Topic: Push Square Game Club Spooktacular: Resident Evil 4

There's quite a bit of discrepancy between some of the milestones and progress reports from Remake players and what I got up to before the weekend. Leon is out of the Police Station now, having survived the car park and sewers and everything. I've just saved my progress in a small room which my Memory Card has elected to call a "factory" of some sorts. Have only spent about three hours with it, so I'm guessing that the Remake greatly expands the Police Station in particular.

Alas, I won't be able to play much more until the weekend, as an overhaul of my home set-up has revealed a faulty HDMI cable which needs replacing, but I'm looking forward to returning soon. If the original doesn't take half as long, then I should be able to keep pace regardless.

Not enjoying the Leon B playthrough as much as the first. Thought it would be a lot more different!

I'll stick with it but going through ALL of it again feels a tad daunting.

@Col_McCafferty
It will switch up quite a bit on leaving the police station as I recall, so you shouldn't see too much repetition overall. Definitely worth persevering.
You unlock something really cool on beating the game the second time as well.

@LieutenantFatman Not an actual visit from Mr X?

I could do without that tbh!

😬

I'll chug along with it then.

In the original you get a bowgun for Claire (Instead of the shotgun Leon gets) alongside the Grenade Launcher (Which takes the place of the magnum for her?) and another weapon @Th3solution you get further on in the game.

The bowgun isn't that great unfortunately due to how it works in this... They could've brought it back and retooled it for the remake to be much better... But you'll probably get some higher tier weapon instead which I guess works out just fine

You got through the sewers and to the factory @RogerRoger? Congratulations!

All I've got left with Claire in the police station is to go get the second half of the jaguar stone from the clocktower and put them all in Police Chief Iron's room.

Will you be trying Scenario B with Claire once you're done or are you just doing the one playthrough with Leon? (Compared to the remake players the second scenario is fairly different for us!)

I’m also just needing to go to the clock tower, however this is to get the second piece to turn on the power in the prison!

@nessisonett @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy The Clocktower puzzle for me was to get the second circuitry piece to get access to the parking garage key card locked by the police chief’s office. 😄 Jail? Factory? Jaguar stone? 😂 There is just enough different to make me want to do additional playthroughs

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That I did. Thank you! After I squirmed and dealt with the first two spiders, I carried on thinking they were done and dusted, so the subsequent ones made me jump. Otherwise it's been absolutely fine, and I've started to care about the plight of poor, helpless little Leon (with his arsenal of infinite bullets, shells and rocket-propelled grenades... okay, so maybe he's not entirely helpless, given that he could single-handedly take Panama at this point, but hey).

You're describing puzzles I haven't even had to solve. It's good to know that the Police Station holds even more secrets than I discovered, because it felt pretty packed to me, so that'll be impressive to see if and when I return with Claire. Not sure, though. I'll see how I feel when Leon's credits roll.

The remake is obviously far more involved, though. Seeing @Th3solution mention multiple circuitry pieces crucial to progression is weird to me because, in my PSone Police Station, there was only one spare circuit, and it was entirely optional (as it simply closed window shutters along a corridor that, otherwise, would've had a few extra enemies populating it during an inescapable backtrack). Same with location-specific keycards; there is only one, and it didn't lead me anywhere super-helpful. I guess the remake truly does expand everything it possibly can!

Ahh you mean the electrical wire @RogerRoger? Did that spook with the licker get you there?

The remake does expand on things fairly well from everything I'm reading and have previously heard about it. But it doesn't utilise the "zapping" system/second scenario as well as the original from what I've heard.

That choice of where you've put that wire up does affect the other/B scenario playthrough if I recall correctly and the choice between the item pouch or the sub machinegun (Or both if you're greedy) in the weapon storage in lockers in the basement does affect the other playthrough too.

I forgot what other differences there are but I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff along with some different bosses!

@RogerRoger Kudos for making it through the creepy 8-legged crawlers! Here’s hoping there aren’t anymore left.

