Ranking the Resident Evil Games
On the 10th of January 2020, I started my Resident Evil journey by putting aside an hour for the Resident Evil 2 remake for a charity stream. I remember feeling absolutely stressed and terrified, and had to take a breather after I was done thinking, “I don’t think I can take more of this!”
And here we are! We’ve now played through all eight of the main Resident Evil games on my Twitch channel, and I’m so glad I kept going.
If I had to rank the games from my most to least favourite, it would be:
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil: Biohazard
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 3
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 6
I honestly enjoyed each of these games because they each brought something a bit different to the table in terms of story, characters and game-play style. But if you’re looking at starting to play any of the games from the franchise, I’ve made a brief summary of each one and why I loved them as much as I did.
1. Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
This was the latest Resident Evil game that released at the time I decided to start the franchise, and it was a wonderful introduction into the world. I loved the blend of action and puzzles, and I enjoyed going through the many rooms of the Raccoon City Police Department whilst being chased by the tyrant. It was a great introduction to Leon, Sherry, Claire and Ada, and it made me love them going into the later games. This is definitely the Resident Evil game I recommend to everyone first.
2. Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Village was the first new addition to the franchise I got to stream, and I had finished it in one sitting! It had brilliant villains and enemies - it was an amazing blend of Biohazard and 4. It took the scariness and thrills that Biohazard offered and the action and inventory management from 4.
What I loved particularly about this game was the way the character of Ethan Winters was further explored - we had more insight into his thoughts and feelings than we did in Biohazard, which made him so much more relatable and made me grow to love him.
3. Resident Evil: Biohazard
The most highly requested game I had on stream, and for good reason! Playing in first-person added to the horrors of being trapped in the Baker’s house with the worst family I’ve ever met. It is definitely the scariest game in the franchise which made for many memorable jump-scare moments. Without potentially spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to play it yet, the plot twist in the third act of the game was awesome. The DLC for Biohazard was also very memorable - Bedroom from Banned Footage: Volume 1 was my absolute favourite that had me panicking from beginning to end!
4. Resident Evil 4
I loved how much action and combat variety Resident Evil 4 had. The quick-time events were enjoyable, finishing moves were satisfying, and I loved the inventory management system. Although Ashley was probably the most annoying character in the entire franchise, this game is one I’m looking forward to playing again when it hopefully gets remake treatment like 2 and 3 has.
5. Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
I honestly had this ranked a little higher, but I knew it was because I’m in love with Jill Valentine. And Carlos too. I genuinely loved this game and its the only Resident Evil game I have played through multiple times. There were a lot of complaints about the game in terms of the comparison to the original (which I couldn’t compare it to having not played it!), and also upsets over how ‘short’ the game was. Yes, the game was shorter than the 2 Remake, but I personally enjoyed it almost just as much. It’s not as scary as 2 either, so if you’re looking for a smaller introduction into the Resident Evil world, I recommend trying this first!
6. Resident Evil
I hate a love-hate relationship with this title, only because I remember having so much difficulty getting used to the awkward controls and camera angles. Once you get your head around it, its okay but it proved to be really frustrating at times. I loved exploring through the mansion, the enemies and all the puzzles. This reminded me of what I loved about playing in the police department in 2.
7. Resident Evil 5
This game feels very dated because of its portrayal of the majority of its African characters and enemies… but it was only released in 2009?! It wasn’t that long ago. That’s all I can think about it when I think back to playing this. You can read more about the controversy here.
The only things I liked about the game was playing as Chris/Sheva, Jill’s appearance, and its multiplayer mode. I think if I was playing this solo, I might not have had the motivation to finish it.
8. Resident Evil 6
The only good thing about this game was the multiplayer. The story was unnecessarily long and mediocre, and Jake was just gross. My favourite story-line out of all of them was Chris and Piers’. Honestly, I could’ve given this title a skip - I hardly remember anything notable about it.
And there you have it - my quick recap and rankings of Resident Evil 1-8!
I hope you enjoyed reading snippets of what I loved (and didn’t love!) about each of the games from the franchise. The Resident Evil games have become a big part of my channel, and it lead me to meet so many amazing members of my community!
Have you played Resident Evil before? Which title is your favourite? What are you hoping to see next?
Let me know in the comments below!
