Resident Evil creator says the secret to a good remake is knowing what "made the original work," praises RE4 Remake for improving the "half-assed" story he wrote "in 2 weeks"

(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami has spoken out on video game remakes, and he's particularly impressed with how Capcom handled 2023's Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Speaking to IGN, Mikami explained his philosophy behind tackling a video game remake. "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," he said. "Everything from the ground up, basically ... There's a few examples of that with certain series that Capcom has put out."

Mikami is of course referring to Capcom's series of remakes for Resident Evil, the most recent being the brilliant Resident Evil 4 Remake. Unsurprisingly, Mikami has played through the 2023 action horror romp and called it "really well-made," complimenting its combat and how it makes for tense encounters. "I thought that they showed a really good understanding of that element," he said.

Mikami left Capcom in 2006 shortly after the release of Resident Evil 4.

"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 said. "They showed that they really understood the characters and their interactions. They showed a good understanding of the backbone of each character. And they took not just the scenario itself, but even the dialogue, and they improved all that stuff so that was really great."

We're inclined to agree here at GR+, with Leon's Resident Evil 4 Remake review awarding the game 4.5/5 stars and heaping praise on the visuals, combat, and variety in the game while knocking close-range fights. The original Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I can confidently say the 2023 remake is the best version of it.

There's a good reason the original made our list of the best horror games ever made.

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.