I had fun with it at the time but it wasn't what I wanted/expected from Resident Evil. The fond memories of originally playing the game made me not want to hate on the game. But when playing all of the classics and then jumping into this one again, I couldn't help but think of how it changed my favorite franchise into something it wasn't. I blamed this one for taking away classic Resident Evil from me, and I could only see the negative aspects of the game outshining the positives. It always felt like a boring, linear shooter to me where all you really did was go from one room to the next clearing out enemies, rinse and repeat for 13+ hours. It was my least played RE game up to RE6, where I used to frequently go back and play all of the games at least once a year. (Since then life has kept me too busy to really do that anymore.)
I haven't played the game in nearly a decade I think, but it has since warmed up to me. Funny enough, I'd sooner play this and call it Resident Evil than the nonsense called "Village" that they are trying to pass off as Resident Evil. I'd even take another RE game in this style than the games they are trying to push out now with the "Resident Evil" title.
As for the game itself, my favorite part of the game was always Ashley. Playing as her was the best section of the game because it always felt closest to the classic games. It definitely annoyed me though when I found out the the US release removed the fixed cameras from her section! That would've been so much better!
Also...I just really love Carolyn Lawrence so I enjoy listening to her voice as Ashley. :)
So even though I still think it's an overrated game and overstays its welcome by becoming repetitive and old towards the end, time has definitely warmed me up to it and I can appreciate the things it does right and the more fun aspects of the gameplay.
Loved reading this comment and learning about your experience with it
We feel very differently about 7 and village by the seems of it though, what is it about 7/village which turns you off?
That will be pesetas, not pesos.
Yeah my bad 🤦♂️
Who buys Rocket Launchers? Lol I only ever pickup the free one in the castle and always use it on Verdugo and that's it not once have I ever purchased the RPG in my life. Waste of pts and Inventory space
That free one is lovely 😍
For me RE4 loses its way after the village. The bosses were awful too, I just buy a rocket to skip them where possible
Re 4, 5, 6, 8 etc etc..
By This video logic imply..
50% of Re Games, isn't a RE Games. good stuff
RE4 has the best pacing in the series (arguably one of the best in game in general)
As far as "Definitive" Resident Evil Experience goes.. REmake take the cake! Hats off to Shinji Mikami-san really knows what he freaking doing when developing re games.
I'd say 8 is, it has puzzles and a sense of atmosphere which the others in that list lack, that's just my take though 🤷♂️
honestly i ma not an old RE fan my first RE game was 6, but you are right. it is a great game but isn't Resident Evil.
Have you gone back and played the rest after 6? How was that experience? I bet it was weird seeing the series be so different
@@SSJdavey i have played several of the old RE games, but not all mostly because i hate the fixed camera angles of the old ones.
I can imagine it's quite hard to go back to that style if starting from 6, for me that style is perfection 🔥
@@SSJdavey it is very difficult and agravating, but imma try to complete the old games (or at the lease the 1 and 0 remakes and code veronica because i already bought them)
@@yourmomgaaay1834 REMAKE is my favourite in the series. Just remember to read the files and you'll be fine... also pick your targets
people still play this, wow i got my wii working again so i guess i'll play this
The wii version is probably my favourite port of re4, so fun with the motion control
Top tip! Download this video to your pc and play it back on VLC player at x2 speed. All the information. Easily understandable. In half the time. 👍
Re 6 silently watching lol
🤣🤣
Re 4 is overrated.
RE4 is the best game in the series, but RE4 isn't the best Resident Evil game if that makes sense. Let's say the game wasn't called Resident Evil, Leon was replaced by another MC and the story was reworded a bit to remove references to previous RE games, then you would have no idea it's a RE game.
But to be honest, as someone that identifies as a "pussy" when it comes to horror games, RE4 is my personal favorite, it still has scary moments, but it's not too scary. The gunplay and graphics hold up really well, the environments are very atmospheric and varied...etc.
