Resident Evil 4 Remake: 10 Things and changes You NEED TO KNOW

The Resident Evil 4 remake is here and there is so much interesting stuff to talk about with it. In terms of the Resident Evil remakes, this is as close to the original game as I think any of them are going to be and in some ways, it’s just a totally new experience. Hi folks, it’s POGOPLAY and today ” the 10 biggest changes about the Resident Evil 4 remake.

Ashley has been overhauled

Starting off at number 10, Ashley has been overhauled. Everybody remembers how much of a pain it was to deal with Ashley in the original version of this game, so it really shouldn’t surprise anybody that Capcom made it a major priority to modernise her gameplay sections. Right off the bat, they changed how Leon can give her commands. Instead of waiting and following me, the remake has a more vague hang back and stay close. Leon alternates between each command when you press the R3 button which makes Ashley hang back or follow you closely depending on the command.

That would be a problem but another major change is you no longer have to worry about her health. She doesn’t have a health bar anymore so you don’t need to worry about that. She can probably get killed but her health regenerates automatically, so that’s great. One thing that makes it a little more difficult in the remake though is there’s no longer dumpsters for her to hide in. So you can’t just deposit her in a hiding spot while you go ahead and clear out all the enemies before you move on. So that potentially actually makes certain sequences quite a bit more difficult.

But we can’t say for sure either way until I actually play the game. And in truth, with the changes in her health and commands, like, enemies still try to grab her but now you have some new options to deal with them. Like, instead of being forced to shoot an enemy in the leg, you can now stab a Ganado in the head to free Ashley so you don’t have to worry about damaging her with a knife anymore. So there’s new tricks, potentially new reasons for it to be hard, but it just sounds less irritating. And if it turns out to be more hard but less irritating, I’m fine with that.

Speaking of knives

At number nine, speaking of knives, the other big change coming to the remake is how they work. In the original game, the knife was basically just a utility tool for saving a bullet when a Ganado was down or for opening up boxes, but it looks like the remake has made the knife much more integral. To start, the knife can actually be used up now. It has durability and every time you use it, durability gets used up until it becomes broken. To avoid that, you can repair the knife at a merchant. Hear that, Nintendo. Boy, that would be a breath of fresh air in their very wild Zelda game.

But beyond that, you can upgrade your knife at the merchants, just like with guns. The reason your knife can break now is simple. Overall, it’s just a lot more powerful. You can perform special counters and kill moves when enemies are stunned or knocked over and you can use the knife as a defensive weapon to protect against attacks that would normally kill you. And there’s one real good thing that I like a lot. There are knife parries now.

We’re getting into action game territory here and with the proper timing, Leon can use the knife to deflect thrown weapons out of the air and knock back close range enemy attacks. So with a properly skilled player, it sounds like the changes coming to the knife are a game changer and we’re really looking forward to just how effective the expanded tool set actually is.

Tthe QTEs are gone

At number eight, another big one, the QTEs are gone. The original game kind of revolutionized the QTE and made it a thing that pretty much every game had for a while, but in 2023, we don’t love them. I mean, unless you’re gonna give me a way to laugh harder than heavy rain did with that endless QTE sequence where you end up fighting chickens, falling a lot, unless you’re gonna do that, I don’t wanna see ’em and I won’t have to because Capcom cut it. It’s not completely clear what that means for certain memorable moments from the original game like outrunning the Boulder, but there’s at least one major QTE moment that we know is completely redone.

The Krauser fight. In the original game, the infamous sequence was one long brutal QTE where Leon and his former partner turned adversary, Krauser, fought it out with knives. So in the remake, this looks a lot more like a standard boss fight. So there’s a reason you need to get good at those knife parries. It looks like there might be some button mashing QTE type moments but dedicated QTEs seem to be gone.

New enemies and returning enemies with new abilities

And number seven, new enemies and returning enemies with new abilities. Now, this is a surprisingly cool thing about this remake. It’s not just bringing back all the classic monsters but it’s introducing some new enemies. The most noteworthy of these is a new villager type wielding a giant hammer while wearing a cow head. They’ve been pretty tightlipped about what else is new but the trailers have shown off some certain classic enemies using entirely new attacks like the Plagas B, which will clinging to the ceiling before attacking Leon or the spider type Plagas that’s probably the Plagas C but instead of crawling out of the head of the enemy, this one looks like it’s taking over an unsuspecting cultist. So while a lot of the Resident Evil 4 remake is recreating what people remember from the original, they’re also mixing in some new stuff as well.

There are side quests now

And number six, there are side quests now. The original game flirted with side quests a little bit by including some mini objectives. Like, remember the blue medallions you could shoot? But the remake is really just going all in on side quests. They’re called requests and they involve doing things that you would be doing in the original game like finding collectibles but give it a little more structure. Finding things isn’t all you’d be doing in these quests either.

There’s hunting down certain enemies, another that wants you to kill an infected dog. So there is some variety. What you get for completing them, I don’t know, but just like the recent Dead Space remake they could give people a little more reason to go back and explore old areas and I really do like that.

