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Resident Evil 4 aged like milk and plays like trash

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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
It was the 360 version that was the different one, they changed the default to strafing because of gears.


Because it wasn't a port ;], it was the primary platform they developed for, the console version were ports (capcom started this approach with dead rising and their mtf engine, and still work this way)
Ah so the scheme was there just not the default, that's good then.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Goldeneye controls fine though. All you have to do is to select 1.2 solitaire and hold the controller from the left side.
Yeah, that's basically twin stick control scheme. Just digital instead of left stick.

Of course it doesn't get the turning sensitivity and everything else quite like later dual analog games but it's certainly balanced for it and fine, that's how I emulate it, I don't like enhancing games so much like folks do for that or Prime, that just ruins balance/makes gameplay features obsolete etc.
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
Goldeneye controls fine though. All you have to do is to select 1.2 solitaire and hold the controller from the left side.
I'll have to try that out. I think last time I played it I was toying around with the dual controller option for fun. The standard controls was like playing a videogame after eating some shrooms.
 

bender

What time is it?
The standard controls was like playing a videogame after eating some shrooms.
giphy.gif


brb
 

nkarafo

Member
Yeah, that's basically twin stick control scheme. Just digital instead of left stick.

Of course it doesn't get the turning sensitivity and everything else quite like later dual analog games but it's certainly balanced for it and fine, that's how I emulate it, I don't like enhancing games so much like folks do for that or Prime, that just ruins balance/makes gameplay features obsolete etc.
I'll have to try that out. I think last time I played it I was toying around with the dual controller option for fun. The standard controls was like playing a videogame after eating some shrooms.

1.2 Solitare and holding the pad from the left side is how i played the game back then, after getting used to Turok's controls, which was the first game having that control scheme. Thankfully, you can adjust all FPS N64 games to control like that. And ofc, modern dual analog controls were already a second nature for me after that. My brain was already wired.

If you are emulating with a dual analog controller you can even use the twin gamepad scheme Goldeneye/PD has and adjust it so you have real dual analog controls (instead of digital+analog). It's real and it works wonderfully (that's how i emulate it). It's as if RARE knew back in 1997, that dual analog controls is the future but they didn't have a dual analog controller to implement it by default.

And yeah, the defaults stink. That's why so many people claim the game's controls aged terribly, but that's only because they didn't try the other control options.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Yeah I know about the dual analog but rly 1.2 works just great and is easier to configure in the emulators than also setting up the 2nd pad controls. It's no big deal, either scheme works great for that.

Works for Dreamcast too, F/TPS had reverse 1.2 (rather 1.2 but controller held middle and right side). It's just too weird to move with right hand and look/aim with left now so I remap abxy to d-pad or left stick, left stick to right stick and then those games play great too. No mods like GE/MP mkb.
 
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nkarafo

Member
Works for Dreamcast too, F/TPS had reverse 1.2 (rather 1.2 but controller held middle and right side). It's just too weird to move with right hand and look/aim with left now so I remap abxy to d-pad or left stick, left stick to right stick and then those games play great too. No mods like GE/MP mkb.
Good to know it works for DC too. Though i'm not familiar with it's FPS library. Does it have any noteworthy exclusives? I can only think of stuff like Quake 3, Soldier of Fortune and Half-Life but they are all compromised PC ports.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Good to know it works for DC too. Though i'm not familiar with it's FPS library. Does it have any noteworthy exclusives? I can only think of stuff like Quake 3, Soldier of Fortune and Half-Life but they are all compromised PC ports.
Not much, most are PC ports. Outtrigger was Sega's take on arena shooters as arcade games (which certainly works better for the platform than the ports but it's still just that, a take). There's Fur Fighters but I'm not sure how it compares to other versions (edit: apparently that was overhauled so it's better on PS2 outside resolution/textures). MDK2 was the best version but it's finally better with the recent re-release (although that's likely based on the easier PS2 version). It has more F/TPV games like Gundam Side Story 0079 and Maken X but gameplay isn't of this sort at all so the defaults work.

Mind Quake III, Outtrigger and some other games did support mouse and keyboard. I should probably emulate some with that setup instead.
 
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93xfan

Banned
To all the people saying that RE4 is perfect as it is and that it doesn't need a Remake at all, are you out of your mind? Or do you play with your ass?

So I was in the mood to do some gaming but didn't know what to play. For some reason I've started craving for some Resident Evil, and 4 came to mind, since I didn't play the game for a loong time and I'd figure it would be cool to do a replay just before the Remake to have it fresh in my mind.

OH MOTHER OF GOD THIS GAME AGED AWFULLY.

Seriously, I get some people are fans of the game and will defend it no matter what. In fact, I'm not in the "RE4 is not RE" crowd. I'm in the "RE4 was a fucking awesome game that revitalized an aging franchise and revolutionized the gaming industry", despite not being so horror and more action wise.

However, I'm not blind levels of fan like this game usually has. And this lets me see how poorly this game has aged.

First, Mouse+Keyboard? NOPE. You might be better at aiming with a mouse, but you woudn't be better at tank controls with it, where it doesn't matter where you point your camera, Leon will just walk straight wherever his character is looking to. So, controller it is, no biggy. Aiming is not that bad with a stick, obviously if you don't count how Leon Kennedy got so traumatized from Raccon City events that he started having Parkinson at a young age. He wouldn't let his aiming straight no matter how close the target it's to him, a highly trained special force dude that's in charge of a black ops to save President's daughter that cannot properly aim. But whatever.
Oh wait, I missed a shot due to Leon's parkinson and a bad dude is approaching to send me to a visit with God, better to back up while I shoot... But oh no wait! I cannot walk and shoot! I either walk or shoot, because, well, 2005, the technology just wasn't there.
Using the knife? Oof, I've felt like I was using the RE3 knife, point up/down and swing, your feet are now planted like a tree.

So yeah, all in all, pretty awful controls for a once great game, but not well enough for a 2022+ game.

Ok, controls aged bad, due to happen to almost every game the more time it passes, we get that. But, people saying it has the perfect pacing? WHHHAATT?

The game starts as a cool terror experience with slasher vibes. Village section, *cheff kiss*, top notch. After that? LOL. In my mind I thought the game was bad in the Island section, but I was wrong. Castle is already a Vampire Survivors levels of bullshit with swarms and swarms of dudes coming after you and Ashley's ass. The argument that the Island was absolutely necessary because at that point you're swimming in bullets and guns IS A PLAIN LIE. You're already motherfucking Rambo in the Castle. Dodging catapult rocks on fire like you're playing Age of Empires 2 and the game already becomes laughable, the campyness goes above and beyond and becomes a comedy musical.
Just in the Castle section the game absolutely shines in how the terror slasher you were playing a few hours ago becomes the worst side quest we all hate from any and every game: the escort mission. This game is literally an escort mission going after Ashley's ass. Everyone in the world would burn escort missions to the ground, but for some forbidden reason this game is the best in the world and it doesn't need a remake right? LOL. Seriously, with the awful controls and how you have to be after Ashley all the time, oh my.
Island... Well, at least this one a lot of people already hate. Rambodent Evil 4.

A side note on how every "puzzle" has been totally stripped apart from the RE tradition and it's just straightforward there for you, absolute no need for thinking. Same with documents, they just put the documents right in front of you, no need for exploration for story, we better hide some pesetas rather than cool lore stuff.

I'm just finalizing by saying that people saying this game has the perfect pacing is 101% wrong about it. Resident Evil 4 overstays its welcome waaaay too much.

Inventory tetris is cool tho.
Played through it for the first time about a year ago. Had a great time.

Stop using the chainsaw controller
 

DavidGzz

Member
It was never good to me. It went from dark with actual zombies(1-3 and Code V) to daytime with a drab color tone and annoying enemies, with their repeated lines. The animeness of it was also a turnoff. I think with the remake, I'll finally play through it. I'll get over the anime stuff. The atmosphere and darker grittier nature and improved controls will make up for it.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
It is set-up to control that way deliberately. It's more action orientated but it's still a survival horror game and the lack of moving while shooting is a conscious decision, it's not like they didn't know how to make it possible to move and shoot.
 

Mozzarella

Member
I mean yeah, it has aged a bit but imo its still a good game.
But, i never been a huge fan of RE4 in the first place, imo its the 3rd best RE game.
REmake is still the king and imo aged the best of all the survival horror games from the same era, REmake is just the best blend of all the elements of the genre. It beats Silent Hill and RE4 for me for the definitive survival horror. RE2 is a close yet distant second.
Most games will age because of what they were trying to achieve, there are certain genres that dont age, like Cuphead for example, but again most games will age to certain degree, RE4 gets the credit for its innovation, i didnt like its influence but i respect the innovation and the game is good, its a shame it ruined RE franchise though, and it took until RE7 for it to come back.
 
To all the people saying that RE4 is perfect as it is and that it doesn't need a Remake at all, are you out of your mind? Or do you play with your ass?
No, but clearly you do.

So I was in the mood to do some gaming but didn't know what to play. For some reason I've started craving for some Resident Evil, and 4 came to mind, since I didn't play the game for a loong time and I'd figure it would be cool to do a replay just before the Remake to have it fresh in my mind.

