RE4 version differences (gameplay)

[pas-de-2]

Figured I'd sum up my findings on the major gameplay differences between each RE4 port, because I've noticed a lot of confusion on this topic and I'd like to have some place to link back to. There are too many changes to the graphics/audio between each version for me to comment on, so I've constrained this to changes affecting gameplay:

REGION DIFFERENCES

RE4 has region-specific differences that apply regardless of port.

Changes exclusive to every NTSC-U (North American) release of RE4

• Easy difficulty is removed as an option from the difficulty select menu
• Normal mode and Separate Ways (if available) begin at game rank 5 instead of game rank 3 ^[1]
• Assignment Ada is fixed to game rank 6 instead of game rank 4
• The village stage in Mercenaries has a unique dynamic difficulty mode. Unlike the other Mercenaries stages, the game rank is no longer fixed, and you also passively gain 30 dynamic difficulty points every second.
• The shooting range requires 3000 points per bottle cap instead of 1000

/!\ Note that the PC ports of RE4 are considered to be PAL releases internally. You need re4_tweaks to see these changes on PC.

Changes exclusive to every NTSC-J (Japanese) release of RE4

• Amateur mode (very easy) is available as an option in the difficulty select menu
• Ashley's section is played with classic RE-style fixed camera angles
• Players take 20% less damage in Mercenaries mode
• Decapitations are censored (not sure if this affects gameplay in any tangible ways)

Changes exclusive to every (?) PAL-Germany release of RE4

• Assignment Ada and Mercenaries Mode are unavailable (German Steam owners of UHD no longer seem to be getting this censored version of the game. Does this also apply to the PS4/XB1/Switch ports?)

REVISIONS

These are effectively patches made to the game that have been carried forward to later ports, except where noted.

Changes from NTSC-U GameCube RE4 to NTSC-J/PAL GameCube RE4 (Jan 2005)

• Ammo drops significantly less often and Pesetas drop slightly more often. Ammo types now have individual caps depending on the difficulty mode.
• Ammo placements in the world have been revised (generally towards less ammo).
• The Knife does 100% more damage to most enemies, with the notable exception of Krauser, who actually takes 12.5% less damage
• The TMP does 40% more damage to Ganados and 20% less damage to El Gigante and Krauser
• The Red9 and Blacktail weapon damage values were buffed to be stronger
• The Rifle's exclusive upgrade is stronger (18.0 -> 30.0)
• The Semi-Auto Rifle's exclusive upgrade was nerfed (0.4 -> 0.8 firing speed)
• The Handgun exclusive upgrade crit chance was nerfed (50% -> 33%)
• Matilda has a faster burst, higher rate of fire, higher firepower, and slightly slower reload speed
• Mine Thrower mines explode after 3 seconds (down from 5 seconds)
• The Merchant's First Aid Spray stock is now dependent on whether you have any healing items in your inventory. He has none if you have more than 3 healing items in your inventory, 1 if you have more 2-3 healing items in your inventory, and 2 if you have none. When playing on Amateur mode, he always has a single First Aid Spray in stock.
• First Aid Sprays now cost 5000 (down from 10000)
• Treasure Maps are cheaper (3000, 6000, 9000 for each region respectively, instead of a fixed 10000 for each)
• The TMP (13200 -> 8800) and Mine Thrower (23000 -> 8000) are cheaper
• The Striker (32400 -> 40120) and Killer7 (63000 -> 70700) are more expensive
• The Shotgun is less expensive to fully upgrade
• Flash grenades kill Las Plagas wolves when their parasite is visible
• U3 now takes half damage from magnum weapons
• Regenerators take 33% less damage from everything but the Knife
• The boulder in the mines can be blown up with a Rocket Launcher
• Incendiary grenades have an easier time hitting Mendez in phase 2
• Ashley can no longer suplex enemies after stunning them with a door
• Fixed a bug where you couldn't upgrade the Striker after buying it at the Merchant in 4-1 and had to wait until reaching 4-3
• You can no longer exit and re-enter the 2x El Gigante boss fight room to respawn the gold bars of an El Gigante that was killed by the lava trap

Changes from NTSC-J/PAL GameCube RE4 to RE4 PS2/Sourcenext RE4 PC (Oct 2005)

• Added Separate Ways, the PRL, and Special 2 costumes

Changes exclusive to RE4 PS2/Sourcenext RE4 PC The AI in the PS2 version of the game had to be downgraded for the PS2's weaker hardware. These changes weren't carried forward to the later ports.

• Only 8 enemies can be active at a time
  • Enemies have a shorter activation range

Changes from RE4 PS2 to RE4 Wii (May 2007)

• The knife's damage was increased another 30% in this version, except when using the Wiimote's autoknife function.
• Ada can now use the Knife in Assignment Ada and Mercenaries mode
• The PRL now locks on to multiple enemies and can destroy most destructible environmental objects.

Changes exclusive to RE4 Wii

• Wiimote support (most of the code for this seems to remain in the later RE4 ports, but is inactive).

Changes from RE4 Wii to RE4 PS3/Xbox 360 (Sept 2011)

• Modern Type II controls added

Changes from RE4 PS3/Xbox 360 to RE4 PC UHD (Feb 2014)

• 60 fps support
• Type III controls added

This documents a lot of the minor changes made to level geometry and enemy spawns between each port: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aXN-Kxt0jbt9HQk_YrUNEn4WalTyiw18u2XBeuhqMts/edit

[1] RE4 has a dynamic difficulty system that changes enemy behavior, aggression, health, and damage depending on your game rank from 0-10. This is tracked internally by a dynamic difficulty point variable ranging from 0 to 10999 points.