resident evil 4 (2023)
not a few months ago I played dead space remake and was like - I had fun, but did I need this? does the industry need this? probably not! probably I'm part of the problem, in that I'm being catered to, and am able and willing to pay full price for the luxury of being catered to
now here I am again, playing not only another remake, but another third person horror action title! that I bought for full price! and loved every moment of! I have a lot less remorse after playing this one, and I think I chalk a lot of that up to the fact that re4 is still really and truly best in class.
the remake does a lot to punch up what was already a really incredible game - smart encounters, smart level design, and smart pacing make this a thrill to play. re4 does an incredible job of going "here's the level. here's where you need to go. here's why that will be difficult" at the outset of each major location.
there's just enough tension and release, just enough Big Single Target and Mobs of Horrid Villagers. every place that you go to feels like a logical part of the story, and everyone that's there feels like they're part of the same madcap production. it is an extremely "video game" video game, both in the complimentary way that it rewards player knowledge and experimentation, and in how it's fundamentally a weird guns-and-gore fest.
highlights:
- ashley is a fantastic npc companion, and she manages not to be sexualized at all??
- luis is genuinely fun. the parts of the game that have him added in are way better for it
- some really great Big Creatures in here
- the gem-and-jewelry sale stuff made for some great push-your-luck shopping decisions
stuff I didn't love:
- I will never do a sidequest that asks me to exterminate normal non-monstrous rats
- if they were fiddling with story stuff already, introducing krauser a little earlier and having him menace leon more as the game went on would've been a good idea
- I wound up in a couple of spots where ammo scarcity meant there was no way to complete the scenario beyond backtracking to some spot where I'd missed an ammo box 15 minutes ago. being able to buy small amounts of ammo from the merchant each chapter - even just handgun bullets, and maybe for a big markup - would've really alleviated this
- no one says "resident evil" when you hit "start game" on the title screen