Advice on entering the Resident Evil series, which games to buy?

Hey everyone.

So since I managed to get some extra money, I thought about buying Resident Evil games and entering the series. The only RE game I've played is 4, which I absolutely loved, and is one of my favorite games to date. Other than that, I've not played any other ones. I wanted to ask for advice, since I'm looking for RE titles on Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

I've been recommended to play the RE 1 remake and RE 5, and absolutely stay away from RE 6. I've seen that Revelations 1 and 2 are also available for these platforms, as well as Code Veronica.

So, any advice on entering this franchise? Which games should I buy?

I'd appreciate all comments and suggestions.

Cheers.

Maybe play Dead Space instead.

RE4 is the only one I like. it's great. I'd say save your money.

Revelations are the closest to 4 in tone and gameplay. Five is fun but not horror focused at all. The older titles are some of my favorite games of their generation, but the controls are super hard to go back to. The Evil Within is by the creator of re4 and I liked it a lot, but is pretty polarizing. There is no re6. That never happened. IT NEVER HAPPENED.

I really enjoyed Revelations 2. It`s a bit different from RE 4, but similar enough that I think you would enjoy it. There are no story connections to Revelations 1 so you can jump right into this game.

RE 5 is more RE 4, but slightly worse. Still really good though.

REmake is really great, but it`s also very different from the "modern" (RE 4 and onward) games in the series. So even if you liked RE 4 you won`t necessarily love REmake.

I enjoyed Revelations 1. It was better than I thought a handheld port would be, but still suffers a bit. I would recommend RE 5 and Revelations 2 over it.

TL:DR: I would recommend either RE 5 or Revelations 2 (leaning in favor of RE 5). Both are great.

Recommending the RE1 remake is difficult because the reasons you probably like RE4 are probably the same reasons why you'll dislike RE1. I could be wrong and you may actually like it but be sure to do your homework first so you at least understand what you're getting yourself into.

If you liked RE4 then RE5 is an easy recommendation. It takes the basic formula that RE4 started and added a co-op element. I'd suggest playing this with a friend if at all possible.

Revelations 1 and 2 are pretty good games and you should be fine just jumping into them. Maybe read a wiki for some backstory but you don't really need much setup for those games.

I'll recommend playing the Resident Evil remake but use a walk through. There are a lot of great things in the game, but it's filled with obtuse puzzle solving and aimless wandering around to find items to solve the puzzles.

I'd recommend getting RE 1,2,3 before playing any of the more modern games or remakes.

You've already played what I would consider the high point of the series, which also happens to be smack dab in the middle. The easiest recommendation is to play 5, which has similar controls and gameplay with a more bombastic storyline.

People love to rag on 6 for a variety of reasons, mainly the story I think. As someone who has never been super invested in the RE story and thought it was silly since the beginning of RE1, I actually enjoyed 6 for it's depth of control. I will say the game does a pretty bad job of tutorializing what's there. I've always spent about 10x the amount of time playing mercenaries mode than the campaign itself, and 6's mercenary mode is a lot of fun. In my opinion, the feeling of sliding towards a zombie while lighting it up, slamming into it and kicking, then standing up and breaking its neck seamlessly appealed far more than any of the goofy story beats.

The older RE games control like GARBAGE now and I find them hard to recommend. Any fun here can be gleaned from LP's in my opinion, as very little charm from those games came from wrestling the awful controls.

Well, Capcom is currently having a publisher sale on the Xbox One/360(which ends tomorrow) and that includes all the RE games they've put on those consoles thus far. With Resident Evil 4 coming out to the One in a couple of weeks.

Resident Evil 2 is still my favorite in the series and highly recommend it above all others. However since you are just relegated to the 360 and One I'll make these suggestions.

REmake is by far the best on offer when it comes to the older style of the series that you can buy on Xbox. Resident Evil 0 isn't bad necessarily, I'd give that honor to Code Veronica X or RE6 but it's not a super strong entry either. Resident Evil 4 is still the best in the series when the series changed tone and how it plays and did a lot to bring people over who never got into the old games. Resident Evil 5 is still pretty good but I can only recommend it fully if you have someone to play co-op with since the partner AI is less than ideal. The revelations series is pretty good and a continuation of the RE4 style of play with a great co-op mode called Raid mode. It can be played by yourself but you will get far more mileage if you have a friend to tag along.

