Resident Evil 4 remake

Resident Evil 4 Remake Dev Talked About the Pressure of Modernizing a Classic

In an interview with Japanese outlet Inside, Resident Evil 4 remake Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi and Director Yasuhiro Anpo talked about the pressure and responsibility behind remaking a game with such a legendary status among fans. The developers also talked about the ways they tried to update a game generally considered perfect among many players and fans. [Thanks, Inside!]

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Hirabayashi was involved in the development of the original Resident Evil 4, whereas Anpo wasn’t. Because of this, Anpo said he felt a lot of pressure at first, as he was aware of the particular difficulty of remaking the game.

Here is a direct quote from Anpo:

“To be honest, at first I thought I didn’t want to (be the one to) remake Resident Evil 4. Since the original game is such a legendary title, if I were responsible for doing a poor job on a remake, a lot of users would be very upset.”

The approach the development team took in creating such a challenging remake was to modernize the game by improving elements such as visuals and maneuverability. Another element they wanted to expand on was in new ways of expressing the story. They did this by expanding character interactions between Leon, Ashley, and Luis.

For example, by giving Luis a more active role and extending his screen time, players could feel more attached to him. As for Ashley, the developers added more conversations between her and Leon. These delve deeper into how they build trust and form a relationship.

Some of these new conversations will happen during regular gameplay, instead of being relegated to cutscenes like in the original Resident Evil 4. Krauser is another character that has been somewhat expanded compared to the original, but no further details were given by the developers.

The Resident Evil 4 remake will release on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 24, 2023. A demo of the game will appear before release.


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Image of Daniel Bueno
Daniel Bueno
Daniel is a staff writer and translator from the Spaghetti Western land of Andalusia, Spain. He got his start writing for Xbox Outsider in 2022. His favorite genres are RPGs, survival horrors, and immersive sims. In truth, he is a Dragon Quest slime in a human suit.