Recent reviews by Fanda Nyamo

Aight so I'm not gonna sugarcoat it with this review. I am gonna be really critical, and I bet no one is even gonna read this. I will be comparing this the OG RE4, and there will be many spoilers, so beware ye who read this!

Graphics are amazing, let's get that outta the way first. It's expected of the RE engine, it specializes in creating moody, dark and decaying environments, and this game is no exception. The eerie atmosphere is done excellent. It's evident the devs have been trying to do a darker tone for the RE series since RE7, and i think it suits this game too, graphically at least.
The models all look good, good attention to detail on that front.


I will start out by saying the combat is very solid for the most part. Movement is good. Leon's kick feels impactful, about as good as OG, maybe even better. Sounds like I'm breaking bones with every kick. Appreciated.
I like the use of the knife in this remake. The reintroduction of resource scarcity has been a boon to the series as a whole. I'll admit the combat loop of OG RE4 is pretty... lame. Shooting a guy and kicking him feels great naturally, but the part with knifing him to death is a little silly and feels a bit like an oversight on the devs' part, but what do I know?
Similarly the introduction of crafting into RE from RE3 remake, and originally OG RE3, then quickly forgotten all about, is a welcome addition for promoting that item scarcity. I was never too low on ammo, though, but I've only played on Normal so far. That will change soon enough.

Now for the first negative; critical hits. I've no idea how this works, but the fact I half the time shoot a guy in the face, and multiple times in the knees, and he just looks at me funny, it doesn't feel good. Sometimes you stagger him, sometimes not. I have a suspicion it's to create tension and compromise for the better movement, as in the OG RE4, it had to reward you faster during combat, as aiming and moving was slow and clumsy. Still, I don't like it.

The merchant is back and better than ever imo. The lovely lad has been upgraded in every sense of it. I love that you can store your bought weapons away instead of being forced to sell them when you have no more space. It's a feature I always wanted in the OG.

I am happy to see the shooting range minigame expanded, as it originally only rewarded you bottlecaps and some easily skippable gold. But OH BOY, I have no idea who at Capcom thought it was a good idea to make the gacha machine have a randomly seeded reward pool. And duplicates?! Why duplicates??? I can do a dozen playthroughs and still not have all the charms, if luck is doing me dirty. You were so close to making it good, Capcom. You just blew it at the end.

Other stuff like regeneradors turning into iron maidens when you kill them is a cool twist. Definitely throws you off the first time.


He is actually fairly close to the original. It's clear effort went into preserving his goofy charm, though he is toned down. This is actually a theme with the characters in general; camp was lost to make way for doing a more serious, darker take on the story.
Leon makes the occasional funny quip, but isn't as witty as the original. He is close though. A minor downgrade imo.

Ashley is one of the characters I think that won the most in this remake with her character. She is still a scared wee girl, but no longer whiny, and actually rather likable, but also grows to be a bit more self-dependent over the story. And most of all, she develops an actual relationship with Leon.
Her new design is also very nice. I like the jacket. Her face is very cute too. It was a bit goofy in the original, but i suppose that's the tech of the time. Although there are no ears to be seen on her model. WHERE ARE THE EARS, CAPCOM? WHERE ARE THEY?!

The other character that won big during this remake. Someone at Capcom must really like Luis, because he got lots of attention this time. He has a way bigger role in the story this time and doesn't just pop in and out randomly. He is very likable. The Don Quixote references are cute. I also love his jacket. It's cool af.
Though he sadly lost a bit of his funny quips, and we shall forever mourn the loss of the "ballistics" comment.
He gets a more dignified death this time around, but I won't lie. I will miss him getting impaled by Saddler shlong.

Ada never had much screen time originally, but I gotta say, this one ain't it. It is commonly known by now the performance of her in this game is undercooked. The sexy femme fatale personality is pretty much gone. There is no personality to her at all. She sounds bored most of the time. I'm unsure if the actress is to blame or the director. Someone didn't do it right though.
I do like Ada's new design though. I prefer the thigh high boots and sweater over the dress. Please burn me at the stake for having this opinion. I'm just not much of a dress guy.

