Resident Evil Games in Order and Where to Start Playing

PS5 GamesBy Sofia Brandt · Oct 24, 2026Fact-checked by Harriet Vance

Resident Evil began on the original PlayStation on March 22, 1996, and its newest mainline entry, Resident Evil Requiem, arrived on PS5 on February 27, 2026. For most new players on PS5 we recommend starting with the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, then moving to the Resident Evil 4 remake and Resident Evil 7. Below we list every major game in release order and in story order, and explain how to play each one on PlayStation today.

Resident Evil games in release order

The release order is the clearest way to see how the series changed. It moved from fixed-camera survival horror to over-the-shoulder action, then to first-person dread, and now to a game that lets players choose their own perspective. The table covers the mainline games and the most important canon spin-offs, with the most practical way to play each one on a PS5 or PS4 in late 2026.

The original PS1 versions of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis have not been re-released by Capcom on PS4 or PS5. That is why we point to the remakes for those two stories. Purists who want the 1998 and 1999 originals will need the original hardware.

Resident Evil games in chronological story order

The story timeline differs from the release order in a few important places. Resident Evil Zero is a 2002 prequel that comes first. Resident Evil 3 is split around the events of Resident Evil 2. The Revelations games fall between the numbered entries. Here is the order of events according to Capcom’s own timeline:

1. Resident Evil Zero (July 1998): Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen in the Arklay Mountains, the night before the mansion incident.
2. Resident Evil (July 1998): The S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team is trapped in the Spencer Mansion.
3. Resident Evil 3, first half (late September 1998): Jill Valentine tries to escape Raccoon City as the outbreak spreads.
4. Resident Evil Outbreak and Outbreak File #2 (September 1998): Ordinary citizens trying to survive the same disaster.
5. Resident Evil 2 (September 1998): Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield arrive in Raccoon City.
6. Resident Evil 3, second half (October 1, 1998): Jill’s final escape before the city is destroyed.
7. Resident Evil Code: Veronica (December 1998): Claire searches for Chris and ends up on Rockfort Island and in Antarctica.
8. Resident Evil 4 (2004): Leon on a rescue mission in rural Spain.
9. Resident Evil Revelations (2005): Jill and Chris investigate a bioterror threat on a cruise liner.
10. Resident Evil 5 (2009): Chris and Sheva Alomar in Africa, and the end of the Wesker arc.
11. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (2011): Claire and Moira Burton on a prison island, with Barry Burton searching for them.
12. Resident Evil 6 (2012 to 2013): Leon, Chris, Jake Muller and Ada Wong across a global outbreak.
13. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017): Ethan Winters at the Baker family plantation in Louisiana.
14. Resident Evil Village (2021): Ethan in a village in Central Europe, plus the Shadows of Rose epilogue.
15. Resident Evil Requiem (2026): Grace Ashcroft and Leon, with the story returning to the ruins of Raccoon City.

Playing in story order sounds appealing, but it is a poor plan for a first run. Zero is one of the more awkward games to control, and Code: Veronica shows its age much more than the remakes. Story order makes more sense on a second pass, once you know which characters you care about.

Where to start playing Resident Evil on PS5

Each Resident Evil game tells a mostly self-contained story, and every entry explains enough of its own setup to stand alone. You do not need to finish all of them before you play Requiem. The real question is which style of horror you enjoy, so we suggest three different starting routes.

Route one: the Raccoon City path (our default pick)

Start with the Resident Evil 2 remake. It is the best introduction to how the series plays. You get item management, locked doors, limited ammunition, a police station full of puzzles, and Mr. X, the Tyrant who follows you through the halls. A first run as Leon or Claire takes about eight to ten hours. You will learn who Leon, Claire, Ada and the Umbrella Corporation are, which makes everything that follows land harder.

Then play Resident Evil 3, which overlaps with the same disaster and is short enough to finish in a weekend. After that, move to the Resident Evil 4 remake, where Leon returns six years later as a trained agent.

Route two: the first-person path

If you want straight dread and less backstory, start with Resident Evil 7 and follow it with Village. These two games make up the Ethan Winters saga. They need almost no knowledge of the older games, and they play like a different series: quieter, more claustrophobic, and closer to a haunted house. Requiem then works as a natural third step, because Grace’s sections favour that same intimate tension.

