Resident Evil 4

Summary	Plot	Gameplay	Development	Marketing	Reception	Credits	Gallery	Translation errors	Further notes

Resident Evil 4 is a 2023 survival horror game, co-directed by Kazunori Kadoi and Yasuhiro Ampo under producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi.

Pre-production

Division 1 general manager Jun Takeuchi became interested in both a Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 remake around 2016 during development of the Resident Evil 2 remake. While it is known work on Resident Evil 3 began immediately at Capcom's subsidiaries, Division 1 producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi started work in late 2018 with co-directors Kazunori Kadoi and Yasuhiro Ampo, who were each wrapping-up their work on Resident Evil 2 at the time. The two co-directors were initially reluctant to work on the project, fearing that the original Resident Evil 4 had such high prestige that any miscalculation in the remake would be anathema to fans. The dev team made sure to replay the game before meetings to maintain a fresh memory.

Programming

Combat mechanics

In terms of combat mechanics, attention was made to modernise the gameplay in line with Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil Village. To assist in aiming, the original game used a red laser sight on each weapons, but this has now been replaced with a reticule more in keeping with recent games; to appease fans preferring the laser, however, Capcom made sure to include it as an attachment early on. Like with Resident Evil 2, the Knife now has limited durability and will become worn with use, but can be modified. A new addition is the Bolt Thrower, a crossbow which can be used to down individual enemies to avoid gunshots alerting their friends.

The Ganados themselves were reworked for the remake to be more dangerous enemies, forcing the player to use the environment against them, such as lighting up flammable objects or barricading doors and windows. These changes to the environment are saved in the game, so return visits to the area will acknowledge the moved or destroyed objects. The remake uses struggle mechanics, with the player pressing buttons or equipping the knife to get out of a Ganado's hold. Quick Time Events, while popular in the 2005 game, are considered to be outdated in the industry, and there are "almost no" QTEs in the remake. As the Ganados' signature move is for their Plaga parasites to erupt from their bodies, work was done to incorporate this as a gameplay mechanic, with them dropping to the floor and convulsing instead of them immediately erupting; this action forces the player to ignore nearby enemies and prioritise killing the downed Ganado, putting themselves at risk.

Ashley mechanics

Ashley Graham herself was reworked, with the developers hoping to undo the stigma she gathered in the fandom as an annoyance. In the 2005 game, players could order her to "Follow" them, "Wait" in place, or "Hide" in a dumpster. In the remake however, Ashley will always follow Leon, with him instead ordering her to follow at a greater distance; this prevents her from being abducted by Ganados while Leon is on the other side of the room, but still risks her harm. The loss of the "Hide" mechanic prevents players from gaming the system by having her be out of danger and only coming out when the area is safe. To maintain the challenge, however, Ashley's health bar has been removed and can no longer be boosted with the use of Yellow Herbs; instead players are to keep an eye on her to check her condition. When Ashley takes severe damage, she will fall to the ground and need resuscitation to avoid a Game Over, a similar idea used in Resident Evil 6. Like the 2005 game, Ashley can also be sent out at times, with the player being able to lead her through holes to unlock doors. Additionally, Ashley will descend a ladder on her own, rather than force the player to come back to her.

Other mechanics

While conducting their replays of the 2005 game for ideas, the developers took notice of the Blue Medallion miniquest in the village, which was not replicated elsewhere in the game. New miniquests were added to the village, with Leon being rewarded for finding certain items and hunting target enemies.

Story

The Resident Evil 4 story and script was developed in the same way as the Resident Evil 2 remake's, with collaboration between Capcom and an English-speaking writer to produce a more natural sounding localisation. A treatment was written in Japanese first, and then translated into English to be cleaned-up ahead of the dubbing process. The Japanese script would then be amended based on the results of the English dubbing to ensure a consistent lip movement; this process is common in localisation of television shows.

Design

Enemy

One of the core visions of the Ganado designs for the remake was to make them more gruesome in nature. An example of this is the Plaga eruption; in the 2005 game a Ganado's head will momentarily shake and the Plaga explode out of them, but in the remake the Plaga will snap their neck in the lead-up to eruption. Death scenes were also made more violent, such as having a Ganado grab Leon's skull and destroy his eyes with their thumbs. Along with updated versions of existing characters and enemies, the village was populated with unique minibosses to provide more variety. One of these is a large Ganado wearing a bull's skull on his head and armed with a hammer.

Setting

Capcom took notice of criticism of the original Resident Evil 4's inaccurate portrayal of Spain, and collaborated with people in Spain to get a more accurate depiction of the village setting. The island was heavily reworked to suit the game's requirements.

Sound design

To provide native language voice acting, Capcom collaborated with studios around the world. This was a departure from their older practices during Resident Evil 4's run, where reliance on Los Angeles led to them hiring Mexican and Columbian actors to dub the Ganados. Keywords Studios provided the bulk of the dubs, such as recording the French dub in Paris and their Brazilian-Portuguese dub in São Paulo.

As part of a long tradition in Resident Evil titles starting with the very first game, Capcom sought after a singer to perform for the game. Music producer Craig McConnell write and composed the song, "The Bullet or the Blade", sung by Sam Drysdale, which was featured in the end credits.