After the release of The Callisto Protocol, survival horror fans have set their sights on the upcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake on the horizon. From the looks of recent trailers and gameplay footage, many fans have formed expectations that suggest the remake will follow a similar format to its original, in the sense of its gameplay and story sequences.
Whilst there are certain factors and aspects of the original that must be maintained, there are also some things many fans may not want to see in this remake, considering its tonal change and a second chance at providing an experience close enough to the unreleased beta version of the original.
5 Too Much Action
Given the clear shift in terms of the tone to fit more of a horror-focused one, and the fanbase not particularly preferring an overload of action in the franchise with the poor reception of Resident Evil 6, this would be one of the biggest mistakes Capcom would make. Despite the original's massive success and its position of being beloved among almost all Resident Evil fans, some felt as though it was the reason why Resident Evil 5 and 6 went down the action route.
Fans will know that Resident Evil 4 for the most part is action-oriented whilst blended in with terrifying and overwhelming enemy encounters, apart from the game's final segment on the Island which removes any aspect of horror completely. Capcom must focus on horror in the remake while managing to balance this out with action, but avoid the action segments becoming a prominent and overarching theme throughout the game.
4 Too Many Quick-Time Events
The original title was filled with a plethora of quick-time events both in the midst of gameplay sequences and cutscenes. This is more notable for many fans when crossing paths with Leon Kennedy's former partner Krauser, and stands as a classic memorable scene many players continue to revisit. While this is one occurrence of quick-time events which actually work positively, there are many quick-time events that are more unnecessary often taking players by surprise.
With the Resident Evil 4 Remake's producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi confirming that there will be hardly any quick-time events this time around, this will benefit the title to a great extent and allow more of a focus on providing suspenseful sequences whilst players are still in control of Leon. Considering the suggestion that there will still be quick-time events, fans will have to wait and see just how many there may actually be.
3 Obvious Jumpscares
A large majority of horror games that did not live up to their expectations or failed from the standpoint of critics often contained predictable jumpscares or incorrectly placed jumpscares with a lack of tension built up. While Resident Evil 4 does not particularly focus on jumpscares, there are multiple sections within the game in which this tool is used well. Many will recall the Island section which contained a Ganado jumping out of a burning oven and latching onto players which served as a fantastic unexpected jumpscare.
Despite this, some Resident Evil titles fail to use this appropriately and are more often predictable than not. Normally after collecting a key item and backtracking, it can be easy to prepare for a jumpscare. Resident Evil 7 however, executed this perfectly, with sections such as Ethan being hunted down by Jack Baker. With the numerous amount of enemies and bosses the Resident Evil 4 Remake will include, Capcom must avoid the misuse of jumpscares, and utilize the creepy and lonely environment they have created to their advantage.
2 Typical Boss Fights
Resident Evil Village's main story contained multiple boss battles throughout its runtime, with some of the more prominent and popular villains such as Lady Dimitrescu bowing out early on. While these encounters were not awful, they were not particularly unique or innovative as most contained a lack of suspense or an increased level of difficulty. Its DLC Shadows Of Rose expanded on previous boss battles, and added a new and fresh take, allowing players to use Rose's powers to their full extent in a final showdown.
The original Resident Evil 4 also contained boss battles which had their own decent level of difficulty, more notably in players' encounters with Krauser and U-3. The remake must double down on this and further improve boss battles to provide a new and unique feel, rather than an exact copy of what many have already experienced.
1 Overload Of Ammunition
Many survival horrors such as Outlast, often involve the entire runtime of the game leaving players defenseless with no weapons or tools to fend off enemies. Given the fact that the Resident Evil franchise is completely different from those titles with players being able to sufficiently defend themselves, there are still some things Capcom would need to consider.
The original title certainly did have consequences for players not utilizing ammo wisely but was also very forgiving in providing ammo more often after defeating foes. In order to fully capture the definition of survival horror, Capcom must ensure that players are met with much more punishing consequences when not conserving ammo more akin to The Last Of Us on its grounded difficulty.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is set to release on 24th March 2023 on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.