OH MOTHER OF GOD THIS GAME AGED AWFULLY.

Seriously, I get some people are fans of the game and will defend it no matter what. In fact, I'm not in the "RE4 is not RE" crowd. I'm in the "RE4 was a fucking awesome game that revitalized an aging franchise and revolutionized the gaming industry", despite not being so horror and more action wise.

However, I'm not blind levels of fan like this game usually has. And this lets me see how poorly this game has aged.
Interesting, just start calling all fans as being blind while *you* are the true purveyor of knowledge and truth about this game? Clearly this won’t be a train wreck of a post… (hint, it is).

First, Mouse+Keyboard? NOPE. You might be better at aiming with a mouse, but you woudn't be better at tank controls with it, where it doesn't matter where you point your camera, Leon will just walk straight wherever his character is looking to. So, controller it is, no biggy.
Yea, the game was designed for consoles and controllers. It never was designed for mouse and keyboard play. That is like playing StarCraft II and getting angry you can’t play comfortably with a controller - no fucking shit you can’t. It was never designed for it.

Aiming is not that bad with a stick, obviously if you don't count how Leon Kennedy got so traumatized from Raccon City events that he started having Parkinson at a young age. He wouldn't let his aiming straight no matter how close the target it's to him, a highly trained special force dude that's in charge of a black ops to save President's daughter that cannot properly aim. But whatever.
There is very little wobble outside of maybe rifles, which has a bit more. Either way it is completely negligible unless you yourself have Parkinson’s and can’t aim. This is literally never an issue in the game.

Oh wait, I missed a shot due to Leon's parkinson and a bad dude is approaching to send me to a visit with God, better to back up while I shoot... But oh no wait! I cannot walk and shoot! I either walk or shoot, because, well, 2005, the technology just wasn't there.
And every encounter was designed with this limitation in mind. It was frustrating at first, yes - but that frustration quickly went away within the first few combat encounters. If you feel the need to move while shooting, you are playing poorly. Shoot the legs or face, roundhouse kick, knife to death - easy. Save rounds for bigger guys like the chainsaw bastards.

Using the knife? Oof, I've felt like I was using the RE3 knife, point up/down and swing, your feet are now planted like a tree.
Which is never an issue. You only ever should need the knife for breaking boxes or smacking downed dudes. Why would you need to move?

So yeah, all in all, pretty awful controls for a once great game, but not well enough for a 2022+ game.
No. The controls still are great and you just can’t aim so you blame it on the controls. Next.

The game starts as a cool terror experience with slasher vibes. Village section, *cheff kiss*, top notch. After that? LOL. In my mind I thought the game was bad in the Island section, but I was wrong. Castle is already a Vampire Survivors levels of bullshit with swarms and swarms of dudes coming after you and Ashley's ass.
Most of which you can take out in large swaths with the plentiful amount of grenades, roundhouse kicks, and more tools at your disposal. The game does ramp up by providing more swarms of enemies - but you have everything you need to swiftly deal with them. Unless you can’t aim or manage resources. Y’know, quintessential things in survival horror games?

The argument that the Island was absolutely necessary because at that point you're swimming in bullets and guns IS A PLAIN LIE. You're already motherfucking Rambo in the Castle. Dodging catapult rocks on fire like you're playing Age of Empires 2 and the game already becomes laughable, the campyness goes above and beyond and becomes a comedy musical.
Yes… that is the point. The game is campy as the franchise has *always* been.

Just in the Castle section the game absolutely shines in how the terror slasher you were playing a few hours ago becomes the worst side quest we all hate from any and every game: the escort mission. This game is literally an escort mission going after Ashley's ass. Everyone in the world would burn escort missions to the ground, but for some forbidden reason this game is the best in the world and it doesn't need a remake right? LOL. Seriously, with the awful controls and how you have to be after Ashley all the time, oh my.
Island... Well, at least this one a lot of people already hate. Rambodent Evil 4.
You barely have to worry about Ashley. Most of the time you can safely ignore her or place her in a container until you clear the area. Only a couple times in the castle will you need to “protect” her and it was never an issue. Even on Professional difficulty. Given how easy it is to shoot out the legs of any enemy carrying her and how near impossible it is to hit her with your gun by accident.

A side note on how every "puzzle" has been totally stripped apart from the RE tradition and it's just straightforward there for you, absolute no need for thinking. Same with documents, they just put the documents right in front of you, no need for exploration for story, we better hide some pesetas rather than cool lore stuff.
Yes, this isn’t an open-ish environment. They are linear levels and the game was well known even prior to its release thanks to interviews that this would be the case. I do miss the puzzles, but the combat and level design more than makes up for it.
I'm just finalizing by saying that people saying this game has the perfect pacing is 101% wrong about it. Resident Evil 4 overstays its welcome waaaay too much.

