With Resident Evil Requiem releasing tomorrow, everybody is talking about the franchise and what it means to them. I have seen countless different rankings, videos to build hype, and just an all-around great atmosphere, looking towards this highly-anticipated blockbuster. Although some of the games vary in quality, I believe that Resident Evil is, near enough, a perfect franchise, birthing survival horror as we know it today, but creating the blueprint for how we see third-person shooters also. So much of gaming heritage is owed to this franchise, and when it comes to at least the mainline games, there are very few slouches. And thus comes the impossible task of ranking them myself, having replayed most of them recently in preparation. This focuses on the mainline games, including only the major spin-offs that are considered part of the main continuity.

16. Resident Evil 6

To the shock of absolutely no one, the cluttered, messy Resident Evil 6 finds its place at the bottom of the ranking, and I doubt anybody will argue differently. Its story is insane, and I say that in a derogatory manner, mostly because you will be trying to figure out what is going on half the time. The way it is structured with four intersecting campaigns, focused on beloved series characters, is quite interesting. Still, it is a real pacing killer, making this the most needlessly long entry in the franchise. It gets exhausting by the time you get to the later campaigns, because by that point, you could probably recite the main narrative off by heart. Thankfully, the gameplay capitalises on its more off-the-wall tone, making it a fun enough game to just blast through. I have not tried this one co-op, but I have heard it makes this a lot more enjoyable, so I will have to get around to that. Although not quite a bad game, it is certainly stupid often, but that does not mean you cannot have fun playing it.

15. Resident Evil: Revelations 2

The two Revelations games in the franchise serve as bridging points for some of the games, but they certainly feel like they have their own distinct vibe entirely. My main issue with both games is that they are a departure from survival horror to such a degree that they do not feel like they belong to the franchise at all. Focusing much more on action, these are more kooky shooters with a Resident Evil coat of paint, and to be fair, they could be a lot worse with that premise. The sequel is ranked lower purely down to the story being a bit daft, and not in the franchise’s classic, endearing manner. Bringing back Claire Redfield and Barry Burton as main protagonists is nice, but the gimmick of controlling a backup character in the form of Moira and Natalia can get tiresome. It can make for some good sequences, but having to spot invisible enemies with Natalia so you can shoot them with Barry is cool at first, but it gets old fast. A fun-ish shooter, though lacking in anything interesting, and it is nothing compared to what is to come.

14. Resident Evil: Revelations

Copy and paste most of what I said about the previous entry, and it still applies. I liked this slightly more than its sequel, but it is not enough survival horror for me. It fully depends on what you come ot the franchise for, and if action is more your jam, this may rank a bit higher for you. However, this lacks horror, uses bland, unimaginative enemies constantly, and its weird TV show structure is a strange choice that I do not think fully lands. I do not finish an episode, raring to get onto the next one, I just want to play it and skip all the annoying recaps that are littered throughout. That being said, the story is better with this one than its sequel, as are its characters and setting. Seeing Jill and Chris traverse a ghost ship full of monsters is quite neat, and it does capture an eerie atmosphere that, even if not scary, is at least creepy. The shooting is fun, and the game does not feel long enough to overstay its welcome, so this is a solid entry that I cannot complain too much about.

13. Resident Evil 3 Remake

I do not loathe this anywhere near as much as most people, and I think those who do are being very dramatic. People’s reasoning behind this is that there is a great deal of cut content from the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and that is a fair point. Even still, I think this is still a very fun game, even if it is immensely short to the point where it just feels like an expansion for the Resident Evil 2 Remake. Its first area is very fun, in fact, and although nowhere near as good as the game it is remaking, it at least gives a taste of what that game is like. Nemesis feels more like a scripted, recurring villain rather than an endless Tyrant pursuer, but his design is really gnarly, and the boss fights against him are great fun. I can understand people’s disappointment with this, especially considering the previous remake and original version of this game are so good. But it offers a decent Resident Evil-lite experience, and I think anybody could play this and get a bit of a Resident Evil fix.

