Resident Evil 4 remake Chapter 1 guide to the Village and Chainsaw Man

Resident Evil 4’s first chapter has a lot of quiet exploration mixed with tough fights (but no boss fights). And it’s made even worse by your lack of resources starting out.

Our Resident Evil 4 remake Chapter 1 walkthrough will make sure you don’t miss any items and survive from the beginning of the game, through the Hunter’s Lodge, Village Square, Farm, and Lakeside Settlement to the end of Chapter 1.

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See what’s taking so long

After the opening cutscene, you’ll hop out of the car to see what’s taking so long with the cop. There’s nothing to collect yet, so just head forward until you reach the hunter’s lodge. Head in through the front door and turn left.

Take the first door on the right to find the Crude Charm file.

Head back out, and turn right. Follow the hall around two rights (the door with the cross is locked), and head into the kitchen where Leon will make a new friend.

Grab the Hunter’s Lodge key from his corpse, and grab the Officer’s Badge file closer to the door.

Take the key back to the door you just passed, and head down into the very normal basement. There’s nothing to collect and no way to get lost, so just explore until you hit cutscenes.

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Escape from the hunter’s lodge

Image: Capcom via Polygon

When you go to head back upstairs, Leon’s new buddy will be heading down. Put him down (again), and head upstairs. Go back through the cross door and continue straight. You’ll pass a hole in the wall on your left. If you look through, you’ll see a pair of guys inside the room with the Crude Charm. You can take them out, but there’s no reason to waste the ammo.

Head past them and take a right into the newly opened door. Head upstairs, and watch the cutscene.

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Head for the lake

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Capcom via Polygon

Back outside, the path is a straight shot again. Continue along until you hit a collapsed building. Smash the barrel for some handgun ammo. Head into the shack and smash another barrel for some gunpowder. Visit the typewriter to save, and then go through the door on your left.

When you see the dead wolf, stick to the left to find more handgun ammo in a drawer.

Continue to the rusted out truck. Take a left into the collapsed building to find a crates with some pesetas.

There are two locals just past the truck. An economical way to deal with them is a couple shots to the knees to knock them down, and then get close. You’ll see a melee prompt to kick them, which you can then follow up with some knife attacks.

Just around the corner from them, you’ll probably step into a bear trap (or you can crouch and stab it to set it off without taking damage). Just past that, there’s a shack on the left with an angry local hiding behind the door. If you look close, you can shoot him through the hole in the wall. Take him out, then grab a red herb, a flash grenade, and some more handgun ammo.

Head back to the path and push through the gate, ignoring the decorative severed heads on top.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

Just past that, you’ll get a prompt to use your binoculars. Watch the villagers burn your cop friend (guess you’ll have to call acab to get home) and then push forward.

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Village Square

There’s no right way to handle the village square ahead of you. It’s possible to sneak around and take a few of the villagers out quietly — but only a few of them. Eventually, someone will spot you, and you’ll get mobbed. You could also rush in and start shooting, but it’ll get old in a hurry. Eventually, a Chainsaw Man (no relation) will spawn. A while after that, the fight will end unceremoniously.

The best approach here is to focus on getting the Chainsaw Man to spawn, and wrapping up the fight as quickly as possible — that will (well, might) save you health and ammo. And then you can run around collecting items.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Capcom via Polygon

From the binocular spot, take a left and follow the narrow path around the back of the building. Grab the green herb on your left. Continue forward and silently take out the woman with the pitchfork. Smash the crate next to her for some resources (S). Keep following the same path behind the next building and past the dogleg.

You’ll come to a shack on your left. Duck inside and smash the crate for some handgun ammo.

Take a moment to craft anything you can. You should have the materials to make some handgun ammo — 5 gunpowder, 1 resources (S) — and a Mixed Herb (G+R) — 1 green herb, 1 red herb. Things are going to start happening fast from here.

Exit the door, and sprint straight forward along the right side of the fence. Take a right around the front corner of the building, and duck into the door on your right. Leon will lock this door behind him.

To the left of the door, push the bookshelf in front of the window. Smash the two barrels there for some pesetas. Farther to the left, grab the handgun ammo and first aid spray. Head upstairs.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

At the top of the stairs, grab the W-870 shotgun from the wall. Smash into the cabinet to the left for a hand grenade. Continue around toward the open window and knock down the ladder. To the left, there are some shotgun shells on the bed.

Head back to the top of the stairs. You’re probably going to run into the Chainsaw Man at this point. Deal some damage and try to parry his attack. When he’s stunned, vault through the window. Take a right, and grab the velvet blue treasure from under the eaves on your right.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

From here, it’s just about running around the village square, and shooting villagers. Save the shotgun for headshots on the chainsaw man. You can kill him. Don’t forget about the hand grenade and the flash grenade to get out of jams.

Focus on head shots and kneecapping the villagers to slow them down and open them up to melee attacks. Grab anything they drop. Once you put down enough of the population, the town bell will ring and everyone will get bored with murdering you.

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Village Square items

Head back to where you entered the village square. There’s a lot to collect here. We’re going to work around counterclockwise.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Capcom via Polygon

Take the first right on your way (back) into the village square. There’s a shack on the right at the top of the stairs. Head inside and smash the crate for some pesetas. Vault through the (lack of a) window and take a right. Smash the crate overlooking the entrance to the square for some resources (S).

Return to the front door of the shack, head down the hill to the right. There’s a crate behind the fence on your left with some handgun ammo and a wagon to the right of that with a red herb.

Continue along the backside of the buildings, and take the next left. Watch on your left for another window to vault through. Smash the barrel in the corner for a hand grenade and the crate to the right for some handgun ammo. In the front room, smash the barrel for some resources (S).

