How to parry in Resident Evil 4

One of the new tricks Leon has learned in Resident Evil 4 remake is how to parry. It’s a skill that’ll save your life numerous times, but only if you practice. In this guide, we’ll show you how to parry in Resident Evil 4 and explain the difference between a basic parry and perfect parry with the knife.

How to parry in Resident Evil 4

To parry in Resident Evil 4, you need to tap the ready knife button (that’s L1 on PlayStation) just an enemy attack is about to hit you. If you pull it off perfectly, you’ll see a flash of light and hear a loud sound effect of blades clashing. Your attacker will also be staggered if it’s a melee strike.

Attempt to parry too late and you’ll be hit by the attack, but parry a little too early and you’ll perform a standard parry instead, with a more muted sound effect. This will still block the attack, but Leon will be knocked back a little and it doesn’t guarantee a stagger on your attacker.

A key different between the basic block and the perfect parry is that the latter consumes almost no knife durability. If you can consistently perfectly parry attacks, you’ll keep your blade in good shape.

It’s possible to parry almost every attack in the game, but at the basic level that includes both swung and thrown weapons. The early village environment is a great place to practice, as you’ll have plenty of weapons flying your way. Just make sure you know how to repair the knife as well for when it inevitably breaks.

Certain enemy attacks like chainsaw swings can also be blocked with the knife, albeit at great cost to the blade’s durability. For these, you’ll see the parry prompt (L1) appear on screen as the enemy is attacking. Pressing it when visible will trigger a unique blocking animation as Leon guards against the strike.

Both Leon’s main weapon and kitchen knives can be used to parry, and we recommend making sure you have at least one knife in your inventory at all times. That’s everything there is to know about how to parry in Resident Evil 4 remake. If you’re early in the game, you should check out our guides to all Farm Blue Medallion locations and how to complete the Grave Robber request. Now get out there and give that knife a try!

Henry Stenhouse

Associate Editor

Henry Stenhouse serves an eternal punishment as the Associate Editor of AllGamers. He spent his younger life studying the laws of physics, even going so far as to complete a PhD in the subject before video games stole his soul. Confess your love of Super Smash Bros. via email at henry@moonrock.biz, or catch him on Twitter.