And the puzzle with the circuitry is only two pieces. But of course there’s about 10 different items you have to get to finally procure the box that has each circuit. (Find the key to open the door to get the code to unlock the safe to get the gem to put in the box to open it to get the key to open the door to flip the switch to drop the ladder to get the gear to fix the machine to.....) 😂

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, does the original RE2 bring back the zapper melee item to have equipped in case you get grabbed it zaps the zombie like in RE1? I do prefer that to Claire’s current melee arsenal of combat knife (which breaks after a few uses and is only recoverable if you finish off the zombie ‘til it’s down and then you can pull the knife back out), grenade (for a quick shove in the mouth), and flash grenade.

Does the original RE2 bring back the Crimson Heads like in RE1? I don’t remember. The remake thankfully doesn’t have that mechanic - at least not that I’ve seen. Granted, I am playing on easy mode.

I'm on my 5th, maybe even 6th, speed playthrough since you guys started this (I'm mopping up trophies), and I still have to pause it every few minutes or so when I'm being chased by Tyrant, to de-stress. A heart rate monitor playthrough would be interesting...

No... There's no defensive items at all @Th3solution (They were first introduced in the RE 1 remake). The knife in the original doesn't break either! (Though it's not that great of course for us non pros lol)

Apologies for the confusion but the "zapping system" is what they called how the game does the whole dual playthrough/descisions system in the original Re2.

Like for example me taking the side pack to give two extra item slots to Claire, means when I go for playthrough B Leon'll only have the choice to get the sub machine gun or if I complete the game with Claire's alt costume, then in the Leon playthrough Claire'll be wearing said costume...

Basically what I was saying to Roger. Again apologies for the confusion... I admit the zapping system is a weird name 😅

Crimson heads were only ever in the Remake of 1. The original Resident Evil 1 doesn't have them and no other game in the series actually features them as far as I'm aware!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Ah, electrical wire, yes. Thank you; I knew it was something circuitry-related (it's been a long week)! Do you mean the bit where a Licker jumps through the interrogation room window, right after you collect it? Because yes, I jumped at that, for sure!

When I went to grab the SMG, a prompt appeared saying "I should leave this for Claire" and I was automatically backed out of my inventory. I'm assuming that's because I'm playing through in this Arrange Mode thingie, in which I've been given an SMG with infinite ammo from the get-go. Whilst leaving it behind went against my usual hoarder tendencies, I don't think I've ever played a game where it'd matter before, so I found it a neat kinda touch.

@Th3solution Cheers! Here's hoping!

I'm starting to appreciate how Resi puzzles seem to be so systematic. There have been a couple of traditional "push buttons in the right order" things in individual rooms, which reminded me of the classic Tomb Raider approach, but the broader concept of staying in one location and gradually peeling back its layers has been quite rewarding... even though, as you say, some chains of events can get a bit "The House That Jack Built" at times!

I actually played through this sometime last year @RogerRoger so whilst I was prepared for it this time around... Last year when I hadn't touched it for a good 10 or something years that Licker jumping through the window really did get me. Those bloody zombo hands that crash through the wooden boards om the left side of the station still got me though... I was expecting them but dammit they still got me 😅

Oh that is a neat little touch regarding the arrange mode stuff!

I don't wanna say 100% in case I am wrong (I have a fuzzy recollection of where the factory save room is?) ... But I think you've got past all the eight legged individuals now? There aren't many in the second game from what I recall... I'm sure they only appear in the sewer section so you should be fine when you get into the final areas

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I don't think the arms reaching through got me as much, perhaps because their arrival was heralded by one of the game's long PSone pauses (at least on my PS3's digital download version). The Licker's sudden appearance was much more... well, sudden!

And thank you, I think I am as well, based on what others have said in the past. Will let you know for certain because I'll definitely finish Leon's story at least.

It'll be my first ever complete(ish) Resident Evil game playthrough!

