Here's what I originally wrote over at the loony bin, with some minor changes and updates.
1.
Resident Evil (1996) - The original and best. A wild success that nobody saw coming (including most of Capcom itself) and defined a series and a genre overnight. The Spencer Mansion is one of gaming's most iconic locales, even some of its rooms are iconic by themselves. Everyone remembers when that first zombie turned and caught them with that stare. Mikami's classic still as great as it ever was, thanks to insanely robust, exhaustively-planned design that continues to entertain players to this day. A masterpiece.
2.
Resident Evil 4 - I still remember anticipating what would eventually be the scrapped 3.5 'Hookman' version of RE4, so it was quite some surprise to wake up one morning and read about the GI world exclusive of Mikami's literal game changer. The old version is completely gone? Set during the daytime? Leon being chased by Spanish farmers? All of this before any pics were available online, so naturally my imagination ran riot, and I'm not ashamed to say, panicked a lot. In fact I was still unconvinced even after seeing the game in action. My beloved Resident Evil was dead! Turned into a generic brown linear action game! Naturally, my worry was misplaced. Mikami and his team fearlessly re-wrote the rulebook (while still smartly adhering to classic tropes) and crafted what is arguably the finest pure-action videogame of all time, and it's truly evergreen. I mean, despite finishing the game upwards of 20 times or so at least, and knowing practically every little detail of the game inside and out, I could stop writing this, put it on, and lose myself in it for hours. There's not a single moment of downtime, not one groan of 'oh no, not this part'. As a slice of videogame design, as a masterclass exercise in how to manipulate the player with expert pacing, and as a piece of electronic entertainment in its own right, it's peerless.
3.
Resident Evil (2002) - While I still prefer the original over this remake, there's still a lot of appeal in Mikami's gloomier and tenser retread of his own classic that it can call its own. The atmosphere for one is very different. While the 1996 game embraced a more Overlook Hotel-style, lived-in sense of vibrant supernatural stillness, the remake goes for a more gothic, decaying environment with low light and long shadows. The pace is slower, too. Chris and Jill move and turn slower than they did in the original, and are more vulnerable as a result. And while the map is largely the same, the routes and obstacles in the game are different, requiring different keys. Items are in different places. Puzzles are reworked entirely. And it looks PHENOMENAL, even now. It's like a visit from an old friend with wonderful new travels and stories to tell. The ultimate remake.
4.
Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Hideki Kamiya gets his directing break, but not without hurdles. The famous demise of 1.5 resulted in a director and a team so determined to succeed, so focused on sustaining RE's breakout pedigree, that what we got was quite simply one of the finest, most polished, and luxuriously content-rich sequels in gaming, delivered in record time. It's probably the most well-loved of the classic games among the fanbase too, and deservedly so. Kamiya's failure is our (and his) good fortune.
5.
Resident Evil Code Veronica - Resident Evil makes the jump from 240i to 480i, in full polygonal 3D, and it's a good one. The first 'next gen' RE delivers a timeline-jumping epic which reunites (and revives) classic characters, and exponentially expands the lore in spectacular fashion. It's probably the most intricately-designed RE, too. Just when you think you've learned your way round the map, there's a mid-way series of twists that completely re-orients the layout. It experiments with some neat themes too on top of the usual horror/action movie homages.
6.
Resident Evil 6 - Capcom creates, in their own words, 'The ultimate Resident Evil'. And it kinda is. RE6 takes RE4/5's system and blows it wide open in terms of offensive/defensive mechanics, while at the same time honouring a 16-year legacy of settings, character dynamics, and callbacks, in addition to reviving RE5's co-op system. While taking the notion of RE as an action series too far for some, it is nonetheless an exquisitely crafted TPS game, with a seemingly inexhaustible volume of content. By far the biggest and most comprehensive RE title to date, and imo one of the best. I love it.
7.
Resident Evil 5 - The series' second 'next gen' title takes a very different and refreshing turn after the seminal RE4, by switching rural Spain for the scorching heat and desolation of Africa, and adding co-op for the first time. It's a more methodical, relaxed, and less eccentric game than RE4, although it still has its share of crazy stuff going on. And being RE4's tamer cousin means it's still a corker. The game is already great solo, but with a friend it comes into its own, with some of the best (if not the best) co-op play in gaming. Sadly it's always going to be 'the game that wasn't as good as RE4', which doesn't do it justice, but comparisons and dashed expectations are inevitable when its prequel is one of the most stunning pieces of software ever made. It's weaker in just about every area bar technically (it's still one of the best-looking games in existence for my money). It's simpler, slower, less challenging, and shorter. Nevertheless, I've never been more excited to play a video game than RE5, and I probably never will be again. It's a fantastic and spectacular close to a particular chapter of the lore, too.
