"Detrás de tiii imbéeesil!"

Fun little fact about myself! I love horror games!
I am just a freak for horror to be honest, there is just something cool about going deep into worlds you want to get out as possible and trying to get through what the game throws at you. Through the years, horror games really benefitted from just having simple monsters that chased you down, jumpscares, atmosphere... You name it. But usually Horror is a game genre that tends to be tied with another type of game genre, making them also very versatile and different when you are going through the game.
And no franchise screams it louder than the Resident Evil franchise.

Another little fact about myself! Resident Evil 4 was my first Resident Evil game; surprisingly have never tried any Resident Evil game, but this stopped 3 years ago when I purchased Resident Evil 4 on my Nintendo Switch... Big regret there as I didn't have a good enough PC to handle a 20 year old game and I instead decided to get the game digitally on the Nintendo Switch which has... Not a lot of storage space... Yay.
Well, even with that silly tiny mistake I got to discover a franchise I would never imagine I would fall in love with.
I decided to start with Resident Evil 4 because I didn't know where to start; I did hear good things about this game before (and the rest of the franchise, this one was just more pronounced) so maybe it was a good start.
Sometimes I do tend to be a bit different with my takes but I have to agree with the majority here, this game is simply awesome.
In fact, I beat the game 3 times now, 1 on my switch and 2 on my now more updated PC, 1 of them in the highest difficulty, and I tend to not do that but it shows how much I like this game.
Sorry for the long story that you probably don't care about but cat's out of the bag now! Yeah this game rules and I am super impressed by it when I first completed it.
Those things you hear about Resident Evil 4 being so great are true.

Resident Evil 4 has no business going this hard for a game that was changing so much about the franchise. Mainly it's less puzzle gameplay and it's change of the camera and movement.
Now the areas are big, open and crowded, you don't stay in the same spot for more than 5 minutes unlike other games and it's horror elements compared to the previous 3 games is toned down a ton, but it somehow feels like Resident Evil (I know this because I have played other games from the franchise now), and that is truly impressive.
The game feels quick, snappy, less head scratching and more free to explore?
I don't know the game is simply fun.

I do want to say something first before talking about how great this game is, and that is it's weak points. Believe me this game is awesome, but it is in no means perfect.
First I do want to mention the story of Resident Evil 4, mainly the plot; it feels on the weaker side of things not really being eventful or interesting on it's own. It does the job for what the game wants to achieve but compared to other games in the same series, it doesn't feel like it's trying to go a step further nor is trying to say something.
And another thing is the puzzles, Resident Evil 4 isn't that heavy on puzzles like it's predecessors, but it does throw you puzzles occasionally for hidden objects or for achieving the main goal, but unfortunately these aren't as good or as creative; an example being a puzzle where you have to open a door with the symbol of Los Iluminados, but it is extremely simple and almost handed to the player requiring no thought process. Puzzles are the more rewarding when the player understands the challenge the game is throwing at them after figuring them out, and most of these puzzles are very simplified and not challenging for a franchise that doesn't hide it's difficulty.
The rest of the game goes from great to outstanding!

Resident Evil 4 makes a super enjoyable and intriguing experience by going through a town, to a castle, to a far away island full and the game feels like a giant rollercoaster because it stays very consistent in pacing, it gives it's time to highlights, there are always hidden objects to get more PTAS for upgrades and weapons, it is very well detailed in a lot of moments. It stays very consistent in quality from start to end and never feels like it's doing something unnecessary or out of place and it makes every area and moment unique when you explore it every time. I quite like when games makes everything distinctive and they know it. Almost like it's trying to show off what's great about it.
Nothing shows that better than when the game let you choose between 2 paths in chapter 2-3, one containing another Gigante in some sort of escape section where you need to break a few doors to get around them using bolders or your own weapons to stop his movement, but you can choose to defeat this Gigante for a high reward; on the other path having an area containing the Bella Sisters, which are essentially 2 Dr. Salvadors at once, where you need to defeat them both to obtain a key but you choose how you want to defeat them unlike the Gigante's path which was more limiting on how you defeat it, while also dealing with a horde of normal villagers that may help the more dangerous Bella Sisters kill the player with their 1-hit kill design.
Now that's how you do all the ones above while also giving the player options, and that, on a videogame, is powerful.
The game's visuals also are pretty impressive for it's time; sure they may look aged now, I mean... 2005 LOL. But, it still looks pretty good, even better with the HD edition PC or newer releases. Everything looks clean, simple and accessible for everyone to understand.

By the way, did I mention how fun this game is? Yes? Well here is a better explanation anyways!!
Leon has tank-like controls, you can only move forwards or backwards and can turn in any direction, you can shoot with your pistol or attack with your knife in a static position; additionaly you can kick enemies or suplex them when stunned. It's such a good combat system and allows the player to have multiple options to combat enemies. You also can get a multitude of guns, all of them super different and made for different situations, which you can upgrade too, how neat. The inventory is also oddly fun to organize how you like.
By far, the best part are the bossfights. All of them are super well made, strategies to defeat them and they feel very balanced to face against, my favourite being Krauser having a very personal time against Leon and seeing him being blinded by the power of the virus was very cool. Maybe the only one I wish was a bit better is Ramon Salazar, I felt like the area below the boss was a bit pointless.
The moments with Ashley also feel decently well done, it creates that feeling of frustration and non-sympathy towards her really well, it extends her character greatly. Even if her controls are pretty simple, you have to make sure you dont forget about her and you have to protect her.

For it's extra content, it is simply flooded with tons of extra modes, secrets and more!
Usually Resident Evil games tend to hide objects from the player and this one is no different, a lot of objects and PTAS can be found by little interactions, like getting... Ammo by shooting a crow? It's hilarious but it works and really takes it to another level; even when replaying the game I found new secrets.
You also can get bottle cups for doing target practice where you need to get coins by hitting villagers with set weapons which are fun collectibles to obtain and give you PTAS. Maybe they could be harder but that's about it.
And a bunch of side modes as well that are super fun like Separate Ways with Ada, playing as her and completing various missions, going through the same locations as Leon but with different weapons and tools.

Resident Evil 4 is a fastanticly done game that is consistent, fun and intriguing. It has been great for 20 years and it will continue to be great as time goes on, being a gaming classic.
Thanks to it, it made me try out games like Resident Evil 1 Remake, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil 3 Remake and so on.
After playing this game 3 times now and trying all of it's content, I am excited to play Resident Evil 4 Remake, which I haven't played yet!
But this game is simply amazing and definitely deserves the praise it gets.

Oh, another fun fact about myself! I adore the voices of everyone in this game, specially the villagers! They are so bad that they are so good!!