Sure there are some sections were there is TOO much action, but there also are some sections were the game makes up for by being solely horror like the Freezer room or when you control Ashley, that being said I'd still say there's more action than horror in the mix (60-40), but the game is still GOATed.
@Emo Gamer R 18 Tbf true, Resident Evil games shouldn't be first person, they are third person games.
@Emo Gamer R 18 RE7 as a game isn't bad, but it feels like it was made as a trend of all the first person horror games that came out around that time like Outlast.
Capcom sees that RE2Make and other 3rd person RE games make bank, but they chose to ignore that for some reason when making the newest games, maybe because RE7 also sold pretty well. Then again RE7 is better than Village, which feels like a bad attempt at recreating RE4 in first person with it's mix of action prevailing over the horror element.
But then again, game companies can be surprisingly stupid and greedy so no wonder, Capcom was playing dumb for the whole PS3 generation of consoles for them to become somewhat good in the PS4 generation and I guess they're back to dumb for PS5.
@Emo Gamer R 18 I can understand your frustrations, but I meant more like if RE7 wasn't a RE game, then it would be a great game.
@Emo Gamer R 18 alrighty then.
Outbreak is the best re game to date
The best RE Game RE5 and 6 are Garbage
4 is better than 5 and 6 no doubt...but its certainly not my favourite entry 🤷♂️
You're confused about how they got his number? They jacked the line to contact him. I guess u haven't played the game for so long to remember everything...
Ps: Shinji himself said if RE followed the same formula like the classic ones, it wouldn't have been a success. Cause ppl and fans we're getting tired of the same gaming style over and over. Also if u shoot the regenerators in the legs they'll start scrolling on the ground and jumping towards you for a bite.
I hope you'll get more accurate info for ur reviews next time.
Even if they attack afterwards you still have ample time to run right past regenerators after a rifle shot to the leg reducing their impact. Nothing incorrect on that
The how they got his number joke was just a bad joke 😅
It just cracked me up that a CIA secure line could be taken over by literally everyone that wants to 😂
@EGR18 that's true, tbh most games with a radio it gets taken over at some point 😅
@EGR18 the arkham games are incredible, one day I'll do that series just so I can have an excuse to play them again!
My mind always goes to bioshock, everyone seems to be able to get you on the radio in those games without any effort or explanation 🤔
Its got to be Arkham city for me, gliding around and landing In front of a load of goons before wrecking them never gets old
Good points its been ages since I platinumed the games - need to find time to replay them
*pesetas
Yeah that was my bad 🤦♂️
Does It even deserve to be called a Resident Evil? No ;)
Hahahaha so funny but no
@@Cyberfan2167 Yeah it doesn't needs to be called Resident Evil.
@@White927 it still is a great game either way
@@Cyberfan2167 I didn't said it's a bad game.
@@Cyberfan2167 It doesn't needs to be called Resident Evil.
It IS resident evil now.
I can see that when it comes to the gameplay of village but at least village has puzzles and genuine scares which I can't say the same for 4
@@SSJdavey ur kidding me right? RE:Village has the easiest puzzles in the entire series. Nothing thoughtful about them. Village took everything wrong about RE4 and used it to copy it since RE4 was a huge success and was well received. Village was only hyped for Lady D That's it. and the castle section was so short with no real exploration. Village IS NOT SCARY. the only creepy/scary part the baby and that's it. Every boss is genetic and boring tbh.... it's a decent game but tried to copy RE4 so bad for the fans to like it. Hell it even has a merchant who mentioned the merchant from RE4 !! Like damn.
