It started with a single door. You know the one—the creaky wood, the slow-motion pivot, and the sudden, jarring silence of a hallway that felt way too long. In 1996, Capcom didn’t just release a game; they basically invented a psychological trap that we’ve been paying to stay in for decades. The Resident Evil games series isn't just about shooting zombies. If it were just that, it would have died out along with House of the Dead or any other arcade relic. It survives because it is a masterclass in reinventing what scares us, shifting from claustrophobic mansions to rural cults and then back to first-person nightmares.
Honestly, the series is a bit of a mess if you look at the timeline. It’s a sprawl of biological conspiracies, "mold" monsters, and guys who can punch boulders. But somehow, it works.
The 1996 Blueprint and Why It Still Frustrates Us
When Shinji Mikami directed the first game, he wasn't trying to make it easy. He was trying to make it a struggle. You had limited ink ribbons to save your game. You had barely enough bullets to take down a single dog. This was "Survival Horror" at its peak. The fixed camera angles were a technical limitation of the PlayStation 1, sure, but they were also a brilliant cinematic tool. You could hear a zombie groaning just off-screen, but you couldn't see it until you turned the corner. That’s pure Hitchcockian dread.
Think about the Spencer Mansion. It’s a character in its own right. The layout makes no sense—who puts a crest-activated door in a residential home?—but as a puzzle box, it's perfect. The Resident Evil games series succeeded here because it forced you to manage resources. If you used all your green herbs in the first hour, you were basically dead meat by the time you met the Tyrant.
🔗 Read more: How to Use Every Spyro Reignited Trilogy Cheat Code for Maximum Fun
Then came the sequels. Resident Evil 2 and 3: Nemesis took the horror to the streets of Raccoon City. This was the peak of the "Classic" era. Resident Evil 2 (1998) introduced the Zapping System, where your actions as Leon S. Kennedy would affect Claire Redfield’s playthrough. It was ambitious. It felt like a living world, even if that world was currently being eaten by the T-Virus. Nemesis, however, changed the vibe. For the first time, the monster could follow you through doors. Nowhere was safe. That stress? That’s what kept the series in the cultural zeitgeist.
The Action Pivot: Resident Evil 4 and the Identity Crisis
Everything changed in 2005. You’ve probably heard people argue about Resident Evil 4 until they’re blue in the face. Is it horror? Is it an action game? It’s both. And it’s also the reason the series didn't go extinct.
Mikami returned to direct, and he threw out the fixed cameras. He gave us the over-the-shoulder view. This single decision influenced almost every third-person shooter that followed, including Gears of War and The Last of Us. But with this change, the Resident Evil games series lost some of its "survival" edge. Suddenly, Leon was a super-agent doing backflips and suplexing villagers. It was cool. It was fun. It sold millions.
But it led to Resident Evil 6.
We don't talk about RE6 in polite company as much as we should, but it’s a vital part of the history. It was bloated. It had four different campaigns. It felt like Capcom was trying to please everyone and ended up pleasing almost no one. The horror was gone, replaced by Michael Bay-style explosions. This was the low point. The series had become a caricature of itself.
The First-Person Pivot and the Return to Roots
By 2017, the Resident Evil games series needed a miracle or a burial. They chose a miracle called Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
By moving to a first-person perspective and stripping away the global stakes, Capcom made the series scary again. You weren't a soldier; you were Ethan Winters, a guy looking for his wife in a disgusting Louisiana swamp. The Baker family felt personal. It felt intimate. It felt like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but with more slime.
✨ Don't miss: Why Play Just Words on Masque is Changing the Way We Think About Narrative Games
- Resident Evil 7 brought back resource management.
- It introduced the RE Engine, which makes everything look terrifyingly real.
- It proved that the "DNA" of the series wasn't about the camera angle, but the feeling of being trapped.
