Resident Evil 4 Guide - How to Parry?

Parrying can actually save your life in this game. Here's our guide on how to parry with your knife in Resident Evil 4.

Although it may not seem like much, parrying can save your life. Here is our guide on how to parry in Resident Evil 4 (RE4).

Although you have access to various types of guns in Resident Evil 4, there will be times when using your Combat Knife will be more effective. Using it helps you save on ammo, while also dealing a lot of damage to your enemies. In certain situations, it might even be more beneficial than your guns. However, that doesn't mean you can just run in and knife everything in your path. You will have to use the game's Parry mechanic to make the most out of your knife.

So, how exactly does one parry in RE4? For starters, you need to have a knife. Unlike in the original game, your knife now has a durability meter. This means that once it goes down, you will no longer be able to attack or parry it. Remember to keep that in mind when playing the game.

Once you are sure that you can parry, the next step would be to watch your enemy's attacks. Learning their attack patterns is an important part of parrying, as you will need to press the parry button right before their attack will hit you. This might take some getting used to, but parrying will become a breeze once you get the hang of it. Here is what the default Parry button is for all platforms:

PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5: L1
Xbox Series X and Series S: LB
PC: Space Bar

These buttons are also the “Prepare Knife” button by default when you hold them, letting Leon prepare his knife for melee attacks. Players can, however, activate a setting that enables parrying using the Shoot button. This lets players parry by using the R2, RT, or Left Click the button for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC respectively.

Now, you may be asking, what are the benefits of parrying an attack? For one, successfully parrying an attack negates the damage that attack would have done to you. Mitigating damage like this makes it so that you won't need to heal as much. Not only that but if you do a perfect parry, you can even do a follow-up melee attack. Perfect Parries happen when you parry a melee attack during a very specific time window, right before the attack hits you. You will know you've done a perfect parry when bright sparks flash on the screen, as well as a melee attack indicator shows up. Additionally, if you parry punches, you can actually dismember your enemy.

As for what attacks you can parry, there's actually quite a big number of them. Obviously, melee attacks can be parried. This includes enemies attacking with tools, knives, or even their bare fists. You can actually even parry chainsaws if you get the timing right. Other than melee attacks, Leon can also parry thrown melee weapons. However, you will have to be fast, as these weapons can fly fast. Of course, you cannot parry arrows, guns, and other projectile weapons you might encounter.

That's all for our guide on how to parry in Resident Evil 4 (RE4). The game is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For more gaming news from us, you can check out our gaming news articles.