Resident Evil 4 walkthrough, tips and tricks to guide you through every chapter

Our walkthrough explains every boss, puzzle, and Request in Resident Evil 4.

Guide by Jessica Orr Senior Guides Writer

Published on March 24, 2023

Resident Evil 4 is a remake of the seminal 2005 classic, reimagined with updated controls, new content, and some design changes.

Fear not, though, as the Resident Evil 4 remake is the same action-packed horror adventure you remember, with plenty of weapons to find, bosses to kill, areas to explore, and puzzles to solve.

However, if you're still unsure whether it's for you, then check out our Resident Evil 4 remake review for Aoife's impressions.

Below, our Resident Evil 4 walkthrough has some helpful tips and tricks, and explains all of the core story objectives and side Requests from start to finish, so you can help Leon complete his mission in, and beyond, El Pueblo.

Please be aware of SPOILERS if you're reading past the chapter you're currently on.

On this page:

Resident Evil 4 walkthrough
Resident Evil 4 tips and tricks
All our Resident Evil 4 guides

Resident Evil 4 walkthrough

There are 16 chapters in the Resident Evil 4 remake that you can play on Assisted, Standard, and Hardcore difficulties. The hardest difficulty, Professional, unlocks once you beat the main campaign, along with a New Game Plus mode.

Most of our guides are based on a Standard playthrough, but we have noted where there are significant alterations in boss fights and puzzle solutions while playing on different difficulties.

If you would like to see a list of just one type of guide, you can jump to these dedicated sections, but please be aware of SPOILERS if you don't want to know what bosses or puzzles are coming up:

Bosses
Puzzles
Requests

Below, our walkthrough explains all story objectives, and where to pick up every side quest in Resident Evil 4, with links to key puzzles and bosses. If you're looking for help on a specific chapter, you can use one of these links to quickly jump to it:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16

Here's our walkthrough for Resident Evil 4:

Chapter 1

See what's taking so long:

Find the Hunter's Lodge Key.
Escape from Hunter's Lodge.

Head for the Lake:

Survive the fight in the village square by holding out until the bell rings (the shotgun is located in the house that activates a cutscene when you enter it).
Travel to the Farm.
Pick up the first 'Destroy the Blue Medallions' Request.
Find the Wooden Cog and open the gate to the Lakeside Settlement.
Fight through or run to the Lakeside Settlement house and go into the cellar to find Luis.

Chapter 2

Head for the Church:

Get your gear back in the Abandoned Factory.
Pick up first 'Pest Control' Request.
Solve Hexagon-shaped slot puzzle by finding Hexagonal Emblem.
Fight or run past the chainsaw enemy.
Solve the Combination Lock and Crystal Marble door puzzles in Village Chief's Manor.
Get the Insignia Key.

Chapter 3

Head for the Church:

Free the dog outside Village Chief's Manor.
Use the Insignia Key to get back to the village square.
Use the Insignia Key on the door into Town Hall.
Pick up the 'Viper Hunter' Request.
Head to the unlocked room by the Church and pick up the Lakeside Map file on the wall.

Cross the Lake:

Pick up the 'Grave Robber' Request.
Head to the Quarry across the bridge.
Pick up the 'Destroy the Blue Medallions 2' Request.
(Optional) Pick up Hexagon Piece A for hexagon puzzle.
Get Boat Fuel at the Fish Farm and use it on the boat at the dock.
(Optional) Pick up Hexagon Piece B for hexagon puzzle.
Defeat the Lake Monster, Del Lago.

Chapter 4

Find the key to the Church:

Look at the Lake picture in the Boathouse cave area.

Investigate the two locations:

Pick up the Old Wayshrine Key on your way out of the Boathouse cave.
Pick up the 'Egg Hunt' Request.
Go to the boat in the middle of the lake to get the Red9 Handgun.
Travel back to Lakeside Settlement in the boat and use Insignia Key on the locked door to pick up the 'Catch Me A Big Fish' Request.
Solve Large Cave Shrine and Small Cave Shrine puzzles.
(Optional) Pick up Hexagon Piece C for hexagon puzzle.
(Optional) Solve the hexagon Stone Pedestal puzzle.

Get the key to the Church:

Place Blasphemer's Head and Apostate's Head on hand statues back at the Boathouse cave to get the Church Insignia.

Head for the Church:

Defeat the Giant, El Gigante, at the Quarry.
Go back to the Church and use the Church Insignia to enter it.

Look for Ashley at the Church:

Locate the Blue Dial and solve the Church dial puzzle.
Go up the ladder to find Ashley on the top floor.

Chapter 5

Escape from the Church:

Boost Ashley to lower the ladder on the top floor of the Church and exit through the window.

Head for the extraction point:

Run through enemies at the Church graveyard.
Pick up 'A Savage Mutt' Request.
Head back to the Farm and cross the bridge towards the cabin.
Survive the cabin assault with Luis until Ashley returns.

Resident Evil 4 remake — Image credit: Capcom

Chapter 6

Escape from the village:

Head to the Checkpoint area through the narrow valley past the Merchant.
Defeat the Chainsaw Sister holding the crank and use the crank on the Checkpoint door (you can exit the building and fight outside for extra space).

