My journey with the Resident Evil franchise began the way it did for most gamers who were old enough to be gaming in the 90s. When I first played the original RE in 1996 on my PlayStation, I was blown away. Like millions of other gamers, I was dumbstruck with how addictive the gameplay was, how challenging the puzzles were, and how immersive the mood and tone of such a freaky atmosphere could become. Simply put, it was a watershed moment in the gaming industry, and we all knew that gaming had forever changed. Last week, I played Resident Evil: Requiem (the 9th installment in the “main” series), and as I was wrapping up the experience after defeating the final boss, it dawned on me that I have played literally every installment of this series during the past 30 years of my life (yes, even that catastrophe we know as RE: Survivor). I’m a bit of a special case when it comes to gamers who have continued gaming into their 50s, and who also happened to play the original RE the day it dropped 30 years ago. As I always do, I checked some reviews of Requiem AFTER I played it, not before, because I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in modern video game reviewing. Those of you who have continued gaming into your middle age as I have, and you remember the days of well-researched criticism based on hands-on involvement, you’ll notice that it’s nigh-on impossible to read an “honest” review of a video game. Basically, every time I play a video game these days, I expect to see hilariously inflated review scores after my experience with it. The gaming industry has stripped all authenticity out of video game critique, and we’re barraged with bot-spamming and spot reviews that contain the words “return to form!” and “brilliant game!” over and over, all the while never elucidating WHY these games are “returns to form” in the first place. It’s the age of lies and shill reviewing, and while those things have always existed, these activities are at a fever pitch in 2026. You shouldn’t believe what you read when it comes to video game reviews, folks. These gaming websites have bills to pay, and they pay them by video game payola. The practice of palm-greasing is gross, and it’s why I’m here writing this piece.
When I wrapped up RE: Requiem several days ago, I anticipated seeing inflated review scores. It happened with RE Village, it happened with RE 4 Remake — it just happens. As a seasoned gamer who has experienced every type of video game you can think of since 1980, I’ve become a bit of an expert when it comes to what makes a video game truly original, fun, and most of all, worth playing. Understanding historical context in the world of gaming entertainment is essential when creating authentic journalistic criticism. When I finished Requiem, I saw it for the painfully mid-level and uninspired slop that it mainly is, but then I went to Metacritic and was confronted with the bullshit. Right now, as of March 7th, 2026, it is the highest-rated game in history according to the average gamer. This is a scary trend at this point, and much scarier than the RE games themselves.
The video game industry is now entrenched in an ugly financial loop that they themselves have created. They plant the bots in place who inflate the scores, and these trends get commented on through social media as if this criticism is legitimate, then they continue to create games based on faux support generated by their AI and bot armies. The gaming industry no longer has to make compelling games, because it has created a reality where the standards are embarrassingly low. The tragedy as a middle-aged gamer is that we see this plain as day, while the younger gamers don’t know any different. They keep playing the garbage not knowing these games are just mindlessly imitating thousands of games that came before, and poorly at that. I know the argument that will be posed here: you’re just old and out of touch! I respond to that comment with this: nope, that’s not it at all. You’re young and clueless without a frame of reference. You’re co-opting your free thought and ability to critique by willfully allowing yourself to be lied to. You’ve given up before you’ve started because you’re too lazy to put the work in.
Enter the Resident Evil franchise. A franchise that hasn’t made a decent new entry in over 20 years. They’ve been good enough to give us remakes of the original games, which has produced some pretty damn good results, but the new stories and events since RE 5 are bloated, tired and uninspired. And when I see these nonsensical bot reviews of the newer subpar games, I’m motivated to come here and break down the truth.
With this list, I’m going to rank the 15 main title games, which means I will include the remakes. I think the remakes are all pretty damn good in their own way, and they should be included here. I’ll mention again that I’ve played every single RE game the day they were released, dating back to 1996. I have the context. I have the knowledge. I have the games and have replayed them. More than anything, I have the integrity and honesty that the bots and bot-makers hope you ignore.
Ranking the main Resident Evil games from 15 to 1:
15. Resident Evil 6 (2012)
Resident Evil 6 was the moment Capcom made a choice. A really shitty choice. They meant to fully abandon all the things that made us love the original RE games, and give us a “horror” game that matched the tension found in any Gears Of War experience. Not that Gears Of War is a bad series, but it is what it is: grunts running around blowing shit up. That’s not why we started playing RE. RE 6 is a lazy stab at the action genre, leaving their original fans in the dust, then blaming the gamers, saying stupid shit like, “well, this game isn’t for you.” Actually, I’m a gamer, who has played every RE game in the past, so yes, this game is for me. And RE 6 sucks ass. This game is more or less universally reviled, and yet each and every installment after it is essentially revisiting the same style of gameplay. It’s a disappointing trend in the series that exists to this very day, and one can only assume that once the horrible Resident Evil movies started coming they had to incorporate the insipid fighting cliches into the games as well. Regardless, RE 6 stands as the easy choice for worst game in the series.
