2026-3 - Resident Evil 4 (2023) - ★★★★★
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2050650/Resident_Evil_4/
★★★★★
Playtime: 24 hours
I've only ever played snippets of Resident Evil. I got nightmares in elementary school from trying a bit of the first game at a friend's house. Some guy at a church function once had RE3: Nemesis and Final Fantasy VIII. My brother's friend brought over RE5 on PS3 to play co-op with him and I subbed in intermittently. Was this one the right one to be my "first" Resident Evil? Dunno. I think it's really good, though of course take anything I say with a grain of salt seeing as I played the Remake.
I can see how RE4 has kind of a mythic reputation. When I think of big pre-2005 console video games, I think of Zelda, Final Fantasy, GTA, Metal Gear Solid. RE4's cinematic, setpiece-heavy, over-the-shoulder gameplay feels like it would have been almost revelatory back then, and the game's influence speaks for itself. Gears of War, Uncharted, Dead Space, and Mass Effect all obviously take design cues; it almost feels like RE4 defined the Modern AAA Action Game.
I played on Standard and while I died a fair few times, I wouldn't say I had any real trouble; by the back third of the game I was pretty much overflowing with resources. My weapons of choice:
- Blacktail, the all-rounder pistol that takes up less inventory space.
- Riot Gun, the all-rounder shotgun.
- Stingray, the semi-auto sniper rifle.
- Bolt Thrower, the low-damage-high-stagger crossbow that lets you recover spent bolts or attach explosive mines. All of my friends relentlessly teased me for using this.