So I'd say my picks would be

REmake (if it turns out you really like this style of play, maybe look into RE0 in the future)

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 5 (my recommendation wavers some if you only plan to play by yourself, the partner AI is more of a hindrance than anything. At least in early playthroughs, it gets better when you can give Sheva an infinite ammo gun and tons of healing items though.)

Resident Evil Revelation 1 or 2

I'd still say find a way to play through RE2 and 3, with 2 still being the highlight of the series and the third game wasn't too shabby either. Playing the original version of RE1 is still worth a look just for the sake of seeing where the series began but opting to just play REmake instead is perfectly fine if you ask me. Worth noting that the new versions of REmake and RE0 have an alternate control scheme if you find that tank controls are not for you.

@lost_remnant: So you do not recommend Code Veronica X or RE6 at all?

If you have a friend to play it with, RE5 is definitely the way to go; I much prefer it over 4 for that reason. It also has one of my favorite villains of all time! If you like hammy bad guys, 5's story is fantastic. If you don't have someone to play with, then I'd recommend giving the RE1 remake a try. Though I'd imagine its gameplay is pretty hit-or-miss.

Both Revelations games are pretty good choices, but while their single-player campaigns are pretty good, I tend to like them more for their raid modes (which are also only worth it if you have a friend to play with). RE6 isn't bad, but it's basically an even more actionized version of 5; inventory/ammo management is barely an issue, so the game's pretty much a straightforward shooter.

@jrodrz: I can only really speak for myself but Code Veronica X and RE6 are the bottom of the totem pole (which one is dead last depends on the day honestly) so I can only really say that overall I disliked them.

However, on the 360 you can grab RE6 and Code Veronica X for under ten dollars each as part of the publisher sale and at that price I'd say they are worth a look. Especially if you are determined to get into the series and play most or all of the major entries in the series. My main issue with RE6 that the entire thing felt unfocused and tried the "please them all" approach while not being strong in any one area. The general gameplay of RE6 has a certain quickness and style to it once you get use to it though, even with that it still never fully won me over.

I found the vast majority of Code Veronica X kind of by the numbers and ho-hum, it has some hilariously silly story bits (I love Alfred Ashford and his ability to ham up everything) but also heads the series down a road I never liked from the jump (Matrix Wesker, if you play it you will see what I mean especially as the series continued.)

It's hard for me to fully recommend Code Veronica X or RE6 over the others since the ones I listed are far better in their respective styles. For under ten bucks though in that sale going on, I won't completely wave them off. I'd say my other recommendations are stronger picks and better overall games in both styles of RE. If you get into the overall story playing any you can get your hands on is fine especially if you end up liking any of these characters and the ridiculous nonsense that can happen in each game.

@jrodrz: Depends what you like. Do you want more action-oriented like RE4 or more survival-horror like RE1? What is your tolerance for old stuff? (Tank controls, dated graphics, etc.)

On the survival-horror side REmake will probably be the best choice. If you have a decent tolerance for older games you can add RE2 and RE3 to that (they take place at the same time and are very fun to play together).

In my opinion RE4 is the only good one on the action side. RE5 is only worth it in co-op and is a pure action game.

Side projects could be Resident Evil: Outbreak, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and Resident Evil: Revelations.

@hassun: I actually like both genres. I have gone through the survival horror of the Dead Space trilogy, and I also love action games (most of my game library is made up of them). What I truly want is to make the best Resident Evil experience, specially since I'm a newcomer to the series overall. Unfortunately, RE2 and RE3 are not an option for me, since I don't own a PlayStation, and the Gamecube versions are way too expensive nowadays.

I'm on the fence with RE5, since I'm certain I can get someone to play co-op with, but can't know for sure if it's an enjoyable game.

What about Revelations 1? I need RE titles recommendations for Xbox 360 or One, since I can't get any other RE game on another platform

To get a better idea of the series I would recommend the remake of one. RE4 is cool, but I actually think the REmake has held up the test of time better, because there aren't a lot of modern games that compare to the remake (for good and I'll).

@lost_remnant: I'm not able to play Code Veronica X or RE6 for the moment on 360, since I have some problems in my account. However, as soon as I fix those issues, I want to get RE games for the 360, but by then, both games' prices will be back to normal, and I guess, based on your comments, they won't be worthwhile at a higher price.

@jrodrz: I just can't really recommend Code Veronica X at twenty dollars which I assume is what it will go back to. RE6 is also on sale on the One but for 13.99 and I'd say it might be worth it, having a co-op partner in tow will make it better but that's true for a lot of things. I will say be warned that there is an odd Xbox One glitch for RE5, 6, and Rev 2 for some people that when they try to create co-op games the game will crash to the dashboard.

