Board 8 > Anagram ranks and discusses the Resident Evil series with too-long writeups

(+) Yeah! (+)

Resident Evil 4
https://i.imgur.com/g8Yw2Bi.jpg
Leeeeeeoooooooooooooon! Ashley Graham

It is said that when God created the universe, he asked each Resident Evil game if it wanted to be a horror, action, exploration, QTE set piece, serious, schlocky, spy, military, conspiracy, political commentary, apolitical, Devil May Cry, Tetris, B-movie, anime, funny-bad, funny-good, well-translated, poorly-translated, midget-bashing, redneck zombie cannibal, medieval knight, Napoleonic warfare, advanced sci-fi, Umbrella lore-light, Umbrella lore-heavy, or tactical gun customization game. While all of the other REs deliberated, RE4 slammed its fists onto the table, frothed at the mouth, and screamed only one word: Yes!

Resident Evil 4 is all things to all people. Its not just the ultimate video game, it also cured my cancer and brought peace to the Middle-East. When the sun consumes Earth seven-billion years from now, humanity will use the last of its power to launch a copy of RE4 into space. Aliens will find it, play it, and sing an eternal celestial dirge in our honor, for they will know that we had lived as gods.

The best REs all have something in common: a creative vision. At every step of the way, the RE7 team knew they were making a game about wacky rednecks and creepy little girls. At every step of the way, the RE2R team knew they were making a serious game set in a wacky police station, and that the villains would be really pathetic scientists. And at every step of the way, the RE4 team knew they were making a game about everything. You play something like RE6, and it just drags on and on because so much of it is just the routine that has to be there. Want to know something about RE4? The entire castle section could be cut, and youd lose almost nothing. That castle is like 40% of the game, but the only important story things that happen are the introduction of Ada and the death of Luis. But because the developers knew they were making a wacky castle with monks chanting MORIR ES VIVIR, they had such a strong creative vision that the game never seems to drag.

When I say a game about everything, what I mean is that RE4s greatest strength isnt the combat or the story. Its that it is throwing weird new things at you, nonstop, and you never question any of it. The progression of Leon investigates a house to Cult leader pops a glowing eyeball out of his mouth on a military base thats also a secret monster laboratory never at any point feels unnatural. In the span of about two hours, youll fight through a castle against medieval priests, sneak through a dungeon chased by a butler, travel through the excavation of an ancient tomb, battle chainsaw-wielding mutants in an Indiana Jones minecart ride, get chased by a giant mechanical statue of a midget, ascend a tower guarded by Donkey Kong barrels, and kill Napoleon Bonaparte.

So, Hideki Kamiya (who made RE2) said We made five games about zombies, were zombied out at this point, lets make RE4 where Leon has a sword and does stylish action moves. And Capcom said Thats too not-Resident Evil-y. Heres the money to make Devil May Cry, well just make a new RE4. Then they made an entire prototype game where Leon wanders a spooky 19th century mansion owned by the founder of Umbrella, and chucked it for being too boring. Then they made a prototype game where Leon wanders around a castle while infected by a hallucination virus, and chucked it because the GameCube couldnt handle the effects. Then they made a prototype game where Leon fights more zombies, and they chucked it for being too formulaic.

Then someone said, actually, lets do the stylish action moves anyway, but its not zombies, its weird guys. You know the weirdest and lamest legacy of RE4? Its that this game decided not to use zombies because it wanted to use cannibal Spanish rednecks, so every subsequent game uses not!zombies, who always behave exactly like zombies and arent screaming UN FORESTERO at you. Like, RE4 has a very clear reason for not using zombies it allows the enemies to use weapons, operate catapults, be part of a wacky religious cult, etc. The not!zombies in later games either behave exactly like zombies, or behave exactly like zombies but can use assault rifles.

Everyone knows that this is where the series goes balls-to-the-wall action, which is fine. But it still manages to be a creepy horror title. During the village, theres always a creepy oppressive atmosphere. During the island, the regenerator sections are still a bit spooky. Like, the game never manages to be genuinely scary like RE1R or anything, but theres still always a recognizable cord of unsettling horror running through it. Even though the first thing that happens in the game is the famous village fight, which is designed to tell players This isnt your grandpas Resident Evil, were action now, the game is still full of scary moments.

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And this is where I have to make a possibly controversial statement: in terms of Game Quality:Ruining Video Games, RE4 is unmatched. Its a top 5 game of all time, but every lesson developers learned from it was wrong. RE4 did more damage to video games than any other game of its decade, and its hard to admit that because the game itself is just so ****ing good. I would be really curious to see a modern fourteen-year-old with no experience with RE play this game today. Would he be frustrated by the partial tank controls? Would he not get the humor? Would he find basically the entire game to be horribly, horribly midgetist?