12. Resident Evil 5

Since playing this for the first time a few years ago, I have seen the light during my recent playthrough. This game is great fun, and that is mostly owed to how good it is as a co-op experience. If I had not replayed this before doing these rankings, I probably would have had this at the bottom because I really do not think this game is meant to be played solo. Your partner AI is completely useless, and that makes the overwhelming enemy hoard less manageable. Bosses are also very hard without having a partner to draw attention away from you, so you can hit the weak spots whilst their back is turned. Playing it with somebody throws all these problems out the window, and it makes the clunkier gameplay feel more purposeful, as you are fighting to get through together, rather than being a one-man powerhouse like in Resident Evil 4, for example. It has a decent mix of survival horror with the action too, with some item management being essential, and some pretty freaky B.O.Ws trying to infect you. Chris and Sheva are both brilliant protagonists, too, and Albert Wesker gets the most to do in this entry as the main antagonist of the series. There is a fair bit of lore and links to the rest of the series to chew on, too, making this a complete entry that is a blast to play through with someone else.

11. Resident Evil 0

Disclaimer: This is probably the game most absent from my memory, as it was one of the first ones I played, and I have not done so since. Still, I have always seen this as a middling entry in the series that is still a good game, but does not quite reach the heights of some of the others. I think this is the benchmark for the quintessential Resident Evil experience, with some great level design, puzzle solving, and survival horror. Some of the changes made from the original games, like the lack of item boxes and the AI partner system, however, are a bit rough. It feels alien to not have item boxes and to instead just drop them on the floor, but its level design is built around this to make it not too much of a headache. The story sets the events for the original game and the foundation of the dreaded T-Virus, which is a substantial bit of lore to digest, but Marcus, the villain, does not compare to some of the series best villains. Rebecca and Billy are decent protagonists, but they do not have the instant loveability that the other main characters do, and it is clear to see why they are not used much again in other games. Overall, though, this is a good Resident Evil game that is a good entry point for newcomers to the series, if they can get past the tank controls.

10. Resident Evil (1996)

The one that started it all, paving the way for survival horror for years to come. It’s old, it’s charming, and to this day, it’s still a hell of a lot of fun. It is unbelievable that this game is 30 years old this year because it still works very well, and you can see the influence dripping out of it and then onto other games that came later. It lands itself at 10 on this list purely because, first, there is a better version of this game in every way, and second, because it still has some of that old jank that cannot be shaken for a game this old. I do not mind the tank controls at all, but in this one, they just seem to be nowhere as slick as later entries. They were polished up incredibly so for its sequel, along with pretty much everything gameplay-wise, but it certainly does not mean this is not worth playing. I think every fan owes themself a playthrough of this once because it is an enlightening experience, especially if you like survival horror as a whole. It says a lot about this franchise that I am ranking such an iconic game so middling in the list, but that speaks more for the calibre of later entries.

9. Resident Evil 8: Village

The first-person games in this series are not to everyone’s taste, but I personally think they add a lot to the horror experience. I will talk more about that when talking about Resident Evil 7, but Village still has that brilliance often. This is very much a theme-park approach to the Resident Evil formula, pitting protagonist Ethan Winters against a series of lords, all laced with some strange powers that come from biological weapons. Possibly the most ambitious change of setting in the series, fighting lycans and vampires in medieval castles, it still has some brilliant ties to the overall story, and it just shows how crazy this series is not afraid to go. Acting as a greatest hits approach to its gameplay mix-ups, there is plenty of the breakneck pace action that some fans will love, and also some truly terrifying horror sequences that yank that power fantasy away from you. It is more of a love letter to Resident Evil 4 than anything, but it differentiates itself enough with its weird narrative and setting that it stands incredibly well on its own two feet, and it’s a damn good game.

