Parrying has been popular in video games for quite some time, popularized in no small part by fighting games, the Souls series, and other Capcom titles like Monster Hunter Rise. Now the mechanic has found its way into the Resident Evil 4 remake, and while you aren’t required to learn it, learning how to parry will make your life significantly easier.
Learning How to Parry in Resident Evil 4 Remake Just Requires Timing
The act of parrying in the Resident Evil 4 remake is pretty simple, though you must have a knife equipped and knife durability decreases during a parry. Whenever an enemy’s attack is about to hit you, press L1 on PlayStation, Left Bumper on Xbox, or Space on keyboard. Do it right, and you’ll take no damage. If you time it perfectly, your recovery will be shorter and your enemy will be staggered, leaving them open to a counterattack.
In practice, doing a perfect parry is much harder. The timing on either a parry or perfect parry is pretty tight, with even more precision required for a perfect parry, and attempting to parry too early or too late will leave you wide open, almost assuring you take damage. On higher difficulties, mistiming a parry will easily cost you half your health, and on Professional, you can only perfect parry. Wrong timing will only serve to get you hit.
To practice parrying, we suggest taking some time before and during the initial village encounter in Chapter 1. Try to keep one enemy in front of you at a time and get a feel for how close their attacks need to be for the parry to go off successfully. There are enough mobs with different weapons and attack patterns for you to get a feel for things.
Once the Chainsaw Man appears (and though this sounds insane), try to successfully parry him at least a few times as well. Later in Resident Evil 4 remake, parrying big, heavy attacks is one of the only ways to keep yourself in the fight, though dodging is still technically possible. Exposing yourself to that risk, and the fear that comes with it, will serve you well for many of the game’s later, tougher challenges.
In short, when it comes to how to parry in the Resident Evil 4 remake, press L1, Left Bumper, or the Space Bar at the right time, with perfecting timing offering a counterattack opportunity. You can also parry thrown weapons and some melee attacks made without a weapon, so don’t be afraid to try if you think it will work — because it just might.
