I don’t know how many obstacles remain between us and Sadler, but I know we can take them all.

I can’t help but admire the campy goofiness of the laser grid sequence in this episode. Ada Wong is a super spy, and it’s such a classic genre trope, and a reference to the movies to boot, that it fits perfectly in with the rest of the game. Doubly so since our second attempt at it has a giant BOW out to get us.

That said, I’m surprised that were confident enough to do even a small QTE like this in the context of Resident Evil 4. It’s not a big one, but the original game is so infamous for its long QTEs that you’d be they’d be nervous to do one at all.

We’re on the home stretch. Sadler has our prize. So to complete our contract, we will have to dispose of him.

While fighting the Regeneradors in this episode, we hit upon an interesting comparison of the classic Resident Evil 4 versus this version, highlighting a key difference in how games of their respective generations function.

In the original, once the player has the biosensor scope, it’s actually relatively easy to shoot the hearts of the creature to dispose of it. There’s very little mechanic skill involved in the act because of the simplistic way it moves and animates. By and large, it moves predictably, in a straight line towards you.

To sell the fluid and dynamic nature of the creature, the remake introduces a degree of bobbing and swaying that wasn’t present before. While this adds to the verisimilitude, it comes at the cost of making the hearts, even with the BioScope, more difficult to hit accurately. This may be an intended side-effect, but the push for higher-definition enemy designs and animations comes at the cost of functionality, similar to how we need yellow paint in modern games to tell us where to go since environments aren’t as legible as they used to be in older console generations.

It’s something I’m beginning to notice more and more as the graphical fidelity wars continue and I get older. Part of the magic of the older generation of games is that they were intensely legible at a glance, by design, and many games have begun to lose elements of that as they progress into the modern era.

Admittedly, this is only a minor example, but it is one that I will probably reference for years to come.

With Bug Boy out of the picture, we can finally concentrate on our actual goals, as soon as I remember what they were.

David Phillips at https://www.twitch.tv/davenscastle
Thanks to him for pointing out that the z-word was a slur. I had never heard it in that context before, and I shall henceforth not repeat it.

Having said that, I have clearly underestimated the expansion by at least 2 hours. I thought we would finish tonight, but we’ll need one more recording session before we can wrap up. And I’m still not sure what I’ll be doing next.

But that’s a problem for future me.

Looks like Bug Boy is back, and it’s time to deep-six him permanently.

David Phillips at https://www.twitch.tv/davenscastle

From my experience, it appears that almost without exception, the boss fights are the least tense segments of a Resident Evil game, and this one is no different.

That’s not to say that the lack of tension is a mistake, but it is an interesting data point. Theoretically, seeing a major antagonistic force transform into a giant abomination should be scarier than facing a suit of armor with a parasite inside it. However, because that oversized monster comes in the form of a standard video game boss fight, the tension almost immediately leaves the room. All the conventions are there, and most players will instinctively know what they to do and where they need to aim. But that’s intentional because they’re a deliberate release of tension. We’ve been hounded by this enemy for hours. Now that he’s a boss fight, we know he’s vulnerable.

By contrast, the fight against the knights in a closed space with archers outside the room is a more tense battle. Same with most fights against hordes of generic mobs. They test our resources and tactical thinking in far more potent ways.

It’s a neat trick, and one that I can respect.

We have one more ingredient left for the inhibitor treatment, so we had best hurry!

David Phillips at https://www.twitch.tv/davenscastle

It is astounding what a difference a stronger weapon and a few upgrades can make to a run. What were once difficult foes become much easier to take down thanks to the Red9 and a good stock.

We’re coming up on the turning point that all Resident Evil games seem to have, where the resources and equipment are potent enough that enemies aren’t as threatening as they were in the early game. We stand a fighting chance against them and a good one at that.

And as always, it feels good.

Looks like we went and got ourselves infected. Lucky for us, we know the guy who can make us an inhibitor and buy some time… just as soon as we give him the ingredients.

David Phillips at https://www.twitch.tv/davenscastle
And in case you were curious, the lime and the coconut are used to make a non-alcoholic cocktail.

This was admittedly not my best showing, but thankfully it’s all uphill from here. Sure, there will be archers, but they’ll be in formations that make them less painful to handle.

Things are looking pretty grim between the big evil mutant in our way and the complete lack of resources at our disposal. That said, we still have to make our way through this, so we’re in for a fight.

David Phillips at https://www.twitch.tv/davenscastle

Currently, the most noticeable issue I have with Separate Ways is our extremely limited resource pool. Even in my original run of Resident Evil 4, I never felt like I was running on empty to quite the same degree as I am now. There are few things worse than facing a boss only to realize we have to scramble for ammo just so we have ways of dealing damage.

In all the Resident Evil games I’ve played on stream, I can’t recall ever having that issue before. Though resources can often be tight, especially in the early game, there’s always been enough healing and ammunition in the environment to replenish the reserves lost. Something is off in the way items are being distributed in this expansion, and in the context of the other games, it’s glaringly noticeable.

That said, drops usually grow more plentiful as the campaign goes on and we get access to better equipment, so perhaps our luck is due to change soon.

We might be in a bit of pain, and hard up on ammo, but we’re still surviving as we go our Separate Ways in Resident Evil 4 (2023).

David Phillips at https://www.twitch.tv/davenscastle

I don’t have an issue with going through the same zones that Leon had to in the original scenario, but I must admit that I dislike how much in these first few hours we’ve been doubling back through the same zones multiple times. I understand the Village map isn’t large, but there had to be an alternate route that didn’t have so much circling back.

Hopefully we don’t have this issue with the Castle.

We might have saved Luis from his tricky predicament, but he still owes us the amber we came here for. Let’s work with David Phillips to make sure he lives up to his end of our bargain.

It’s amusing to play through campaigns like this. When going through the original story, Ada gives the impression that she’s constantly watching and observing Leon, choosing only to act in moments where he needs tactical support.

As the star of her own separate campaign that takes place in parallel to his, the impression is much different. Rather than this super spy who chooses the exact moment to strike, Ada is more clearly off in her own little world getting her own missions and tasks taken care of. If she happens to be in the area, she’ll assist, but she’s not actively keeping tabs on Leon. It’s less that she’s spying on him and more that she just so happens to be in the right place at the right time coincidentally.

I don’t think that’s a fault. In a sense, that can be its own lesson in how perceived reality can often differ greatly from true reality. I just think there’s humor there that wasn’t in the original game.

As we ran through Resident Evil 4 (2023) with our good friend David Phillips, did you ever wonder just what Ada Wong was up to over the course of the adventure? Well, now’s your chance to find out. The Separate Ways campaign has finally made it to the 2023 remake, and we’re going to run through it.

I like the “super spy” vibe and tone Ada gives off in the initial few sections of her scenario. It fits nicely into the campy aesthetic that the series aims for, while still giving her a unique and flavorful identity separate from Leon.

And though I will have to fight inevitably, it’s fun to just avoid combat when possible and dodge as many enemies as we can in order to converse both time and resources. We’re off to a solid start. Hopefully, we can keep it up.