Then came the remakes. The Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019) is arguably the gold standard for how to update a classic. It didn't just upscale the graphics; it reimagined the horror. Mr. X became a persistent threat that could hear your footsteps. It was a bridge between the old-school tension and modern mechanics.
Why the Lore is a Beautiful Disaster
If you try to explain the plot of the Resident Evil games series to a newcomer, you’re going to sound like a conspiracy theorist with a corkboard and red string.
You have the Umbrella Corporation, which started as a pharmaceutical company. Then you have the Wesker family, ancient viruses found in flowers in Africa, Spanish parasites called Las Plagas, and a sentient mold from a Romanian village. It’s ridiculous. It’s campy. It’s essentially a soap opera with monsters.
But that’s the charm. Characters like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Ada Wong have been around for nearly thirty years. We’ve seen Chris go from a skinny S.T.A.R.S. pilot to a mountain of a man who punches rocks in volcanoes, and then finally into a weary, grizzled veteran in Resident Evil Village. We’re invested in them. The lore provides a weirdly consistent backbone to the gameplay shifts. Whether you’re fighting a giant vampire lady or a shark in a basement, you know you’re in the Resident Evil universe.
Addressing the "Resident Evil Village" Controversy
When Resident Evil Village dropped, fans were split. Some loved the RE4 vibes—the merchant, the upgrades, the European setting. Others felt it leaned too hard into fantasy. Werewolves? Vampires?
Capcom clarified that these were still biological mutations, just dressed up as folklore. But Village highlighted a recurring tension in the Resident Evil games series: the balance between horror and spectacle. The House Beneviento section is widely considered one of the scariest moments in gaming history. Then, an hour later, you’re piloting a makeshift tank against a magnetic man.
This "identity whiplash" is actually the series' greatest strength. It refuses to stay in one lane. It keeps you guessing. Just when you think you’re playing a shooter, it turns into a psychological thriller.
How to Actually Play the Series Today
If you’re looking to dive into the Resident Evil games series in 2026, don’t just start at 1 and go in order. You’ll get burnt out.
Start with the Resident Evil 2 Remake. It’s the perfect entry point. It’s modern, it’s terrifying, and it introduces the core concepts perfectly. From there, move to Resident Evil 4 Remake. It gives you that hit of adrenaline and shows you how the series evolved into an action powerhouse.
If you want the real horror, play Resident Evil 7 in the dark with headphones. It’s a different beast entirely.
👉 See also: Why Marvel Rivals Mr Fantastic is Actually the Smartest Pick for Your Team
The "Old School" titles, like the original Resident Evil Remake (the 2002 version), are still worth playing, but they require patience. Those tank controls are a hurdle for some. But if you can get past them, you’re playing one of the most atmospheric games ever made.
Practical Insights for Survival
To survive almost any game in this series, you need to change how you think about combat.
- Don't kill everything. In the early games and the remakes, zombies are bullet sponges. Sometimes, shooting a leg to make them stumble is better than trying to pop their head. Save your ammo for the bosses.
- Combine your herbs. A single green herb is a waste. Wait until you have a red one to maximize the healing. It sounds simple, but inventory management is 50% of the game.
- Listen. The sound design in the RE Engine games is elite. You can hear enemies through walls or ceilings. Use that to plan your route.
- Examine everything. In your inventory, rotate items. Key items often have hidden buttons or clues on the back.
The Resident Evil games series is a weird, wonderful, and often terrifying journey through the history of game design. It’s survived for three decades because it isn't afraid to break its own rules. Whether Capcom decides to go back to third-person or stay in first-person for the rumored Resident Evil 9, one thing is certain: they’ll find a way to make us terrified of a simple, closed door all over again.
To stay ahead of the curve, keep an eye on Capcom’s official updates regarding the "RE Engine" upgrades, as they’ve been known to patch older titles with ray-tracing and performance boosts that drastically change the atmosphere of the Raccoon City entries. Check your library for these free updates if you're playing on current-gen hardware.