Capcom recently shared some in-depth gameplay of the Resident Evil 4 Remake, which looks like it will ratchet up the spooks of the horror game series in contrast to the 2005 original, while still paying homage to it. This isn’t the only homage in the recent gameplay we saw though, as Capcom has made direct reference to its Resident Evil 2 Remake from 2019 with one minor detail.
Since Capcom has been releasing its Resident Evil remakes alongside the new series entries, the studio has been working smarter, and not harder, by sharing resources across games. You’ll notice when playing one immediately after the other that some props and resources get reused, making for an interesting insight into the studio’s development process.
This is exactly what’s happened with the combat knife in the Resident Evil 4 Remake, and while at first this seems like an unassuming addition, Capcom’s gameplay showcase showed that the team has attempted to create a narrative throughline to a previous remake with the item’s description.
“A weapon suited for close encounters,” reads the weapon description in the footage. “It has been Leon’s go-to since receiving it during his time at the R.P.D”
You can see the knife and its description in the mid-starting video below (or start it yourself at 49:50).
Again this is a very small, but incredibly welcome, addition to the Resident Evil 4 Remake. It of course references how Leon was given a knife by Marvin in the Resident Evil 2 Remake. Naturally it raises questions about how Leon kept an easily breakable knife all these years, but it doesn’t exactly break the realism does it?
For me, this small easter egg begs the question: what else will Capcom throw in the Resident Evil 4 Remake as a reference to its other recent remakes? I’d love to see a through line with some other references if I’m honest, if only to tie all these reinterpretations together.
If you want more Resident Evil 4 Remake, we recently compared Capcom’s Resident Evil showcase to Konami’s Silent Hill one, with one of the two clearly coming out on top.
