Resident Evil 4's Flaws

First of all, let me state that I absolutely love Resident Evil 4. Of course, some of you probably know that already, but I want to make sure everyone knows that before starting this thread.

However, this game is definitely not perfect. There are several flaws in the game. This is not meant to be a "Bash RE4" thread. It's meant to be a simple, intelligent discussion of any problems found in an otherwise excellent game.

What could they have done better? What did they miss? What really bothered you?

I'll be glad to start. The biggest problem in Resident Evil 4 is the clipping. It was really, really bad. I didn't really notice it the first time I played through, but in subsequent playthroughs, it has become rather obvious. It's just terrible, really. Since I've played it so much, I am prone to just goofing off and just exploring, rather than playing it seriously. I had previously noticed a few clipping problems, so I decided to test it out. When I was in Salazar's castle, I went right up to a wall, pulled out the knife, and sliced repeatedly. It went right through the wall, as did a significant portion of my arm. I sliced...over and over and over again...and it went through every time. So annoying and so careless. Other instances of bad clipping include Ashley's tendency to jump through ladders and Ganados' pitchforks sticking through closed doors.

Don't get me wrong; it's still a fantastic game. But the clipping was absolutely horrendous.

Indeed, I must agree with you on that, I myself am addicited to the game now you can say, my second time through, but after only owning it for a few weeks I noticed all of those and more. First when Leon runs up the stairs to the chairlift, his feet disappear in the steps, aslo when Ashley piggybacks and climbs through the window where you get the "weapon" at the castle, during the cutscene when she climbs through her legs and some of her butt fall through the window ledge. Of course most obvious is the ability to see the enemy's weapon hanging through the door, though I never really minded it, it was almost a warning that there was someone there, gave me a reason to kick the door open.

As for a slight opinion on something to change, is how you obtain the URL and the Chicago Typewriter. I think how they are obtained should be flip flopped. For starters the URL is a much more powerful weapon, but it can be purchased with only beating the game, while the Chicago Typewriter(a great weapon, don't get me wrong) can only be purchased after completing the game and Assignment Ada. I would think of more, but I'm tired so I'll add more later.

The reason for the clipping is that RE4 uses a very complicated frame system. The purpose of this frame system was so that certain animations cannot be interrupted by others.

Example: All the playable characters are completely invincible while performing any context melee attack.

This was implemented so there would be no cheap hits during combat. (imagine being crossbowed out of a suplex) This frame system basically applies to every object that's independant from the backgrounds. (Interactive objects. Like, doors, movable ladders, crates, pushble shelves, Leon, the enemies etc) And that would explain the awkward clipping issues. Independant models are only influenced in motion by certain things, and that's why Leon's arm passes through the wall.

Considering how essentail the frame system is to the in-game mechanics, the weird clipping is small price to pay.

The biggest flaw I thought RE4 had was indeed a small one.....

.....there weren't enough villager models. It was not uncommon to see three indentical ganados together in a group.

RE: Tomy gun (CTW)

Are you kidding? I found it to be 100 times more effective and useful and the URL. For one, Leon had to go through that annoying recovery animation after firing a shot. Two, the RPG isn't very accurate. Three, seeing as it's an explosive type, it obviously was not very flexible.

The tomy gun had none of those flaws. It was accurate, had zero shot recovery and it could take down bosses in a matter of seconds, so stopping power wasn't an issue. IMO, inbetween the URL and the Tompson, the Thompson was the clear winner.

Originally Posted by Tigerboi

The biggest flaw I thought RE4 had was indeed a small one.....

.....there weren't enough villager models. It was not uncommon to see three indentical ganados together in a group.

So true, there are only two female villagers if I remember right and I think I've only seen four different male models, well five if you count the chainsaw man. Same thing goes for the monks, four there as well, the white faced one, the red monk, the monk with the black mask, and the skull mask. Sad for how many you fight and how long the game is. Well and I guess there were some different ones at the island as well, but probably no more than 4 ganados there as well.

You have to admit though, the bosses were pretty neat, I can't fault them there, at least they spent time on diversity(aside from common ways of killing them, i.e. El Gigante, Lord Saddler) with the bosses. I guess I can complain a little on the difficulty, I don't think I don't think I died more than once facing any boss. I managed to beat Salazar in two tries and Lord Saddler in one. Actually come to think of it the Garrados gave me some trouble.

Garradors were more of sub-bosses actually. The part in which you fight two at once+ Professional mode= hell.

I liked the bosses. They were varied, unique (for the most part) and really fun. But....yeah, they were lacking in the difficulty area. I must admit, Salazaars body guard killed me a couple times on pro mode (One hit does about 50% damage.). And krauser kind of annoyed me the first two times I fought him (the time limit). Also, Mendez killed me once I think in pro mode.

Oh, and I died agianst Salazaar once just because I wasn't expecting that one hit kill attack. but I think that happened to everyone.

Other than that, on normal mode every boss was mostly a push over when compared to the challenge the rest of the game offered. The easiet by far, has to be U3 (it) who I have NEVER died agianst on ANY setting.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, the Ps2 version had a new boss. It was easy too.

EDIT 2: But alas, an easy boss can still be a fun boss. And all of the bosses were fun.

I thought the bosses were fairly difficult. Not insanely difficult or anything, but pretty challenging none the less.

