Where to Start: Resident Evil Whole Series

Erin finishes telling uswhere to begin.

ErinMcAllister

Whether you've arrived from our batch of Resident Evil side games, directly off of the last main series title in Part 1 of this series, or you just like reading things backward, I am here to help you finish off the Resident Evil series in its current form. With globe-trotting adventures and spooky first-person experiences ahead, I hope you enjoy the rest of this fantastic franchise.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to Resident Evil 4, where Resident Evil 2's Leon S. Kennedy returns to save the president's daughter from a mysterious cult. Originally released in 2005 on the GameCube and later ported to PS2, Windows, Wii, iOS, and Android, this horrifying classic also got an HD version released between 2011 and 2019 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, and the Switch. There's no particular reason why you'd have to experience more than one version of the game, so feel free to take your pick, for the most part. I'd steer you towards any of the HD versions, as they come with a few more a gameplay features and modes as compared to the original and its ports. If you must play a non-HD version, I would caution you away from the PS2 and Windows versions, as they feature visual and audio downgrades and awkward control schemes respectively.

Up next is Resident Evil: Revelations, a title again featuring Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield as playable characters. Soon after the two founded the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), Chris and his new partner, Jessica Sherawat, go missing while looking for evidence of the resurgence of bio-terrorist group Il Veltro. Jill and her new partner, Parker Luciani, looking for Chris' last-known coordinates, board an abandoned cruise liner, the Queen Zenobia. Technically a side-game (though not one you'd want to miss), Revelations was originally released on the 3DS, and later re-released in an HD edition for Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Switch. While the 3DS version is the easiest to carry around with you, I'd still recommend skipping it and taking on the HD version on whatever your preferred console is, particularly as the Switch version will still let you take the game on the go. The re-releases also feature new costumes, new characters, a new enemy, and even a new difficulty setting.