Inventory tetris is cool tho.
It only overstays its welcome if you are bad at the game, which you clearly have shown you are. The game should not take more than 7-10 hours on a first playthrough and even less on subsequent playthrough s.

Essentially, what this all can be boiled down to is:
part brother GIF
 
Ray Liotta Lol GIF


Fascinating. Different strokes for different folks in its purest form. I revisited RE4 during peak COVID lockdowns and was blown away more so than back in the day on Gamecube. Did at least 5 NG+ runs. Such fun action, especially if you're running maxed Red9, Bolt Action Sniper, and Striker a few runs into NG+ and beyond. Knife-only Krouser fights are still a blast too.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
It only overstays its welcome if you are bad at the game, which you clearly have shown you are. The game should not take more than 7-10 hours on a first playthrough and even less on subsequent playthrough s.
That's stretching it, I'm guessing most first plays are gonna be around 15 hours. Which is still great, the game has little padding and presents new scenarios and situations to the end. Even after getting the hang of it most people's instinct isn't to run through new areas but to go slowly and carefully.
 
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Nickolaidas

Banned
I agree on the controls. And mostly anything that you said. RE4 was the game that built the formula (in terms of gameplay and control-feel). If it was perfect to this day and not surpassed by anything ... that would mean that something is horribly, HORRIBLY wrong with developers.

When I hear that RE4 perfect and nothing comes close to it so far, it's like I hear that Street Fighter II is the perfect fighting game and nothing comes close to it in terms of gameplay and it's awesome and it's - dude, shut up, it's been surpassed by virtually any AAA fighting game there is. You can say it's a classic that built a genre, but it's by no means the BEST GAME EVAH or unsurpassed to this day, or a timeless 10/10. That's you telling me your nostalgia goggles are so far up your ass they're coming out of your eyelids.
 
To all the people saying that RE4 is perfect as it is and that it doesn't need a Remake at all, are you out of your mind? Or do you play with your ass?

So I was in the mood to do some gaming but didn't know what to play. For some reason I've started craving for some Resident Evil, and 4 came to mind, since I didn't play the game for a loong time and I'd figure it would be cool to do a replay just before the Remake to have it fresh in my mind.

OH MOTHER OF GOD THIS GAME AGED AWFULLY.

Seriously, I get some people are fans of the game and will defend it no matter what. In fact, I'm not in the "RE4 is not RE" crowd. I'm in the "RE4 was a fucking awesome game that revitalized an aging franchise and revolutionized the gaming industry", despite not being so horror and more action wise.

However, I'm not blind levels of fan like this game usually has. And this lets me see how poorly this game has aged.

First, Mouse+Keyboard? NOPE. You might be better at aiming with a mouse, but you woudn't be better at tank controls with it, where it doesn't matter where you point your camera, Leon will just walk straight wherever his character is looking to. So, controller it is, no biggy. Aiming is not that bad with a stick, obviously if you don't count how Leon Kennedy got so traumatized from Raccon City events that he started having Parkinson at a young age. He wouldn't let his aiming straight no matter how close the target it's to him, a highly trained special force dude that's in charge of a black ops to save President's daughter that cannot properly aim. But whatever.
Oh wait, I missed a shot due to Leon's parkinson and a bad dude is approaching to send me to a visit with God, better to back up while I shoot... But oh no wait! I cannot walk and shoot! I either walk or shoot, because, well, 2005, the technology just wasn't there.
Using the knife? Oof, I've felt like I was using the RE3 knife, point up/down and swing, your feet are now planted like a tree.

So yeah, all in all, pretty awful controls for a once great game, but not well enough for a 2022+ game.

Ok, controls aged bad, due to happen to almost every game the more time it passes, we get that. But, people saying it has the perfect pacing? WHHHAATT?

The game starts as a cool terror experience with slasher vibes. Village section, *cheff kiss*, top notch. After that? LOL. In my mind I thought the game was bad in the Island section, but I was wrong. Castle is already a Vampire Survivors levels of bullshit with swarms and swarms of dudes coming after you and Ashley's ass. The argument that the Island was absolutely necessary because at that point you're swimming in bullets and guns IS A PLAIN LIE. You're already motherfucking Rambo in the Castle. Dodging catapult rocks on fire like you're playing Age of Empires 2 and the game already becomes laughable, the campyness goes above and beyond and becomes a comedy musical.
Just in the Castle section the game absolutely shines in how the terror slasher you were playing a few hours ago becomes the worst side quest we all hate from any and every game: the escort mission. This game is literally an escort mission going after Ashley's ass. Everyone in the world would burn escort missions to the ground, but for some forbidden reason this game is the best in the world and it doesn't need a remake right? LOL. Seriously, with the awful controls and how you have to be after Ashley all the time, oh my.
Island... Well, at least this one a lot of people already hate. Rambodent Evil 4.

