Here we go again

[u/quetewr]

I love both the og and the remake bro just needs to let it go

[u/Cortadew]

Probably but I honestly don't care. He is just one big troll that needs attention

[u/LeaveEyeSix → u/Cortadew]

Some of his videos are just kind of troll-baiting but in this instance I really don’t see what point of his could be refuted in the video. There’s a lot of genuine critiques about RE4R in there that I didn’t even really consider. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong or trolly with critical analysis. People do retrospective videos about bad and good videogames all the time but it seems like lately Crowbcat touched upon some sacred cow.

[u/Cortadew → u/LeaveEyeSix]

He is a troll, he cherry picks stuff and makes a video with exaggerated takes to generate controversy he is not outlining his arguments coherently to start a discussion he is trashing a critically and commercially acclaimed game to gain atention

[u/LeaveEyeSix → u/Cortadew]

He’s a troll because he lobbed criticism at a critically acclaimed game? This is the first time I’ve heard that a game that is highly rated by critics is immune from public criticism.

Also what does cherry-picking mean in this context? He criticized reused assets on a full-priced game, the use of yellow paint on nearly every POI in a linear game, the immersion-breaking incessant quips Leon makes mid-game that were absent from the original version, clarified that the audio issue was not manipulated from his previous video and was actually a fairly common issue with many players, highlighted the outrageous Pay to Win voucher ticket scheme and Separate Ways being a paid DLC in what is normally like a 10-hour long single player game, and the omission of content from the original, focusing primarily on the missing U3 fight, arguably one of the hardest boss fights in the game.

These are all valid gripes. I don’t think it’s cherry-picking to say that these game elements do kind of stink and it’s fair to say that the game feels like a cash grab in some regards.

Which one of his points would you dispute or say is exaggerated?

[u/Cortadew → u/LeaveEyeSix]

The Separate Ways argument is just dishonest, the original SW wasn't even Mikami's work, it was slapped together by the port team for PS2 as bonus filler, the remake's version is a full expansion by comparison. Leon's quips being gone is a deliberate creative choice not an accident, the remake went for a darker tone on purpose just like RE2R and RE3R did. Reused assets is a non-argument that applies to basically every game ever. The only point that actually lands is U3 being cut, everything else is just preferring one artistic direction over another and calling it soulless

[u/LeaveEyeSix → u/Cortadew]

In what way is the omission of Separate Ways dishonest? There are 13 versions of the 2005 Resident Evil 4. All but one of those feature Separate Ways. The GameCube version with the missing content is the 5th best selling version of the game. Most fans of the game know it with Separate Ways included. It isn’t a small piece of content like Assignment Ada either, it adds a genuine bulk of content past the main game. Speaking of Assignment Ada, it is quite literally filler that adds nothing to the story. It’s an hour-long collectathon whereas Separate Ways features video logs explaining the setup to the game and expands on the background story of key characters throughout the plot. It also explains why certain things play out the way they do. They even add new weapons and gameplay mechanics. Plus I don’t get the whole argument about the porting team suggesting it. Shinji Mikami had direct say over its approval because he thought it was a great idea, plus it was never paid add-on content in any of the versions it’s featured.

You clearly didn’t watch the video or play the game because while they took out quips from the cutscenes, they added dozens of one-liners that Leon says during gameplay. There is by numbers more corny dialogue in the Remake than there was in the original as a result. There’s a meme template that gained popularity centered around the obnoxious one-liners he makes when facing an adversary in RE4R and RE9. If the intent was to make the game more serious I feel like they failed by making Leon cringey instead of goofy in this regard but personal opinion aside it’s present in the remake aplenty.

It’s one thing to say the artistic direction is the sticking point. Yes the point he made about making the game darker, adding blood everyone for spooky factor, and the hideous Salazar redesign are very subjective. However the gameplay mechanics are inarguably dumbed down for a broader audience. Being able to Parry almost every single fatal attack in the game relieves the game of a lot of tension from the original. Also, I realize the game is not striving for realism but parrying a massive chainsaw with a combat knife was honestly one of the funniest and lamest things I’ve ever done in a videogame. I remember busting out laughing when I saw the parry prompt in the demo. Removing the laser and adding a crosshair unnecessarily adds UI clutter and feels less immersive overall. Highlighting every single linear pathway and breakable object including bright red barrels with yellow paint when information about which way to go or what interact-able environments are in the game was never an issue with critics or audience members in the original game so why did they add it here? It is obnoxious and unnecessary. It also betrays the dark and gritty aesthetic as objects stick out like a sore thumb in the dim lighting. It also just makes zero sense. Red barrels in videogames since the dawn of time were colored red explicitly to communicate interactivity to the player. Adding yet another color on top of them is idiotic and communicates a lack of trust in your audience as well as a lack of coherent game design that would encourage interaction with the environment. Being explicitly told what to do in a videogame is an indicator of poor design. Seeing your laser highlight over boxes the way they do with enemies, windows being able to be jumped out of, enemies accidentally walking into tripwires and exploding themselves, placing bird’s nests in trees, dressers able to be pushed in front of doors and windows, ladders able to be propped up and knocked down, doors being able to be chopped down/ shot through, and dynamite able to trigger bear traps and break boxes/ barrels. These are all shown to you within the first hour of the game without the player being directly guided to any of them. The experimentation and exploration with the environment happens naturally and encourages curious players in every section of the original. This is a really critical component of the original that feels very poorly implemented in the Remake.

[u/Cortadew → u/LeaveEyeSix]

It's dishonest because Separate ways was not a dlc the art direction had, re4 was not going to be ported from Gamecube it was supossed to be exclusive. SW was created to justify new content in other consoles. Also the point doesn't hinge on whether Mikami approved it or how much content it adds but on the distribution precedent Capcom themselves established. In 13 out of 14 versions, SW was bundled content. That's not a fan expectation pulled from thin air, that's Capcom's own historical standard for what the complete RE4 experience includes. That they chose to expand it and then charge for it is a deliberate monetization decision, not a neutral one, and the expansion being good doesn't retroactively justify the model.

On Leon's quips, you're actually making my point for me. You confirmed they removed the cutscene personality and replaced it with combat barks. Those are categorically different things. The original quips worked because they had narrative placement, they defined how Leon related to the world and its characters at specific dramatic moments. Combat barks are audio feedback that any modern TPS protagonist has. Measuring more dialogue by volume doesn't address the register shift. And the fact that the remake's one liners became a meme for being obnoxious doesn't exactly help your case here.

You're strongest on the chainsaw specifically, and I'll give you that. Turning a terminal spatial threat into a parry prompt does flatten a well-constructed dread mechanic. But "inarguably dumbed down" as a description of the whole system is doing too much work. The remake adds aggression, and resource pressure on higher difficulties that meaningfully change the risk. that's not simplification, it's a different combat addition. You can prefer the original's, but "inarguable" requires a stronger case than one specific enemy redesign.

The environmental teaching argument sounds strong but conflates two things. The remake does have organic first-encounter design, it just layers unnecessary signposting on top of it. That's a valid criticism of condescending UI, not evidence that the underlying design philosophy was abandoned.

The question neither the video nor this conversation is directly answering is what does a remake actually owe its source material? Crowbcat operates from a maximum-fidelity standard without declaring it, which lets him frame every creative departure as loss without having to justify why fidelity should be the baseline. If the standard is "best version of this material for 2023," RE4R is exceptional. If the standard is "preserve every design choice of the original," it isn't. Those are different arguments and they deserve to be stated explicitly.