10 Easter Eggs From The Resident Evil 4 Remake

Did you know that there’s an exceptionally hidden secret in Resident Evil 4 that makes Leon call in Chris Redfield at the start of the game? Just kidding—we’re not quite there just yet, but there are still an array of easter eggs to get into in this masterpiece of a third-person shooter. Capcom has seemingly stuck to the original innovation with this one and curated true perfection in the wake of it, filling the remake with tiny bits of meticulous detail. 

As far as the interesting stuff goes, therefore, Resident Evil 4 has been pumped full of it, both in terms of gameplay physics coupled with the overall atmosphere and the inclusion of easter eggs throughout the campaign. The video ahead will cover some of the best secrets that have been unearthed since the title’s release. Let’s get into all of that right away. 

1. Salazar Can Be Toast With A Golden Egg

It’s quite ridiculous how one of the most vicious bosses in the Resident Evil 4 remake has such an embarrassing weakness. But then again, the game already hints toward this scenario in the form of a side quest handed out by the Merchant, titled “The Disgrace of the Salazar Family.” The request practically has Leon going up to Ramon’s Throne Room and defacing his portrait with an egg. 

Little do we know that the superior iteration of the egg—the golden egg—can wipe the floor with Salazar just like that. Go ahead and try that out with Salazar and you’ll find out how hurtling the spawn of a magisterial chicken cuts down his health by almost 70%. You can then proceed to put the castellan out of his misery via your regular weaponry, or perhaps, go all out and stick another golden egg on his face. 

Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of one of the sidequests in Resident Evil 4 that gets you a golden egg. However, the trick here is not to turn the item in and leave the Merchant request be. Proceed toward the Salazar boss fight and use this Kryptonite on him to top things off nicely and smoothly.    

2. Familiar-Looking Trophies/Achievements

Leon can be quite the charmer with the dialogue sometimes, except when he’s not. There are various different unlockable trophies or achievements in the game that pay a tribute to some of our “rookie” cop’s quotes from the 2005-released original. These include: 

• No Thanks, Bro!
• You’re Small Time!
• You Talk Too Much!
• Grilled Big Cheese
• Wave Goodbye, Right Hand

3. The Del Lago Scare 

Legend has it that firing shots in the Lake region in the game unlocks a secret cutscene that leads Leon to acquire an overly powerful weapon in the game. Don’t miss it, seriously—you can make the game a lot easier with this all-powerful weapon, especially when playing on Professional difficulty. All right, that’s not quite how it turns out. 

Prior to the Del Lago fight, just when you arrive at the Lake, feeding your sense of curiosity while trying to shoot the wandering fish will actually get Leon massacred in a horrific way. This nicely placed easter egg makes the Del Lago—a former salamander juiced with some good ol’ Las Plagas—pop up out of nowhere and chomp away at Leon. Try the sequence out at your own risk. 

4. Nostalgic Music From The Shooting Gallery

Resident Evil 4 has this fun mini-game where you can test your quick-firing skills out in a rewarding way. The Shooting Gallery is what the Merchant entices Leon to get into, awarding him particular tokens to utilize later for other, more valuable items. Not many may have noticed though that there’s a musical reference to the original title here that manifests when you beat a round in bonus time. 

If you play the opening sequence of the first Resident Evil 4, you’ll notice a particular tune playing on the radio as Leon rides a cab to the village. This is the same jingle as the one that plays in the Shooting Gallery in the remake. Another neat egg in the bag. 

5. Leon’s Throne Room Pose

Okay, this is pretty much iconic from the original Resident Evil 4. Out of all the different things Leon could strive to do when he approaches Saddler’s Throne Room, he approaches the Plagas lord’s seat, sits down in remarkable fashion, and poses for the camera. Funnily enough, the Raccoon City federal agent doesn’t let go of his trademark posing skill and pulls off the exact same thing in the remake. 

Except for the fact that the whole of this takes place in Salazar’s Throne Room and not Saddler’s. Still, all the very same to the relatively uninitiated. 

