Note: I had originally conceived of this series as many reviews of the Resident Evil games. I ultimately elected not to do this, in part because the reviews part of my profile seems to be broken. More importantly, it feels strange to review old games with a modern perspective and apply a number to it.

The Resident Evil series is one of the more significant franchises in video games and almost certainly the most significant horror franchise. It is a series that has twenty plus years of history and it continues to go strong where as other horror franchises, such as Silent Hill, have fallen by the wayside. Resident Evil is a fascinating franchise for a few reasons, including the fact that there are a lot of Resident Evil games. A cursory online inspection reveals close to twenty-five video games with the Resident Evil name attached to them. Most of these are oddball spin-offs like the online Outbreak games and a host of light-gun games exclusive to Japan. But there are also several mediocre to bad movies, both animated and live-action. Resident Evil is also a franchise that has significant shifts in quality. Some Resident Evil games are considered among the finest video games ever made, while others are almost universally reviled.

My own experience of the Resident Evil series does not begin until the release of RE4. I have faint memories of watching my cousin play through parts of Nemesis, but the first one that I played was 4. 4 is a significant game and one that I would consider as one of my personal favorite games of all time. It was an early example of behind-the-back third-person shooters that would become industry standard. Since that game, I played both 5 and 7. I mercifully avoided 6. But I’m curious about this franchise. So, I have elected to go through as much of the Resident Evil franchise as is reasonable.

It’s worth elaborating on which games I will be playing for this retrospective. The plan is to play most of the mainline games. This will include the remakes of 1 and 2, Code Veronica, Zero, 4, 5, 6, 7 (including the DLC), and Revelations 1 and 2. Part of this list is a creation of simple convenience. Getting my hands on and playing through the original 1 and 2 is a bridge too far. The same is true for 3. The other games are available on the Playstation 4, my platform of choice. While I understand that Revelations 1 and 2 are somewhat spinoffs, they play similarly enough and have enough of the same characters that it makes sense to include them, at least to me.

Another point worth briefly discussing is the order in which I will play these games. I will try and remain as close to chronological order. That means 0, 1, 2, Code Veronica, 4, 5, 6, 7, and then Revelations 1 and 2. I’m uncertain where Revelations 1 and 2 fit into the canon, so I’ll leave them until the end.

With all of that in mind, I hope that you’ll join me for my trip through the history of Resident Evil.