Capcom brought its absolute A-game to Summer Games Fest this year, and the effort was worth it. With several trailers for Street Fighter 6 being shown, Exoprimal receiving its first gameplay look, and a sequel to the cult classic Dragon's Dogma finally being announced, Capcom is the talk of the town right now. That's not even mentioning its Resident Evil reveals, which were some of the biggest announcements of the year. On top of Resident Evil Village's story DLC getting announced, and next-gen versions of Resident Evil 2, 3, and 7 being shadow-dropped, Resident Evil 4 Remake was finally confirmed.
During Capcom's own showcase, a few brief moments of Resident Evil 4 Remake gameplay were shown, while the developers discussed a few of the changes it was making from the original groundbreaking PS2 classic. In general, the tone seems to be a little darker, as does the color palette for the environments. Though it wasn't shown in any real capacity, Capcom also mentioned that Resident Evil 4's iconic Ganados villagers are being redesigned to better fit the remake's new direction.
How Capcom Could Be Redesigning the Ganados
Right now, it's unclear just how extensive Capcom's changes to Resident Evil 4 will be, and in the case of the changes coming to the Ganados, it's completely unknown. The first few hours of the original Resident Evil 4 are some of the most memorable and iconic in any survival horror game, period, and the Ganados play a crucial part in that.
As Leon Kennedy makes his way through the eery village for the first time, the suspense continues to build until the infected Ganados are stumbled upon. From then on, the sequence turns into one of the most intense survival horror experiences of all time, with hordes of undead villagers stumbling out of their respective homes to stalk the player. Though they're fairly slow, the Ganados are deadly up-close, with just one wrong move resulting in Leon getting impaled with a multitude of pitchforks.
One of the biggest changes coming with Resident Evil 4 Remake is that Leon can now move while aiming. While this might not sound too significant on the surface, with survival horror games doing this for well over a decade now, it's likely going to change the original Resident Evil 4 experience quite a bit. One of the biggest examples of this revolves around the Ganados. As mentioned just before, the Ganados' original design sees them slowly creep toward the player, remaining a constant threat until Leon can give himself enough of a gap to stop in his tracks and open fire, all while leaving himself vulnerable to attacks.
With Leon being able to aim while moving in Resident Evil 4 Remake, the Ganados' AI behavior is going to need to change. This will likely come in the form of a movement speed increase, as making the Ganados move faster could be an effective way to maintain the tension of the chase. Alternatively, Capcom may even go one step further and make the Ganados' AI much smarter than their original counterparts, giving them the ability to act strategically as a mob and ambush the player, or act more aggressive in certain scenarios, such as when the player runs out of ammo.
It's also pretty likely that the Ganados will be receiving a visual overhaul as well, to better fit with Resident Evil 4 Remake's color palette. Where the original Resident Evil 4 had more of a washed-out, brown palette, Resident Evil 4 Remake seems to be going for a similar visual style as the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, where the color palette consists of more blues and grays. As such, the Ganados may be swapping out their brown farming overalls and jackets for some gray threads, so that they better fit the look of the environment they inhabit.
Resident Evil 4 Remake launches March 24, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.