Resident Evil 4 is now 20 years old – Remembering one of the best games ever made

On January 11, 2005, Capcom released Resident Evil 4, a Nintendo GameCube exclusive that immediately became one of the best and 𝕴most beloved video games ever made. Twenty years later, both Capcom and its fans fondly remember this classic adventure that changed gaming forever.

The posted this image commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Resident Evil 4 and asked fans when they played through Leon Kennedy’s adventure for the first time. Naturally, gamers all around the world replied with their own personal opinions and anecdotes about the game, which confirmed that the gaming community still loves and appreciates Resident Evil 4, even now, 20 years after its release.

These may seem like unusual reactions for those who somehow still haven’t experienced RE4 on their own or haven’t re-played it in decades, but this is an almost flawless third-person shooter/survival horror that has aged surprisingly well. Yes, Capcom did release a high-quality modern remake in 2023, but there’s a reason why most fans believe that : Because the original game from 2005 still is absolutely amazing.

Resident Evil 4’s troubled development was completely worth it

Back in the 90s, Shinji Mikami wanted to make a new Resident Evil sequel for the (then) new PlayStation 2 console, and even though the final game he and his team came up with was incredible, its development process was lengthy and complicated, to the point that they had to discard three different versions of the game, known as “Fog,” “Hook Man,” and “Hallucination.” Curiously enough, at one point, Hideki Kamiya came up with the idea of a Resident Evil game centered on demons and melee combat, but that they turned it into its own series, and the project became what we now know as the original Devil May Cry.

Capcom and Mikami finally released Resident Evil 4 on January 11, 2025, exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube. The game was part of the “Capcom Five,” a collaboration between the company and Nintendo that had the goal of creating high-quality exclusives for the GameCube. Needless to say, Resident Evil 4 was the highlight of this collaboration, and its immense critical and commercial success prompted Capcom to port it over to other consoles, like the PlayStation 2 ()

What made Resident Evil 4 such an exceptional video game for its time?

It may be easy to forget nowadays, but the third-person shooter genre was not as beloved or popular back in the early 2000s as it is now. This is because Resident Evil 4 was the game responsible for revitalizing the genre by introducing a new over-the-should perspective that allowed for easier exploration, more precise shooting during the combat segments and an overall more comfortable experience when compared to its predecessors, which featured fixed camera angles. Resident Evil 4 was so revolutionary that it inspired many beloved third-person shooters, like , and .

But the success of RE4 can’t be attributed entirely to its over-the-should perspective since the rest of the game is absolutely fantastic as well. Leon S. Kennedy is a cool but charming main character. The villains and bosses are disturbing and intimidating. RE4 maintained a dark and suspenseful atmosphere (even if it leaned a bit too much into the action). Its main setting of rural Spain is unique and memorable, and it’s filled to the brim with clever moments and mind-blowing secrets. Most importantly, it knows how to reward players who complete the main campaign many times, meaning that it has a huge replayability factor. All of these elements together made gamers around the world fall in love with Resident Evil 4.

The game that shaped the entire Resident Evil franchise (For better and for worse)

Resident Evil 4 is a relatively controversial game among Resident Evil fans. On the one hand, this was a high-quality product that helped popularize the IP even further and later influenced the gameplay of its beloved modern installments, like Resident Evil 2 Remake or Resident Evil Village. On the other hand, many people blame Resident Evil 4‘s action-oriented gameplay for the eventual decline of the franchise. Capcom desperately tried to capture lightning twice, with the divisive Resident Evil 5 and the lackluster Resident Evil 6. The franchise would go through a rough patch until the release of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard in 2017, whic🎶h brought it back to its survival horror roots.

Regardless of your opinion on the impact that RE4 had on the franchise, it can’t be denied how incredible and influential this game truly was. As a result of this reputation, it didn’t take long for Capcom to release a modern remake in 2023, simply known as Resident Evil 4 Remake. Despite the fact that many fans believed this remake wasn’t even necessary (because the original game has aged perfectly), it turned out to be yet another incredible experience (One of the best games of 2023) that reviewed and sold extremely well.

In my personal opinion, Resident Evil 4 Remake is an amazing game that gives longtime Resident Evil a refreshing new way to re-experience Leon Kennedy’s classic adventure, but it’s not a true replacement for that original game. If you’re interested in trying all of this by yourself, you should definitely try both 2005’s Resident Evil 4 and 2023’s Resident Evil 4 Remake sepa♊rately, one after the other. So, what do you think about this game, and what are your personal memories of it?