Resident Evil 4 review: Leon would like to speak to the village manager

The big picture

Leon S. Kennedy arrives in a European village to rescue Ashley, the U.S. president's daughter, and discovers that local hospitality requires considerable improvement. Capcom's Resident Evil 4 remake gives him firearms, close-range responses and equipment decisions to work with, then places him in circumstances where having options is reassuring only until you must choose one quickly. It is an action-horror setup with a clear objective and plenty of reasons to question the travel arrangements. No extensive series homework is needed to understand that this rescue has become awkward. PlayStation overview

This is the remake released March 24, 2023, developed and published by Capcom, rather than the 2005 original and its many ports. Keeping that distinction straight matters for features and platforms. Buying a game named Resident Evil 4 is surprisingly capable of becoming the first puzzle in Resident Evil 4. Original remake launch

The knife has been promoted

The remake's knife supports parries, stealth kills and escapes, broadening Leon's close-range options. An approaching enemy creates questions about distance, timing and the response available. A firearm remains useful, but the design gives defense something more interesting to do than serve as the interval between shooting and regretting where you stood. Capcom's showcase

That expanded toolkit is attractive if you enjoy learning how to read a threat. It does not make hurried decisions disappear. Someone who finds close-range panic exhausting may discover that adding more possible buttons simply gives panic an expanded vocabulary. More options still need learning, and close-range pressure may remain uncomfortable even on a gentler setting. The attraction is learning those choices, rather than expecting competence to arrive neatly folded in the box.

The Merchant understands recurring customers

The Merchant sells and improves weapons, additional requests encourage exploration, and crafting ammunition and trading items give resources an ongoing role. Supplies spent in one section affect what you have available later. Even a rescue mission apparently benefits from occasional comparison shopping, though most shops offer a less urgent reason to understand the returns policy. Equipment and requests

The useful question is which tools support the way you want to play. Upgrading a weapon you actually intend to use makes more sense than obeying every available number because it can become a larger number. That modest planning provides a change of pace between threats. Players who want unrestricted shooting with no interest in supplies may find the surrounding economy a nuisance, especially when the next encounter insists on arriving before their budget meeting has concluded.

Ada has her own route through the disaster

The main campaign follows Leon, while Separate Ways explores Ada Wong's parallel involvement and gives her a grappling gun. Another viewpoint and a different movement tool provide specific reasons to consider the expansion. The same crisis can apparently accommodate two competent protagonists and still remain catastrophically under-managed. Separate Ways announcement

The Mercenaries instead focuses on combat against the clock and is free additional content. It offers a way to revisit the mechanics without replaying the entire narrative. Gold Edition bundles story and extras, but check the exact contents rather than assuming “Gold” is a legally binding promise that every DLC imaginable has moved in. The Switch 2 Gold Edition explicitly includes Separate Ways and The Mercenaries. Mercenaries listing, Nintendo bundle

The platform list needs careful handling

Native versions cover Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, qualifying Apple devices and Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo Australia's product page showed Switch 2 Gold Edition available on October 16, 2026, corroborated by the UK listing. This is the Switch 2 remake, not the older game on original Switch. Xbox One is not a supported native platform for this remake. Similar names do not perform the necessary hardware upgrades. Nintendo Australia, Xbox listing

Apple's version requires supported hardware and operating systems, including Apple silicon on Mac; Intel Macs are excluded. Only qualifying iPhones and iPads work, and the download supplies a trial before the paid main-story unlock. The App Store says a connection is required at startup, while Capcom's newer FAQ allows subsequent offline launches under specified Apple ID/iCloud conditions. Check both before planning an offline session. An airplane is an unhelpful place to begin troubleshooting village access. Apple listing, Capcom FAQ

PS5's optional main-campaign VR Mode requires PS VR2 and the appropriate free DLC; that support does not extend to PS4 or imply VR for other platforms. Strong gore, violent imagery and sustained threat also deserve consideration. Resident Evil 4 makes sense for players seeking a directed, single-player adventure built around handling danger intelligently. If relaxed sightseeing was the plan, choose another village. This one's visitor feedback would be difficult to print.