| BraLoD said: Destroyed the Resident Evil name, lol, most people like the series exactly because of it |
You can like Resident Evil 4 all you want, but it's really, really silly to call it a "RE game on the core" when it's absolutely different than the previous entries in every single approach of its design.
I'm sure the series needed some kind of renewal after the brand was slowly dying, and that's exactly what brough Mikami to throw away his original design philosophy for Resident Evil and just go for the biggest action-paced angle they could (Scaryness vs Fun factor). The director himself knew just how much different Resident Evil 4 would be as far as it could ensue sales; that should really tell you all you need to know about how much RE has RE4 in its core.
But really, what is it here to discuss? I said Resident Evil 4 is damn great game. I see no reason why people should defend it being the game that destroyed what Resident Evil was because that's precisely what it did, though. Like I said, it's almost entirely different than previous games. No connection whatsoever to the overall franchise (EDIT HERE: I forgot about Leon's passing comments at the prologue regarding Racoon City) arc outside Leon (now being a secret US agent rescuing the president's daughter, lolwut) and random Ada showing up (Was Wesker even on the original GC game outside his cameo in Mercenaries, or was he half-assed added later on the PS2 version to at least give some more coherence?). A completely different gameplay system, one that rewards action more than careful advancement and dealing with crowd-control, coupled with a fully different camera system. A fully different breed of enemies, who for the most part are humanoids with conscience and capable of strategizing against the main character. Enemies dropping ammo, money and healing items. In-game collectibles that were made so that you gather even more money. A different inventory system altogether, one that could also be expanded upon. Purchasable and upgradeable weapons that add to the action-focus of the game (though I guess this was somehow started with RE3's ammo creator system). Quick-time event system, going as far as to even add some sort of QTE-boss fight (1st time fighting Krauser). And let's just not forget Ashley; the "protect your partner" system that added yet another layer of different flavor in comparison to its predecessors.
The fact that it was so widely liked and that it introduced a lot of players to "Resident Evil" further made it destroy Resident Evil.
It's not a "problem" that it destroyed Resident Evil, it's just what it did. You know very well just how if Resident Evil 4 had been named anything differently people would have never associated it with Resident Evil altogether, it is how it is.