A side note on how every "puzzle" has been totally stripped apart from the RE tradition and it's just straightforward there for you, absolute no need for thinking. Same with documents, they just put the documents right in front of you, no need for exploration for story, we better hide some pesetas rather than cool lore stuff.

I'm just finalizing by saying that people saying this game has the perfect pacing is 101% wrong about it. Resident Evil 4 overstays its welcome waaaay too much.

Inventory tetris is cool tho.
Agreed. I thought it at the time as well. I swear Capcom put the world under a spell and I happened to be sitting in a Farady cage at the time or something.
 

01011001

Banned
Despite not liking RE4 it still plays well to me. RE5 on the other hand feels awful for some reason. I don't remember it being that bad when I played it before.

the issue with RE5 is that they took the character controls of RE4, slapped on an alternative control scheme that lets you strafe a bit, and then cranked up the enemy count and speed, which in combination just feels not fully thought out.
 

01011001

Banned
I know the feeling.

I hope you get the chance to play Goldeneye on an actual N64, lmao. It's almost unreal how wonky the controls are. Blows my mind that it feel so great back in the day.

the controls are absolutely fine... and you have multiple layouts to choose from, including 2 that basically mirror modern shooter controls.

basically all N64 shooters had such a setting. while aiming on the right stick only became a true industry standard during the PS2/GC/Xbox gen, the N64 already had such a layout in almost all games, only that your left stick was a Dpad not a stick.
 
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Mexen

Member
I’m playing it and I’m about to finish it. It’s been a great experience overall but I’m more excited about the remake. I think the controls are still backward but once you get used to them, the game is still very fun.
 

Mowcno

Member
Never played it before I got it on switch a couple of years ago. I enjoyed and finished it so it can't have aged that badly. No nostalgia from me, still enjoyed it.
 

winjer

Gold Member
I played it back when it was released, and even then the controls were very clunky. With time they just got worse.
A shame, because the rest of the game is pretty good.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
You can really appreciate how much the controls for the average action game have homogenized in the last decade when you get comments like this.

Going back to a time when the options we now take for granted weren’t even remotely standard is a big hurdle in appreciating older games. I know the lack of free camera is a big one for me. Replaying Ocarina of Time or GC Metroid Prime always takes some time to adjust to the limited view. Good thing those games were built around their limitations, so they play perfectly fine. It’s just the pain of having to rewire certain parts of your gamer brain that’s the real problem. We have it so good these days controls-wise. On the other hand, we could use a little of the ingenuity and creativity in game design from back then. It’s becoming more and more obvious that the lack of memory constraints and technical limitations comes with its own issues.
 

Filben

Member
Season 9 Thank You GIF by The Office


Thought I was alone. Even when it came out there were better TPS. Wasn't that much fun to me and the so often praised melee moves did nothing for me. Colour palette wasn't my cup of tea as well.

Looking forward to the remake.
 
I agree that it needs improved controls. Not being able to move and shoot in a third person shooter is quite a problem. But that doesn't take away the fact RE4 still sold tons of copies throughout the existence of the title. I just find the PS2 version inferior because the graphics don't look as sharp.
 
I don't know. It's not realistic at all.

If Sylvester Stallone was making another Rambo movie, he'd wanna be able to move his old age pensioner ass out of the way of the Russian cartel, firing on all cylinders. Or whatever the heck the enemies will be in the next entry that will only exist in our imagination. 😅
 

GeekyDad

Member
Season 9 Thank You GIF by The Office


Thought I was alone. Even when it came out there were better TPS. Wasn't that much fun to me and the so often praised melee moves did nothing for me. Colour palette wasn't my cup of tea as well.

Looking forward to the remake.
Bill Murray GIF by Groundhog Day


Name one.

And I never thought (and still don't think) of it as a TPS. To me, it's an action-adventure game. A fun and very entertaining one.

Going back to a game released in 2005 -- one that was objectively received by...well, everyone, as incredibly entertaining -- and shitting on it in 2022 is an extreme case of constipation. OP obviously wanted to keep that food in his/her belly as long as possible, and when he/she finally shat it out, they got angry with the meal. It was lobster cooked in goat butter seasoned with authentic, pure saffron.
 
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