It's a bizarre glitch that seems to affect people randomly (it does it for me on RE5 and now Rev 2) but it doesn't seem to affect many others for some bizarre reason and Capcom doesn't seem too interested in fixing it for people like me who have been affected. You can still get invited to a co-op game and play as normal and the games play perfectly fine when playing offline solo. This may not happen to you since it seems to only hit a minority of the player-base but I'd figure I would give you a heads up.

Even when the sale passes, you can probably find copies of RE6, RE5 (if you buy the 360 version try to get the gold edition as it has extra story DLC's included) Rev 1 and 2 for cheap used so it may still be totally doable to get them on at a bargain. Code Veronica X is the only one on the Xbox that has never had a retail release so you're kind of boned there unfortunately.

When it comes to post-RE4 games, Leon's campaign in RE6 is as good as it gets. Take a couple of minutes to read a user-made tutorial that explains how combat works and how to do all the cool moves before you play though because the game itself doesn't explain shit. RE5 is pretty good, especially if played in co-op, and the one that's most similar to RE4. Don't bother with the Revelations games. The first one is a thoroughly miserable game, just a real piece of shit all around -- monotonous, aesthetically dull environments that are not fun or interesting to explore, ugly, uninspired enemy designs with no variation, insultingly simplified combat, backtracking through areas that were already boring the first time, no tension, no scares, no excitement, no anything; the only remotely enjoyable part of it is looking at the player character's spandexed ass, which conveniently never leaves the screen -- and the second is much better but nevertheless mediocre.

Resident Evil 5 if you have a buddy to play it all the way through with.

Dead Space 1 and 2 otherwise.

I would say that the RE 1 remake is a hard one to recommend, unless you are prepared for a completely different experience. Gamespot is doing a run through of it right now, you can look at the videos on Youtube and maybe get an idea if you would like it or not. I would recommend 5, but unless they worked out the crap of the port to XBOX ONE, I would find it hard to recommend the 360 version. In the case of RE 4 and 5, I would say the PC versions would be the best because they would look more like modern games. Revelations has a really good pedigree, but I've only played it on PS4, and I know there are some performances differences between the two console versions, so maybe try out the first episode when it's on sale again. I think the last time it was around $5 or free. So you can't go wrong just trying it out.

Resident Evil overall, doesn't age very well. Unless you have nostalgia for the series, it's kind of bad for the majority of it. That's why 4 was such a big deal in the first place.

That said, I've played them all except for 6. Which I probably won't play unless it's on a steam sale for $5. I seem to be a sucker for that kind of stuff. :)

I'm a big proponent of REmake and think that game is excellent, but even with "modernized" controls it's still an acquired taste and most definitely not for everyone. That's probably the best old-school RE game, so if you don't like that one don't bother with the others.

Resident Evil 5 is basically the closest thing you'll get to more 4, though I seem to like it more than most people do. Best played co-op, but if you can't manage that just give Sheva a SMG so she doesn't waste ammo and hope that she doesn't kill herself. I didn't hate RE6, so it might be worth your time as a sort of morbid curiosity piece. As a whole, it's a mess. However, underneath the myriad insta-death QTEs and various bullshit set pieces there are some interesting ideas at play that deviate from normal 3rd person shooters. I cannot in good conscience agree with the people who legitimately think it's a great game, but if you have someone to play with it could be occasionally enjoyable! Don't bother with Revelations or its sequel though. They're basically the equivalent of Direct-to-DVD sequels and are mediocre at best.

I suggest playing RE1, RE2, and RE3, then playing the REmake, then Code Veronica and then RE4 and RE5. That would cover all of the important stuff. The reason for playing the original RE1 before the REmake is because it will be a cool experience seeing the changes that you won't get if you only played the REmake or played the REmake first.

You might as well just play them all. They're not too long and pretty cheap these days on PSN and PC. You can totally skip RE0 and Code Veronica if you want, but 1-5 and the REmake are required playing IMO.

@jrodrz: Revelations is pretty good for a more action-oriented RE.

Given your platform limitations, REmake, Revelations and RE5 seem like your best bets. One for the survival-horror and the other 2 for action.

I highly advise against this. I was able to finish REmake when I was like 13. There's no reason a grown adult can't solve the puzzles in that game. They're not even that obtuse at all. Grim Fandango has obtuse puzzle solving, not REmake. Don't ruin your experience with a guide. Get absorbed. Play the game.

