Shinji Mikami Praises Resident Evil 4 Remake, Saying Capcom Improved the “Half-Assed” Story He Wrote in “Two Weeks”

The director of the original Resident Evil 4, Shinji Mikami, recently praised Capcom’s work on the Resident Evil 4 remake, admitting he “half-assed” the original story in just “two weeks” and shared his views on what makes a good remake.

Speaking to IGN, Mikami explained that the key to a successful remake lies in understanding the core elements that made the original a hit. He said, “I think the comprehensive and fundamental understanding of what it was that made the original work in the first place is probably the most important point of a good remake.”

“Everything from the ground up, basically,” he explains. “There’s a few examples of that with certain series that Capcom has put out.” He is, of course, talking about the recent run of Resident Evil remakes, the most recent being Resident Evil 4. Mikami has played it and offers glowing praise for the team at Capcom. “I thought that it was really well-made,” he said, impressed by how the remake handled combat details such as the timing between aiming and shooting.

The director explained that the original game balanced pressure and tension carefully, “I thought that they showed a really good understanding of that element,” he said. He continued, “Another thing I thought was really well done was the way they took the half-assed scenario that I just wrote up in two weeks and really built up on that and really fleshed it out.”

He highlighted how the remake team really understood the characters and their interactions, saying, “They showed a good understanding of the backbone of each character.” The director also praised the dialogue improvements, saying, “And they took not just the scenario itself, but even the dialogue, and they improved all that stuff so that was really great.”

While discussing remakes in general, he shared, “I personally don’t really have any interest in remasters.” Despite this, Mikami clearly appreciates the Resident Evil 4 remake for improving on what he calls a “half-assed” story, and he emphasized that a true remake succeeds by capturing what made the original work special.

The Resident Evil 4 Remake, released last year, also received high praise from fans and critics alike, with MP1st giving it a perfect score of 10 out of 10 and noting, “Capcom has made an already excellent game even better.” The game was also nominated for Game of the Year.

More MP1st Reading:

• Resident Evil 4 Remake Sales Now at Over 7M, Street Fighter 6 at 3.3M, Dragon’s Dogma 2 Climbs to 2.6M
• Capcom President Believes Video Game Prices Are “Too Low”
• Silent Hill Creator Keiichiro Toyama Sees Himself Collaborating With Resident Evil Creator Shinji Mikami in the Future

Stay connected to MP1st and the latest news by following us on Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Google News.