Hiya!

Several years ago, I played and reviewed Resident Evil 4 Remake for the PlayStation 4. A lot of things have happened since then, such as Resident Evil: Requiem, the latest game in this popular survival-horror franchise, has come out. It just so happens that Leon S. Kennedy is the protagonist of both games. Just as a way to look back to how much the character has grown, I went on a sort of Resident Evil binge. I played through Resident Evil 2 Remake once again, a game I loved and played the heck out of, as well as Resident Evil 4 Remake. However, I didn’t play these games on my rinky-dink PlayStation 4. No, I played these games on my not-so new gaming laptop! I was lucky because, just as I got this as a hand-me-down from my brother, Capcom was having a sale on Steam! So, I managed to get both games with all of the previously available DLC content at a steep discount!

After I booted up Resident Evil 4 Remake (and adjusted the settings so that this older gaming laptop could play it well), I notice another option in the main menu I didn’t see when I played Resident Evil 4 Remake on my PlayStation 4. That option was Separate Ways. Since I never bought the DLC for Resident Evil 4 Remake, I never played this and I kind of forgot all about it. Well, now was my chance to play it and here’s my very belated review of Separate Ways!

Separate Ways takes place at exactly the same time and the same place as the main game. Instead of controlling Leon Kennedy as he tries to rescue the President’s daughter, you control the antihero Ada Wong. She was hired by Albert Wesker to make contact with Luis Serra and retrieve the Amber, a sample of the Las Plagas. Because of this, Ada Wong’s mission intertwines with Leon Kennedy’s and you get to see what she was up while Leon was doing all the things he was doing.

Before I start the review in question, there is something I have to mention first. I never played the original Resident Evil 4 but I do remember watching my brother play it years and years ago. However, I don’t remember watching him play the Separate Ways DLC for that game. So, this will be a totally new experience for me. Still, I do recall, while playing the Remake, why did Capcom remove some stuff and sequences from the original? Just take note of that bit.

Anyway, Separate Ways is not as long as the main campaign, accounting for 7 chapters vs. the 16 you get with Leon’s mission. Then again, I don’t think anyone expected it to be super long, especially since it is DLC. My first playthrough took me around 7 hours and that was mostly from trying to get each and every reward and treasure, leading me to force Ada to go through a lot of backtracking and spending way too much time upgrading equipment and crafting ammo. Still, the game does feel very substantial and it does throw a few interesting twists to both the story and the gameplay.

One of Ada’s gimmicks is that she has a grappling gun and I’m a little on the fence on it. She mostly uses it to traverse through areas at specific points of a map. While that’s fine, I do wish Capcom added more utility to this, like maybe using the grappling gun to get objects out of reach or use it to pull manipulate switches. It does have a combat application wherein you can use it to melee a stunned opponent from a distance and you also get the ability to yank away shields if you buy the necessary upgrade from the Merchant. Those are nice additions but I don’t think they really add all that much to the gameplay in the long run.

I also will say Ada’s mission, despite being shorter than Leon’s can feel harder for several reasons. For one, Ada Wong’s arsenal is significantly smaller than Leon’s. By the end of the main campaign, Leon comes off as a walking arsenal with all of the variety of armaments he can obtain. The weapons Ada gets is much fewer and you have to buy most of them from the Merchant. I also have an issue with the Sawed Off Shotgun, the only shotgun Ada can get in Separate Ways. It has a very wide spread, making it ideal for crowd control but does lessen the damage. The thing is I’ve gotten so used to the focused blast of Leon’s Riot Gun.

Speaking of the combat, I did find the bosses Ada runs into less interesting. A good example is the Black Robe figure as you fight him/it several times and the first couple of times is essentially the same fight! The last time you face off against the Black Robe just didn’t feel fun. It was more frustrating than enjoyable. Then again, I felt the same way when Leon had to fight the mutated version of Ramon Salazar. I guess I just don’t like fights which just feel too hectic and you’re at a point where you’re low on ammo.

Another thing which made Separate Ways somewhat difficult are the lack of supplies. Unlike Leon, Ada cannot just find smalls keys strewn through the levels. No, you have to trade Spinels for keys from the Merchant this time. This instantly became my top priority which, once again, led me to do a lot of backtracking to get all of those blue medals and hunting for invisible bugs! You do get flushed with gunpower, making it seemingly easy to make as many bullets as you need. The thing is, it looks like Capcom rigged the Small and Large Resource drops so that they come out infrequently in Separate Ways. I could be wrong but that’s what it felt like to me! I was swimming in gunpower a lot of time but only because I didn’t have any crafting resources! These can be alleviated by equipping specialty briefcases which do increase their drop rates. Then again, you have to trade Spinels to get them. So, once again, you better complete those Merchant Requests!

It does seem like I’m complaining a lot and that may make you deduce I didn’t like Separate Ways. That’s a big negative, my friend! The issues I’ve mentioned so far as mostly my weird preferences because of how I played through Leon’s campaign. Once I got used the idiosyncrasies of Ada Wong’s side of things, I did find myself enjoying it. I do love how they show how Ada and Leon’s paths cross but from her point-of-view. It’s also interesting to see what was happening behind the scenes with Luis. I also love how you get to explore locations you’ve seen in the main campaign but from a different angle. It all feels very deliberate and well thought of.

I also love how Capcom used the Separate Ways DLC to add the stuff they left out from the original game. Some of it even made a whole lot of sense. Take the laser grid quicktime event from the original game. It just looks weird to see Leon do all those acrobatic moves to avoid the deadly laser mesh. However, see Ada do those twisty moves in mid-air just feels right.

I am glad I got to play Separate Ways, even though it took me this long to play it. It’s a nice little addition and to see it play out from Ada Wong’s perspective is a trip. While I don’t think it’s a big step from the main game, it really didn’t need to be as the main game is already great.

Byee!

Have you played the Separate Ways DLC from Resident Evil 4 Remake? How does it stack up to the original? Let me know in the comments section below!