Resident Evil 4is easily one of the longestResident Evilgames and since the remake is a faithful reimagining of the original, fans will be pleased to see that it also runs for almost an equal amount of average playtime on regular playthroughs.Resident Evil 4has three primary environments with the village, castle, and island, all of which are reprised with only minimal or divisive content being cut from the remake’s final product. In many ways,theResident Evil 4remakeis an even greater recreation of its namesake than theResident Evil 2remake, which only had half-decent B-side scenarios.
Resident Evil 4’s remake is similar enough to the original to be the dominant edition of the game if players wished it to be, but it also has enough new and elaborative content that makes it feel like its own unique game at the same time. Players still obtain regal artifacts and inlay gemstones into them, for example, but spinels are now a trade-in currency for other exciting rewards. Moreover,Resident Evil 4remake draws inspiration fromResident Evil Village, including the requests players receive from the game’s respective merchants that behave like optional side quests.
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Resident Evil Village’s Kitchen and Treasures Make the Most of Exploration
Resident Evil Village’s Dukeis a charismatic merchant not unlikeResident Evil 4’s Merchant, though his tastes and demeanor are far more exquisite. Indeed,Village’s entire aesthetic is made incredibly immersive with UI and maps being depicted in an illustrative way, rather than having simple text laid overtop a rigid, monotonous map outline.
The same is said for the UI at the Duke’s Emporium and the Duke’s Kitchen, the latter of which including unique side quests for players to indulge in. These side quests are boiled down to finding certain fauna throughoutVillage’s environments to harvest their meat for recipes.
These recipes all contribute to bonus stat increases and give players another reason to want to explore each region besides being able to find all the luxurious treasures that the Duke labels on the map. However, a couple of these treasures are guarded by particularly fearsome enemies. These two treasure-related bosses are the Varcolac Alfa, which lies in wait in the Fallow Plot, and the Urias Dracs that guards the Broken Slab at the gravestone on the way toVillage’s House Beneviento.
Resident Evil 4 Remake Draws Inspiration from RE Village with Blue Note Requests
This same concept is reprised in theResident Evil 4remake to great effect, again making use of an extensive map.Resident Evil 4’s blue note requests are found strewn about almost anywhere as tiny fliers that are easy to miss since they are pinned to surfaces, and not all of them appear in the player’s immediate path.
Most of these blue note requests task players with simple errands such as destroying blue medallions that fans will be familiar with, while others want players to clean out rat infestations orcatch a Lunker Bass inResident Evil 4remake, as per the ‘Catch Me a Big Fish’ request. However, theResident Evil 4remake’s most exciting requests are the ones players receive near the end of a region that task them with eliminating strong threats.
These threats include a black Colmillo in the village that brandishes a long mandible, a massive and golden Armadura in the castle, and a black Iron Maiden Regenerador on the island among other uniqueenemy types inResident Evil 4remake. These enemies are a great reason to explore a region one final time before moving on to the next, and it is all thanks toResident Evil Villageestablishing minor side quests as a means of exploration and treasure in the first place.
Resident Evil 4is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
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