Anyway, REmake is a masterpiece of horror. Absolutely download the HD version of that. I also recommend using the classic tank controls. That kind of movement makes more sense with fixed camera angles.

2 and 3 are really good but dated games, 5 is an ok action game, and 6 is an awful video game. The Revelations games are quite good. Really though it's REmake you want to get. It's a masterpiece. Consider Zero if you like REmake but prepare for a worse but not terrible experience.

Eh, I agree about the aimless wandering. It got pretty tiring after a while. If I used a guide, I might not have given up on the game. But I refuse to use guides. I was more adept at some things when I was thirteen. Children have more active imaginations, which probably helps with puzzles and staying focused on certain things.

REmake (REmaster), and RE0, though I would suggest holding off on the latter until you complete the former.

I would also say don't play RE5, cause that game is bad as hell. If you're playing on your own, then you have to cope with an utterly braindead AI partner that is going to more often than not take you out of the experience. With a friend it's more tolerable, but I found that the game became boring and at times frustrating past the halfway mark. The final boss fight is one of the stupidest, clunkiest, crappiest things I've seen in a video game.

@mambogator@arbitrarywater: I appreciate your comments on every game I've mentioned so far. What I want to understand is if RE6 is a bad Resident Evil game or is it a bad video game overall. I've read all sorts of reviews, but if it isn't that great, I don't have a problem watching a playthrough on Youtube. I just want to be ready when RE7 gets released.

I'm open to other people's opinions about RE6

I wouldn't call it a bad game or a bad RE, it's just pretty mediocre as both.

@jrodrz: RE6 is a bad game.

Most people will definitely say RE6 sucks but the game has random fans. My brother loves it for whatever reason. I haven't brought myself to try it, especially since it's so fucking long.

It's not a matter of being able to solve the puzzles, it's that they're bad. Obtuse was probably the wrong choice of words. Most of the puzzles are extremely simple and just require the right item, but the right item could be anywhere and there's no direction as to where the items are. Most of the puzzles require items that are obvious, but there are no hints at all where to go to get said item. I beat the original game when I was 13, but I also had infinite time to run around aimlessly searching for everything. When I played the remake, I had no desire to run around the mansion hoping to stumble on what I needed but still enjoyed it using a walkthrough to give me an idea where to go. Using a guide takes away nothing from the game.

RE6 had no idea what made RE4 and 5 work so well mechanically.

I would get Resident Evil: Jill-Sandwich Edition

@jrodrz: Resident Evil 2 and then stop.

I personally liked Six. That said, if you loved four and want more of that, five is the way to go. It took me time to get into it, but I finally realized (in the same year it was out mind you) that it was a great game. The thing that took me away from it initially was that I wasn't as fond of the environments, the less myriad of weird characters, and the length of the game is much shorter. Though it may take around ten hours on a first go, you can eventually beat the game under five; there's even an achievement/trophy for it. Five is good solo, but it's also a bit more challenging on the first go since Sheva isn't the smartest A.I. and she can die. It's a fun co-op game. Friends never got into it with me, but my brother and I had a blast with it. When it comes to the original trio of games, with the tank controls and what have you, I think three is probably my favorite to play. I do however feel that it was the one that made the least impact of the three; it seemed people didn't talk that much about it, other than making Nemesis a well known enemy. I really enjoyed that games mercenaries. I should say though, if you play Six or Five on the Xbox One, and want to play local co-op, you cannot (as of currently, and I'm not sure if it'll ever be fixed) play with two profiles. If you have a sibling or friend that wants to earn achievements/trophies, as well as have their own items and upgrades on their own solo play time, they won't be able to get any of that as it's attached only to your profile, which is unlike the last-gen versions on 360. The PS3 had that issue with RE5 that I know of as well.

@hunkulese: Not giving you direction is the point. You're in a big scary mansion and you don't know where anything is. It's a big strange place you explore.

Using a guide takes something away from every game. You play it. You use your brain.

@jrodrz: RE6 is a bad game that I enjoyed parts of. If you buy it, don't pay full price.

Thanks everyone!

I finally decided to take advantage of the prices of the games available in the Capcom publisher sale and bought REmake (RE0 and RE1), RE5 and Revelations 2 (about $50 total for the 4 games). I did it since I think I will enjoy both types and games: the survival horror of early games and the action-oriented play style of the latter. I hope to be able to buy Revelations 1 and RE6 on the future, but based on everyone's opinions, both will be only if I get a really low price for each.

I appreciate everyone's opinions, you were really helpful!