Over the past couple months, we’ve got a decent amount of information about what will and won’t be in the Resident Evil 4 remake (long story short, almost everything, including less popular sections, will still be there). What we haven’t heard as much about is the minute-to-minute gameplay, but a cover feature in the new Game Informer (grab your subscription here) provides some interesting new tidbits.
In what will likely be the most debated change, GI reports that the new Resident Evil 4 will no longer have quick-time events. Of course, the original Resident Evil was one of the games that popularized quick-time events in mainstream games, with them really feeling like a key part of the game’s identity. It will be interesting to see how certain action set pieces from the original RE4 will be reimagined without the crutch of timed button presses.
One thing that probably won’t be particularly controversial, is that Capcom has gone and made the sections of Resident Evil 4 where you have to defend Ashley less annoying. Ashley will no longer have her own health bar, be more able to take care of herself, and sometimes team up with you for The-Last-of-Us-style co-op puzzle solving. That said, unlike Ellie, she still can be hurt, which will eventually put her into a downed state. If she’s attacked again before you can revive her from her downed state, it’s game over. Sounds like a solid update, without going the full-on TLOU invincible teammate route
Other changes include the addition of new sidequests you can embark upon by collecting new blue fliers, the ability to trade jewels to the merchant for special items, and weapon durability coming to handheld weapons like knives.
Resident Evil 4 arrives on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on March 24. What do you think of some of Capcom’s changes?