14. Resident Evil 5 (2009)
RE 5 is when the series began jumping the shark in earnest. Capcom decided they wanted to test the waters and have droves of zombies dropping from the sky with chainsaws in a Call Of Duty-style melee jamboree of emptiness and one-liners. It was especially disappointing that the series would go this way after the sheer brilliance of RE 4 that came four years before it. I can still remember buying this game with rabid anticipation back in 2009, hardly able to contain my excitement with where this franchise would go after such an enticing and fleshed-out world RE 4 offered. Then I played RE 5, and experienced the feeling of losing a loved one that day. I remember feeling confused and betrayed, and plainly disinterested in where this franchise was choosing to go. It was an obnoxious experience of running and gunning, mirroring every boring fighting game that came before it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy run-and-gun games if they’re done well — RE 5 wasn’t even that. RE 5 is meatheads grunting and shooting and falling over for 8 hours, only to have its boredom outdone by clunky and sluggish controls. The beginning of the end started here, and the averageness of RE 5 still infects the franchise to this day.
13. Resident Evil 8/Village (2021)
RE 8 represents when Capcom started their “something for everyone” philosophy to the series. They knew they had created an ugly bastard of an expectational aura around the game with gamers wanting to play action-oriented RE titles, but they struggled trying to keep the series grounded with what made it so popular to begin with. So they figured giving us games littered with action sequences, puzzle scenes, stealth tactics and the kitchen sink was the right way forward. The outcome was an extremely mixed result. Split into four parts, RE 8 felt like it was pulling gamers in different directions, unable to create an identity one way or another. The graphics are cool, and the dollhouse episode is fantastic, but the other three episodes are tired and lame, especially the final act. The characters are cheesy and over the top, and while that can be interesting in the hands of writers who know how to create a creepy atmosphere, the RE 8 characters come across as forced stereotypes. Frankly, I’d rather endure the terrible voice acting of the first RE than have to sit through the idiotically canned dialog in RE 8. The giant baby chase scene is one of the greatest ideas in the entire franchise, though, so I want to recognize that!
12. Resident Evil 9/Requiem (2026)
GodDAMN, this game started so promisingly. After the first five hours of playing through Grace’s story, I was ready to take back all of my hyper-critical thoughts of the previous few games and be fully onboard with the RE experience. Grace was an interesting character with a fantastic voice actor, and finally, her story contained depth and meaning, something sorely lacking for a very long time in the RE universe. Then, Leon Kennedy came in, and the game took a shit. The RE developers just couldn’t help themselves, could they? I just finished this game a few days ago, so the disappointment is still fresh in my mind, but WHY deviate into an entirely new experience when you’re doing such a good job telling a story? Who enjoys this type of gaming? RE 9 seems like the ultimate game for the social media culture — ADD-riddled humans who can’t focus for more than two seconds at a time, and get bored with someone’s personal story and just have to BLOW SHIT UP, BRUH. RE 9 has some great moments in it, but those moments are all in the first third of the game. After that it’s just mindless explosions, fetch-questing, and more chainsaw-wielding zombies. Really? Who thought it was a good idea to bring THEM back? Note to game developers: action games aren’t fun to play if you build the character to move like a tank. Why is “sprinting” in this game akin to taking a walk in a stroller? How about the zombies who emerge from solidified concrete wielding cinderblock clubs? And how about the bullet sponge enemies in poorly-staged environments with endless ammunition to choose from? How about switching from an engaging psychological adventure to an empty-headed bullet festival, topped off with Leon saying shit like “I’m not on the menu” and “Guess this is my stop.” Yeah, that’s a good idea! BLOW SHIT UP, BRUH.
11. Resident Evil 7/Biohazard (2017)
RE 7 represents the next tier for me in terms of quality in gaming when it comes to this franchise. I mainly enjoyed the experience and appreciated the nods to “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Like the other modern games, I felt it depended too much on the “something for everyone” credo, but it decided to focus on the story and personalities rather than bullet sponges and hollow action. The frustrations are there, though — the RE developers seem resigned to crowbar action scenes into the content when they aren’t needed and only serve to distract and annoy. But for the most part, I enjoyed RE 7, and it provided a glimmer of hope that these games can still produce some compelling moments.
10. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)
Looking back on playing this game in 1999, it was a disappointment that felt rushed. After the first two games there was a lot for Capcom to live up to, and rather than giving gamers an experience that was polished and new, they delivered something that felt hasty and unfinished. Even so, it’s still better than the newer games, and builds a sense of dread and weirdness from its environments and camera work. It’s easy to slag this game in 2026 for being dated, but context is important, and this game was pretty damn good for its time.
9. Resident Evil/Code Veronica X (2001)
A successful RE game is about creating a tense environment, and Code Veronica X does that. Like any of the older entries, I’m sure this game will take a hit for being dated, but it delivered the goods and then some back when it was released. I even replayed this a few years ago, and in my humble opinion, it still holds up. This got released on different systems with slightly different versions (I played it on the PS2 back in 2001), but it has passed the test of time by providing an ominous atmosphere with a spooky soundtrack and engaging story. Yeah, the voice acting is hilariously bad, but true RE fans know this is part of the charm for the early games.
8. Resident Evil 3 Remake (2020)
RE 3 Remake is arguably the least interesting of the revamped versions, but it’s still a very good game nonetheless. I don’t really have many complaints about this one as I feel all aspects of the experience are well-done and executed, and most-importantly, they improve upon the original which is all one can ask for. Playing as Jill again felt good too, as us old-school players will always remember Jill as being the OG character in the RE universe. The Tyrant is improved upon too, where in the first game avoiding him seemed more of a slog. More RE remakes please!
7. Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023)
While RE 4 Remake is a solid game worthy of being in any top 10 list, it’s also the most hysterically overrated game in the entire series. Why is this? I’m not entirely sure, but my theory is it’s part of the Covid generation. In the past five or six years, games have gotten more sloppy, poorly-written and generally lame. So when a big title like RE 4 Remake comes out, it shines in comparison to all of the rest of the modern dreck that gets forced down our throats. It’s also a fact that many people who consider this game to be the best have never played the earlier entries. Those of us with a lot of experience and context under our belts, though, know that this game is pretty damn good, but it ain’t all THAT good. Especially when you compare it to the time the original RE 4 came out, and consider what a monumental gaming moment that was. I know comparing games is mostly a futile and stupid exercise, but one of the few exceptions when it isn’t comes with dealing in remakes. When you consider that, and you also had the benefit of playing RE 4 on day one back in 2005, you know that RE 4 Remake is a decent game that massively pales in comparison. RE 4 Remake improves pretty much everything other than the most important: the vibe. The tone. The weirdness. There was something truly bizarre about the original RE 4, and the Remake struggles to compare. It also makes story line changes to fit the current mores of the day which only hurt and hamper what made the original so magical. RE 4 Remake is a solid game, but the noise about it being one of the “best of all time” is total nonsense trumpeted by inexperienced players.
6. Resident Evil 0 (2002)
I know what some of you are thinking. “You’re just trying to be different!”, I can hear you say. I can appreciate all viewpoints when it comes to rating the RE games, and for me, Resident Evil 0 is, by far, the most vastly underrated in the entire series. I can understand the critiques posed against the game, particularly the inventory management system, but those types of gripes only illustrate people’s impatience and inability to focus on something for more than two seconds. RE 0 forces the player to think, rethink, and then think again. These types of actions don’t really exist in the RE world anymore, and I miss entries like RE 0 where advancing in the game required some thought rather than grinding. It also succeeded in creating that classic tense atmosphere that only existed in the early games, long before Capcom decided to bludgeon us with fire storms of bullet sprays. You also get to put Rebecca in a hot little cheerleader outfit which is brilliance speaking for itself. Can we get a remake of this game, please??
5. Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019)
Here’s where Resident Evil games get really fucking good. I was very excited to play this on my PS4 back in 2019, and this baby did not disappoint. It actually exceeded my expectations by quite a bit. As I started ranking the games I found it really difficult to rank RE 2 and RE 2 Remake as I find the story to be one of the best in the series, and both games do an excellent job of crushing every aspect of what we love about video games. In many ways I think RE 2 Remake improved upon nearly every aspect of the original, and then added in some other brilliant stuff just for good measure. This is gaming development at its very best, coming up with good stories, characters and improvements that will lure in the old faithfuls like myself while also generating interest in younger gamers who weren’t even born when the first RE 2 was released. I guess in the long run I must rank the original RE 2 higher because of its innovation in gameplay mechanics, but damn this remake is close behind it.
