After decades of new releases, the Resident Evil franchise 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. Most Resident Evil titles 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 appreciate Resident Evil 5, but it can still be enjoyed as a cheesy, cooperative action-horror romp. This has led to a unique situation where new Resident Evil titles 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. With over twenty Resident Evil titles released since 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.
The Classic Era
While most wouldn't recommend it as an onboarding point for the franchise, Resident Evil Zero remains the earliest title in the series timeline. It features Rebecca Chambers, Chris Redfield's partner in his Resident Evil 1 campaign, and Billy Coen, a convict whose only role is in RE0. There is lore to glean from this entry, but considering that it leads directly into Resident Evil 1 and 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 in Resident Evil 2 and 3: Nemesis. Their chronology is complicated, as Resident Evil 3 starts days before 2, but ends shortly after 2 does. The multiplayer-focused Resident Evil Outbreak games also take place sometime during this incident, and The Umbrella Chronicles further confuse things by remaking RE0, 1, and 3 as light gun games. Since Resident Evil 3 shows 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 called Resident Evil Survivor takes place after Raccoon City's destruction, but it isn't important either. What matters for the story is Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, which brings back RE2's Claire Redfield and RE1's Chris Redfield. Code: Veronica marks 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, as Resident Evil 2's Leon S. Kennedy returns as a government agent in Resident 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 Chronicles is both a retelling and an interquel that explains what Leon was doing between Resident Evil 2 and 4, but it was also released four years after RE4 and just seems intended to give the rival character Jack Krauser a 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 after RE4, Resident Evil: Revelations explores what Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the first game's protagonists, are doing. Resident Evil 5 continues this storyline five years after RE4, and serves as the conclusion to the Albert Wesker arc that began in Resident Evil 1. Some leftover heroes, Claire Redfield and fan-favorite Barry Burton, have their own adventure with a new Wesker family member in Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Finally, to cap off this particular era of Resident Evil, Resident Evil 6 brings Leon, Chris, and a host of other new and returning faces together for a globetrotting zombie-shooting romp.
The Modern Era
Other spin-offs like Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Umbrella Corps, Resident Evil: Resistance, and Resident Evil Re:Verse have come out over the years, but tend not to fit into the timeline. A few titles like Resident Evil Gaiden and Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica can even be said to ignore the overarching story. What remains is the two most recent mainline Resident Evil titles and their DLC. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a soft reboot for 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 Village is the conclusion of Ethan Winters' story, as the game takes care to remind the player. It takes place about three years after RE7 and continues to move the setting's story forward while also producing new revelations that echo back through the whole series. Once players complete the Shadows of Rose DLC campaign set after the main game, they can say that they've reached the current farthest point in the Resident Evil timeline. 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 Remake is set to release on March 24, 2023, on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.