During an interview with Game Informer, co-directors Kazunori Kadoi and Yasuhiro Ampo admitted that Resident Evil 4's status as a "masterpiece" made it difficult to remake. Ampo stated by saying:


Kadoi would later add saying:


Both directors would later get on board with remaking Resident Evil 4, and decided to approach the game differently compared to other remakes they have worked on. The team first decided to not "capture lightning in a bottle", noting that the original had such a massive impact and that the best thing to do was to stay faithful to the original and try and evolve it in smaller ways by replaying the original game to see what can be changed or evolved, which resulted in the removal of quick-time events and other gameplay changes to Ashley such as climbing ladders and getting less in the player's way.