Resident Evil 4 Remake is out now and it’s got a lot going on. On more than a few occasions, it can be quite a challenging experience. Don’t worry though, because we’ve got you covered- here, we’ll be going over a few tips and tricks that you should keep in mind while playing the game to make the experience a bit smoother for you.
SELLING WEAPONS
Resident Evil 4 Remake has a sizeable roster of weapons that you gain access to throughout its runtime, which means the weapons you get early won’t be the ones you’ll be using later on once more powerful variants become available. Something that you should make sure of, however, is that you don’t horde weapons. So, for instance, once you buy a more powerful shotgun from the merchant, rather than hanging on to your older one, you should sell it. It’s very much recommended, in fact, because otherwise you’ll often find yourself strapped for cash.
STARTER WEAPONS
Given how costly weapon upgrades tend to be in Resident Evil 4 Remake, and, as mentioned previously, the fact that you’re very unlikely to stick with the weapons you start out with, you might be tempted to not invest any cash into their upgrades whatsoever. We’d suggest not doing that. When you sell your older weapons, the price you get for them tends to cover most of the cash you’ve invested in their upgrades as well, so you can upgrade them as much as you want without having to worry about not having enough money later on for upgrades for more powerful weapons.
GEMS AND TREASURES
Burn this into your memory- don’t sell gems individually, and don’t sell treasures that haven’t been inlayed with as many gems as they can be. The money you get for a completed treasure is significantly higher than you would for one that still has empty gem slots, so there’s no sense in rushing to sell everything in your treasure inventory. Only sell completed treasures, or treasures that have no gem slots, and hang on to the rest. Also keep an eye on bonuses for inlaying gems of different colours, because that can drive up a treasure’s price by quite a bit as well.
SIDE QUESTS
Resident Evil 4 Remake has plenty of side quests for players to tackle, and while the sheer tension the game builds up might ward some players away from taking them on, the rewards are always worth the effort. Not only do they tend to be very well designed, they also yield spinels that you can trade in at the shop, and the items you get in return can be incredibly useful. Speaking of which…
SPINELS
While spending money is obviously the primary way of making purchases from the shop, a secondary way of getting useful items from is by trading in spinels that you get from completing side quests or killing certain special enemies. Be very judicious with how you spend these spinels though. Consumables like gunpowder will often be available for trades, but it’s far better to save your spinels for weapons, weapon attachments, and other, more permanent upgrades. The only consumable you should even consider trading in spinels for is the yellow herb, since that increases your max health.
TREASURE MAPS
One particular item that you can trade in spinels for that should always be a priority any time they’re available are treasure maps. There are treasures scattered around, and finding them without any guidance can be quite tricky. So, always be on the lookout for treasure maps. The Merchant will have a treasure map in stock that’ll tell you locations of them.
BACKTRACK
Backtracking is always a crucial part of the gameplay loop in Resident Evil games, and that’s very much the case in the RE4 remake as well. As such, you should always keep an eye on new paths that open up or new items that you get your hands on that’ll open up previously inaccessible areas or locked doors. Backtracking in these situations will always net you with valuable rewards without fail, including resources, ammo, gems, and treasures.
ATTACHE CASE UPGRADES
At regular intervals, the Merchant will have new items and stock for players to peruse, but the one that you should always keep an eye out for is upgrades for your attache case. Your inventory space is fairly limited when you start off in the game, and given the fact that you’re constantly adding new weapon, attachments, and items to your inventory, running out of space remains a very real possibility throughout the experience. As such, case expansions should always be the first purchase you make as soon as they become available.
ARMED ENEMIES
Throughout the game, you’ll often run into enemies who’ll come at you with weapons that they love throwing from a distance, from sticks of dynamite to torches to axes and more. Thankfully, by shooting their hand, you can make them drop that weapon- which, in the case of lit torches and dynamite, can be incredibly useful, because it ends up doing damage to them and any other enemies around them.
PARRYING
The knife parry is one of the title’s new gameplay mechanics, and it really does spice up the combat in meaningful ways. Unlike some parry mechanics in other games though, it’s not a particularly difficult one to pull off. Parrying with just the right timing will obviously be more beneficial, because not only does it temporarily stun enemies and open them up to follow-up attacks, it can also occasionally do damage to them. If, however, you just spam the parry button and don’t get the timing perfectly right, you’ll still be able to block incoming attacks and avoid damage.
MELEE PROMPTS
Do not ignore the melee prompts over the enemies. You might be tempted to just fire off a couple extra bullets to kill them, but if they have melee prompts popping up over their heads, it’s far more effective to take the game up on that offer. Not only do the follow-up melee attacks do plenty of damage, they also save you a lot of bullets.
TRAPS
The game throws plenty of threats your way, and not all of them come in the form of enemies. Often, there will be bear traps lying on the ground, waiting for you to spring them by walking into them. Certain enemies will also unleash attacks that you can evade by hitting QTEs. Make sure to keep an eye out for both of these things.
SPECIAL WEAPONS
In its sizeable arsenal of weapons, the game will also let you purchase some special varieties that will dole out devastating damage, including the likes of a rocket launcher, magnum pistols, and more. This is sort of an unwritten rule in Resident Evil games, but we’ll make it explicit for you- don’t waste their ammo on enemies. In fact, you should put those weapons in storage, so you’re never tempted to use them. Only when you are in a fix, you should you consider going back to a typewriter and pulling those weapons out of storage to use in that situation.
RED9
One of the best non-special weapons in the remake is the Red9 pistol, but you can’t purchase it at the store. Shortly after the Del Lago boss, the lake will open up for exploration via a boat, and you’ll find the Red9 on a sunken ship at the center of the lake. Make sure you get it, because it’s a hell of a weapon, and easily the best non-Magnum handgun in the entire game.