If you were worried that Capcom would take the axe to the content for the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake (as some had speculated with regards to the “reimagining” of the story), there’s no need to fret. In fact, you can expect “a lot more” when it comes to the island section of the remake.
Per GamingBolt, in the recent issue of EDGE magazine, Capcom sat down to chat about the anticipated Resident Evil 4 remake. The team revealed that unlike the more recent remakes in the series that didn’t escape the cutting room floor (namely in the game’s Island section), the team developing Resident Evil 4 confirmed that the remake will retain roughly the same amount of content. In fact, the island section will have more to it than in the original.
According to producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the development team was divided into three groups, with each group responsible for a different area to develop: the village, the castle, and the island. These teams worked separately before coming together to see how each overhauled their section, and how each element worked with the others. “Our approach was quite granular,” explained Hirabayashi. “Rather than saying, ‘Oh, this is a bit that we struggled to make in the original due to technological limitations that we can now perfect; we took a hundred individual, small elements that make up the original gameplay experience, and remade and polished those building blocks.”
As for Leon and his snarky one-liners, those too will be included in the Resident Evil 4 remake. However, like the rest of the remake, this aspect has also been refined and further developed to feel more like a “thoroughly modern, story based” experience. “Leon brings a certain kind of wit to the experience. We’ve developed the character drama, specifically the interactions between characters and their personalities. The original game was more ‘gamey’ in that sense: story scenes were mostly there to serve the pacing of the gameplay. Single player story games have developed since then, so it’s been important to integrate the storyline elements.”
Resident Evil 4 arrives March 24, 2023 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series.
Big thanks to RelyOnHorror for the info!