Resident Evil 4 offers the most fledged out and longest experience yet (Out of the remakes.) It is a massive improvement in nearly every area. The graphics make a slight jump and the UI, map size and gameplay mechanics receive a nice polish on top of other major improvements.

RE4R plays out much more like a spy movie in a sense. Being sent to save the presidents daughter is quite a daunting task, but to do it alone? A whole other level. Leon now being a weathered vet of the Raccoon City incident is back in the action and his main character syndrome is now much more pronounced with his even cheesier one liners and enhanced combat.

This is a big jump in terms of combat from the other remakes. With the leap from 3 to 4 being much larger than the leap from 2 to 3. There is now a parry system for certain attacks and the guns feel better than RE3R. The case function is a fantastic addition that I thought was really neat and it only got better the longer I got through the story. Adding the charms to the cases and the shooting range was a really neat side task that gave me some reprieve in between chapters.

The writing was fantastic as well. When I said it was playing out like a spy movie, I meant it. The dialogue, the comms communications with Roost and Ada/others, the chase of common interests between multitudes of characters and the "race against the clock" kind of feeling was well induced because the game makes you CARE about the characters.

Speaking of the characters, I found that this game had the strongest cast of characters so far. Mainly because it was able to introduce and expand upon some of these characters stories and motivations throughout the length of the entire game, allowing for them to complete arcs and development. Ashley was adorable and truly grew by the end of the game. Luis was fantastic and had his own little arc throughout the story. From a character that I thought would be killed off early to managing to make it through 2/3's of the game was quite a neat switch up. Roost was present and I wish we got a bit more of involvement with her, however it would've been quite hard to implement into the storyline.

Just like in RE3R compared to RE2R there is definitely much more action than horror in this game. Which in Resident 3's remake I thought was a net negative as the rest of that game felt unsure in what it wanted to be. However for RE4R, I find that the more action based storytelling and gameplay is well intertwined with more tense and suspenseful moments (And the fact that the game is significantly longer than 3's remake helps) such as playing as Ashley in the library and having to go weaponless for a period of time in order to reunite with Leon. Making your past all of the dead down in the pit full of spikes and turning back on the power. Powering up the doors and leveling up the keycards while dealing with the Regeneradors. Moments like that brought me back to the feelings I got when I was first playing RE2R for the first time. (Something that RE3R missed entirely because I thought Jill and Carlos were both combat-wise very capable and didn't offer too much of a changeup in gameplay when we swapped as them.)

There is a lot to explore and scavenge around and unlike in RE3R, I felt like I could genuinely explore and take in the breathtaking setting that the game finds itself in. All of the different settings this game covers is quite impressive, from the decrepit villages that are amuck with ruin, the vastness of the castles with tight corners and grand decor, to the mines - the game has plenty of backdrops and environments that all offer a different feel to the experience. It truly makes it feel like a journey throughout the whole ordeal. Nothing gets too stale or overdone and while some of the sections feel quite over the top - The mine section on the rail cart with Luis! Which also, was quite a loss for the ladies of the world. everything feels quite in line for Resident Evil :)

Something that I noticed gameplay wise was that I wasn't in dire need of ammo as often as the other games. Mainly because of the new melee system allowing me to manage to save a bit more ammo than normal. It helped that the game had plenty of resources and the merchant to aid in ammo acquisition. At times it felt like I almost had too much ammo, but it would be depleted quickly and didn't feel too unbalanced.

The length of the game was something that I was not expecting. It was a welcome change from the 6-10 hour campaigns that the 2 and 3 remakes offered. However there was times where it sort of felt a bit drawn out, particularly towards the end of the game. Thankfully the game is entertaining enough and it wrapped up a few of the loose ends to help tie the ending of the game together well. The main story once completed offers more ways to enjoy the game than just replaying the story. The mercenaries mode and Separate Ways modes/stories are also awaiting once finished, which is really neat and will definitely have me coming back to play again.

As with my previous reviews for the modern RE remakes, I wholeheartedly recommend this game to the casual/newcomer and hardcore RE fans. It offers an experience that, so far, is not rivaled by the other RE games that I have played. It knows what it is and plays into it wholly and for that I think it is vying for my favorite RE experience so far. It definitely feels like the developers were able to take their time with this remake and were able to mostly keep it faithful to the original while still making improvements that elevated the game.

Time for a little RE hiatus :)

re4 is genuinely one of my favourite resident evil games out there. i absolutely love how it balances horror and action so perfectly. one minute i’m carefully trying to save every bullet i have and the next leon is doing completely unnecessary backflips, roundhouse kicking ganados and somehow making it all look cool xD leon is easily one of my favourite resident evil characters and i absolutely loved seeing him again. ashley honestly surprised me too. i rlly liked seeing how much she grew throughout the game and became more confident as the story went on…even if i had “LEEOONNNN!!!! HELPPPP!!” stuck in my head the entire time T_T luis was such a fun character and every scene with ada is always entertaining. i also have to mention the merchant bc i genuinely think he’s one of the best characters in the game. every time i heard “what’re ya buyin?” i was immediately happy xD i absolutely loved upgrading my weapons, earning pesetas and spending way too long organising my attache case until everything fit perfectly. don’t even get me started on the shooting range either…i may or may not have spent an unhealthy amount of time there trying to get more charms for my attache case T_T i also ended up having way more fun achievement hunting than i expected. professional difficulty definitely made me question my life choices a few times…but cat ears leon made all the suffering worth it >:3 the graphics are gorgeous too, the puzzles were rlly fun and i never felt like the game dragged on or got boring. also…where’s everyone going? bingo? honestly those spanish residents were kinda evil lmao. overall re4 is genuinely one of those games i know i’ll keep coming back to. it’s just an absolute blast from beginning to end. 10/10<3

Without a doubt the best game remake of all time.

Combat is great, fun, and arguably the best part, with so many loadout options and enemy variety, it never got dull or repetitive for me.

Story was definitely more of an upgrade rather than downgrade to the original, although the change of certain lines to fit the modern audience is unwelcomed.

In traditional RE fashion, the game has high replayability, allowing you to play the game numberous times without getting bored, and a lot of challenges and rewards to incentivize the player to keep playing, which definitely worked on me.

Most definitely worth it, if you somehow still haven't bought it, now's the best time to do so, you can get it for less than 20€, including the separate ways DLC.

Overall a 9/10, a point down for dialogue changes, but otherwise a flawless masterpiece.