How to Play Resident Evil in Order (2026 Guide)

Thirty years of viral outbreaks, three separate remakes of games that already had remakes, and a numbered entry that jumped from third-person action to first-person haunted house — Resident Evil’s release history is a mess to untangle. The plot, however, is surprisingly coherent once you line the games up properly. This guide gives you both orders that matter and a clear recommendation on where a newcomer should actually start.

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Direct answer: the chronological story order is Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 2, Code: Veronica, Resident Evil 4, Revelations, Resident Evil 5, Revelations 2, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7, and Resident Evil Village. If you would rather follow how the series was built, play in release order and start with the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, which is the single best entry point for a new player.

The Essential Resident Evil Games to Play in Order

These are the eight entries that carry the main story. Everything else in the franchise is optional context.

Two ways to play Resident Evil in order

Release order tracks the evolution of the series: fixed camera survival horror, then over-the-shoulder action, then first-person horror, with remakes filling gaps along the way. It is the order that makes mechanical sense, because each game builds on the last and the difficulty curve is gentler when you meet the 1996 design language only after modern controls have taught you the fundamentals. Chronological order tracks the story of the T-virus, Umbrella’s collapse, and the bioterrorism era that follows. It is the better choice on a replay, or if you care mainly about following characters like Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield across three decades of continuity. Most players are best served by a hybrid: play in release order but slot Code: Veronica in early, because it directly resolves plot threads the numbered entries leave hanging.

The chronological Resident Evil timeline in order

Resident Evil 0 opens on 23 July 1998 with Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen aboard the Ecliptic Express, hours before the original game. Resident Evil follows on 24 July 1998 in the Spencer Mansion. Then comes an overlap that trips everyone up: Resident Evil 3 begins on 28 September 1998, one day before Resident Evil 2, brackets it, and concludes on 1 October after Raccoon City is destroyed. So Jill’s escape technically starts first and finishes last, which is why some players prefer to play RE2 then RE3 anyway. Code: Veronica picks up in December 1998 with Claire searching for Chris. Resident Evil 4 jumps to 2004 in rural Spain, Revelations covers 2005 aboard the Queen Zenobia with 2004 flashbacks, Resident Evil 5 lands in 2009 in Kijuju, Revelations 2 covers 2011, and Resident Evil 6 unfolds across 2012 and 2013. Resident Evil 7 is set in 2017 in Dulvey, Louisiana, and Village takes place in 2021, three years later. Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry, was dated for 27 February 2026 and sits at the newest end of that timeline.

Release order, and why it still works best

In release order the mainline path runs Resident Evil (1996), Resident Evil 2 (1998), Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), Code: Veronica (2000), the Resident Evil remake and Resident Evil 0 (2002), Resident Evil 4 (2005), Resident Evil 5 (2009), Resident Evil 6 (2012), Resident Evil 7 (2017), the Resident Evil 2 remake (2019), the Resident Evil 3 remake (2020), Village (2021) and the Resident Evil 4 remake (2023). Following this shows you exactly why the series kept reinventing itself: RE4 exists because survival horror had calcified, RE7 exists because the action era had overextended, and each remake exists to bring an era-defining game to players who bounce off tank controls. The practical downside is that you will encounter twenty-year-old design early. If long sessions with awkward camera angles bother you, a comfortable setup helps more than you would think, and a gaming chair buying guide is a reasonable place to start.

Where to start if you have never played Resident Evil

Start with the Resident Evil 2 remake. It is the cleanest expression of what the series does best: a tight, interconnected map, meaningful inventory pressure, an unkillable stalker, and two campaigns that recontextualise each other. It also assumes almost no prior knowledge, opening with a diner scene that explains the outbreak in five minutes. From there, Resident Evil 7 is the natural second stop if you want horror, or the Resident Evil 4 remake if you want action. Avoid starting with Resident Evil 6, which is the most divisive entry and throws four intertwined campaigns at you, and avoid starting with the 1996 original unless you specifically want a history lesson. Whichever you pick, headphones matter enormously in this series because directional audio is how you track threats you cannot see; a gaming headset guide is genuinely part of the experience here.

