The Resident Evil franchise has been a groundbreaking force in the survival horror genre, with each generation of the series finding new ways to deliver a creative mix of action and horror. Even though older titles like the original Resident Evil games from the 90s are still absolute gems that are well worth revisiting for fans of the series, not every game in the series has aged as well as the rest without their next-generation remake.
While it’s hard to pick just a few of the best titles from the critically acclaimed series, there are still a handful of Resident Evil games that stand above the rest for being undisputed masterpieces of their craft, delivering the engaging action segments, emotional storylines, and a sense of overwhelming dread that make the series so iconic.
Resident Evil Village Is A Shocking Thrill Ride From Start To Finish
Although Resident Evil Village was criticized for pulling back on the horror elements that were so prevalent in Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, the overall experience is still incredibly iconic to this day. Building on the foundations of its predecessor’s first-person perspective, Village scaled up the series’ action without losing any of the tension provided by its more traditional survival-horror gameplay.
With incredibly aggressive enemies, deadly bosses, and nightmarish settings that could only exist in such an extravagant location as its mountainside villa, each of the four lords in Resident Evil Village has such drastically different designs, areas, and boss battles. Aside from helping to keep the gameplay experience feeling fresh all the way up until the credits, each environment of Resident Evil Village comes to life with a new level of immersion thanks to its gorgeous environmental details.
On top of its self-contained storyline following Ethan Winters’ going through hell yet again to save his family, Village offers new revelations on how the series and the Umbrella Corporation came to be, alongside one of the progenitors of the original viral outbreak. Combined with the fact that Resident Evil Village is chock-full of references and Easter eggs to past entries in the series, it truly feels like a love letter to Resident Evil fans, even with its flaws.
With excellent gunplay through the wide variety of unlockable weapons, some incredibly haunting sequences like the one in House Beneviento, and one of the most heartbreaking storylines the series has seen so far, Resident Evil Village is a memorable experience well worth standing alongside the best in the franchise.
Resident Evil Requiem Is A Strong Contender For One Of The Series’ Best Outings
Although Resident Evil Requiem has the significant advantage of having over 30 years of franchise history to pull from, the series’ return with Leon Kennedy and the brand-new Grace Ashcroft absolutely smashed our expectations. Returning to where it all began for most players with the ruins of Raccoon City, the release of Requiem didn’t rely purely on nostalgia to get by, but expanded the scope of its setting that we can’t wait to see explored in future entries.
Resident Evil Requiem also struck a unique balance between love for the classic survival horror gameplay of the original Resident Evil games and the demand for more action-heavy experiences like the later entries in the series, as it cleverly expanded upon its predecessors by offering both experiences in one, split between its two protagonists.
Even if the swapping mechanic felt a bit jarring at times, Resident Evil Requiem absolutely nailed both aspects of the game, with Leon’s high-octane action feeling even more addicting than ever, especially with the release of its free combat-focused DLC, while Grace’s horror segments offer some of the more terrifying sequences and atmosphere you could ask for in a Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard’s Immersive Horror Focus Still Hasn’t Been Topped
Acting as a franchise reset after the divisive response to Resident Evil 6, the first-person horror offered by Resident Evil 7 is still, by and large, the scariest game in the series. Following the brand-new protagonist, Ethan Winters, as a regular civilian rather than a specialized police officer or ex-military veteran, Biohazard feels like the perfect return to the series’ survival-focused origins while paying homage to the horror genre as a whole.
Despite starting off as a mostly normal southern family, Biohazard‘s mutated Baker family offers some of the series’ most iconic villains, each inspired by classic horror tropes: Jack as a slasher, Marguerite with body horror, and Lucas as a recreation of the torture-game genre. Although each character’s wild personality makes for unforgettable encounters, both Biohazard‘s villains and playable characters are even more memorable for being some of the most tragic characters in the franchise.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is also jam-packed with references and inspirations from specific horror movies, with Evil Dead being one of the most prominent through Mia and voice lines shared between the cast.
On top of being the first entry to experiment with a first-person perspective, Biohazard also helped to establish a modern foundation for the series to build upon moving forward, thanks to the immersive RE Engine.
While the story and setting arguably stray the furthest from a traditional Resident Evil game, Biohazard still has all the hallmarks of an excellent outing in the series, with no shortage of puzzles, cool weapons to find, and limited resources to manage as you make your way through the dilapidated property while constantly being on edge.
Resident Evil 4 Remake Is One Of The Series’ Most Iconic For A Reason
Hailed as one of the best video game remakes, the Resident Evil 4 remake revolutionized the series’ third-person combat while improvingnearly every aspect of its predecessor. Even though the original game still has plenty of charm and segments that didn’t carry over fully into the remake, the award-winning Resident Evil 4 remake is easily the definitive way to experience Leon’s classic storyline.
It isn’t just gameplay that got a facelift in the Resident Evil 4 remake; both Ashley and Leon had writing and design changes that make them far more believable characters within the modernized Resident Evil setting. Although some encounters and segments were removed, much to the disappointment of fans, the updated Resident Evil 4 made each boss battle far more of an engaging cinematic spectacle, with new mechanics making them even more challenging, especially on harder difficulties.
While it might not be one of the most favored entries for fans that love the survival-horror aspect of the series more than the action-packed adventures that become more frequent as time went on, it’s incredibly easy to forgive just how satisfying the revamped combat feels to play.
Taken to even further heights with the reimagined locations that feel incredibly immersive to explore, the Resident Evil 4 remake still has more than its share of frightening moments and battles against nightmarish mutations for fans to enjoy.
Resident Evil 2’s Remake Revitalized The Series For A New Generation
While this won’t exactly come as a surprise to any fan of the Resident Evil series, the genre-defining release of the Resident Evil 2 remake is undoubtedly the closest the series has ever come to achieving a perfect game within the confines of the series. Frequently praised as one of the best video game remakes ever made, RE2 faithfully modernized the gameplay and story of the classic 90s game while drastically improving upon its foundations.
Offering one of the series’ most iconic locations that you’ll end up memorizing the layout of by the end of the game, RE2‘s Raccoon City Police Department is completely dripping with atmospheric horror, as each corner turned leaves you on edge thanks to the fantastic lighting, visuals, and sound design that all work towards enhancing the already high levels of survival-horror tension offered by RE2‘s resource gathering and puzzle solving gameplay loop.
As if the modernized gameplay experience and excellent cast weren’t enough on their own, the RE2 remake also introduced one of the series’ best stalker enemies with Mr. X that still hasn’t been topped to this day. Relentlessly stomping through the halls of the RCPD and offering a constant threat thanks to its excellent AI, Mr. X is the cherry on the cake that is the RE2 remake, which set a new standard for Resident Evil moving forward.
- Video Game(s)
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Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020), Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 (2023)
- Cast
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Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ali Larter, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, Shawn Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen
- Created by
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Shinji Mikami, Tokuro Fujiwara