Flee from the villagers:

Run from Méndez and the other enemies (take a left when you reach the collapsed bridge).
Defeat Méndez.

Chapter 7

Head for the courtyard:

Climb up the Castle Gate to destroy the castle's entrance with a canon.
Pick up the 'Destroy the Blue Medallions 3' Request.
Kill enemies in Audience Chamber.

Look for another way around:

Boost Ashley over a wall to open the gate to the Dungeons.
Get the Dungeon Key.
Fight or avoid the Garrador Dungeon boss.
Use the Dungeon Key to travel to the Treasury.
Solve the Treasury sword puzzle.

Head for the Courtyard:

Fight through the Water Hall to get Halo Wheel.
Use the Halo Wheel to move stairs and make a bridge to the Courtyard.
Boost Ashley over the Courtyard wall.

Chapter 8

Find Ashley:

Buy the Body Armor from the Merchant.
Get Crimson Lantern by killing the red-robed Zealot enemy in the Wine Cellar.
Go back and use the Crimson Lantern to open a path to the Bindery.
Locate the Lithographic Stones and solve the Wall with Four Slots puzzle.
Travel through the Castle Battlements by shooting down large hanging weights and using the Sun and Moon levers to open and close doors.
Shoot hanging weights to raise the canon and use it to take down the giant.
Head back into the castle to find Ashley.

Chapter 9

Head for the Ballroom:

Find the Tower Lever locations to lower flags in the Courtyard.
Head into the castle and pick up the 'Destroy the Blue Medallions 4' Request by the Merchant.
Pick up the 'More Pest Control' Request in the Grand Hall.
Solve the Dining Hall bell puzzle to get the Serpent Head.
Get the Lion Head from the Armory and fight off knight enemies.
Get the Cubic Device while exiting the Armory.
Get the Goat Head from the Gallery.
Place the Serpent, Lion, and Goat Head on the statue in the Grand Hall.

Rescue Leon:

Solve the correct time Grandfather Clock puzzle to enter the Mausoleum.
Solve the Lantern Puzzle to get the Salazar Family Insignia.
Use the Salazar Family Insignia to open the gate to Leon.

Chapter 10

Head for the throne room:

Pick up the 'Merciless Knight' Request.
Use the levers in the Ballroom to open the gates to the Throne Room's Antechamber.
Use the bells to distract the Garradors and kill them to get two Unicorn Horns.
Place the Unicorn Horns in the statues to open the door to the Throne Room.

Make your way to the surface:

Climb up to the Underground Laboratory.
Travel to the back of the lab and use the lever to restore power to the elevator.
Defeat Verdugo or outlast it until the elevator arrives.
Get in the elevator.

Chapter 11

Make your way to the surface:

Get Dynamite from the Mines and use it to destroy the debris blocking your way.
Defeat the two giants at the Blast Furnace.
Use the minecart to travel to the Stopover.
Get back in the minecart to the Hive.
Pick up the 'Insect Hive' Request.
Fight Krauser.

Resident Evil 4 Remake screenshot showing the game's frenzied villagers wielding axes and advances towards the camera — Image credit: Capcom

Chapter 12

Make your way to the surface:

Take the elevator to the surface.

Head for the clock tower:

Pick up 'Jewel Thief' Request.
Pick up 'The Disgrace of the Salazar Family' Request.
Take the gondola lift beside the merchant at the Ballroom to the Clock Tower.

Get to the top of the clock tower:

Fight you way up the Clock Tower and use the lever at the top to raise the lift.
Fight enemies on the lift, then exit the top of the Clock Tower.

Go after Ashley:

Defeat Ramón Salazar.
Take the elevator down to the boat.

Chapter 13

Go after Ashley:

Use either stealth, brute force, or a combination of both to make your way through the Wharf (stealth is very hard to get perfect here).
Fight your way through the rest of the island until you reach Surveillance.
Press the switch up the ladder to power the door out of Surveillance.

Rescue Ashley:

Make your way through Facility 1 Storage and Utilities.
Pick up the 'Laboratory Notice' file in the southeastern corner of the dark area.

Get the Level 3 Keycard:

Restore power to the eastern side of the dark area with the Power Control Lever.
Solve the Dissection calibration puzzle.
Get the Level 1 and Level 2 Keycards (we suggest running from the Regenerators for now).
Solve the Freezer calibration puzzle to get the LE 5 submachine gun.
Get the Wrench.
Get the Level 3 Keycard.

Rescue Ashley:

Use the Level 3 keycard to open Ashley's cell.

Chapter 14

Make your way to the summit:

Boost Ashley to leave Facility 1 Storage.
Pick up 'Destroy the Blue Medallions' 5 Request.
Head through Cargo Depot into Facility 2.
Get Ashley to hold lever in Facility 2 to unlock door, then go back to rescue her.
Solve Waste Disposal calibration puzzle.
Pick up the 'Even More Pest Control' Request.
Interact with the crane and protect Ashley until the wall is destroyed.
Pick up 'The Wandering Dead' Request.
Take the lift and interact with the large chunk of Amber.