There is stealth

And number five, there is stealth. You can crouch. Pretty much the only time you ever get the chance to get the drop on an enemy in the original game was right at the start in that opening village segment. But it looks like there’s gonna be a lot more opportunities for stealth this time and it sounds like you can possibly even avoid certain enemy encounters if you avoid detection. The knife still loses durability after a stealth kill. So it sounds like stealth isn’t gonna be some game break thing you can use forever, but that isn’t the only weapon that can help Leon take out enemies on notice.

There’s also a new weapon called the Bolt Thrower which, by default, shoots silent projectiles as well as explosive mines. Does the Bolt Thrower replace the Mine Launcher? Is it just a similar weapon? I don’t know. But these new stealth options should be useful for mixing up the gameplay a bit and might be essential for the higher difficulties.

Full 360 degree movement and real time weapon swapping

At number four, there’s actually some pretty big changes to the combat so it’s kind of a little unsurprising, given there’s a lot of other changes with a lot of other major systems in the game. But let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way like the full 360 degree movement and real time weapon swapping. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though. Overall, it seems like enemies are quite a bit more aggressive compared to the original game. Unarmed Ganados will grab Leon and try to hold him down while enemies with weapons try to stab him. One big thing I noticed in the third trailer is how multiple enemies will throw weapons at you rather than doing it one at a time.

Crouching isn’t just for sneaking either. You can also use it to avoid certain attacks. So I like that, but there’s been some worry the more serious presentation is going to ultimately remove some of the more, I guess, ridiculous things from the game. But there’s nothing to worry about there. Capcom knows what people want. So the close range moves like the spin kick and the suplex are still there. Take all that and throw in the new stuff you can do with the knife and it looks like Resident Evil 4 is gonna probably be the most active and intense combat in the series to date. And I’m hyped, if I’m completely honest. I think this is gonna be really the Resident Evil benchmark here.

Ashley isn’t the only companion this time

And number three, Ashley isn’t the only companion this time. This one definitely caught me by surprise. Luis Serra is a major character from the original game and does help you out from time to time, most famously in the big house siege section. But overall, he’s a pretty minor character. Not so much in the remake where it looks like Luis has been completely upgraded to a full-blown companion with him showing up in multiple sequences he was never present in the original game.

Like the significantly reworked mine cart section. Probably the most intriguing thing I saw in the third trailer was Luis helping Leon fight the twin Gigantes. Spoiler warning, for an almost 20 year old game here but in the original, Luis was dead by that point so he’s apparently gonna be a around a little longer in the remake, maybe even ends up surviving. I don’t know, probably not, but it’s still a pretty interesting thing to see that Luis has more to do in the remake.

One thing that isn’t changing is the Attache Case

And number two, one thing that isn’t changing is the Attache Case. It’s iconic and the inventory Tetris aspect of it remains unchanged. There are a couple of minor changes though. One thing that’s different with the remake is that there’s actually a few different types of attache cases and it’s not just size where they vary. Apparently, there’s gonna be a few different types of cases you can buy. Each gives you some kind of bonus. So like a silver case that increases the amount of handgun ammo that enemies drop, or a black case that makes resources show up more often.

That’s not all either. You can attach new charms to your case as well which can provide certain perks. One charm is shaped like a chicken and it gives Leon bonus healing when he eats eggs. An ammo charm makes it so that more ammo is generated through crafting and a green herb charm that makes the green herbs pop up more often. One final thing comes to storage though, you’re no longer limited to just the Attache Case. The game actually lets you store things at any typewriter as well so you’re no longer forced to sell off weapons to get new ones if you don’t want.

The merchant has expanded his services so along with all the normal stuff

And finally, at number one, the merchant has expanded his services so along with all the normal stuff you’d expect, he has some new tricks up his sleeve. At the moment, not a lot’s known about it but from what I’ve seen seems pretty interesting. For one thing, the merchant doesn’t just accept Pesetas anymore. You can now trade for stuff like yellow herbs and weapons parts with a new currency called Jewels. How you get this stuff, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just what you get for treasures now. Maybe a reward for doing requests.

Not sure, but another big change is obviously I mentioned it a little bit earlier, Leon can craft like the recent remakes in Resident Evil 8, you can craft ammo by combining materials and the merchant doesn’t just sell his stuff. He also has recipes on hand that can be used to craft new ammo types. To put it mildly, there’s a lot of changes coming to the Resident Evil 4 remake. And most of this stuff sounds like smart ways to revitalize the classic formula rather than completely reinventing the wheel.

And that’s very good. Before the past few trailers, it was hard to imagine the remake really rivaling the original. But all these changes really make it sound like the developers are making all the right choices. We’ll see when it finally comes out on March 24th. Keeping in mind the original Resident Evil 4 casts a long shadow, I’m actually one of the types that had gripes with the original, most of it quality of life stuff, and it’s making me, at least, feel like the remake is going to surpass the original.

I think, for people who didn’t have the same kinds of gripes, it might actually do it. That’s not to say it’s going to, but it’s at least possible. What do you think though? Leave us a comment. Let us know what you think.