Gameplay is solid, though I prefer how the original game played out in the opening to the remake, but changing things up makes it feel a bit fresh for those used to the game.
Art direction is still kind of bland which I felt since the original reveal. I don't like the washed out dull greyish cast over everything, the original wasn't super colorful, but the reds and browns felt like a more appropriate color cast for the woods. The woods also felt more open of an area, I think the visibility through the trees shorn of leaves helps (and made the area feel more desolate and deserted, which upped the creep factor), but you could also maneuver more; the remake feels more on rails leading you to the cabin then to the village. I hope this is just a limitation for the demo and that the full game is better for this area. The village itself feels fine so far, maybe not quite as open/large, but I was only really going for the objective. I feel really protective of the village and castle segments of the game though as that entire first 1/3 or so of the game is my favorite part.
I like the new broken neck plaga villagers, it ups the intensity and is a good prelude to the villagers with the heads blown off and the full plaga parasite extruding (which I hope they keep).
The village attack feels a bit more intense, it feels like there are more villagers and you are a bit more helpless to their attacks.
They better let you free the damn dog in the full game.
Solid so far, still feels like an unnecessary remake without Mikami back working with the team (and given how limited the 2 remake was with the Jill and Leon playthroughs having no variation, I wish he did at least consult), and the fact that unlike 1, 2, and 3 remaking their originals (the 1 remake being a long time ago), the gameplay of 4 still holds up incredibly well and the visuals are still good (it looks really good when rendered in hd resolutions; it's not as primitive as the PS1/N64 era games, though those games are not bad looking for their time period at all; plus the HD Project of 4 for PC exists so that dampers things as well), so this remake doesn't feel like it's adding anything truly new even if they change things up here and there like they have so far.
Good so far, hope the full game is even better, still would probably rather play the HD Project but I am open to the new game changing my mind.