8. Resident Evil: Code Veronica

It always baffles me that this game was not a numbered entry in the series, as it functions as a full-blown sequel to 2 and 3, much more so than 4 does. It is exceptionally strange, though, and its more zany ties to the overarching story may have made Capcom feel it was within its own sort of world. The Ashford family is so weird in the best way, and their voice-acting is so over-the-top that it somehow stumbles past awful and into good again. As the first proper entry outside Raccoon City, it allowed itself to go as crazy as possible with its setting and characters, and that is what I love most about it. Claire is great, and Chris is just as good, both with fairly long campaigns that converge towards the end for a boisterous finale, resulting in a brilliant overall structure. This game is in dire need of a remake, though, because it is punishingly difficult, even more so than the way a lot of older games can be. Enemies are strong and difficult, particularly the hunters that are in most of the game, but the bosses in particular take some beating. There are some daft, janky bits too, like the fact that it never tells you that you are about to change to Chris halfway through, and all the weapons you had as Claire are lost unless you put them in an item box beforehand. Even so, I love this game, and its vibe and story are enough for me to call this a great game.

7. Resident Evil (2002)

This is as good as remakes get that are faithful to the original, whilst giving them a necessary facelift and extra content. Taking everything good about the original game and polishing it to feel more modern, it is an absolute joy to play. It adds some extra areas to the original game and updates existing ones, none of which tarnish anything from the original and only make it more fun. Extending a game is always a careful procedure, especially with a game as well-paced as the original Resident Evil, but it works tremendously well. It takes a lot of the simplicity of the puzzles out, too, offering more head-scratching challenges for the player to overcome, all of which feel like they should have been there the whole time. Perhaps most impressive, though, is the visual upgrade that this game is, especially when you consider this is only six years after the original came out. The lighting is perfect, the enemies look terrifying instead of just polygons, and the atmosphere of Spencer’s mansion and its surrounding areas is turned up to eleven. This is a wonderful game and definitely one that I am raring to do another playthrough of soon.

6. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Seen as the game that saved the franchise after a period of constant meandering through what was essentially an identity crisis, Biohazard is an unbelievable game that was the perfect reset for the series. As I am sure many people did, this was my first ever entry into the series, seeing many clips of its horror and wanting to brave it for myself. Playing this in VR is one of my favourite ever gaming experiences, and it honestly makes the horror of playing it normally an absolute joke. Going back to basics for the franchise and introducing Ethan as a protagonist, the first-person perspective also showed Capcom was going for something very different. The Baker family are some of my favourite villains in the franchise, and some of their cat and mouse moments, as well as their bossfights are definitely some of the fondest memories I have of the series. The survival horror pacing is pitch-perfect, never making you feel too powerful too early, but knowing exactly when to switch gear and go balls to the wall. It is a fantastic game, and that goes to show how exceptional the top five are.

5. Resident Evil 4 (2005)

Some may call this blasphemy to place this below its remake, and to those people I apologise. This is one of the most important games ever to be made, and we owe to it everything we know about third-person shooters. As a 20-year-old game, it certainly does not feel like it. In fact, I always find it bizarre that this feels slicker than 5, considering it is basically the same control scheme in that one. This is the first time I can actually talk about Leon properly too, the face of the franchise, and for good reason. He might be the coolest man in any game, delivering one-liners like nobody else ever. Above all, though, he is that one-man killing machine that I talked about earlier, allowing you to mow through hordes of enemies with ease. Even with this power fantasy, though, there is still a lot of survival horror magic to be found. The item management is still very important, having to organise your inventory as best as possible to be able to make the most out of it. The Spanish villagers infected by the Las Plagas are creepy, and the escalation of how crazy and weird they get is great. Enemies like the regenerators are unforgettable, leaving you feeling powerless until you find a means of killing them. Above all this are the many weird and wonderful villains that chew the scenery like nobody’s business, and I think they sum up this game. They are very strange, very over-the-top, and yet still menacing when they want to be, delivering a strong mix-up that constantly works. I could talk about this game for ages, but I think the remake is somehow better!

4. Resident Evil 4 Remake

Taking every single thing that is brilliant about the original game and modernising it without any caveats feels like a dream come true when playing it. It runs beautifully and has the looks to match it, recreating some of the already fantastic environment and enemy designs and making them somehow look better. It has to be said that I do not think there is a big jump in quality between this and the original, nor any of the other entries going forward, because they’re all practically flawless. But this one was clear to me, particularly because I am not necessarily blinded by the nostalgia of the original game. The gameplay here is just more refined, which is only natural considering the original is over 20 years old, and third-person shooters have come a long way since. I love both, and considering this is a very faithful remake, everything I love that applies to the original also applies to this, too. It is just that modernisation that works so well, with some exceptional graphics and incredibly smooth controls.