So.. I’m not sure if we established any particular goal this week, but I just entered the Lab. The game continues to be really awesome and I think I’m going to keep pushing on ahead; it’s totally fine by me if we are all a little off at slightly different places in the game.
I will say that I struggled the most during this last section in the sewers. The large mutated beasts in the sewer water were really, really tough. I burned through a lot of my flame rounds fending them off and then wish that I still had them when I was facing off with the G boss fight. I died several times while trying to figure out how to beat that boss. He was pretty hard to bring down.

I’m really curious how the second run differs from the first one, since clearly everything after the police station seems to be quite specific to the events revolving around Sherry. I half expected to cross paths again with Leon by this point, but it appears the star-crossed lovers will have to wait perhaps until the end to gaze into each other’s eyes again.

@Th3solution Oh christ, it’s the weekend already??

Alrighty, it’s looking like perhaps people are getting relatively close to the end so the goal for this week until we all finish is simply to complete the game. If you finish early then feel free to start the other playthrough if you want to!

@Th3solution Yeah one can't help but go through a lot of ammo whilst in the sewers!

I'm probably halfway through my 2nd run as Leon, ammo still an issue but lots and lots of health. Sometimes I guess one should just run!

@Col_McCafferty I’ve been playing on the “Assisted” or Easy mode and fortunately I’ve had enough supplies to kill almost everything I come in contact with. The main ammo that I find in shortest supply is actually the flame rounds since you can’t manufacture those and they are very effective against lickers and the late game enemies and bosses. I would have liked more of those. The other is of course the spark bolts and the high-powered rounds for the SLS 60. I know the real experts at the game probably run past most enemies, but so long as I have ammo I prefer getting rid of them so when I come back through an area again then I’m not given a heart attack when a zombie or licker jumps me. 😅

As far as health items, I actually had those in massive excess during my run because I went ahead and tried for the trophy for completing the game without using a single health item.

So how’s your 2nd run going? Do you recommend it and does it still feel fresh enough to keep it engaging? I’m considering maybe a harder setting on the second run but I don’t want it to ruin the experience for me.

So, I actually went on last night and made it to the ending of Claire A. I just couldn’t stop; the game had me hooked. I’ve finished that and am pondering whether to start Leon 2nd run. I think that I will start it and just see if the game continues to amaze and entertain me the way it has. I have a big backlog to play through, but I’ve enjoyed this game so much I kind of want to see it through all the way. Although I realize to get the full effect of the game you need to play all 4 runs and also the extra supplemental game modes included. I’m not sure I’ll be that obsessed so as to do all that, but I am extremely impressed with what Capcom has done here wi try the oodles of content which is so polished and geniusly put together. The game is well worth the $60 price tag and I think it’s a steal for the sale price I got it at $20. I like how it’s both a 8-10 hour experience and a 40-60 hour experience, depending if you want just the basic single playthrough or want to unlock everything and play extra modes. I’ve been a big proponent for making some games with shorter runtimes since games have become so big [and at times bloated] and this is a great solution to appease both camps.

As far as other final thoughts on the first run, I enjoyed each section in its own way. The last boss was really hard for me at first. I died multiple times. But as I stated above, I was going for the trophy for completion of the game without using a single health item (which wasn’t that difficult overall on ‘assisted’ since Claire heals from ‘critical’ condition to at least ‘caution’ over time; just a little annoying to be running around on half health for most of the game) so I wasn’t healing and so two hits from it was all I could take before ‘game over.’

And actually, I died so many times that I just said “screw this” and healed during the fight and I beat the boss the first time with that strategy. Then I realized how close the end was and decided to reload a save from before the boss and try again and I was able to do it without healing and got the trophy.

I finished with a “B” grade, at around 9 hours playtime and 50 (!!) saves. I might be a little obsessive with saving 😅

As for the ending it does just kind of stop abruptly and I would like to have seen a more fleshed out epilogue, but I realize this isn’t the “true ending” until I complete more playthroughs. I just wanted to see how Claire, Leon, and Sherry get along after leaving the facility

Overall I’m just really enamored with the game. I think I’ve talked myself into trying my hand at the Leon B and see if it keeps my interest. I don’t want it to sour me from an overall enjoyable time.