8.
Resident Evil 7 - New generation, new numbered Resident Evil, and with it a complete model change. The game could not be more different from RE6 if it tried, and Capcom certainly did try. Despite obviously flirting with numerous contemporary gaming fashions, it's surprisingly authentic in its approach to recreating old-school RE in first person. It's one of the most richly atmospheric and immersive games I've ever played due to staggering attention to detail, brilliant art direction, superb sound design, and the sheer muscle of the RE Engine. The fact that it's slightly too short, and features a small selection of enemy types, are the only things stopping it from being a classic. Otherwise, it's the real deal.
9.
Resident Evil 2 (2019) - Well, we finally do it. And it's great. Less a remake and more of a full-on reimagining in terms of mechanics, perspective, and presentation, it pretty much only shares its memorable setting, set pieces, and cast of characters with the original. There are lots of cheeky references and expectation-subverting moments for fans of the original, and the reshuffled map design disarms veterans in deliciously devious style. But it's not all great. While the new over-the-shoulder perspective has its moments, it ultimately fails to vindicate its presence due to the lack of need for precision shooting outside of bosses, and generally isn't worth the sacrifice of fixed camera angles. The controls are occasionally disorienting and unreliable. Significant sections of the original B scenarios are cut. Hardcore mode, which is the only way to play for old school fans craving those ink ribbon saves, is an afterthought with poor balance. Worth the wait? Maybe not. But going back to the RPD in such quality fashion was still a huge thrill for me, and the sweet, heady nostalgia lasts from beginning to end.
10.
Resident Evil Revelations 2 - This game had no right being as good as it is. For a low-budget episodic spin-off, it's a slam-dunk, home run, full-on RE experience that manages to do a lot with a little, and do it well. Bringing back a long-neglected fan-favourite character in fine fashion, and implementing the series' first girl/girl partnership, it's a winner, with some great interactions, awesome level design, creative puzzles, and an absolute stormer of a (secret) ending.
11.
Resident Evil 0 - The classic format goes out with a bang, if not a terribly loud one. RE0 escalates the challenge for its last hurrah, both regarding item management and combat. Possibly even better looking than REmake, too. A good game, but it's clear that the series was running out of steam at this point, and I feel it kind of unnecessarily undermines the series' continuity, with some very clumsy and two-dimensional writing, even for RE.
12.
Resident Evil 3 (1999) - There's nothing wrong with RE3, it's great. But taken on its own merits, everything it does that the series has done before, has been done better. And the things that it does uniquely aren't so great imo. I've never really liked Nemesis. I'm not keen on the dodge. I vastly prefer claustrophobic rooms that interconnect like a jigsaw puzzle to RE3's long, scenic corridors. But like I said, there's nothing actually wrong with it, and if I'm in the mood to play it, I'll have a blast. But it's definitely the weakest classic RE for me.
13.
Resident Evil 3 (2020) - The loosest remake yet, RE3 2020 is even more liberated, giving itself lots of room for self-indulgent deviation. And it mostly works, offering constant surprises and fun changes throughout. The most obvious strikes against it are its lack of length and glaring, huge slices of cut content. Short Resident Evil is fine when it's non-linear and offers lots of player agency, meaning lots of potential ways to go wrong and improve upon. But RE3 2020 is a fairly linear game, with lots of scripted set pieces and 'hold up' chase scenes. Speaking of which, Nemesis is no longer the intimidating, unpredictable adversary he was in the original game, in fact, after the first area which permits him a little familiar stalking, he basically only turns up for boss duty. It's a shame, but not as great a shame as omitting the Clock Tower and the park. Quite why they decided to omit two of the best areas in the game, I don't know. Still really good, and I particularly liked the return of a live action intro to the series.
14.
Resident Evil Revelations - I fell for this game hard when I first played it. Maps! Absurdly-themed keys! Drain-able bathtubs! I was in heaven. I think around the third time through though the honeymoon got stale. I really don't like the story or the new characters. I even hate some of them. The RE4-lite gameplay is fun, but it's probably the weakest in the series. The backtracking lacks an organic, logical sense of momentum and feels arbitrary. The way the game hops back and forth between timelines and scenarios is poorly done and, at times, even tiresome. I really don't like the Terragrigia stuff. It's a shame, because the Queen Zenobia is a really great location for RE, much more foreboding and atmospheric than the Spencer Rain was, for example. Overall, it's decent, and worth playing, and Raid Mode is ace.
For now, just passing by to say that I'm one of those weirdos that thinks that Resident Evil (2002) does not make Resident Evil (1996) obsolete.
Both games are equally valid as gaming experiences, and imo equally great. But the original holds a special place in my heart because it came out of nowhere and made me fall ecstatically head over heels in love from day one. It's an absolute masterpiece.