3. Resident Evil 2 Remake

This top five was so hard to decide, because I feel overwhelmingly positive about all of them, but this was the one that I even felt I betrayed myself putting in third. When I said 7 was the first one I played, this was the first one that truly got me into the franchise. I played this at the very beginning of lockdown, and I loved every second that I rinsed out of it. I even got the platinum trophy for it, which I do not usually do, and that shows how much I tried to squeeze out of it. This comes to the point where I have rarely replayed this since, because I know the game so well, and it does not offer me a true challenge anymore. I know where all the items are, near enough, and so there is no real benefit to a replay for me, and that is the only this is here on the list. It is purely a me-problem, that I have simply played this game too much. But that goes to show how engrossing, how captivating, and how exceptionally made this game is that I wanted to do so. I had plenty of free time in lockdown; I could have played anything else. But I sank hours into this game because I loved it so much. The setting, the characters, the survival horror experience, all perfect. And the most incredible part is that the original is somehow just as brilliant, but we will get round to that shortly.

2. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)

I thought people were just moaning for the sake of it when Resident Evil 3 Remake came out, because when I played that for the first time, I enjoyed it. However, after playing this, I do not think I will ever go back. This is truly exceptional, with punishing difficulty, perhaps the best level design in the series, and just everything working together so well to make a true survival horror experience. I would emphasise the word survival here because with Nemesis around, it truly feels like a matter of just stumbling on through trying to stay alive. He is where most of the difficulty comes, running around the corner at lightning speed, all with the goal of ruining your day. The joke is on him because every time he pops up, the music screaming at you, the adrenaline is a drug like no other. Narrowly escaping to a save room feels so good, and grabbing some stored herbs out of the item box to get back to full health is always such a release. The opening area is good in the remake purely because the level it is aping in this game is possibly one of the best levels of a game I have ever played. Its interconnectivity is generous enough to be helpful, but not so much that you can just avoid Nemesis easily. The pacing of getting different weapons, too, is so well done, making you feel at Nemesis’ mercy early on and getting onto a level playing field with a very natural trajectory. Jill is a great protagonist, too, full of sass and self-assuredness that is just so lovable. This is almost the peak of the series, and it really is incredibly close.

1. Resident Evil 2 (1998)

This is as good as it gets. Playing this back-to-back with the first game was like night and day, and it is even crazier that they are only 2 years apart. The controls are so much more refined and still feel good today. The environments are much better realised, offering much more variety and interesting things to see. The dual narrative with Leon and Claire’s different scenarios is spectacularly done, offering so much variety when playing the game with a different character. Its overall narrative is involving and effective, perfectly setting the scene for Leon and Claire’s scramble for survival, which inevitably leads to them stumbling into Umbrella’s nasty schemes. It expands the story so much from the original, down to the smallest things. These games do not offer too much character work, but there is a significant difference felt between Chris and Jill, and Leon and Claire. The former are professionals, assured of themselves and ready to get the job done. But Leon and Claire are just civilians at the point, simply trying to get by and survive the situation they are in. That aspect is why I love 7 so much, and it plays so well into the title. The idea that something normal and unassuming has something awful beneath the surface, and normal people who stumble across it are dragged into this whole saga, whether they like it or not. Leon and Claire accidentally happen upon a dark conspiracy that they could never have dreamed of, transforming their lives as we have seen in the later games. But this is the foundation of it, that escalating terror and evil we have seen for 30 years in this franchise is properly realised here. It is not fully formed in the first game, but this game feels more purposeful, more aware that there is more to come and that this is only the beginning. You know that this is an exceptional game and a survival horror experience like no other; it has been talked to death, I am sure. But this is where the franchise gained its mojo, its momentum to propel it forward, and make one of the most iconic franchises of all time. That is why I think it is the best and I am very assured of my decision. If you have not played this, do yourself a favour because it is brilliant. What a game, what a franchise! I cannot wait to see what Resident Evil Requiem brings us next.