Route three: the action path

If you mainly want shooting, set pieces and co-op, the Resident Evil 4 remake is the best first game. Capcom’s crowd combat, parry system and upgrade loop are at their strongest here. After it, Resident Evil 5 on PS4 works well as a local co-op game with a friend. Revelations 2 is also a good co-op choice and is more forgiving than its reputation suggests.

Resident Evil (1996, remade 2002)

The first game sends the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team into the Spencer Mansion after Bravo team goes missing. It introduced the series’ core loop: limited saves using ink ribbons, a backtracking map full of crests and keys, and the famous turn of the first zombie in the hallway. On PlayStation the version to play is Resident Evil HD Remaster on PS4. It is a remaster of the 2002 GameCube remake and is far more atmospheric than the original. You can choose modern or classic tank controls, which matters with the fixed camera angles.

It is the best entry for players who love puzzles and a single detailed location. It is also the most demanding of the older games, so we place it after you have played one of the modern remakes.

Resident Evil 2 (2019 remake)

The 2019 remake rebuilt the 1998 classic from the ground up in Capcom’s RE Engine, with an over-the-shoulder camera and photorealistic lighting. Leon, on his first day as a rookie cop, and college student Claire, searching for her brother Chris, meet at the edge of a collapsing Raccoon City. The Raccoon City Police Department is one of the best-designed spaces in the genre. Its layout opens up gradually as you collect medallions, keys and tools.

The PS5 version launched on June 13, 2022, as a free upgrade for PS4 owners. It adds ray tracing, a high frame rate option, and DualSense haptics. It is our top recommendation for a first Resident Evil game in 2026 and still holds up visually next to Requiem.

Resident Evil 3 (2020 remake)

Jill Valentine’s escape from Raccoon City is a tighter, faster game than Resident Evil 2. It focuses on chases with Nemesis, a dodge mechanic and a more linear route through the city. Our position is that it works best as a follow-up and not as a first game. Its campaign is roughly half the length of the Resident Evil 2 remake, and some memorable areas from the 1999 original, such as the clock tower section, were cut or shortened. That disappointed longtime fans.

It sells for low prices during PlayStation Store sales, and at a discount it is easy to recommend. Carlos Oliveira and the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service are introduced here, and the city’s destruction finally answers what happened after Resident Evil 2.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica

Code: Veronica sends Claire to Rockfort Island after she is captured during her search for Chris in Europe. The game then moves to an Antarctic base, where Chris takes over the story. It introduces the Ashford twins, Alfred and Alexia, and brings Albert Wesker back as a superhuman antagonist. That makes it essential for understanding where Wesker’s story goes in Resident Evil 5.

On PlayStation, the expanded Code: Veronica X runs as a PS2 classic on PS4 and on PS5 through backward compatibility. It is a tough game with tank controls, scarce resources and a notorious mid-game boss that can trap an underprepared save. We recommend keeping separate save files.

Resident Evil Zero

Resident Evil Zero is a prequel set the day before the mansion incident. Medic Rebecca Chambers teams up with escaped convict Billy Coen on a train overrun by leeches, and later at an Umbrella training facility. The partner-switching system is clever. The lack of item boxes is not: you drop items on the floor and have to walk back for them, which is the main reason players stop playing.

The HD Remaster on PS4 is the version to own. We consider it optional. It fills in Umbrella’s origins and the backstory of James Marcus, but nothing later in the series requires it.

Resident Evil 4 (2023 remake)

Resident Evil 4 is the series’ turning point. Leon goes to rural Spain to rescue the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham, and finds a village controlled by the Los Plagas parasite. The 2005 original moved the camera behind the shoulder and swapped slow zombies for coordinated groups of enemies. The 2023 remake keeps that structure and adds knife parrying, stealth and a darker tone. It also fixes the original’s escort frustrations by making Ashley much more manageable.

The remake launched on March 24, 2023. The Separate Ways expansion, starring Ada Wong, followed on September 21, 2023. It is our second-favourite starting point after Resident Evil 2. On PS4 there is also the 2016 port of the original game, which is worth playing for history, but the remake is the definitive version for most players.

Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 is a co-op action game. Chris Redfield and BSAA partner Sheva Alomar investigate a bioterror threat in the fictional Kijuju region of Africa, and the story closes Wesker’s arc that began in 1996. It is the series at its loudest. The scares are few, and boulder-punching and turret sequences replace puzzle boxes.

The PS4 version, released in 2016, includes the Lost in Nightmares and Desperate Escape episodes. Lost in Nightmares is a short return to a mansion that pays direct homage to the first game. We recommend playing Resident Evil 5 with a friend in split-screen or online. Solo, the AI partner’s habit of wasting healing items is the main annoyance.

Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil 6 is the most divisive mainline game. It runs four interlocking campaigns: Leon and Helena, Chris and Piers, Jake and Sherry, and a fourth for Ada. Together they cover a global C-Virus outbreak. It contains the series’ most ambitious set pieces and one of its weakest stories. It also has a surprisingly deep melee and dodge system that action fans still defend.

Most players can skip it on a first pass. If you want to see Sherry Birkin grown up or Leon at his most battle-weary, the Leon campaign alone is a good taste. That campaign also leans closest to traditional horror.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Released on January 24, 2017, Resident Evil 7 brought the series back from the edge. It shrank the scope to a single family’s plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana, and switched to a first-person view. Ethan Winters is searching for his missing wife, Mia, and is hunted by the Baker family. The first hours in the Baker house are some of the most frightening the series has produced, and the game’s structure echoes the original mansion with keys, crests and a safe room.

The PS5 version arrived as a free upgrade alongside Resident Evil 2 and 3 in June 2022. The Gold Edition adds the Banned Footage episodes, End of Zoe, and Not a Hero, which features Chris and connects the game to the wider series.

Resident Evil Village

Village continues Ethan’s story three years later in an unnamed region of Central Europe, ruled by Mother Miranda and her four lords. Lady Dimitrescu became a pop culture icon before launch, but the strongest section is House Beneviento. It is a weaponless, puzzle-driven sequence that we rank among the scariest segments in the franchise.

Village launched on May 7, 2021, on PS5 and PS4. The Winters’ Expansion, released on October 28, 2022, added a third-person mode for the main game, the Shadows of Rose epilogue following Ethan’s daughter Rose, and new content for The Mercenaries arcade mode. Village is more action-heavy than Resident Evil 7, and we see it as the bridge between the series’ horror roots and its action phase.

Resident Evil Requiem

Requiem is the ninth numbered game, and it is the reason many players are revisiting the series this year. It launched on February 27, 2026. The main protagonist is Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst and the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from Resident Evil Outbreak. Her investigation leads back to what remains of Raccoon City. Capcom has also confirmed Leon S. Kennedy as a playable character. Requiem lets players switch between first-person and third-person views, which reconciles the two camps the series has split into since 2017.

Our article on Resident Evil Requiem covers its release details, story setup and PS5 features in depth. For this guide, the practical advice is simple. Requiem works for newcomers, but the Raccoon City references hit much harder if you have played at least the Resident Evil 2 remake first.

Spin-offs worth your time, and the ones to skip

Capcom has released well over two dozen Resident Evil spin-offs across arcade, handheld and console, with very different results. These are the ones we think matter for PlayStation players, ranked by how strongly we recommend them.

Revelations and Revelations 2

The two Revelations games are the spin-offs most fans count as essential. The first sets Jill and Chris aboard the Queen Zenobia, a derelict cruise ship. Its tight corridors give it the claustrophobic feel of the original games. Revelations 2 introduced Moira Burton and features a strong Barry campaign, which matters if you follow the Burton family into later entries. Both have Raid Mode, a loot-driven arcade mode that has its own fans.

Outbreak and the Ashcroft connection

Resident Evil Outbreak was an online cooperative game on PS2, where eight ordinary Raccoon City citizens tried to survive the outbreak. It was never re-released, and the online servers Capcom originally ran have long since closed. The game matters again because Alyssa Ashcroft, a journalist from Outbreak, is the mother of Requiem’s lead. Most players now learn about Alyssa through story recaps and not through play.