Back outside, head into the stone tower a little to the right. Climb the ladder and grab the green herb on the platform. Head back down.

Exit the door and take the path on your right. Take the first left. Follow the path back through the dogleg to where you killed that first old woman. Vault through the window on your left.

There’s an angry villager hiding in the wardrobe to your right. Smash the barrel for some handgun ammo. There’s a locked drawer that we can’t get into yet along the front wall. Head through the door to the right of it.

Go visit the corpse of your cop buddy in the center of the square. Head to the east end of the square and into the small yard to the left of the church to grab one more green herb. Head back up the hill heading north.

At the top of the hill, the shack on the right has handgun ammo, and the house on the left has a case with a ruby. Follow the path out of the Village Square.

Just past the gate, duck into the building on the right. Smash the barrel for a red herb. Take a second to craft anything you might need, and then hit the typewriter to save.

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Farm

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Capcom via Polygon

Outside, head around to the right. There’s a blue medallion hanging on the back corner of the house. Shooting it will alert two nearby villagers.

Hop the fence into the paddock on the north side of the farm. At the far end, there’s a lantern(?) attached to the small windmill. When it’s off to one side, shoot it and it will drop the pearl pendant — if you shoot it over the water, the pendant will get dirty and be worth less. Take a right, and duck into the shed on the left. There’s another blue medallion hanging in the rafters.

Cross over to the barn behind you. Smash the barrel for some gunpowder, and then turn around. There’s another blue medallion hanging behind the post directly across from the barrel.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

Continue northeast. You’ll see a big portcullis to your left that we’ll come back to in a second. Turn right, and you’ll see another blue medallion in the open window (hay mount?) of the tall barn. Head around the north side of that barn to see a lock in a shrine that we can’t open yet, and a green herb to the right. The final blue medallion is behind that shrine.

Backtrack to the gatehouse at the north side of the farm. There’s a Blue Request Note to the right that will ask you to destroy the medallions we already handled.

To left side of the gatehouse, you’ll find a crate with gunpowder.

Inside the gatehouse, smash the crates on the left for pesetas and resources (S), and then head through the gate on the right. Deal with the tripwire inside, and then follow the room around to the ladder. Continue past for a yellow herb. (Mix that with other herbs to increase your max health.)

Climb the ladder and deal with the old woman at the top. Grab the shotgun shells and ignore the puzzle for now. Head through the closed door behind the ladder. Drop off the ledge and smash the barrel where you land for some gunpowder.

Continue around to find a chest with a flagon inside. You’ll get a tooltip for combining treasures to make them more valuable. Just past that, smash the barrels on the right for some pesetas and gunpowder.

Shoot the padlock off the door, and step into the barn. There’s another padlocked door to the left (that leads back to where you started). Around this point, a large man wearing a bull’s head will smash through the wall to your right. Deal with him and the villagers behind him.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

Back in the barn, return to the padlocked door. Working clockwise, check the drawer for a ruby, and smash the barrel for pesetas, grab the kitchen knife and the wooden cog, open the cabinet for some resources (S), and smash the crate for some pesetas.

Climb the ladder and smash the barrel at the top for more pesetas. Check the cabinet for some handgun ammo, and then vault through the window. Smash the crates for handgun ammo and more pesetas.

Take a left to return to the windmill. Place the wooden cog on the wall, and pull the lever to open the portcullis. Double check that you didn’t miss anything, and head through the gate you just opened.

On the far side of the bridge, take a left and follow the narrow path. Smash the barrel as you pass and then the crate at the far end for pesetas.

Back at the bridge, take a right this time. Smash the barrels for resources (S) and pesetas, and then push the meat(s) wagon out of the way.

Follow that path to another barrel with pesetas. Around the corner, a local will block your path with dynamite. Deal with anyone who might sneak up behind you, and then take a right at the rockslide. There’s a small trail to follow there leading around the rocks and to an angry pitchfork woman.

Continue along until you reach the tunnel. About halfway through, the tunnel bends. At the bend, turn left for a crate with pesetas inside.

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Lakeside Settlement

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Capcom via Polygon

At the far end of the tunnel, you’ll run into more locals — with one holed up in the building across from you who throws dynamite. If you can, snipe the dynamite in his hand to blow it up. Deal with the rest of the locals — there’s another dynamite-thrower off to your left.

Head to the shack on the left and deal with the tripwire inside. Smash stuff for pesetas and resources (S), and then watch for the bear trap on the far side. Take a right and cross the opening area. Take a left and follow the house around to a window you can vault through.

Grab the handgun ammo inside, and smash the barrels for pesetas and gunpowder. Step into the room to the right for shotgun shells.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

From the shells, turn around and look up at where the wall meets the rafters for the first Clockwork Castellan.

Back on the path, keep to the left where there’s a crate with handgun ammo and a ladder to climb. Follow that walkway back for another crate with pesetas.

Back at the ladder, cross to the right and deal with more dynamite. Look for a crate a little back on the right side of the house with pesetas. Head back to the front, shoot the lock, and head inside.

Check the cabinet to the right for a hand grenade. Step through the door and disarm the tripwire in the hall. In the back room, check the cabinet for handgun ammo, grab the charred picture frame file from the table, and then shove the bookcase out of the way.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

Deal with the local, and then open the cabinet for some gunpowder. Open the trapdoor. Follow the tunnel until spoiler-y things happen and the chapter ends.

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After the cutscene with Luis, we’ll head into Chapter 2. Or if you’re keen to skip to a different section of the game, here’s our full Resident Evil 4 remake walkthrough.