I should mention the characters, too. Leon is just Dante from DMC1. Theres just straight-up no difference between them, even down to the hair. This also heralds a major difference in how the series feels. The games up to this point have humor, but its derived from funny-bad things, things that dont quite work. Awkward voice acting, dialogue that doesnt quite make sense, that sort of thing. RE4 leans hard into self-aware jokes and dialogue focused on Leon being just too cool. Leon feels a genuine emotion once in the entire game, when hes fighting Krauser, and otherwise takes nothing seriously. Ada is back, and her femme fatale shenanigans with Leon are still more interesting and fun than most interactions between characters in other games. Ashley really nails that attractive, but still kind of weird-looking teenager aesthetic I know they were going for, and she has all of the perfect like mannerisms to make her endearing (I know some people disagree, which is fine). Her purpose in the game is to give the story a little humanity and Leon a more tangible goal to save someone, which she does well. Of our villains, Salazar is definitely the most memorable. Saddler might be a weak link given his importance to the game, since his only real personality trait is that hes basically polite (even at the end of the game when you foil him, he just kind of chuckles and is like haha, guess I have to kill you now), but hes still serviceable.

I guess this is where Im going to have to be a huge hypocrite and praise RE4 for things I blasted the other games for. Does it have a huge epic plot about a guy trying to take over the world? Yep. Does it have a partner system? Yep. Is it about a crazy globetrotting adventure where youre part of a large organization? Yep. Does it have stupid anime crap? Yep. But heres the thing: RE4 is built in such a way as to deemphasize all of that while simultaneously shoving it in your face. If that doesnt make sense, then let me explain.

Im going to give an example, and maybe you never even noticed this while playing. Remember Krauser, Leons friend who turns evil? Krauser is this Rambo-type of military guy whos like Been a long time, comrade, and HUMANITY MUST EVOLVE TO BE STRONGER. Hes never mentioned until youre 90% of the way through the game, then the game becomes solely about finding and fighting him, and then when he dies, no one ever mentions him again. Krauser clashes so heavily with the rest of the game that his presence is complete nonsense. Like, youre playing this slow-paced game about an evil cult, and then the genre just completely shifts to revolve around insane military shenanigans that came out of nowhere, and the second Krauser is dead, theyre never brought up again. Krauser talks to Leon like they have history in the military together, where Krauser was like driven mad by the things he saw and Leon is still haunted, but Leon was only ever a cop, so how does he know this Rambo guy (I know a later game explained this, thats stupid, it should have remained unstated)? Krauser himself is useless to the story; he does nothing of importance. So the game is shoving your face in the (perfect) abs of a man whose motives, backstory, and place in the game make absolutely zero sense, and I bet it never even occurred to anyone reading this paragraph, or to 99% of the players of the game, that everything about Krauser makes no sense, because the presentation is just so top notch. Like here, did you notice how Leon constantly cracks wise with every character in the game, constantly belittling them and acting unimpressed, except for Krauser, where hes always either absolutely serious or wistfully thinking back to the good old days? The game can completely change everything about itself for two hours without any warning, then just ignore what happened, and it feels completely natural.

And all of that, that two-and-a-half pages I just wrote in a Word document? Thats just about the tone of the game. I havent even gotten to the gameplay. How do make slow-paced action fun? They did it. How do you make inventory management fun? They did it. The makers of this game knew exactly what every single element in the game was for. They bring over things from previous games, but they always make sure those old elements still have a purpose. The tank controls arent just a remnant of earlier games; theyre what the entire game is balanced around. Leon being unable to move while shooting (or reloading) as he attacked by ten guys at once means every single decision you make is significant. You have to constantly weigh the value of shooting that one guy in the head against the chance of getting smacked by a flail. You have to weigh whether or not you want to retreat to a more defensible position and risk getting shot by a crossbow on your way there, or to shoot a guy in the knee and suplex him to take advantage of invincibility frames. Every single thing in the game is considered and planned by the devs.

The guns, yes. People still argue about Red9 vs Blacktail, Bolt-Action vs Semi-Auto, the practical value of the TMP and Mine Thrower, and whether the fully upgraded Handgun is a good idea. And the inventory! Whose idea was it to turn the inventory system into a Tetris simulator? Let me kiss that man. He is the greatest genius to ever grace inventory systems. RE4 is the only game I know of where people post their attach cases on 4chan to rate each others cleanliness. The game even knows to include just the right number of silly items, like eggs and a fish the size of a rocket launcher.