Resident Evil characters you need to know

A few characters connect the whole series. The birth years below come from Capcom’s official character files, which are widely cited in the fan community. They help put the timeline in context: Leon is a 21-year-old rookie in Raccoon City and a veteran approaching 50 by the time of Requiem.

Leon S. Kennedy

Leon is the closest thing the series has to a mascot. His career runs from a terrible first day in Raccoon City in 1998, through the 2004 Ashley rescue, to his return in Requiem. If you play only one character’s arc, play his: Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, the Leon campaign in Resident Evil 6, and then Requiem.

Chris and Claire Redfield

The Redfield siblings carry most of the series’ continuity. Chris appears in the first game, Code: Veronica, Revelations, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, the Not a Hero episode in Resident Evil 7, and Village. That makes him the most-featured hero in the series. Claire’s story links Resident Evil 2, Code: Veronica and Revelations 2.

Albert Wesker and Ada Wong

Wesker is the series’ great villain. He betrays S.T.A.R.S. in 1998, survives through a virus, and leads to the conclusion of Resident Evil 5. Ada works the opposite way. She is never fully explained, appears in every major Leon story, and gets her own campaigns in Resident Evil 4’s Separate Ways and Resident Evil 6.

Ethan and Rose Winters

Ethan is an unusual lead. He is a civilian with no combat training, his face is never clearly shown, and his entire story covers just two games. Shadows of Rose passes the baton to his daughter, Rose, whose powers are tied to the mold at the centre of the Ethan saga.

Experiencing Resident Evil in VR on PlayStation

PlayStation has the strongest VR support of any platform for this series, but compatibility is confusing because two headsets are involved. Here is how it breaks down:

• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard can be played entirely on the original PlayStation VR. On PS5 that requires the PS VR headset, a PlayStation Camera, and Sony’s free PlayStation Camera adaptor. It does not support PS VR2.
• Resident Evil Village got a free VR mode for PS VR2 at the headset’s launch on February 22, 2023. It covers the full main campaign and a separate shooting minigame.
• Resident Evil 4 (2023) received a free VR mode for PS VR2 on December 8, 2023. It covers the main campaign but not Separate Ways.

Our pick is the Village VR mode, because the Castle Dimitrescu scenes feel much bigger at full scale. Resident Evil 7 on the original PS VR is still the most frightening experience in the series, though its resolution looks rough on a modern display.

Watch Resident Evil in theaters

Resident Evil has a long film history. Paul W.S. Anderson’s six live-action films with Milla Jovovich ran from 2002 to 2016. The 2021 reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, adapted the first two games more directly. Capcom also produced a CG animated series that sits within the game canon, including Resident Evil: Damnation, Vendetta and Death Island. These are the most useful for players who want more Leon, Chris and Jill between the games.

The newest is Resident Evil (2026), a fresh live-action reboot directed by Zach Cregger, the director of Barbarian and Weapons, with Austin Abrams in the lead. Sony Pictures set its release for September 18, 2026. Cregger has said in interviews that his film tells an original story set in the game universe, not a straight retelling of any game, so it does not change our recommended play order.

The 30th anniversary and what comes next

March 22, 2026, marked 30 years since the first game launched in Japan on the PS1. Requiem arrived only weeks earlier, and Capcom marked the year with that launch, events and merchandise. The PlayStation Blog was a natural place for news about Resident Evil releases on PlayStation, but we have not seen Capcom confirm another new game for the anniversary year.

Expectations for future remakes come mainly from unofficial sources. Insiders in the community, with mixed track records, have repeatedly claimed that Capcom is remaking Resident Evil Zero and Code: Veronica. Some of those same sources correctly predicted earlier remake announcements, and others have missed dates or details. Capcom has not confirmed either remake, so we treat both as plausible but unproven. Code: Veronica is the more logical candidate, because it is the last major Raccoon-era story that has not been rebuilt in the RE Engine.

Getting the best experience on PS5

Resident Evil rewards a few minutes of setup, and the PS5 versions have options most players never touch. These are the settings we change before every new playthrough.

