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If Capcom gets its way, the Resident Evil 4 remake will "betray your expectations," which sounds just a little ominous to me.
In an interview with Play Magazine, Resident Evil 4 Remake producer Yokiashi Hirobayashi explained how the developers are straddling the line between staying faithful to the original game and delivering something exciting for new and old fans alike.
"We want the game to be simultaneously fresh yet familiar. Our aim is to 'betray' your expectations in the best way possible while of course respecting the feel of the original game."
We've already gleaned from the trailers released so far that Resident Evil 4 Remake ditches a few key design elements from the original to fit a more modern formula, but Hirobayashi stressed just how much work is being done to retain the spirit of the original game.
"The controls are similar to those in the recent Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, on top of which we have worked to reproduce the feeling of the original by assembling elements like level design and enemy behavior from scratch. It took a lot of trial and error to get the balance right, as was the case with the original game."
Specifically, Hirobayashi said the sections with Leon and Ashley have been reworked so to be "more appealing." Those sequences are one of the few aspects of Resident Evil 4 that have seen near universal criticism, so it's good to see Capcom is putting the work into making them more popular with fans.
"While there are elements of moving through the game as a pair which differ from how you manage just controlling Leon, and introduce a different kind of challenge, I think we have made it so that by having Ashley be a more convincing standalone character, players will come to enjoy these sections."
As for what Hirobayashi means by "betraying" our expectations, I guess we'll have to wait until the March 24 release date to find out. To me, it suggests the remake could deviate further from the original game more than we're expecting - hopefully in ways that are scary as hell and not tedious, like what Resident Evil 2 Remake did to make Mr. X constantly stalk you throughout the whole game instead of just in the B plot like in the original.
Whether or not Resident Evil 4 Remake tops the original, here's why a well-done remake can be the best introduction to an iconic series.