4. Resident Evil 2 (1998)
RE 2 is a behemoth of its day, causing gamers to drool all over its creativity and original approach to the gaming medium. It sounds like old hat now, but playing as two different characters in the same story to create different outcomes was an incredibly inventive maneuver at the time, and for RE 2 to deliver the goods in such amazing fashion blew us all away. Many developers would TALK a big game about how they would do this or that or whatever, but the results were typically mixed. RE 2 talked the game, then delivered even more. Filling the shoes of the original RE was a massive and daunting task, but they managed it with precision and aplomb. RE 2 was an immensely tense and foreboding experience, and the ability to play it with different characters and scenarios made it endlessly playable and replay-able. The lickers outrunning you, the tyrant stomping after you and hearing his footsteps down the hall, the constant tension and pressure….there just was no other game like it. And that’s still the case nearly 30 years later. It’s saying a lot about game design when you can keep players on edge throughout the entirety of a game without resorting to running and gunning, and RE 2 is a testament to that idea.
3. Resident Evil 4 (2005)
I wrestle with how to rate the top three games in the series, but I must go the way of RE 4 being in the 3-spot. I really have no gripes about this game, though. It’s so fucking good, and it has never stopped being so fucking good. When I played this in 2005 on my Gamecube, I sat like a hermit for a week playing through it while my girlfriend sat and watched me play every second of it. She never watched me play games before, and would never do it again after — that’s how compelling RE 4 is. It creates an intensely suffocating ambience that never lets up, where you have to fear every moving thing you experience. Nothing is your friend, and you can trust no one in RE 4, and it’s a testament to how creating the right mood can overcome everything else in a video game. The dialog is stilted and wooden as it is in every RE game, but it doesn’t matter in RE 4 because the tension is so off the charts and spooky. Something else that works in RE 4 that has never succeeded in any other RE 4 game is the music. Every other RE game I’ve played has obnoxious music queues which only serves to distract and take away from the freakishness of the surroundings. RE 4 is the one exception to this, where you’d be foolish to turn the music off (I’m not sure if you can with this game anyway). The story, the characters, the music, the writing — it all works in perfect concert with RE 4, and will forever be one of my all-time favorite games across any genre.
2. Resident Evil (1996)
Don’t fight it because you know it to be true: the first Resident Evil changed every gamer forever. Games like this did not exist prior to its release. RE grabbed us by the balls and never let go. We replayed it a dozen times, then played it again. We marveled in its intensity. We shuddered at its ability to make us scared. We laughed at the atrocious voice acting. We had no idea what to expect from scene to scene. This was a true original, a Hope Diamond in the rough. It’s tough to explain how this game changed everything in 1996, but it did, and that’s all there is to it. You can laugh all you want at how dated it is in 2026, but I can still play this game today and be transported to a place that only exists in my mind, where being a lifelong gamer gives me release and solitude forevermore. The camera work with the intention to keep players off-kilter was a brilliant choice, and in lesser hands it could have felt like an unnecessary encumbrance exuded by the developers to arbitrarily create dread, but here it works to absolutely magnificent effect. For 30 years other gaming franchises (and even the RE franchise) have tried to equal the fright this game gave us by delivering tired old cliches with dude-bruhs grunting out one-liners and boss-bitches posing and leaping in the air before landing on their feet and rising in slow motion with a fierce look in their eyes…you all know the barrage of bullshit we’ve been hit with since 1996. Survival horror in video games in recent years consists of dumb jump scares and twitchy mutant Ring-like monsters with contorted limbs ambling after us, followed by some boring one-liner. It’s not only derivative and tiresome, but it’s been a meandering exercise for decades. There will only ever be one dog-jumping-through-the-window moment, and that’s in Resident Evil. Resident Evil stands alone as the unrivaled champion in survival horror, not only because it created the entire genre, but because it’s simply the best. I suppose there is always a way to improve it, though…
1. Resident Evil Remake (2002)
Somehow the RE developers improved every little thing that made the original so amazing, and then added some stuff besides. Everything I say about the 1996 original obviously applies here, but then add in better graphics, better voice acting, and a longer and more fleshed-out story. Where can you go wrong here? Simply put: you can’t. Word on the street is they are doing a new remake of Resident Evil, and I, for one, am beyond excited. But for now, this 2002 creation will have to do. Resident Evil Remake is absolutely the greatest version of the best survival horror game ever made, which includes it in the shortlist for the greatest ever.
Occasional Feel Good 