Ive seen people complain about Ashley in this game, calling this Escort Quest: the Game, but shes really only a problem in the crank room. Its amazing how a game from 2005 still has the best escort AI in game history. Ashley always stands behind you so you wont shoot her, she always travels right behind you at your speed, and if you aim the gun at her, she ducks. Like, its that simple to make a good escort quest, but everyone fails at it except RE4.

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Ah, hell, lets just list cool things in the game.

• Umbrella is defeated by the government just freezing their assets, causing their stock prices to plummet, and thats the epic conclusion to their plot.
• The laser hallway is the only good reference to the Resident Evil movies ever.
• Ashley doesnt drop down ladders like all other playable characters; she only climbs down them because shes not an action hero.
• You can walk onto the balcony and sit in the chair where Salazar and Saddler give speeches.
• Ashley pumps her fist when you kill a normal enemy.
• The section where you destroy a boulder with dynamite can be skipped if you use a rocket launcher on it.
• They actually made a unique final boss for Adas section, even if Saddlers human form is kind of lame to fight, its still impressive that they even bothered.
• The regenerators are just a cool idea.
• Saddler keeps making references to Americans, complaining about their movies, and then turns into a monster at the end of an American movie.
• Theres just a straight-up Loony Toons trapdoor.
• Saddler has three different death animations depending on if you defeat him with Adas rocket launcher, a normal rocket launcher, or just shoot him a lot.
• You never find out what the deal is with that bag in the dumpster in the prison.

I mean, I should be completely fair and list some bad things in the game. I hate the adaptive difficulty; I would have much preferred a standard Easy/Normal/Hard mode. The game is very weak when it comes to unlockable costumes; Leon and Ashley only have two each, all of which are basically just random stuff except for Leons RE2 uniform. The QTEs are awful, of course. Theres one where you have to mash X after the minecart ride, and if you fail, you have to spend another five minutes redoing the entire ride. And a lot of the weapons are of dubious value. I dont really know if the developers realized that by the time you get the fully-upgraded Broken Butterfly, the only thing left that you can use it on is the final boss. I dont know if this technically counts as an RE4 flaw specifically, but the achievements on Steam are really pathetic. There are only twelve, and theyre all the most basic finish chapter 3-type stuff possible. Its very strange, because the other ported REs all have long lists of achievements, but the most popular one has the most cursory list possible? Very odd, I dont know whats the motive here.

I dont really know how to close out this write-up about Resident Evil 4, which is a problem, since its the last write-up in the topic. I guess I could just quote things randomly from the game.

Saddler, youre small-time.

Meeeeeestaaaaaaah Kennedeeeeeeee

DETRAS DE TI, IMBECILE

Youre right hand comes off?

Morir es vivir Morir es vivir

Hey, its that dog.

MIIIIIIIIIIIKE

How about we do some overtime?

UN FORASTERO

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RE4 walked so RE5 could run tbqh

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I never get tired of replaying this game. The game is just so chock full of tiny details and things you would never think of adding but the devs did it anyway. The gameplay is so just versatile, the amount of different runs you can do is insane, and each one is as new & exciting as the last. I'm really glad you touched on the horror elements too, as RE4 definitely has some of my favorite little horror moments in the entire series.

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Anagram posted...

The not!zombies in later games either behave exactly like zombies, or behave exactly like zombies but can use assault rifles.

Resident Evil 6 using "normal" zombies that can shoot guns while still using Ganados 3.0 is the weirdest thing.

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Like me, you're an American.

Leon: Yes??

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FFDragon posted...

RE4 walked so RE5 could run tbqh

Not sure I like implying that RE5 is better!

Snake5555555555 posted...

I never get tired of replaying this game. The game is just so chock full of tiny details and things you would never think of adding but the devs did it anyway. The gameplay is so just versatile, the amount of different runs you can do is insane, and each one is as new & exciting as the last. I'm really glad you touched on the horror elements too, as RE4 definitely has some of my favorite little horror moments in the entire series.

Yes, this game has so many minor details that give everything life. Only RE1R compares.

pjbasis posted...

Resident Evil 6 using "normal" zombies that can shoot guns while still using Ganados 3.0 is the weirdest thing.

Its even weirder that they never even say the Chinese clown guys are Ganados. I mean, its obvious, but still. That game has no idea what the appeal of zombies even is.

pjbasis posted...

Like me, you're an American.

Leon: Yes??

I absolutely love all of the American references.

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Anagram posted...

Not sure I like implying that RE5 is better

Hey now, I'm not implying anything.

I'm flat out saying it.

