Resident Evil 4 Remake: Happiest When I'm Hunting Medallions

There's something very satisfying about shooting blue medallions in Resident Evil 4 Remake. The simple pleasure of spotting one dangling from a shattered beam or peaking out of a window, the process of lining up a perfect shot, the chime as it shatters, and the encouragement from Ashley when I complete a set of five.

 

"Awesome!"

Cheers Ashley. I appreciate you.

Leon and I both have a keen eye for time-wasting activities. Whether it's shooting blue medallions or scouring every last inch of the village for jewels, we have no concept of key-task prioritization. Yes, the Plaga virus is pumping through Leon's veins and we're running out of time to extract it, but we're still going to traipse off to explore every dead end, just in case there's a clip of pistol ammo waiting to be discovered.

Time spent medallion smashing might be better spent elsewhere, but it's not a complete waste of time. These mini-hunts are part of a recurring set of optional quests that are posted to blue notes scattered around the village, castle and island. If you destroy a set, the Merchant, extra chatty in the remake and a great source of entertainment, will reward you with unique currency which can be exchanged for special items that are otherwise inaccessible. 

Blue medallion hunting isn't difficult. Most are fairly easy to spot, and if you purchase the treasure map, their locations will be marked for you. And it's not as if there aren't several hundred more pressing things to spray your precious ammo into. Yet I won't pass up an opportunity to go on a blue hunt. It feels delightfully video game-y and very in-keeping with everything I love about Resident Evil, a series that never takes itself 100% seriously, and one which has been keeping me entertained since the mid-1990's. It also offers a moment of respite, a chance to relax and focus on something that isn't trying to disembowel me.

Adding to that, medallions don't sprout new parasitic heads when you shoot them. They stay dead, which is an enviable trait in a game where nothing knows how to die properly.

I'm enjoying my long-overdue return to Resident Evil 4, and it's not just because of hidden tokens. I hadn't played RE4 for more than fifteen years - not since I rinsed it on PS2, which came a year after an abandoned playthrough on my housemate's GameCube, which I had to drop when I moved out. Days, weeks, months and years seem to pass by at an increasingly disturbing pace these days, yet fifteen years still seems like a long time in video game terms, and outside of the major narrative beats and boss battles, I'm finding that I recall far less of RE4 than I expected I would.

I was fairly certain that the medallions were not a new feature unique to Remake, something that a Google search confirmed. However, they were presented differently, which I did not remember. This is just one example of my struggles to grasp what has remained the same, and what has been changed for the remake. I feel like I'm failing some kind of basic gaming test, unsure as to whether I'm re-experiencing faded memories or playing something new. It's been bugging me, my inability to judge what is or isn't true to the original, when it really shouldn't. I should just be focused on enjoying myself.

Everything is half memory, half discovery. Or rediscovery, perhaps?

Regardless, Resident Evil 4 Remake is excellent. Much like the previous trio of remakes, it's intended to be a companion piece to the original, not its replacement - a different way of enjoying a classic. Just don't ask me how different.