Audio and 3D sound

Sound does half the work in these games. Footsteps above you, Mr. X’s boots in the next corridor, and Lady Dimitrescu stooping through doorways all tell you where to go. The native PS5 versions support Tempest 3D AudioTech. Headphones help far more than TV speakers, and a headset such as the PlayStation Pulse headset makes directional cues much clearer. At minimum, turn on 3D Audio under Settings > Sound > Audio Output > Enable 3D Audio.

DualSense features

The PS5 versions of Resident Evil 2, 3, 7, Village, Resident Evil 4 and Requiem all use the controller’s haptics and adaptive triggers, with each weapon given its own trigger resistance. If the trigger tension slows down your aim in Resident Evil 4’s busier fights, you can reduce it under Settings > Accessories > Controllers > Trigger Effect Intensity. Our DualSense wireless controller guide for PS5 explains the rest of the controller options.

HDR and brightness

The modern games ask you to calibrate brightness when you first launch them. Don’t skip it. Turning the brightness up so you can see everything ruins the atmosphere, and turning it down too far makes some puzzles in Resident Evil 7 and Village almost unreadable. Run the console’s calibration first under Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output > Adjust HDR, then set each game’s calibration to the level its guidance image recommends.

Difficulty choices

Every modern remake includes an assisted or casual mode with aim assist and health regeneration. There is nothing wrong with using it for a first run. The opposite applies to experienced players: Resident Evil 2 on Hardcore, with limited ink ribbons for saving, is the closest experience to playing the 1998 original.

The best horror games on PS5 after Resident Evil

Once you have worked through the series, the PS5 horror library has several strong options in the same spirit. We recommend the Dead Space remake for a sci-fi take on the Resident Evil 4 loop, Silent Hill 2 (2024) for slower psychological horror, The Callisto Protocol for brutal melee combat, and Alan Wake 2 for a story-driven game that borrows the series’ safe room rhythms. Capcom’s own catalogue is also worth checking during PlayStation Store sales, because older Resident Evil games are regularly discounted heavily.

Some of these games rotate through the PS Plus Extra Game Catalog. Resident Evil titles have come and gone from that catalogue in different regions, so check the PS Plus tab on your console before buying.

FAQ

How many Resident Evil games are there?

There are nine numbered mainline games, from Resident Evil to Requiem. Many fans also count Code: Veronica and Resident Evil Zero as mainline, which makes eleven. That figure excludes remakes. With spin-offs, mobile titles and arcade games included, the total is well over two dozen.

Do I need to play the Resident Evil games in order?

No. Each game tells a complete story and introduces its main characters. The order matters most for character arcs, especially Leon’s, so playing Resident Evil 2 before Resident Evil 4 and Requiem improves those games noticeably.

Which Resident Evil game should I play first on PS5?

We recommend the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake. It has a native PS5 version, modern controls, strong puzzles and a manageable length, and it introduces the characters Requiem builds on. Players who prefer first-person horror should start with Resident Evil 7 instead.

Is Resident Evil Requiem the same as Resident Evil 9?

Yes. Requiem is the ninth numbered game in the series. Capcom dropped the number from the title in the same way it did for Resident Evil Village, which was effectively Resident Evil 8.

Which Resident Evil game is the scariest?

For most players it is Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, especially the first visit to the Baker house and especially in VR on the original PS VR. Among the third-person games, the Resident Evil 2 remake, with Mr. X stalking the police station, is the most tense.

Can I play Resident Evil on PS VR2?

Yes, with two games. Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake both have free PS VR2 modes. Resident Evil 7 supports only the original PS VR, which on PS5 also needs a PlayStation Camera and Sony’s camera adaptor.

Is the 2026 Resident Evil movie connected to the games?

Zach Cregger’s 2026 reboot is set in the Resident Evil universe but tells an original story, according to the director’s public comments. It does not adapt a specific game, so you can watch it before or after playing without missing anything essential.

Are the original PS1 Resident Evil games playable on PS5?

Not in their original form through the PS5 store. The first game is best played as the HD Remaster on PS4. Resident Evil 2 and 3 are best played as their modern remakes, which run natively on PS5.