Resident Evil 4: Otome Edition Demo

Most stories are centered on a single main character and his or her experience throughout the whole ordeal, so it’s difficult to empathize with anyone else. Hence, maybe the bad guys had some really good reasons for their actions, but to the audience they just look like evil incarnate bent on destruction. It doesn’t even have to be the bad guys, since all the other characters are pretty one dimensional as well.

Resident Evil 4: Otome Edition is an interesting visual novel that puts you in the role of Ashley as she sees the events from the famous horror released back in 2004. The idea has merit, especially if you are a fan of the franchise, but the execution is a bit sloppy when it comes to the graphics and the artwork. Even so, you can concentrate on the story instead and forget about the graphics.

Hence, you play the role of Ashley, and you get to see how everything in Resident Evil 4 looked from her perspective. In fact, it’s even possible to experience events that weren’t technically present in the original game, such as Ashley’s kidnapping. You can also meet many famous characters and see them through the eyes of a scared girl instead.

Although the demo does not really provide you with any meaningful choices, the full game promises a bit more freedom in this regard. Granted, the events have to follow the ones from the original game, so you probably won’t be able to change things around at all, not really. This is still a kinetic visual novel, after all, so you are supposed to watch it unfold in front of you and soak in the experience.

As far as the graphics go, most of the characters are taken right out of Resident Evil screenshots or artwork pieces, so at least they look the same. On the other hand, the backgrounds are kind of plain and dull most of the time, which can hurt the experience. There are some cropping artifacts around the characters sometimes as well, which is never good news.

In the end, Resident Evil 4: Otome Edition still has a long way to go in order to be as engaging as the actual story, but it’s doing a good job so far. Moreover, it needs much better visuals in order to create the proper atmosphere.