We're finally there: even if the idea of a Code: Veronica was completely thrown at the zombie dogs by Capcom in favor of Resident Evil 4 Remake (at least for now), we are all very happy with the return of Leon S. Kennedy in the adventure that transformed him from a survivor to a hero capable of kicking zombies in the face (literally). Often when we talk about "remake" we always think of a change of gameplay, but slavishly following the original plot and plot: but Can such a thing work on Resident Evil 4?
To all this we also add some small curiosities, just to better contextualize: Shinji Mikami, the then director of the game (Resident Evil, Dino Crisis), wrote the plot di Resident Evil 4 in three weeks, the time he had been given to produce a story (which entered everyone's heart when the game hit the market in 2005). Still, could this plot today to survive in today's fauna of gamers, between the lions of the plot holes and the bears of "I would have done it this other way"? Maybe not.
Of course we are not making this speech to say that the plot of Resident Evil 4 is bad (since I think it is one of the best related to the brand to date), nor are we highlighting problems of some kind on the plot that Mikami wrote in less time. of what today is dedicated even just for the presentation pitch of a game. However between the 2005 and the 2022 there have been several releases, which bear the names of great triple A, TV series and films with high-sounding titles. The Last of Us, same new Resident Evil, even the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fast & Furious Saga have brought many of those innovations that a remake of Resident Evil 4 should take into account.
Before leaving, however, we make our own a concept, that is the idea of videogame restoration: over time we have seen various remastered of this chapter, all designed to preserve a game that even today you could at any time insert into your console - or install on your PC - and play. The Resident Evil Remake product is not born to restore, but for revisit: we have seen it with the two chapters that have received the remake, 2 and 3, and the 4 for consistency should follow the same dynamic. If Resident Evil 4 Remake came out with the same plot as the original, it would surely have happened the same and would make all the fans of the brand happy: but for the new generation, the new fighters of the undead? Perhaps will serve really that this new RE4 take advantage of the word remake in its logical sense.
In the article we will avoid talking about the game mechanics: obviously we can aim and shoot on the go, we will have improved boss fights and we will be able to do many other things that the original game did not allow, but that have been implemented in Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake. But let us dwell on what should instead change in terms of intertwining.
The new themes
Let's start from the substance, before the form: The Last of Us ha upset and twisted like a sock the idea of weft. Dramatic themes and moments capable of making the most cynical of bastards cry are just two of the things the games have recently begun to cover. For this reason it is difficult to think that a plot that sees a ex-survivor grappling with yet another biological weapons problem may not have a attachment or some feeling towards that little girl he carries with him in the course of the adventure, the president's daughter (does that remind you of anything?).
So if the original plot already saw interactions between the two, surely a storyline revisited from that point of view could deepen their relationship, not so much to contextualize future games as to empathize the gamer with that poor girl kidnapped by Los Illuminados. What then all the historical players of Resident Evil will have a well-known hatred towards those characters to be saved over the course of the various chapters, companions capable of creating more damage than solutions. Obviously there would be other themes to restore, from the challenge between Krauser and Leon to the relationship between the latter and Ada, and we are sure that in the game we will have the opportunity to learn more about everything.
The narrative coherence
If new themes might require some finishing work, the narrative coherence of the series must be reviewed: if Resident Evil 2 and 3 scratched the surface of the lore of the series, Resident Evil 4 instead has included a lot of new information, many of which were then taken up in subsequent chapters. Precisely for this reason, and for the connections the series has with Resident Evil 7 and 8, a series of consistency improvements could make the game even more interesting.
Without making too many spoilers, Resident Evil 8's plot touches the foundation of Umbrella's Virus idea, and find out more about the Pests could add interesting information to Resident Evil's soup. To all this then, we also add the fact that the concept of the "Rival Company" that is mentioned in the course of the series (for which Krauser and Ada work) could finally be deepened, opening interesting implications for the future of the saga.
The new rhythms
Time is of the essence in new productions: like equations and algorithms, you need to have the right rhythm in order not to make the gamer lose interest. A world that is too open becomes dispersive, a linear game becomes boring, too many cutscenes become boring but few cutscenes do not rest. And of course, a plot that unravels for the 16 hours of Resident Evil 4 must offer i right content: remember that the base game required this time alone for the main story, and then surely a rhythm balance.
Between reddit and social posts, it's not impossible to find people complaining about certain parts of the game, either because of the pace or the game dynamics within it: maybe file those parts - a bit like what was done with the Tower in Resident Evil 3 Remake - could give that added value to the work, which perhaps would be able to deepen other parts of games that at the time, for technical means or for the short time had to write the story, were not seen carefully.
Resident Evil 4 Remake will be a hit (as history teaches us that even if a Resident Evil remake does not appeal to fans, it is still purchased), but it may fail in its intent without a careful reshaping of the plot: the remakes of the series serve both a making games more than 20 years ago consistent with the new chapters, either suitable for the new audience. We are not saying that leaving the story as it is is wrong, but nevertheless not reviewing it and checking it thoroughly before proceeding - as if to say that if it worked in 2005, it must work now - could turn out to be a misstep and leave. in the oblivion of nostalgia a video game that deserves to be discovered by the new generations.
