MediEvil PS4 PlayStation 4 Tips Tricks Beginners Guide

Sir Daniel Fortesque is back in business with the PlayStation 4 remake of MediEvil. Resurrected after two decades of resting in peace, Sony's spooky action adventure makes a grand return. As with other modern remakes like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, MediEvil will of course have fans looking to relive the journey through Gallowmere, but there's also a whole new audience on PS4. If you're brand new to Sir Dan's unusual quest, you're in the right place. In this guide, we're going to talk through all the basics of MediEvil.

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MediEvil - General hints for how to get started

Below, we go through the fundamentals of how to play MediEvil.

Controls

In MediEvil, there are two control schemes. The default is a more modern layout, while the other stays true to how you would've played the game on PSone. Let's go through them both so you can decide which control scheme is best for you.

Action Modern Controls (Default) Classic Controls
Move Left stick Left stick
Walk D-Pad D-Pad
Rotate camera Right stick Right stick
Jump X Circle
Primary attack Square X
Secondary attack Press / hold Circle Press / hold Square
Interact / Switch weapons Triangle R1
Block R1 Triangle
Strafe R2 R2
Switch target L1 L1
Inventory Touch Pad Touch Pad
Dan Cam (over the shoulder view) L2 L2

Health and Life Bottles

Sir Dan starts things off with one health bar, as you'd expect, but as you play through the game, you'll find extra Life Bottles. If you take a fatal hit, or fall off the edge of a stage, one of your Life Bottles will be consumed, keeping you alive and giving you a full health meter. You can recover Dan's health by standing on magical green vents or fountains in each level -- there are one or two in each. You can also find small Energy Vials that will top up your health bar or, if it's full, your next Life Bottle.

Combat

Combat is pretty slapdash in MediEvil. As a reanimated skeleton, Sir Dan's fighting skills aren't great, so don't expect to be pulling off combos. Your first real weapon is a small sword, and attacking with it will see Dan simply flail it around in front of him. There's no real lock-on for enemies, so just hit them with the pointy end until they fall over. Of course, other weapons behave slightly differently -- see below for more information on weapons.

Equally as important as attacking is defending, which brings us to...

Shields and blocking

It's easy to forget, but Sir Dan can equip and use shields to take hits for him, potentially saving his, er, skin? Anyway, holding down R1 (or Triangle if you're on Classic controls) will put you in a defensive stance, and the shield will take damage rather than your health bar. Each type of shield has a different level of durability. Copper shields can take 150 points of damage, silver shields 200, and the gold shield - a special item you can acquire - can take 400, and can be repaired.

Again, it's easy to ignore your shield, but effective use can make your time with the game much easier.

Gold

As well as thwarting Zarok's undead army, you'll find hundreds of gold coins throughout MediEvil. Found in bags or treasure chests, this money is extremely useful, so gather as much of it as you can.

Merchant Gargoyles

In each level, you'll find a Merchant Gargoyle. These guys are hungry for gold, so will happily take your moolah in exchange for ammunition for your unlocked weapons. You can also buy back weapons taken from you, and recharge special equipment once you have it. Make sure you snag all the gold you can find -- you'll need it.

MediEvil weapons and inventory

As you play through MediEvil, Sir Dan's arsenal of weapons and other items will grow. Let's go through the categories and some examples below.

Melee

Melee weapons are what you'll probably use most often throughout the game. From wooden clubs and all kinds of swords to Sir Dan's left arm, you'll be smacking zombies about like nobody's business.

Ranged

In addition to swords and axes, Sir Dan will make use of ranged weapons. Starting off with throwing knives and going all the way up to powerful long bows, ranged attacks can be extremely useful, especially against flying enemy types. The wisp flying around with you will highlight the nearest bad guy, and that's who Dan will attack with projectile weapons.

Armour

This category in the inventory is where you'll find shields and other additional protection for Sir Dan. To equip a shield, simply highlight it in the menu and press X. It's always a good idea to have one handy.

Items

Items houses everything else, such as quest-specific trinkets. This is also where you can find the Book of Gallowmere, a compendium detailing every character in the game, from friendly characters to basic enemies and even bosses.