Resident Evil games in order, and which one to play first

Resident Evil turned 30 this year. The series now has nine main games, from the 1996 original to Resident Evil Requiem, which launched on February 27, 2026, plus four remakes and the Revelations spin-offs. A fifth remake, Resident Evil Veronica, is due in 2027. And on October 16, the Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 remakes arrived on Switch 2, which means every Resident Evil from 7 onward now runs natively on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Switch 2.

The short answer: you don't need to play them in order. Most Resident Evil games tell a self-contained story with a few returning characters. Start with the Resident Evil 2 remake (2019), the best-selling game in the series. If you want action first, play the Resident Evil 4 remake; if you want first-person horror, start with Resident Evil 7. And if Requiem is the one you're curious about, play Resident Evil 2 before it.

Resident Evil games in release order

Here's every main Resident Evil game, plus the remakes and the two Revelations games, in the order they came out.

PS4 and Xbox One versions also run on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The series has plenty of spin-offs too, from the Outbreak games to the Chronicles rail shooters and online games like Re:Verse, which shut down in June 2025. None of them are needed to follow the story.

Resident Evil story order (chronological)

The story order only moves a few games around. Most of the shuffling happens in 1998, when five of the games take place within about five months.

The one real knot is Resident Evil 3. It opens a day before Resident Evil 2 and ends after it, with the destruction of Raccoon City. Playing 2 before 3 works fine, and it's the order they were released in.

Resident Evil remakes vs originals: which should you play?

For most players, the remakes. Here's the case for each.

Resident Evil 1: play the 2002 remake

The GameCube remake kept the mansion and the fixed camera angles but added new areas, changed most of the puzzles, and added the Lisa Trevor subplot and Crimson Heads, zombies that can come back to life in a more dangerous form. Its HD Remaster is on almost every platform. The 1996 original is now on Steam and GOG for anyone curious about where it all started.

Resident Evil 2: play the 2019 remake

It swaps the fixed cameras for an over-the-shoulder view, keeps both Leon and Claire's campaigns, and turns the Tyrant (Mr. X) into a pursuer who follows you through the police station and can't be killed. Capcom lists it as the best-selling Resident Evil game, at 19.7 million copies by June 30, 2026. The 1998 original is on Steam and GOG too.

Resident Evil 3: the remake, with a caveat

The 2020 remake looks and plays like Resident Evil 2, but critics pointed to its short length and missing content. Several locations from the original, including the clock tower, the graveyard, the park and city hall, were cut. Play it after the Resident Evil 2 remake as a short follow-up. If you want the full original, Nemesis is on Steam and GOG.

Resident Evil 4: either, but start with the remake

The 2005 original popularised the over-the-shoulder camera that action games still use, and it holds up well. The 2023 remake keeps the story, gives Ashley a better role and is the version most people will enjoy more today, with Separate Ways included in the Gold Edition. One warning: Resident Evil 4's difficulty is locked once you start, apart from dropping to Assisted, so choose carefully.

Code: Veronica: wait for the remake, or play the PS2 version

Capcom announced Resident Evil Veronica, a full remake, at Summer Game Fest on June 5, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2 and PC in 2027. Until then, the original plays on PS4 and PS5 as an emulated PS2 game, and on Xbox through backward compatibility.

If you want the wider picture of why Capcom keeps remaking its back catalogue, we covered it in why there are so many video game remakes.

Which Resident Evil should you play first?

It depends what you want from it:

• Most people: the Resident Evil 2 remake. It's survival horror at its best, it introduces Leon and Claire, and it sets up Raccoon City, which matters again in Requiem.
• If you want action: the Resident Evil 4 remake. More shooting, more set pieces, a little less fear. It's Capcom's third best-selling Resident Evil, at 16 million copies.
• If you like first-person horror: Resident Evil 7, then Village. They follow a new character, Ethan Winters, and need almost no series knowledge. Resident Evil 7 has sold 18.4 million copies.
• If you're a purist: story order, starting with Zero and the 2002 remake of the first game. Expect fixed camera angles and older-style controls.
• If you scare easily: start with Resident Evil 4, which leans more on action than fear, or see our list of horror games for people who don't like horror first.

Is Resident Evil Requiem a good place to start?

It can be, but it's better as your second or third game. Requiem introduces a new lead, FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, whose chapters are classic survival horror, and brings back Leon for the action. Its story is about survivors of the Raccoon City outbreak, and it eventually returns to the ruins of the city, so it lands much harder if you've played the Resident Evil 2 remake. Critics loved it: OpenCritic has it at 89, and our Resident Evil Requiem review deep dive covers why. Capcom says it had sold 8 million copies by June 30.

Where to play Resident Evil in 2026

• Switch 2 has the most complete modern line-up of any Nintendo console. Resident Evil 7, Village and Requiem launched natively on February 27, 2026. The Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition followed digitally on October 16, at $39.99, $29.99 and $49.99 in the US, with launch discounts into early November. Physical copies follow on January 29, 2027.
• Original Switch has native versions of the older games: the Resident Evil HD Remaster, Zero, 4, 5, 6 and both Revelations. The newer ones are cloud versions that stream over the internet.
• PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have native versions of everything from Resident Evil 7 onward, and play the older PS4 and Xbox One versions.
• PC has almost everything on Steam. The original Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis came to GOG in 2024 and to Steam on April 1, 2026, at $9.99 each. Code: Veronica is the main gap.
• iPhone, iPad and Mac have Resident Evil 7, Village and the Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 remakes. They need recent hardware; Resident Evil 4 needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

Keep your Resident Evil run in order

Eighteen games is a lot to keep straight, especially with remakes and originals sharing a name. In Perthro, you can build a list in the order you plan to play, log each game with the platform and hours when you finish, and add Resident Evil Veronica to your Interested list so it shows up in your release calendar. It works the same whether you play on Switch 2, PS5, Xbox or Steam, as our game tracker page explains.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Resident Evil (series)
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil Requiem
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil (1996 video game)
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil Zero
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil: Revelations
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil: Revelations 2
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil 6
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil (2002 video game)
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil 2 (2019 video game)
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil 3 (2020 video game)
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil 4 (2023 video game)
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil Code: Veronica
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
• Wikipedia: Resident Evil Village
• Capcom: Platinum Titles (sales as of June 30, 2026)
• Gematsu: Resident Evil Veronica announced
• Nintendo Wire: Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 remakes on Switch 2
• VGC: Resident Evil 7, Village and Requiem on Switch 2
• Deku Deals: Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition (Switch 2 US price)
• Deku Deals: Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition (Switch 2 US price)
• Deku Deals: Resident Evil 3 (Switch 2 US price)
• Steam: Resident Evil (1996)
• Steam: Resident Evil 2 (1998)
• Steam: Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (1999)
• GOG: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3