Resident Evil 4: Why the 2005 original is better than the 2023 remake

Yes and I stand by this. While I understand that most people only like shiny new things as a whole, it’s not always better than what precedes it. For example, the Resident Evil 2 Remake was perfect because the original dates back to 1998 during the good old original PlayStation era. Blocky visuals, and tank controls that feel clunky among other tiny details that haven’t aged well. So in this case, the RE2R was a welcome new experience. This was all kickstarted because die-hard gamers would attempt their own remake with Resident Evil 2 Reborn and when Capcom saw this, they shut it down because they saw the demand and the subsequent dollar signs.

The same argument cannot be said for Resident Evil 3 Remake given how badly Capcom butchered the classic and it’s heartbreaking because the Clock Tower was the best part of RE3: Nemesis. I was horrified just imagining those hairy spiders in scary HD… but alas Capcom decided to cut 1/4 of the game for whatever reason. I spent countless hours playing the original RE3 and even managed to finish it in a personal best back in the day, so I was hyped. But when I found out about the cut content, I was disappointed. And honestly, given how far we’ve come since RE2/3 (1998/1999), it’s difficult to pick up the originals again.

Now that we’ve addressed the past, let’s dive into this subject: Why Resident Evil 4 (2005) is better than Resident Evil 4 (2023). I had the privilege to review the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 and it was fine, but once I was done, I was looking forward to replay the 2005 version. So let’s begin!

Controls

Yes, I will not deny that the controls in the 2023 version were updated and it feels like the previous 2 remakes. The problem I have with this is that the controls of the 2005 version were still highly efficient and not being able to move while aiming just added a layer of tension and stress because you’d have to be careful. Although I spent too many hours on the Gamecube version, I never finished it. I reached the Krauser fight without any ammo and health. Back in 2021, I finally decided to give it a shot and was hooked. Finished it and replayed it over and over. Without a single issue control-wise. I mean people keep asking From Software to add an Easy mode/accessibility feature to their games, while the Soulborne fanatics keep yelling “No! Just Git Gud!”. Well to those who think that the RE4 2005 controls are archaic? GIT GUD!

Ashley

Oh god. Ashley. The biggest pain in the ass of 2005’s Resident Evil 4. Trying to protect her and always having to catch her was a bit annoying. However, she was constantly near you and would actually listen to your orders. While she was a pain most of the time and required health items, she was easily manageable and “controllable”. It also felt like Capcom lumped her with Leon when only absolutely necessary. In the 2023 Remake, she’s worst somehow. Despite ordering her around, she doesn’t listen or respond half the time. In one playthrough and a half of the 2023 version, she got captured more than 5 playthroughs of the original. When I’d ask her to stay close by to flew a horde of enemies, she’d crouch “paralyzed” in fear with enemies nearby so she obviously got captured. Capcom also thought it was a good idea to have featured more than in the original including during the Garden Labirynth; whereas in the original it’s just Leon and a horde of infected dogs. Like. WHY.

Mercenaries

Ouf. Where do I begin with this? The extra mode wasn’t even available out of the box at launch. As of this writing (April 7th), Mercenaries was made available as free DLC for Resident Evil 4 (2023). I’m not even going to open the DLC can of worms (free or not, it’s a shady practice). Given the game released on March 24th and the game mode 2 weeks later, I would’ve gladly taken a 2-week delay for the “complete experience”. But here’s the kicker: Mercenaries mode comes with only 3 stages and 4 characters. You start off with the Village Stage and Leon and by beating specific scores, you can unlock the other 2 levels and 3 characters. Compared to previous entries (excluding RE 4 2005), Mercenaries was a more complete and fleshed-out experience with more content. This mercenary feels like a demo more than anything; especially compared to the Mercenaries mode from Resident Evil 5 and 6.

Ada’s story

And another part of the game was removed (temporarily?). While Ada’s Separate Ways campaign wasn’t in the original Gamecube version, it was an added bonus for when Capcom decided to bring the game to the PS2 in late 2005. It was a nice chunk of content that gave players a look into Ada’s shenanigans (something we need more if you ask me) while Leon was rescuing Ashley and killing the Las Plagas. And since then, from the ports of Resident Evil 4 (2005) to modern and last few generations of consoles, it was the full game.

Enemy A.I.

We’re in 2023 and you’d assume that the game’s A.I. would be more reactive and have a higher sense of awareness. But they aren’t. Ashley’s A.I. aside, I lost track of how many times I was sneaking around enemies clearly in their field of vision (accidentally) and they wouldn’t react; nor chase me. I also somehow managed to stealth kill enemies while in their field of vision and they just stood there being knifed. Where in RE4 2005, if I was in the vicinity of where an enemy could smell me, they’d aggro and hunt me down; and it’s especially more intense in Professional mode. It feels like with the 2023 remake, Capcom opted for more enemies rather than smarter ones. Hell, the AID, Artifical Intelligence Director, from the Left 4 Dead games feels more threatening than the enemies of RE4’s RE Engine.

Content

Being able to enjoy the remake of a classic is always an interesting aspect of things because you’ll be eager to figure out what the developer added, removed, or tweaked. While nothing major was removed, aside from the U3 boss fight (unlike the poor Resident Evil 3 Remake), Capcom added a few extra areas in the 2023 remake or prolonged existing areas. While it can be fun to see some reimagined sequences, in the RE4 2023, the new sections feel like fluff additions that adds nothing major or interesting. Navigating the boat in Resident Evil 5 was already boring and bad as it was, adding it in this new version of RE4 was a questionable move. Sure, it’s shorter and semi-open world-ended, but it still feels like fluff. Even only completing an objective makes using the boat boring. At least in the 2005 original, the boat is used once, during a boss fight. The 2005 version could also still give you about 15-20 hours of gameplay without all the fluff. They also removed the Quick turn mechanic.

Krauser boss fight

Another annoying change here. While admittedly the QTE fight from the original RE4 was kinda annoying, especially given that it required quick reflex if you didn’t want to be screwed, you’d expect they make it better for the remake right? Well, you’d be half right. While you can move around to avoid Krauser, it’s still more QTEs but camouflaged under a parry system and a shady, half-responsive dodge mechanic. While the freedom of movement if a welcomed addition, they still rely on annoying quick-time events. Why not just remove it altogether knowing you’ll have to re-do almost the exact same thing at a later time.

Grinding

Yes you read that right grinding! And no, the remake wasn’t converted to an RPG. Whilst in the original game, you can unlock a weapon’s exclusive upgrade, which was pretty pricey, simply by fully upgrade a weapon, in the Remake, while the ultimate upgrade becomes available as you upgrade a weapon, you need a special ticket available in the Trade section of the shop in order to unlock it. Sounds fine, right? Wrong. Trading for stuff in the RE4 remake, you need light purple jewels, and for a weapon upgrade ticket, you need 40 of them. 40. I played through the game twice, and while I explored most of each area, I never managed to cumulatively collect 40 of those jewels. Unnecessary grinding and more fluff, completely boring extra padding of content added to try and prolong what was an already perfect experience.

Conclusion

So there you have it. If you haven’t played the 2005 Resident Evil 4, I highly recommend it. The 2023 version will never have the same impact that 2005 had by being a revolutionary game as a whole, whether it be in the survival horror or action genre. It’s definitely worth experiencing once in the life of a gamer. Again, this is not a knock on the RE4 2023 version; it’s a fun, enjoyable albeit predictable and generic experience. With rumors of Capcom wanting to remake Resident Evil 5 or Resident Evil REmake (instead of Code Veronica), they definitely need to put a hold on the laziness and give players something new to munch on; whether it exploring the stories of Ada, Jill Valentine or Barry Burton, it would be fun to discover more of Umbrella’s lore instead of reliving the same things we can still play today.