I get your view point I really do, personally though I love the puzzles in village even if they are straight forwards because at least they included them and tied them into exploration, the house benevento section is such a stand out for me its pure fear 😨
It borrows a lot from RE4 as you've rightly stated, it mixes that with 7 and some of the older series to give it its own identity (imo of course no right answer on this)
Saying its not resident evil because you don't have to worry about ammo is ridiculous. If you played your game right in any other RE games you would have the same outcome. RE 2 original, was one of the easiest and its very much a real RE game 🙄🙄
Its not just the ammo, it's having all your weapons available at all times, being rewarded for killing enemies, the lack of puzzles and overall lack of dread. Its a mixture of things. I'm not denying its a great game because it is, I'm just saying to me it moves so far away from what resident evil is its not even resident evil anymore
Just my take anyway 🤷♂️
Old Resident Evils are outdated and terrible. They were never scary. The only thing scary was how bad they were. Puzzles don't belong in games. They are just a waste of time that takes away from the actual game, and once you've done them the first time and already know how to do them, they just become a complete time waster in every regard. The old camera angles are outdated and terrible. Hell you can't even aim. The combat is so braindead that you can point in the general direction of enemies and hit them even if you're aiming at a wall. Zombies that move 2 miles per hour in 1996 graphics from a far away camera angle is not scary. No Resident Evil should even have the title of horror in them until 7. Not to mention all the old Resident Evils were literally just soulless copy and paste of their predecessors with the exact same gameplay but in a new campaign. Almost nothing was different. 4, 5, 6, and the Revelations games all had the same core gameplay, but had their own flare and style as opposed to being copy paste games of 4. Voice acting was awful in the old games as well to the point you needed to mute the game as well. How could you find a game scary with some of the cringiest voice acting ever? It's clear RE4 was the best thing that happened to RE because it realizes that the franchise was never scary and embraces good gameplay and combat over requiring you to run away from most of the enemies you fight and spin in circles around the map to solve puzzles. The old REs were some of the worst video games I've ever played.
Yes RE4 isn't the old Resident Evil franchise... It made Resident Evil not terrible and evolved it into something great. Hell 6 had objectively some of the best combat in TPS games in general. It only suffered from too many QTE's and too much minigame style things shoved into the campaign. But it was overall alright and its Mercenaries was some top tier Resident Evil. Overall the RE4 era/style of Resident Evil is the best so far. 7's is alright and I look forward to 8, but I don't see it coming anywhere near 4's era. 1996 era was the worst objectively, even if one personally likes it.
Thank you for sharing your opinion, it's good to hear the other side.
I completely disagree with you I find 1 fear inducing now solely because it creates a sense of doubt whereas 4,5&6 lost that giving you ammunition and essentially 0 choice. But it's each to their own and I encourage everyone to speak their mind so we can all have an open discourse. We're all fans at the end of the day 🙌
Only thing I'll push back on is where you say puzzles don't belong in games because once you solved them they aren't a challenge on subsequent playthroughs. You can say the same thing for boss or enemy encounters, when you know the attack pattern or the gimmick it isn't a challenge anymore, but the fun is in learning that yourself. Puzzles work exactly the same as bosses and when implemented well it elevates an experience. Or it does for me anyway
@@SSJdavey Well personally I am against bosses that are extremely memory based like "IT" near the end of Resident Evil 4. I think bosses are best left as beefed up enemies that require you to out skill and think it compared to killing it with a gimmick or memorizing some specific thing to do to kill it. But at least bosses are much shorter and more engaging as opposed to puzzles.
But yeah, I'm glad there's a fan who can have a civil disagreement. Most fans of the old REs I see are extremely hostile elitist who don't listen to anything you say and just act pretentious and insult anyone who disagrees. So good on you for being chill about things.
Also I agree with your point on the RPGs. They should be way more expensive.
The old Resident Evil games are comedy to me. Especially RE3 and all the funny moaning noises the zombies make. lol the zombies sound like old grandpas having a heart attack and it's hard to take them seriousoly now. They did not age very well lol
Arnold whooooo???😮
Couldn't be more wrong but well made and informative! I look forward to your Knife only professional run
You'll sooner see me lick glass than do that. Hell I might not even make it past 5&6 before I just end it all
I know it’s been a while but Dante ravioli is a you tuber and he makes tones of resident evil challenges including the knife only for almost all resident evil games
@@idontknowjrt153 I love watching his content, he's real entertaining