Go after Ashley:

Fight through the Campsite.
Defeat Krauser.

Chapter 15

Make your way to the summit:

Fight through the Stronghold with the help of Mike.
Destroy the anti-aircraft gun
Use levers at Bulwark Gate to get through the area.
Pick up the 'Destroy Blue Medallions 6' Request.
Fight or run from Regenerators in Specimen Storage.
Fight or run through Sanctuary Approach.
Enter the Sanctuary.
Go after Ashley.
Head for Luis' Laboratory.

Chapter 16

Escape from the island:

Go up the ladder outside Luis' Laboratory and head for the Loading Docks.
Defeat Sadler.
Jet ski away from the island!

Resident Evil 4 tips and tricks

Below, we've listed some tips and tricks for Resident Evil 4 so you can say no thanks, bro, to a difficult playthrough:

Don't forget to parry - Parrying can literally be a lifesaver when you're low on health, especially on harder difficulties, but it uses up your knife durability, so make sure you always have a spare. Also...
Repair your knife and armor - Your main knife (and armor when you get it) can be repaired at the Merchant. This costs money, but it's worth it for how often both items can save you from dying. The knife's durability can even be upgraded at the Merchant, so it lasts longer before breaking.
Shoot crows - Crows drop random loot, so make sure you shoot one when you see it. Only one can be shot in the same area, however, as your bullets will cause the other crows to flee when they hear it, unless you skillfully aim a grenade in between a mob of crows instead.
Combine treasures - Don't ever sell gems on their own, unless you're desperate for some quick cash, as they can be socketed into larger treasures for a money multiplier, increasing the sell price of the treasure.
Buy treasure maps - For only one Spinel (currency obtained from Requests, or in random loot), you can buy a treasure map for each of the village, castle, and island areas to mark valuables on your map.
Sell weapons you don't use, and don't worry about wasted upgrades - The sell and buy back prices for weapons and upgrades are very generous in the Resident Evil 4 remake, so don't worry about wasting your money on upgrades, as if you find a better weapon down the line, you can sell your old upgraded weapon for almost all the money you put into it back.
Use Flash Grenades on parasite enemies - When you see a huge parasite burst out from an enemy's head, you can quickly kill it by throwing a Flash Grenade. If there are multiple parasite enemies, try grouping them so you don't waste Flash Grenades.

Make sure a downed enemy is really dead - You have to knife some enemies using the knife prompt to actually kill them, or they mutate into a faster, more aggressive monster.
Use stealth to save ammo - You can't use stealth in every enemy encounter, but if there's only a few enemies around, try crouching and sneaking behind an enemy to kill them with one knife strike, instead of wasting ammo.
Some mini-bosses are skippable - You can run away from some powerful enemies, like the chainsaw men, if you'd rather not waste your ammo or health items. However, keep in mind that some must be killed to get key items to progress with the story.
Aim for the face - You do more damage by targeting an enemy's face, and it often stuns them if you'd rather run past, or gives you the 'Melee' prompt if you want to kick an enemy down, and any surrounding people caught in Leon's kick.
Use yellow herbs - Combine your red and green herbs with special yellow herbs to increase your maximum health when the herb-y cocktail is consumed.
Remember to change your Charms and Attache Cases for different situations - It's no good keeping a Charm on your Attache Case if it's not giving you an advantage. Take off Merchant perks unless you're at the Merchant and apply bonuses to crafting certain ammo types instead, or swap for a bonus in healing when consuming certain item types currently in your inventory. Switching up your Attache Case can also come in handy if you want a boost the drop rate of a specific item.
Use traps to your advantage - You don't always have to destroy lasers, as you can actually duck below them and watch enemies explode while chasing you through it instead. Enemies can also get caught in bear traps if they run into one, stunning them for a short while, letting you run past, or attack them while they're stationary.
Use the map to see if you've left anything behind - If you've ran past an item but forgot to pick it up, your map will show you any resources or treasures left behind.

All our Resident Evil 4 guides

We've listed all key bosses, puzzles, and Requests, with links to our Resident Evil 4 guides below for quick reference:

Bosses

Here's a list of every main story boss and key mini-bosses in Resident Evil 4:

Del Lago, the lake monster.
El Gigante, the Giant at the Quarry.
The cabin assault.
The Chainsaw Sisters at the Checkpoint.
Méndez.
The Garrador in the Dungeon.
Dual Garrador fight in the Antechamber.
Verdugo.
Two giants in the Blast Furnace.
First Krauser fight.
Ramón Salazar.
Second Krauser fight.
Sadler.

Puzzles

In their chapter order, here's every essential main story puzzle solution and location in Resident Evil 4:

Optional puzzles:

Hexagon puzzle solution for Stone Pedestal, Hexagon Piece locations.

Requests

Requests are side activities that reward Spinels when you complete them, which can be traded in at the Merchant to unlock exclusive gear or treasures.

Here's a list of every Request in Resident Evil 4: