The CQC system is expanded upon from the RE4 remake. With Leon, entire rooms can be cleared via CQC alone. Well timed parries, whether with melee or firearms, are the best and funnest way to deal with nearly all encounters.

Grace carries the survival structure forward. Limited inventory, crafting, and stealth. Her design reflects the older Resident Evil titles. The best of both worlds are present within this game.

Player input and feedback are fantastic in third person. Third-person Grace feels excellent, and first-person works well for both Leon and Grace. The only drawback is Leon on keyboard, whose on-foot navigation can feel a bit touchy and clunky when moving at certain angles.

Combat clearly telegraphs what is happening. The exchange between player and system feels consistent. The only drawback is the in-game field of view, which is very low. Even on ultrawide it is noticeable, so on 16:9 it will likely feel even more restrictive.

Audio SFX require further work. It is quite buggy unfortunately, and is the only thing that felt like a let down that stuck out to me. The mixing and positioning of sounds rarely matched their in-game source.

The game feels complete. Comparable in scope to RE4 and its remake. Backtracking exists in some areas to collect items, but it is largely a one time task. Once collectibles are found in a single playthrough, there is no need to repeat the process.

The story moves events forward but in an unremarkable way. It neither damages nor strengthens the structure.

Graphics are more aligned with true beauty than ever. Not only are the visuals vastly superior to previous Resident Evil games. And despite the increased fidelity, the game runs smoother than recent entries. Capcom has clearly resolved much of the RE Engines prior performance issues.

Performance is superior. Even on hardware that struggled with earlier recent RE releases handles this one with greater ease.

Replay value is consistent with the series. The absence of a Mercenaries mode is noticeable, but given the dual focus on survival and action, expanded modes built around those foundations would make sense.

This game combines the best parts of nearly all prior RE games. Aside from narrative weakness and audio instability, it stands as another masterpiece in the series.

Resident Evil 4 Remake preserves the original’s fun gameplay and b-grade story, while adding new features, mechanics, and challenges that make it more fun than the original. The visuals are gorgeous, the sound is average, and the optimization is excellent. The only minor flaws is that U3 is removed and the disappointing voice acting for some characters. Overall, Resident Evil 4 Remake is a masterpiece. It's a must-play for fans of the original game and newcomers alike.

The gameplay is amazing and surpasses my expectations based on previous releases. The new mechanics let you parry or evade almost any attack. This eliminates the luck factor. A perfect parry at the right moment will stagger the enemy. You can then use a melee attack to hit multiple foes. This creates opportunities to wipe out groups of enemies with parry and melee skills like in the original game. But much better.

A new feature in the game is the durability of the knife(s). If you use your knife to parry or attack enemies, it will wear down over time. You can find other knives in the game world or repair and upgrade your own knife at the merchant’s shop.

I preferred playing with Mouse and Keyboard after some simple tweaks. The only issue was “Press E to crouch”, which I easily fixed. I also changed sprint from toggle to hold for a better experience. The input response is flawless. Leon moves realistically when walking and swiftly when running. He feels amazing to control and navigate the world.

Damaging enemies can feel a bit bullet spongy near the start of the game as they barely provide any feedback to getting shot. Staggering an enemy usually requires 2-3 shots to the head or limbs with handguns. However this can be alleviated once you meet the merchant and begin tuning your weapon damage.

One of the drawbacks of the game is the lack of feedback when shooting enemies. They seem to shrug off bullets easily, especially at the beginning, and only stagger after a few shots to the head or limbs with handguns. This makes combat feel less satisfying and more tedious. Fortunately, this issue can be mitigated by upgrading your weapon damage with the help of the merchant you encounter later in the game.

The Merchant returns with more goods and a new feature. You can earn spinals by doing assignments for him in the world. Spinals can then be exchange with him for unique items. I prefer his original VA over this new one, but I don't mind it that much.

