Resident Evil 4/Side quests

There are two minigames within the main story. These are purely optional in that they don't advance the plot, but you do get rewards for completing them.

Blue Medallions

 * Availability: Village only

Start this by collecting the piece of blue paper hanging from the tree in the farm. The locations of the medallions will appear on your map but some are, nevertheless, still well hidden.

Locations in Farm ( In the tree near where you got the blue paper.
 * In the upper window of the barn. You won’t be able to see this except from certain angles.
 * In the tree in the fenced in area to the north of the barn.
 * Upper window of the building to the south.
 * Under the eaves, southern end of the south building.
 * Hanging from the windmill. Get this from the ledge from the south building.
 * Hanging above and to the left of the northeastern gate.

Locations in Cemetery:
 * Hanging from a tree near the shack.
 * Hanging from a tree on the north edge.
 * Hanging from a tree near the fence.
 * Hanging to the left of the church.
 * Under the eaves behind the chuch.
 * Under the first gap in the ledge beyond the church.
 * Hanging near the shack next to this
 * Hanging under the ledge beyond this.

When you’ve hit at least 10 medallions then collect you reward, the Punisher, from the nearest merchant. If you get all 15 then a firepower Lv. 2 upgrade included as well.

Target Practice

 * Availability: Castle, Island

Overview
This is a mini game where you can practice your aim. There are 4 venues you can play in (see below). With each venue you can play a new variation on the game, labeled A through D. Each variation has an easy version and a hard version, you get the hard version after getting half the bottle caps for that variation. Enter the room and talk to the Merchant’s brother behind the desk. To start the game you must choose between rapid fire and sniping weapons. With each choice you get several weapons to use in the range, you also get ammo to go with them. Equip a weapon, enter the next room and start the game when you’re ready.

The idea, of course, is to shoot the cardboard enemies before they disappear. In all but the easiest setups Ashley appears as well and you lose points if you hit her. You get extra points for headshots so try to get them when possible. If you get five consecutive hits a special target, Salazar, appears at the back of range, hit it for bonus point. Your ammo is refreshed at the start of each round.

Prizes

 * Ordinary bottle cap: You can win up to four of these in each venue. Simply score 3000 points or more. What you really get is a miniature statue which you can examine up close, this happens to use a bottle cap as a base.
 * Rare bottle cap: There is one of these in each venue. Either break the range record of 4000 points or hit every enemy target without hitting any Ashley targets.
 * Cash prize: One for each venue when you get all six bottle caps. The amount depends on the venue.

Possible Scores

 * Targets: 20 male villagers, 5 female villagers, up to 5 Salazar targets.
 * Scores: Male villager 50/100, Female villager 50/200, Salazar 500.
 * Min score, all 25 targets: 1250
 * Max possible score, no Salazar: 3000
 * Max possible score: 5500

Backgrounds
There are two possible backgrounds, these make little difference in the game but offer a number of Easter eggs to make things more interesting.

Village
Village shack among trees, daytime.

Easter eggs: Shoot the window in the shack to here a villager groan and fall down. Shoot the nest on the right wall of the shack to stir up a swarm of bees. Shoot the bushes on the left to scare a flock of birds that leave feathers all over. Shoot the chimney to make smoke come out

Castle
Castle on a hill under a crescent moon.

Easter eggs: Shoot stars, there is a strange light followed by a meteor falling into the target area. This can be unfortunate if Ashley happens to be there. Shoot castle, Salazar giggles. Shoot moon then castle, fireworks and a 300 point bonus.

Locations
Background: Village. Game A.
 * Venue 1: Ch. 3-1

Background: Village. Game A, B.
 * Venue 2: Ch. 4-1

Background: Castle Game A, B, C
 * Venue 3: Ch. 4-2

Background: Castle Game A, B, C, D
 * Venue 4: Ch. 5-1

Background: Castle Game A, B, C, D
 * Venue 5: Ch. 5-3

Game A

 * Leon w/ rocket launcher
 * Leon w/ shotgun
 * Leon w/ handgun
 * Ashley Graham
 * Luis Sera
 * Ada Wong (rare)

Game B
Bella Sisters (rare)
 * Don Jose
 * Don Diego
 * Don Esteban
 * Don Manuel
 * Dr. Salvador

Game C

 * Merchant
 * Zealot w/ scythe
 * Zealot w/ shield
 * Zealot w/ bowgun
 * Leader zealot
 * Don Pedro (Don Esteban in tentacle form, rare)
 * Award for completing all: 35000 PTAS.

Game D

 * Soldier w/ dynamite
 * Soldier w/ stun-rod
 * Soldier w/ hammer
 * Isabel
 * Maria

Tactics: Position yourself to the right of the bell, this seems to work best to see the enemy targets hidden behind Ashley. It’s difficult to avoid hitting Ashley using anything but the rifle so use it exclusively. Make sure you get the rare bottle cap before getting two of the regular ones as it is much harder to get in the tougher version of the game.