Where to Start with Resident Evil: A Beginner's Guide
A decades-deep horror series that scares off newcomers. Two excellent ways in, both of which we reviewed.
Aymen Sakouhi//4 min read
© CAPCOM Co., Ltd.. Official media via Steam.
Resident Evil is one of the longest-running and most tangled series in games, and that history scares off as many newcomers as its monsters do. The good news: you do not need to play thirty years of it to start well, and the modern entries are some of the most accessible horror games ever made. We have reviewed two of the series' current high points, and either is a superb place to begin.
Start here: the Resident Evil 4 remake
If you buy one Resident Evil, make it the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4. We scored it a 9.3, and it is now the benchmark other remakes are measured against. It keeps everything that made the 2005 original a landmark, its pacing, its tension, its second-to-second craft, and layers in enough considered change, the overhauled knife chief among it, to feel new. It is action-forward rather than pure horror, which also makes it the least intimidating entry point in the series.
The current-gen showcase: Resident Evil Requiem
For the newest and most technically dazzling experience, Resident Evil Requiem, which we scored a 9.1, is the one. It leans back into pure survival horror, with Grace Ashcroft as a superb, fragile protagonist at the center of some of the most nerve-shredding sequences Capcom has ever built. It is a stronger scare than RE4 and a showcase for current hardware, but it asks a little more nerve of a first-timer.
Do you need to play them in order?
Not really. Resident Evil games tell mostly self-contained stories, and both of these stand on their own. The numbered entries reward series knowledge with callbacks, but you will not be lost starting cold with either. Play the one that matches the experience you want, then follow the threads that interest you.
Which is right for you
Want an accessible, action-tinged masterpiece and the single safest starting point? Take the Resident Evil 4 remake. Want the scariest, best-looking, most modern survival horror the series currently offers? Take Requiem. Both are among the best the genre has, and either will tell you within an hour whether Resident Evil is for you.
Sources
Written by Aymen Sakouhi, grounded in official facts and our own reviews.
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