The shooting range has been overhauled and is more rewarding than before. You can complete different challenges which reward tokens. Tokens can be used on a slot machine that gives you charms. Charms can be attached to your attache case (a max of three) to get various benefits, such as more crafting resources, health boosts, trade perks and a movement speed boost. The charms are also the original RE4 models which is neat :)

Inventory management is very similar to the original game. You can arrange items in a grid-based attache case which can later be expanded in size via the merchant. However, you can also get new attache cases that provide their own unique bonuses.

Treasures are more varied and universal in this game. Some of them are improved versions of the originals. The former treasures with gem slots have been changed to be compatible with their new universal two shaped slot system. I like this system better than the original. But I do miss the bug eyes gems.

Crafting is more flexible and convenient than ever. You can drag and drop items in your inventory to merge them, select an item to see its specific recipes, or use the dedicated crafting menu to view all possible combinations.

The game has beautiful graphics and a consistent architectural style. However, I wish it had more brightness and contrast. Most of the locations are too dark to appreciate the details. This seems to be a common issue with RE Engine games, except for some examples like RE Village and Devil May Cry 5 that show how well the engine can handle daylight scenes.

Screen Space Reflections have a serious issue. They create a ghosting artifact effect on any surface that uses them. This problem has persisted since the RE2 remake. I recommend turning them off.

Ray tracing is disappointing and buggy in this game. It only affects the reflections, which are often inaccurate and distracting. It does not improve the visuals much. It also causes the game to crash for me, even though it does not impact my performance. The game uses AMDs CACAO for ambient occlusion instead of RT, which looks great.

The only downside I see from the other RT features been removed is that the games lighting does not look nearly as good as RE8 did with its ray traced lighting simulating its reflections/refractions against everything.

Cinematography lacks cinematic quality and coherence. Capcom seems to have lost its ability to craft amazing visuals, audio and editing like in the original RE4 and RE5. This game only has a few scenes that stand out, and they might be accidental attempts to mimic the originals.

The original game had amazing weapon reload animations that gave a sense of satisfaction to the player. Leon would reload each of his weapons with style and flair, making them feel unique. Unfortunately, this game has sacrificed that quality for realism. The reload animations are bland and generic.

The audio is nothing to write home about. The weapon sounds are great and enhance the combat. Everything else is typical RE game sound effects. The soundtrack is bland and uninspired. It sounds like an instrumental mashup of previous RE7, RE2R, RE3R, and RE8 tracks with the original RE4 tracks. I might just mute the music and play my own tunes. But they did give an option to use the original RE4 Audio instead of the new one, which is nice.

The new voice actors for all of the characters are disappointing compared to the original. They sound unenthusiastic and poorly written. The original cast is much better than the new remake cast. Only Leon and Luis sound decent. Ashley is mediocre. The worst ones are Salazar, Saddler and Krauser’s new VAs. They are downgraded.

The game preserves most of the original content. For every cut, there is a substitute. Almost all substitutes are superior to the original. Some areas were sadly removed entirely. These include the gondola ride before the castle, some parts of the underground and castle exterior, Laser Room and U3 fight.

I disliked the changes they made to Salazar. He looks and acts worse in every way. The original is much better. Saddler is also ruined into a weird occultist. His theatrics are over the top. He is not better than the original, except for his final transformation. This part is actually better. Krauser wears a tactical vest now. It makes him look worse visually, but he is still the same character.

The story is identical to the original. The only thing I disliked is the extra writing for characters. The original didn’t need this because the story was clearly a silly homage to b-grade action films. They prioritized fun over realism. It should have stayed that way. I guess they wanted to follow the dark realistic theme since RE7. It would have been better to hire the team who wrote and directed Devil May Cry 5 for RE4.

The optimization is excellent for the visual quality. I’ve had no performance issues except for setting volumetric fog to the highest level. Lowering it one notch made the game run smoothly. I can't perceive any difference between these two values.

The game has more replayability than any previous RE game at launch. With any future DLC, the content will surpass even RE7. It has the challenges and point shop from the RE2/3 remakes. It also has many features from RE NET so you can view more data about your playthroughs without using a web browser to sign into Capcom’s stats website.

One of the highlights of this game for me is finally getting to see Wesker in the RE Engine. :)