There are three, yes, three Resident Evil remakes coming to Switch 2 this week, all in time for you to have some fantastic handheld zombie survival horror fun in the scariest month of the year. If you’ve never played these fantastic remakes of the classic three games, then now is an amazing opportunity, as they all have steep discounts for preorders on the Nintendo E-Shop. You’re in the right place for Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition on Switch 2, but if you’re after Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition or Resident Evil 3, click the links.
So, what’s left to say about a game that was considered the best of the three remakes, an absolute masterclass, and received a 93 average on Metacritic when it released back in March 2023? Truthfully, not a lot. So, I’m going to keep this review succinctly to what’s of note with the Switch 2 version, anything that’s changed, added, or removed, and issues or improvements exclusive to Nintendo’s system.
Spoiler alert: This is the one where Leon goes overseas to the weird Spanish village of El Pueblo looking for the kidnapped Ashley Graham, daughter of the president, only to find himself attacked by villagers who are being controlled by a sinister cult of Los Illuminados priests. It’s an assault course of escort missions as you get infected by the Las Plagas parasite, and make your way through an epic island facility. It was also the one that first introduced the over-the-shoulder view, and moved away from the T-virus and Raccoon City setting.
The original is considered a classic of the survival horror genre, and rightly so. The remake manages to outdo both the previous remakes and learn from the mistakes of Resident Evil 3. So how does it play running natively on Switch 2?
This one isn’t even that old, and its graphics are right up to today’s standards. The newly trained special ops agent Leon seems to fit his skin far better than he ever did in Resident Evil 2, and now he looks the part. Where the other two entries have a bit of a haze or a blurring on the Switch 2 screen that I couldn’t get rid of even with judicious use of the different settings, Resident Evil 4 doesn’t seem to suffer from it in quite the same way. Things are crisper and cleaner, even in the mucky world of inland Spain. Docked, the game is flawless throughout, and indistinguishable from the full console releases on PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Mostly I was just amazed at being able to play such an astonishingly high-fidelity game on a handheld system. The Switch 2 really can run just about anything, and while it may not quite compete with a Series X or a PS5 Pro, it’s still easily able to be on par with base systems. And that’s incredible.
The best thing about playing any horror game on your Switch 2 is taking the handheld console up to your room, away from your family or housemates, turning off all the lights and scaring yourself half to death. At least with a handheld you can already be under the covers, and not in your less scary living room. Resident Evil 4 is a really streamlined action experience with Leon’s new skills, and I found myself getting to grips with it again very quickly.
Graphical fidelity aside, I wasn’t quite as sold on the controls of the Switch 2 for games with lots of aiming like this. Joy-Con 2s are fine; it’s not like they are broken at all, but aiming quickly with that teeny little joystick and trying to get a fast headshot takes practice, and it’s just not as ergonomically comfortable as it is playing on either an Xbox or PlayStation. I have an awkwardly bent right thumb on any Switch 2 game that requires aim or camera control, and that awkwardly bent thumb can eventually start to ache. Good job it’s a handheld and can be easily paused, or encourages taking breaks. Stick the Joy-Con 2 in the gamepad, and this problem is largely alleviated, but then I’m no longer handheld.
With this new Switch 2 Gold Edition of the game, you get a wealth of previous DLC – 4x Leon costumes, 2x Ashley costumes, 2x deluxe weapons, attache case colour options, and 2x charms. Included in the £44.99 price tag is the whole of the Separate Ways Ada Wong side game and The Mercenaries DLC.
Resident Evil 4’s remake goes all in, recreating virtually everything in the original game and honouring the entire title. It didn’t cut content like Resident Evil 3 and came out swinging. It probably is the best of the bunch, but it’s also a very different experience. I have always liked the inner city zombie outbreak, and so relocating to rural Spain took some getting used to. It’s also a much more action-oriented title for those coming to it fresh, and has a little less of the horror atmosphere of the original games.
Undoubtedly the best way to play Resident Evil 4 on Switch 2 is via this Gold Edition with all the trimmings. If the Switch 2 and scary handheld gaming sessions are your idea of a good time, you won’t go far wrong. However, we preferred using gamepad and dock to going handheld for the ergonomic ease and gaining more fidelity on the big screen, for a game that looks this good.
Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition is out on 16 October 2026 only on Nintendo Switch 2.
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
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