Remakes versus originals: which version should you play?

For Resident Evil 1, play the 2002 remake, available as the HD Remaster on modern platforms — it supersedes the 1996 original in every way while keeping fixed cameras. For Resident Evil 2 and 3, the 2019 and 2020 remakes are the default choice, though the originals tell meaningfully different versions of the same events, with the 1999 RE3 offering more Raccoon City exploration and the live-selection system. For Resident Evil 4, the 2023 remake is the better game, but the 2005 original remains a landmark and its Mercenaries mode has its own following. Code: Veronica and Resident Evil 0 have never been remade, so the classic versions are your only route. Modern remakes are also demanding on hardware, so if you are playing on PC it is worth checking a best budget graphics cards comparison and a best gaming monitors guide before committing to high settings.

Spin-offs, Revelations and the optional extras

Revelations and Revelations 2 are canon and worth playing, sitting between the numbered entries and starring Jill, Chris, Claire, Barry and Moira. The Chronicles rail shooters, Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles, retell earlier games’ plots with some new Wesker material, so they are useful summaries but not required. Outbreak and Outbreak File 2 offer a civilian view of Raccoon City and are historically interesting as early online co-op experiments. Operation Raccoon City, Umbrella Corps, Survivor and Dead Aim are all skippable, and the first two openly contradict established events. Resident Evil Re:Verse and the various Mercenaries modes are pure multiplayer extras. None of these change your understanding of the main timeline, so treat the whole spin-off tier as bonus material for after you finish the numbered games. Multiplayer spin-offs do depend on stable connections, so a gaming router guide is relevant if you plan to play them online.

Films, anime and CG movies in the Resident Evil order

The live-action Paul W. S. Anderson films starring Milla Jovovich are a separate continuity and can be ignored entirely, as can the 2021 Welcome to Raccoon City reboot and the 2022 Netflix live-action series. The CG animated films, however, are canon: Degeneration takes place in 2005 after RE4, Damnation in 2011, Vendetta around 2014, and Death Island in 2015. The Netflix CG series Infinite Darkness is set in 2006. Slotting these in gives extra context for Leon and Claire’s careers between games, but no game requires them. If you are building a complete run, watch each film in its chronological slot rather than binging them, since their value is mostly in explaining how characters got from one game’s ending to the next game’s opening. If you are watching and playing on the same machine, a best SSDs for gaming guide will spare you the loading waits between chapters.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Play Resident Evil in Order

Do I need to play Resident Evil in order to understand the story?

Not strictly. Each mainline game opens with enough setup to stand alone, and the modern remakes are especially newcomer-friendly. Playing in order pays off mainly for character arcs, particularly Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker, whose storylines run from the 1998 mansion incident all the way through Resident Evil 5 and beyond.

Should I play Resident Evil 3 before Resident Evil 2?

Chronologically yes, since RE3 starts a day earlier, but narratively either order works because the two campaigns barely intersect. Many players prefer RE2 first because it is the stronger game and its slower pacing teaches the systems better, then RE3 as a faster, more action-focused follow-up.

Which Resident Evil games are skippable?

Operation Raccoon City, Umbrella Corps, Survivor, Dead Aim and Re:Verse add nothing essential and are the weakest entries in the franchise. The Chronicles rail shooters and the Outbreak games are optional but enjoyable. Everything numbered, plus Code: Veronica and both Revelations games, is worth playing.

What is the best order to play Resident Evil for the scares?

Play the 2002 Resident Evil remake, then Resident Evil 7, then the Resident Evil 2 remake. That sequence front-loads the three most genuinely frightening entries, keeps resource scarcity high throughout, and saves the more action-driven games like Resident Evil 4, 5 and 6 for when you want spectacle instead of dread.