Resident Evil 4 remake makes Leon’s knife and attaché case a much bigger deal

polygon.com:

If there’s an unsung hero of the Resident Evil games, it’s the humble knife. When your ammo is running low, and the zombies are moving slow, slashing your enemies to pieces is extremely satisfying. The knife is getting its due in Resident Evil 4’s upcoming remake, where it is more crucial to survival horror gameplay than ever.

Capcom released a new trailer for Resident Evil 4 last week, and a new 17-minute gameplay video to media this week, showing off what’s changed since the 2005 original. The videos show off how much more capable in combat Leon S. Kennedy is: He’s parrying flying hatchets out of the air with a knife, suplexing Ganados cultists, and roundhouse-kicking anything with a face — even stuff without a face! Leon’s knife appears to be indispensable in surviving encounters with Plagas, who could just straight-up bite your head off in the original Resident Evil 4, and for battling Jack Krauser, a knife enthusiast himself.

In gameplay footage shared by Capcom, Leon is also shown parrying Plagas tentacles and throwables, like villagers’ Molotov cocktails, back at enemies, and finishing off downed-but-not-dead cultists by stabbing them in the head.

Yes, the knife can degrade and break, but unlike in the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, Resident Evil 4 will let players upgrade and repair their knife. The beloved Merchant of the RE4 remake will let Leon “tune up” his blade (just like his other weapons) to upgrade its durability.

Leon’s attaché case is also getting some fun new perks, and it’s not just about upgrading his case’s storage. The new Resident Evil 4 will let players unlock multiple cases, some of which have their own bonuses. In new gameplay footage, Capcom showed off two types of attaché cases: silver,