The franchise has been formed for nearly a decade, with many of us expecting this stability to continue in the foreseeable future. Recently, Capcom surprised fans with the unexpected announcement of Resident Evil 4’s enhanced remake, slated to release later this year on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Whether you’re a devoted enthusiast eagerly awaiting its return or simply seeking a chance to finally join the sequence, this latest development offers a tantalizing prospect to dive back in. Capcom has revealed new details about the upcoming updates for the classic game, bringing significant improvements and refinements. Here, we’ll summarize the most important aspects.
Although the initial glance suggests that this won’t be a straightforward upscaling or typical remastering experience. The reworked iteration is more akin to a comprehensive remake, with its development team openly admitting this reality, implementing substantial improvements ranging from visual overhauls to revamped control systems, alongside numerous other adjustments. “Not an understatement,” said director Ryosuke Murai at Capcom’s recent showcase, “we’ve poured our hearts and souls into this reimagining, making it a true remake in every sense.”
The Resident Evil series, uniquely built upon Capcom’s MT Framework engine, will diverge from this foundation in its next installment. Capcom is considering the Resident Evil 2 remake’s release on the RE Engine as a potential opportunity to migrate the entire remastered game onto the new platform. The forthcoming remastered version will feature a comprehensive overhaul of visual elements, utilizing the power of its new engine to revamp characters, environments, and other graphical components. Capcom’s gameplay showcases for the remaster have already revealed significant visual upgrades over the original, with additional enhancements being teased by the company itself. Talking of which…
Capcom has officially announced that the upcoming game will operate at a resolution of 4K and frame rate of 60 FPS when it launches in September, marking a significant improvement from its current visual presentation. Additionally, artwork director Satoshi Takamatsu revealed during the game’s latest showcase that the title will feature real-time lighting and shadows, allowing each environment to dynamically change appearance and ambiance based on the time of day. Furthermore, players can eagerly look forward to the remastered version’s significant visual upgrades, including refined material textures, detailed blood splatters, enhanced facial animations, and numerous other improvements.
While making significant adjustments to the game’s unique expertise, exceeding expectations beyond a simple remaster, Capcom emphasizes maintaining the original experience as a top priority for its development team. Despite technological advancements, visual improvements, strategic refinements, and a plethora of quality-of-life enhancements, the fundamental essence of the game remains unaltered.
“Director Ryosuke Murai assures that at the heart of this Deluxe Remaster lies a faithful adaptation of his original work.” We made every effort to preserve the integrity of the one-of-a-kind experience. We preserved the fundamental gameplay mechanics intact, while refining the player experience to enhance overall enjoyment. With this understanding, we believe that both seasoned and new individuals alike will be able to derive great enjoyment from a contemporary experience.
Capcom is committed to preserving the original’s essence in its upcoming remastered version by safeguarding the gameplay core, while also ensuring that minimal adjustments are made to fight and animation sequences, with a focus on retaining the game’s distinctive character. Despite everything, the outrageously exaggerated and comically absurd in-game animations have become an integral part of Street Fighter’s identity, and Capcom is working tirelessly to preserve them in their entirety. Satoshi Takamatsu, art director, noted that for character animations, the team aimed to limit unnecessary tweaks and capitalize on distinctive details as much as possible – especially in motion scenes. “We could have leveraged modern technology to create more realistic depictions, yet we chose to preserve the quirky and humorous traits that define its uniqueness.”
To maintain the essence of this experience largely intact while making subtle enhancements and refinements that bring it up to modern standards and smooth out any rough edges. Capcom promises numerous high-quality of life improvements, including the introduction of auto-saves, refined and enhanced menus and user interfaces, as well as other enhancements. The ability to freely strafe or reposition while aiming would revolutionize the shooting mechanics, introducing unpredictable moments of tension and excitement into the gameplay. Capcom is further refining NPC behavior through various approaches, with specific details remaining under wraps for now.
Resurging interest in this title stems from its reputation as the quintessential way to experience Capcom’s beloved zombie-slaying franchise, driven by a combination of factors including its refined graphics, updated gameplay mechanics, and more. Rather than simply boasting a full-voice feature, the remastered version allows players to opt-in to full voice acting for every individual character, enhancing the overall gaming experience. Subtitles may be available in as many as 14 distinct languages, while voiceovers can be found in approximately 9 unique languages. Curiously, formal confirmation has established that Terence J., Capcom has announced that Frank West’s role in the upcoming Dead Rising 4 remaster will not be voiced by original actor Rotolo, with the company yet to reveal who will take on the character’s voice instead.
If you’re looking to play on a PC, ensure you possess a system that meets a moderate level of specifications. On minimal settings, the system’s necessities are moderate, requiring a combination of either a GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580 graphics card and a processor like Intel’s i7-6700 or AMD’s Ryzen 5 3400G. For more realistic settings, you’ll need both a GeForce GTX 1070Ti or Radeon RX 5700 GPU and a CPU such as Intel’s i7-8700 or AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600. To play games at 4K resolution with a smooth 60 frames per second, you’ll need to equip your gaming rig with either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or an AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card. Regardless of the preset chosen, it is also essential to have at least 16 GB of RAM installed in the system.
Capcom has followed suit with other publishers, debuting its flagship AAA titles at $70 in this console era, starting with the earlier release of [insert title]. While not all Capcom releases will carry this price tag, it’s worth noting that remasters – even comprehensive ones like this – typically don’t warrant a full-priced launch. Upon its launch on September 19, the product is expected to debut at a price point of $49.99, with an optional deluxe edition priced at $59.99.
Upon its September launch, the game will debut digitally across all platforms; while this digital-only release might suggest a lack of interest in physical formats, Capcom’s silence on the matter shouldn’t be taken as confirmation – the possibility of a physical edition remains unruled out. The corporation has announced a scheduled official physical release of the sport for November, with further details expected to be disclosed over the next few months.