6. A Nod To Resident Evil 3.5

What we have here is fairly missable by the masses, given the niche nature of the easter egg. During one of the set-pieces in the Resident Evil 4 remake where you have to play as Ashley, one part where you run through the castle library actually nods back to an unreleased version of the classic Resident Evil 4. Notice how a deer head falls off the wall and gives Ashley a jumpscare? That’s actually a callback to Resident Evil 3.5.

The latter is an early E3 build of the first Resident Evil 4 that consisted of a part where a similarly designed deer head comes off the wall and raises the atmosphere. Skip to the 22nd second of the following video to catch the sequence in action. Not the most nostalgic of easter eggs, I know, but it’s still a little something that showcases Capcom‘s attention to detail. 

7. Main Menu Update After Beating The Game, Same As The Original

Another recall of the primary Resident Evil 4 is how the main menu screen switches up when you beat the mainline campaign. I have to admit—this is one of the most unique changes to any game you’ll ever observe out there. In the original, the screen changes to a horizontally sweeping snapshot of the Village and precisely an identical sequence gets carried out in the remake as well. Another decent nod to the 2005 classic. 

8. Leon The Professional

Although this is something that applies to both the original iteration and the remake of Resident Evil 4, the tribute is still worth a mention. There’s a movie called Leon the Professional, made in 1994, and basing its plotline around a seasoned assassin sheltering a kid called Mathilda—kind of like Leon Scott Kennedy with the president’s daughter. How did we join the dots here, then? Let me explain. 

Resident Evil 4’s protagonist’s first name is Leon. His mission is to safeguard and rescue Ashley. One of the unlockable weapons in the game is called Matilda. And finally, there’s an additional difficulty mode in the game called Professional. Do things look clearer to you now? Leon the Professional is a pretty tight movie as well. You should give it a watch while you’re at it.   

9. Loyal Dog

A man’s best friend for no sloppy reason. This is an easter egg that traces back to one of the most iconic moments of the first Resident Evil 4. But let’s cast a lens on a bit of background before we get into that. During your first few minutes into the original experience, Leon comes across a dog in distress, who seemingly falls victim to one of the various booby traps set out by the villagers.

If you take the time out to rescue the poor boy, he returns to Leon in striking fashion, distracting El Gigante briefly and helping us out in taking down the second major boss of the game. The exact scenario repeats itself in the remake and you’re assisted yet again by the wolf-like dog as an act of returning the favor. Interestingly enough, the dog in question resembles a character from another Capcom IP—Hewie from Haunting Ground.  

10. The Village Sequence 

Finally, we have a novel new addition to the Resident Evil 4 remake that lets you entirely skip Leon’s opening battle with the Ganados. It’s an understatement to praise Capcom’s work on the remake, given how they’ve made sure of even the smallest details coming to life in the title. The first prominent fight sequence ends when the church bell starts ringing to halt the villagers’ assault on Leon and make them retreat to their lord Saddler. 

However, it’s possible in the remake to scope out the church bell, which is much in the distance this time around. If you’re on New Game Plus, you probably have the Sniper Rifle to help you out in this regard. If not, trying to get the church bell from that far out with Leon’s default pistol will be significantly harder, if not impossible altogether. 

In other news, did you know that you could skip 80% of Ashley’s playable section in the remake? That said, this trick does not follow without a catch and that may come at a heavy cost. Skipping Ashley’s part will also skip Leon from acquiring the CQBR Assault Rifle, which is easily one of the best weapons in the game. Still, being unable to get the firearm for free doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get it off of the Merchant’s hands later on.

Takeaway

It’s safe to say that the Resident Evil 4 remake is one of the most astounding video games ever released to date, glorified with the appeal of its modern-day visuals and overall feel of the gameplay. Leon has returned magnificently to grace the big screen in 2023, taking all of us along a wild emotional ride to revisit an old classic in the most satisfying way possible. 

What’s even better is the inclusion of these tiny little details that make the whole Resident Evil 4 remake experience even more stand-out. From surmounting Salazar with something one would least expect anything of to visualizing the return of the dog you saved out of kindness, Capcom could not have done a better job with the reinvigoration of this legendary title for the most part.

Let us know in the comments ahead if we missed any other easter eggs in the game. In the meantime, check out our initial impressions of the remake below.