After decades of new releases, theResident Evilfranchise has built up a long and complicated chronology. Fortunately, knowing it isn’t important for playing any individual entry, which is to the series' benefit. MostResident Eviltitles are made to be distinct experiences that make some callbacks to prior entries to reinforce their shared setting and characters. Familiarity with Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker’s history will help one appreciateResident Evil 5, but it can still be enjoyed as a cheesy, cooperative action-horror romp. This has led to a unique situation where newResident Eviltitles are furthering the series' story while older games are being remade with minimal concern for narrative conflicts.
Still, some fans have enjoyed keeping track of all the organizations, viruses, and side stories that have cropped up over the years. Withover twentyResident Eviltitles releasedsince the franchise’s inception, this is no small task, but many still make the effort. Witnessing the chaos build on itself has its own charm, and there’s no telling when something from an earlier game will become relevant later. Those who wish to play the most important games in the series can get away with playing each subsequent numbered entry, but there always seems to be a little more story connecting the larger games.
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The Classic Era
While most wouldn’t recommend it as an onboarding point for the franchise,Resident Evil Zeroremains the earliest title in the series timeline. It features Rebecca Chambers, Chris Redfield’s partner in hisResident Evil 1campaign, and Billy Coen, a convictwhose only role is inRE0. There is lore to glean from this entry, but considering that it leads directly intoResident Evil 1and refers to things introduced in later games, newcomers should consider revisiting it after getting their bearings.Resident Evil 1’s 2002 remake is currently the proper beginning of the franchise, and still holds up today.
Players can then move forward a couple of months to the Raccoon City incident covered inResident Evil 2and3: Nemesis. Their chronology is complicated, asResident Evil 3starts days before2, but ends shortly after2does. Themultiplayer-focusedResident Evil Outbreakgamesalso take place sometime during this incident, andThe Umbrella Chroniclesfurther confuse things by remakingRE0,1, and3as light gun games. SinceResident Evil 3shows the effective end of this zombie outbreak, it’s best to continue playing the remakes in numbered order while ignoring the spin-offs. Another spin-off calledResident Evil Survivortakes place after Raccoon City’s destruction, but it isn’t important either. What matters forthe story isResident Evil – Code: Veronica, which brings backRE2’s Claire Redfield andRE1’s Chris Redfield.Code: Veronicamarks the furthest point in the classic era, and sets up several plot points for future titles.
The Action Era
Chris' story will have to wait, however, asResident Evil 2’s Leon S. Kennedy returns as a government agent inResident Evil 4. This game takes place six years after the Raccoon City incident, and largely stands on its own apart from introducing the Las Plagas parasite and bringing Leon back into the action.Resident Evil: The Darkside Chroniclesis both a retelling and an interquel that explains what Leon was doing betweenResident Evil 2and4, but it was also released four years afterRE4and just seems intended to givethe rival character Jack Krausera better introduction. All of these non-essential spin-offs adding slight expansions to the story is cluttering the timeline, but things are more straightforward from here onward.
Some time afterRE4,Resident Evil: Revelationsexplores what Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the first game’s protagonists, are doing.Resident Evil 5continues this storyline five years afterRE4, and serves as the conclusion to the Albert Wesker arc that began inResident Evil 1. Some leftover heroes, Claire Redfield andfan-favorite Barry Burton, have their own adventure with a new Wesker family member inResident Evil: Revelations 2. Finally, to cap off this particular era ofResident Evil,Resident Evil 6brings Leon, Chris, and a host of other new and returning faces together for a globetrotting zombie-shooting romp.
The Modern Era
Other spin-offs likeResident Evil: Operation Raccoon City,Umbrella Corps,Resident Evil: Resistance, andResident Evil Re:Versehave come out over the years, but tend not to fit into the timeline. A few titles likeResident Evil GaidenandResident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronicacan even be said to ignore the overarching story. What remains is the two most recent mainlineResident Eviltitles and their DLC.Resident Evil 7: Biohazardis a soft rebootfor the series featuring the newcomer Ethan Winters, but still takes the time to show Chris Redfield’s development and hint at how anti-bioweapon measures have changed. Its Not a Hero and End of Zoe DLC episodes wrap up a couple of loose ends from the main game and lead into the franchise’s current finale.
Resident Evil Villageis the conclusion of Ethan Winters' story, as the game takes care to remind the player. It takes place about three years afterRE7and continues to move the setting’s story forward while also producing new revelations that echo back through the whole series. Once players complete theShadows of Rose DLC campaignset after the main game, they can say that they’ve reached the current farthest point in theResident Eviltimeline. There’s a lot of variance in both narrative and gameplay between entries, but thanks to their quality and the extra details that the remakes have been slipping in, fans remain invested in this ever-changing horror franchise.
Resident Evil 4 Remakeis set to release on June 02, 2025, on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
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