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.

Farm walkthrough

 * 1) Start by shooting the one hanging from the tree where you got the blue paper. This is in the yard with the chickens.
 * 2) Go north into the cowshed, then turn around and find the next one hanging in a window above the door. You may have to move a bit if a beam is blocking your view.
 * 3) Continue north and get one hanging from a tree.
 * 4) Go to the back of the barn and find one very high up above the wagon, just under the eaves.
 * 5) Go into the barn, up the ladder, then turn around to find the next one hanging in a window.
 * 6) Turn around again and go out the window on the left. Follow the ledge to the end and notice the windmill slowly moving. Get the next one hanging from the windmill blades.
 * 7) Drop down from the ledge and stand about halfway between the table and the gate to the east. Aim above and to the left of the gate to find the last one hanging near the top of the wall. You have to stand in the right place to get an unobstructed shot.

Cemetery walkthrough

 * 1) Starting from the entrance, go right and find one in a tree just past the shack.
 * 2) Follow the path east to the first gap in the fence, then find one hanging from a tree on the other side.
 * 3) Cross the graveyard going northeast to find one in a tree on the north side.
 * 4) Cross back to the path, then go past the front of the church and find one hanging on the left behind a fence.
 * 5) Go around behind the church to the pedestal, aim up and find one under the eaves.
 * 6) Take the path to the right the church to the rickety ledge. Follow this to the first gap but don't jump over. Find the next one hanging near the shack ahead.
 * 7) Hop over the gap then immediately turn around and fire through the gap to get the next one.
 * 8) Continue to the second gap but don't jump over. Look some distance away, under the ledge ahead, to find the last one.

Followup
When you’ve hit at least 10 medallions you can collect you reward, the Punisher, from the Merchant. If you get all 15 then a firepower Lv. 2 upgrade included as well. When it's time to collect, you 'buy' the weapon like any other item except that its price is listed as 0 for now. Make sure you have room in your inventory before buying. Even if you never plan on using the gun, get it anyway since you can sell it back to the Merchant for half its normal price.

Shooting Gallery

 * 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.

Get the document on the table to learn the rules of the game, and speak to the Merchant’s brother behind the desk to get your weapons. You must choose between two weapons categories: Rapid-Fire and Sniper. The Rapid-Fire weapons set contains the Shotgun, TMP, Hand Grenades and ammo for each weapon, and the Sniper weapons set contains the Handgun, Bolt-Action Rifle, and ammo. 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 which game you select.

Scoring

 * Hit Target: 50 points
 * Headshot (Male Villager): 100 points
 * Headshot (Female Villager): 200 points
 * Salazar: 500 points (Salazar will appear after hitting five targets in a row)
 * Ashley: -1000 points


 * Targets: 20 male villagers, 5 female villagers, up to 5 Salazar targets.
 * 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)
 * Complete row: 15000 PTAS

Game B

 * Don Jose (male villager)
 * Don Diego (male villager)
 * Don Esteban (male villager)
 * Don Manuel (male villager)
 * Dr. Salvador (male villager w/ chainsaw)
 * Bella Sisters (rare, female villagers w/ chainsaws)
 * Complete row: 25000 PTAS

Game C

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

Game D

 * Soldier w/ dynamite
 * Soldier w/ stun-rod
 * Soldier w/ hammer
 * Isabel (female villager)
 * Maria (female villager)
 * Complete row: 50000 PTAS.

Tactics
The first thing to realize is that there is vast gulf in difficulty between game played using a conventional controller with a laser sight and using the Wii controller with a reticle. If you're playing on the Wii our only advice is to use the pistol and try not to get too bored.

For Gamecube and Playstation players this can be a challenge and you really earn the rewards you get. For choice of weapons pick Sniping since that's pretty much what you'll be doing. With one exception, the best weapon to start with for all games is the handgun for its ability to target quickly and its relatively steady aim. The rifle has a steadier aim but it's slow, so getting multiple targets in the few seconds you have is difficult. The TMP is quick to aim but your aim will be too unsteady to reliably hit a target at a distance. The shotgun is serviceable for the earlier games, but there is too much chance of hitting Ashley when she appears.

So the handgun is what you want to use most of the time, but for Salazar you really need to switch to the rifle since the target is so small and far away. Remember that the only way to win without getting Salazar is by getting 25 consecutive headshots and that seems unlikely.

When you're aiming for villagers, try to get headshots when they're easy, but the main thing is to get consecutive hits so Salazar will appear. So for moving targets, targets in the distance, and in situations where you don't have much time to aim, just go for center of mass. If Salazar appears when there are only one or two villagers left then get the villagers first since the game doesn't start the next set of targets until Salazar is gone. When you do go for Salazar, quickly switch to the rifle, aim, fire and switch back. Occasionally in the later games there may be cases where a villager pops up in the distance just after you shoot at Salazar, in which case just keep the rifle a bit longer. Be remember that the rifle does poorly with moving or multiple targets.

The best place to stand is about halfway between the center aisle of targets and one of the side aisles. That way you usually get a clear shot when the game puts an Ashley in front of a villager. It also means that there are two aisles where the target might as well be standing still if they're moving up and down them.

The game gives you a reload period in the middle of each game. Use it to reload the handgun since the rifle has plenty of rounds for what you're using it for.

Always go for the rare bottle cap first. For that you just have to hit all 25 villagers, no headshots or Salazars needed. The idea is to do it in the easy setup when it's much easier. If you find you're getting the hard setup before getting the rare for that game then just reload from your last save. Five normal bottlecaps won't be much good if the bonus is too hard to get, and you can't go back to the easy setup without reloading from a previous save.

Game D is a bit special so you need to adapt a bit. In the easy setup there are several times when a villagers is between Ashley. The aiming is tricky enough so that you should forget the advice above and use the rifle. Still use the handgun for most targets though. For the hard setup all the aiming is always tricky so you're better off just using the rifle all the time. This is the only time you should use the reload time to reload the rifle.