Summary
Resident Evil 4 Remakewas widely considered a fantastic retelling of the original game that many hold up as the best in the series. It removed a little bit of the original game’s silliness, but was a faithful remake that even improved certain elements. It was so good thateven Resident Evil 4 creator Shinji Mikami gave it his seal of approval back in 2023, tweeting a picture of the game’s closing cutscene and claiming that he “enjoyed it very much”.
A year on from that tweet, Shinji Mikami hasnow been interviewed by IGN(along with Grasshopper’s Suda51) aboutthe release of Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, and was asked what the most important elements of a good remake actually are. Mikami explains that he believes a “comprehensive and fundamental understanding of what it was that made the original work” is the most important part of remaking a game, and even points to the Resident Evil series as an example.
Resident Evil 4 Creator Says Remake Improved The Original’s “Half-A**ed” Story
He then goes into exactly what he thought the Resident Evil 4 Remake did much better than the original that he worked on, explaining that he thought “it was really well-made”, and was particularly impressed with the game’s improved combat, as well as the smaller details such as the timing between aiming and shooting. He also thinks that Resident Evil 4 Remake improved a lot on the “half-a**ed scenario that I just wrote up in two weeks”.
“Another thing I thought was really well done was the way they took the half-a**ed scenario that I just wrote up in two weeks and really built up on that and really fleshed it out,” says Mikami. “They showed that they really understood the characters and their interactions. They showed a good understanding of the backbone of each character. And they took not just the scenario itself, but even the dialogue, and they improved all that stuff so that was really great.”
That’s quite harsh towards a game that many believe is one of the best in the series, though I guess it’s true when they say you’re your own biggest critic. Hopefully, the next mainline Resident Evil’s story i cobbled together in a couple of weeks, though that seems unlikely given how long we’ve been waiting for it. Last we heard,Resident Evil 9 is being helmed by Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi, so fingers crossed it’s just as well-received.
Resident Evil 4
WHERE TO PLAY
A ground-up remake of the Capcom classic, Resident Evil 4 sees Leon Kennedy attempt to rescue the President’s daughter from a dangerous cult. It offers different control schemes, an expanded story, and modernized graphics.
