Resident Evil franchise: How to play in order

Capcom has spent a few years alternating the development of new installments with remakes of its classics. After Resident Evil Village, the next main title in the saga has not yet been officially revealed. Before that happens we will be able to revisit a legendary game, nothing more and nothing less than the revamped version of Resident Evil 4.

There are many ways to answer this question. However, we will focus on the chronology of the plot In most cases. In doing so, Resident Evil 0 should be the first on the list, but on a mechanical level it offers some new features that complicate things a bit, so we prefer to opt for other titles first. Likewise, the events that take place in Resident Evil 3 happen before and after what happened in the second title. In this case, we opted for the option of playing Resident Evil 2 first. Here is the complete list:

Resident Evil

The first game in the saga is available in different versions, despite the fact that the remake originally made for GameCube stands out. Due to ease of access, since it’s come out on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, the revamped version is a highly recommended option. Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield must unravel all the mysteries of a mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. They will soon discover that within those walls, more than just hungry zombies and complex puzzles await them.

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Resident Evil 2 (and its remake)

As is the case of the remake of the original, there are differences between the PlayStation title and its remake for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, mainly because the latter is a reimagining of the classic. In either case, the basis of the story is the same. Two characters with very different profiles meet in a Raccoon City devastated by the zombie pandemic. Claire Redfield, Chris’s sister, looks everywhere for him, while Leon S. Kennedy begins his career as a police officer at the worst of times. The story continues.

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Resident Evil 3 (and its remake)

As we said, the third installment is chronologically located before Resident Evil 2, but the story progresses until it is beyond that video game. Jill Valentine returns to star in a more action-oriented horror adventure in which she must escape from an invincible enemy, Nemesis. The monster chases her and tries to kill her at all costs. The revamped version adds new lines of dialogue and will modify other aspects, although the essence at the plot level is also maintained in the Remake.

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Resident Evil 0

In the official chronology, it is the first game in the series. It stars Rebeca Chambers and Billy Coen. The latter, sentenced to death, goes to serve his sentence. But an incident with a zombie will change all plans. This installment continues to make use of tank controls, although it adds important new features, such as the collaborative aspect between the two protagonists. Arguably, it reveals the origins of everything that happened in Raccoon City with Wesker and the Umbrella Corporation.

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Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Claire Redfield continues to search for her brother after making her way into the police station and into the heart of Raccoon City. She infiltrates the headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation in Paris, with the misfortune of being caught by the security team. She soon realizes that her past with zombies has returned to the present. This installment, originally from Dreamcast, does not have any remake, but it can be purchased through different virtual stores.

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Resident Evil 4 (and its remake)

If Code Veronica brought back Claire Redfield, Resident Evil 4 does the same with Leon. The former policeman is recruited by the United States with a very specific objective in mind: to save the president’s daughter. To do this, he travels to a remote village in Spain, without knowing that he will come across creatures much more intelligent than the zombies he has faced so far. The new version improves the graphics and adds changes to its gameplay and the behavior of the enemies, although it respects the original GameCube title.

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Resident Evil Revelations

Jill Valentine is once again the protagonist of this new chapter, a title that does not have a number, but that does add value to the official canon. It came out on Nintendo 3DS originally with the goal of combining more modern mechanics with some aspects of classic survival horror. Together with Parker Luciani, he goes to an abandoned ship in the middle of the sea, a ship in which Chris Redfield is supposed to have disappeared.

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Resident Evil 5

The fifth installment, without Shinji Mikami on the team, picks up the playable baton from Resident Evil 4 and presents a very action-focused title. The plot leaves Raccoon City, Spain, and other locations behind to take us to Africa, where the Umbrella Corporation’s biological weapons continue to expand under a new name. We play as Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar in a video game that includes a cooperative mode.

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Resident Evil Revelations 2

The plot is located between the events narrated in Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Claire Redfield and her companions celebrate a party when they are captured and sent to a deserted island. The woman, like her brother Chris and his partner Leon, has never escaped the threat of Umbrella, nor its legacy. A new fight for survival awaits both her and Moira Burton.

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Resident Evil 6

This is the most action-oriented title in the franchise. It allows you to play as 7 different characters in four different campaigns (Leon S. Kennedy and Helena Harper, Chris Redfield and Piers Nivans, Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin, Ada Wong), also with a cooperative option. Although sales were good, Capcom decided to shelve the style of play that had developed since the fourth installment.

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Resident Evil 7

Set four years after Resident Evil 6. Ethan Winters goes to a strange abandoned place in search of his wife Mía, who disappeared years ago and was presumed dead. No welcoming committee awaits you there, but unparalleled horror. Step inside the Baker home and investigate the most visceral of horrors. Unlike the rest of the games in the franchise, Resident Evil 7 adopts a first person point of view. It also refocuses your attention on exploration, not forgetting the action sections.

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Resident Evil 8 Village

And we come to the last stop, that of Resident Evil Village for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. In this case, its position in the list seems pretty clear because it is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7. Ethan Winters is the main protagonist of this terrifying journey into the unknown. Apparently, his wife Mia has been killed by Chris Redfield and his daughter kidnapped and taken to a fearsome town.

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Chronological order to play Resident Evil

Resident Evil order by release date

Of course, the Capcom saga has hosted also had some spin-offs (Umbrella Corps, Outbreak, etc) that have not been included in this list, since they are not considered part of the canon. And neither are titles like Resident Evil Resistance or Resident Evil Re:Verse, which are stand-alone online multiplayer games.