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RE4 is a truly beautiful game. Everything just worked so wonderfully and even now it doesn't feel like it's aged a day. It probably never will until we completely move beyond controllers and just start playing games with our brain waves or something.

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As much as I love RE5, RE4 is the better-paced game to me. Also, every move is yours and yours alone, every victory & every mistake, you don't have Sheva to bail you out, and the attache case makes your options and tool set bigger & more important.

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FFDragon posted...

Hey now, I'm not implying anything.

I'm flat out saying it.

That's a hot take if ever there was one, and I say that as someone who kind of regrets putting Rev 2 above RE5.

Xiahou Shake posted...

RE4 is a truly beautiful game. Everything just worked so wonderfully and even now it doesn't feel like it's aged a day. It probably never will until we completely move beyond controllers and just start playing games with our brain waves or something.

I firmly believe Capcom will port the game anyway.

Snake5555555555 posted...

As much as I love RE5, RE4 is the better-paced game to me. Also, every move is yours and yours alone, every victory & every mistake, you don't have Sheva to bail you out, and the attache case makes your options and tool set bigger & more important.

The attache case might be the single most genius idea in that entire game. I can't believe it took until RE8 for it to return.

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RE5 is fantastic but come on now there is no way it's better than 4, really

With that said, glad to see RE5 got some love lately and people realized it's a good game
Now I do wonder if the same will ever happen with RE6 and people will realize that it's a "good game" but "a terrible RE game" because that's what it is
Zombies with guns is too out of genre even for Resident Evil, Chris campaign was full on FPS

But it was fun

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Nanis23 posted...

Now I do wonder if the same will ever happen with RE6 and people will realize that it's a "good game" but "a terrible RE game" because that's what it is

Count me as one of these already!

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Yeah I'm already firmly on the RE6 being great in its own way train - it's just not great in any of the qualities that people traditionally associate with the series. But even that seems weird to me since RE is constantly reinventing itself so what the hell even is a "Resident Evil game" at this point?

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I dont even think its a bad "RE game". What makes it so much worse as an RE game than 5?

It's just simply not as good, but it's fine. Like 0 or something.

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Nanis23 posted...

Now I do wonder if the same will ever happen with RE6 and people will realize that it's a "good game" but "a terrible RE game" because that's what it is
Zombies with guns is too out of genre even for Resident Evil, Chris campaign was full on FPS

Snake5555555555 posted...

Count me as one of these already!

Xiahou Shake posted...

Yeah I'm already firmly on the RE6 being great in its own way train - it's just not great in any of the qualities that people traditionally associate with the series. But even that seems weird to me since RE is constantly reinventing itself so what the hell even is a "Resident Evil game" at this point?

I'm not a fan of RE6 at all, but I will admit that its basic gameplay could have been interesting if used in a different way. But you are correct in that the series has reinvented itself so many times that the only consistent theme is normal humans using guns to fight monsters.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

you don't have Sheva to bail you out,

If I never played co-op, there's absolutely no way 5 or 6 would be able to touch 4. But I've had the extreme pleasure of having a close friend who's as big an RE nut as me, and S-ranking Professional was one of the best gaming experiences ever.

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I do want to say though, that RE4's real legacy is how it influenced gaming as a whole. OoT to action adventure is RE4 to third person shooters.

Seriously, try to think of an over the shoulder perspective in a video game before RE4.

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pjbasis posted...

I do want to say though, that RE4's real legacy is how it influenced gaming as a whole. OoT to action adventure is RE4 to third person shooters.

Seriously, try to think of an over the shoulder perspective in a video game before RE4.

Uh...Max Payne, for starters?
"But I said over the shoulder!" does it really matter if the character is in the middle of the screen or to the bottom left...?

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The definitive pre-RE4 example is usually Killswitch but the important thing is that RE4 did it in an insanely popular game and also did it as flawlessly as it could.

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I know it came out a few years later but Dead Space was the next game I played that provided a polished version of OTS camera. That game was fluid.

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Nanis23 posted...

Uh...Max Payne, for starters?
"But I said over the shoulder!" does it really matter if the character is in the middle of the screen or to the bottom left...?

It really does. Max Payne looks exactly like Enter the Matrix. They're close but not really what I'm thinking of.

That Killswitch game definitely fits the bill though. It's worth noting that when talking about the most influential games, they are not usually the literal first example. Much like how evolution works, you gets a few proto-reptile species that are all kinda reptile-like, but one model proves the most successful and becomes the ancestor of all reptiles.

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Was RE4 really the first big TPS with an over the shoulder camera? I don't remember that at all.

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