Krauser never had much to work with originally. They gave him some more backstory and fleshed out some history with Leon, making him a vengeful, disposed soldier. But that came at the cost of explaining why he is even working with the Illuminados??? In the original, he interacts multiple times with Ada to lets us know he works for Wesker as a double agent, but that's just forgotten in this game for some reason? Don't tell me it's in one of the damn papers spread around the game! I shouldn't have to read them to understand what the devil is going on when the original already told me!

I am very mixed on Saddler. On one hand, I am pleased they fleshed out his backstory. I also think his new design is very cool. Different but similar enough to the original. I actually prefer the new one more.
As for his personality, I do like the fanatical cult leader personality. It's a different take more fitting with the darker tone in these new games, but I just love the smarmy cartoon villain of the original. "'The american prevailing' is a cliché that only happens in your Hollywood movies". It is so good, and I miss that alot.
He is also severely underused, only being introduced in the last third.

It pains me to say, I think Salazar was the guy who was done dirty the most in this game. Worst part is, it's not even his fault. He has barely changed. The problem of Salazar is his character comes from his repeated interaction with Leon through their constant snarky insults at eachother in cutscenes. The same can be said for Saddler in fact. And since most of those are straight up gone in this game, as Salazar no longer hijacks the comm system, but just talks to Leon one-sided over a speaker, the funny aspect of his character is just really lacking. They force the "script" dialogue in at the boss fight, which I will admit is more interesting than the original, but that feels more like an "Oh crap, we gotta get it in there to please the fans!" moment.

While the cutscenes are nicely done, I feel attentions to detail was lost or abandoned along the way. This isn't exclusively a problem with this game. Small, but important details were lost across all the remakes in order to "streamline" it, I'm sure. Examples being:
In the castle sewers, Leon suddenly gets chased by Verdugo. Why does he do that? In the OG, when Leon falls into the trap pit, he shoots the speaker Salazar is using, which infuriates him and he then sends Verdugo to finish the job. This would likely clash with the serious tone this game is going for, but what they could've done is make Salazar be like. "Go make sure he is dead!". Simple. Another is why is Mendez' eye not a key? Also, despite graphical improvements, this game seems afraid to show transforomations proper. Mendez is hidden in fire. Saddler doesnt reveal an eyeball by opening his mouth. Just weird honestly.

Fun for sure, but the performance is trash for me.

This game is very chill, very relaxing. Sometimes that's what you need.

Payday 2's history is a long and messy one. It's a bit of a frankenstein of ideas and concepts, thrown together to see what sticks. Starting off at simple DLCs, to later lootboxes with stat-boosting skins, performance that has never been fixed or maybe can't be so due to a crap engine. Not to mention the incredible power creep that has happened throughout the years. But looking past all of this, you will find a good, solid foundation for a game.
Luckily at this point in time, you can buy the Complete edition, or Legacy edition as it's called now. No need to worry about what DLCs to buy.
Regarding that, it saddens me that Overkill never succeeded in any of their other projects, meaning they had to return to this. It's clear they had a plan for a story, and said story was done. Now they can make side-stories I guess.
Still, it is a good game.

An amazing recreation of the original, while adding creative new twists.

This is a game everyone should own. I don't care if you claim you aren't good enough, then you git gud. I don't care if you aren't into shooters, then rethink your preferences. Because this game is ideal. It's hard, but rewarding, and gives good replayability, at least for me. Also I see this game on sale for 1 buck alot of times. You have absolutely no reason to not buy it.

Also, if you are weeaboo trash or something, then that's another reason.

One of the few games out there, where simplicity improved the game.

Double-teamed: The Game!

For when you just want to ♥♥♥♥ around.

Also, Napoleonic Wars is pretty good.

Sneaking around killing nazis, while wearing tight-ass spandex and tripping on LSD. What more could you possibly wish for?

Double-teamed: The Game. Back with a vengeance!

Not much new here, but feels slightly downgraded.

The End.

Though you can move while reloading muskets compared Warband, so that's a plus.