In all honesty, I thought Del Lago was the toughest. For a first boss, he was very, very difficult. However, I think this is mainly because the control scheme for the battle was completely different than the rest of the game. Kinda threw you for a temporary loop.

Krauser was tough too. Man, that was an awesome battle. I need to remember to create a separate save file next time I get to him so I can play him over and over again.

flaws? the puzzles were child play, the aiming reticule (a.ka. laser) was hard to aim sometimes, because it would disappear after a distance -you could say that was more of a realistic feature, and finally I got really annoyed that you couldn't move while shooting. It wasn't really the fact that you couldn't straf, as much as you might take damage while trying to hit someone, because you have to stop to shoot.

One thing they should've improved on was the button hitting parts. Not really improved, but they should have given you the ability to dodge a good amount of the enemy's attacks.

By far, the acted cut scenes. Perhaps excluding Leon and Krauser, they were all cringe-worthy.

Especially any involving Ashly. That's probably my biggest view on RE4's flaws.

~ Adhamh.

Originally Posted by Tigerboi

Garradors were more of sub-bosses actually. The part in which you fight two at once+ Professional mode= hell.

I liked the bosses. They were varied, unique (for the most part) and really fun. But....yeah, they were lacking in the difficulty area. I must admit, Salazaars body guard killed me a couple times on pro mode (One hit does about 50% damage.). And krauser kind of annoyed me the first two times I fought him (the time limit). Also, Mendez killed me once I think in pro mode.

Oh, and I died agianst Salazaar once just because I wasn't expecting that one hit kill attack. but I think that happened to everyone.

Yeah I know they were sub bosses, like the gattling gunners on the island. Still they were a hell of a lot more challenging than the Village Chief or El Gigante. Plus it took at little planning the first time through. I remember I was low on health with one herb and few rifle ammo. So I remember I had to be careful on my shots, because if I missed his claw would be through Leon's skull before I could blink. The time you fight two at once was easier, mainly because there was room to run and I had a good stock of grenades to deal damage and distract them. I think the Garrador that attacks you in the cage was the hardest. Trying to kick the door down in a small cage and avoiding the Garrador at the same time was quite tricky.

As for the Right Hand he was by far the hardest to me, if you didn't use a rocket launcher it took everything you had to beat him, and he could easily deal damage.

Oh and as for Salazar, as I said I beat him on my second try, the first one I died as a result of what you stated, the one hit kill, didn't see it coming.

i just find that they did that because it would cost to much time, i mean, wow whoopdy doo soo your arm goes through the wall, it doesnt make any difference....why take all that time to program that.

Originally Posted by lalilelulo

flaws? the puzzles were child play, the aiming reticule (a.ka. laser) was hard to aim sometimes, because it would disappear after a distance -you could say that was more of a realistic feature, and finally I got really annoyed that you couldn't move while shooting. It wasn't really the fact that you couldn't straf, as much as you might take damage while trying to hit someone, because you have to stop to shoot.

One thing they should've improved on was the button hitting parts. Not really improved, but they should have given you the ability to dodge a good amount of the enemy's attacks.

Idn't care what anyone says: A strafe/move and fire would completely ruin the combat. The RE combat has always been about positioning and using the correct weapon. The RE games have never been shooters. Why make them control like one? And the enemies do not use guns back, therefore there is no need for a strafe or move and fire. A light dodge (like a weave) could work. But it has to come with handicaps.

Flaws? The Leon can't get past this door on his own while there is a ladder 3 feet away... Always cracks me up.

Also the clipping and strafing just like tigerboi are small prices to pay the strafing I don't even miss because I don't use it in regular shooters anyway. RE4's way was far more tactical, can you imagine going through the village just avoiding all the villagers? No you had to run shoot hide shoot run find tactical spots etc.

Spoiler (Highlight to read):

---

For instanse in the castle where you have the enemy that if you don't kill him on time he goes on this sort of arrow gatling gun. Which is really hard, atleast I found it hard. But if you shoot him with your sniperrifle before he gets there you can avoid the whole part. That's tactics.

---

I remembered another one: The Leon needs a key for this door while there is a rocket launcher in his case.

So the only 'flaws' are the general funny moments that you think why can't you do that while there is this item you can easily use.

I mean, for anyone who still has doubts, think about it. about 95% of the enemies need to be in your face to hurt you. If you could move and shoot, would you honestly ever get hit?

Leon needs a key for this door while there is a rocket launcher in his case.

then whats the point of the game if you just blast your way through 'Doom' style?!!

the only flaw i have with the game is that it was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY to short, it could be finished in a day!!!

Originally Posted by WhiteEyedHyuuga

then whats the point of the game if you just blast your way through 'Doom' style?!!

the only flaw i have with the game is that it was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY to short, it could be finished in a day!!!

Too short? I disagree.

It took me 22 hours to beat it. For a horror-themed action game, that's long. Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted it to be any longer.

Hey, it takes different times for different people. Most people will do this game in four hours - probably a speed run_ and some will do it in 25 hours or so because the game is thathard.

I can't imagine any very impressive speed runs for this game. Leon moves pretty damn slow and the weapons you're originally given just aren't powerful enough to blast through it quickly. Sure, you can skip the cutscenes, but I still think it would be difficult for a really awesome speedrun.

Unless it was on a second playthrough, which would be really, really cheap.