Summary
It feels like forever ago with all the other big games coming out, but theResident Evil 4remake was one of 2023’s first big hits. Tackling the seemingly impossible task to reinvent the game that defined a generation of third-person shooters,Resident Evil 4succeeded with flying colors. While it did not surpass the original in every way, both are comparable in quality.
Even without launching with The Mercenaries, which arrived shortly afterward,Resident Evil 4was a complete package. It brought back the unlockable costumes and weapons from the original game, and it even added new changes to higher difficulties and a selection of equippable charms for players to experiment with. Tons of challenges and even speedrun skips were sprinkled in for players to find, and the community generally walked away satisfied. However, there is one more piece of contenthanging over theResident Evil 4remake’s head, and it’s unclear when it will get around to adapting it.
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Resident Evil 4chronicles the journey ofRE2protagonist Leon S. Kennedy in rescuing Ashley Graham, daughter of the American president, from a parasite-infested cult. The story should be familiar, but there is a bit more going on behind the scenes. Secret agentAda Wong, who was first introduced inRE2as well, is back and interacts with Leon several times. Her motives remain mysterious, but at the end of the remake, it is shown that she’s been working with formerResident Evilvillain Albert Wesker the whole time.
Ada succeeds in her mission to obtain samples of the Las Plagas parasite, her employers’ interest in which was partially foreshadowed by theResident Evil 3remake revealing thatthe parasite was used while creating Nemesis. Fortunately, she objects to Wesker’s intentions at the last minute and withholds her delivery. This actually reflects extendedResident Evillore, which states Wesker eventually needs to get it through the black market to set upRE5. Still, this is a lot to drop on players right at the end of the game, and the original versions ofResident Evil 4actually had other bonus modes ready to give context to Ada’s quest. For whatever reason, these are absent in theResident Evil 4remake.
Separate Ways Would Make Sense As Part of Resident Evil 4’s Remake
Although it was initially a lone, non-canon challenge map called Assignment: Ada, later releases ofRE4expanded the mode into a full miniature campaign titled Separate Ways. The expanded version also included more dialogue from Wesker and Ada, which would help the remake timeline better establishWesker’s heavily rumored return to modernResident Evil. Many fans anticipated that this would becomeRE4’s DLC, mirroring the new non-canon stories introduced for theRE2remake. Thus far, no DLC has been announced, and with more Mercenaries and Separate Ways references found through datamining, many are wondering when this content is going to arrive.
One of the biggest signifiers that something is missing from this otherwise faithful remake ofRE4is the lack of the U3 boss fight. This chimeric creature chased Leon through a miniature labyrinth in the original game, but it and its section on the island base are entirely absent here. U3 seems like obvious fodder for a unique boss fight to cap off Ada’s campaign, and that’s not even going into the low difficulty of the available Mercenaries content or the absence of Ada and Wesker in the mode.Resident Evil 4’s remake has a Separate Ways-shaped hole, and hopefully Capcom plans to fill it soon.
Resident Evil 4is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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