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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe simplest way to choose a Resident Evil game is to start with the character you want to follow: Leon S. Kennedy begins in Resident Evil 2 and later leads Resident Evil 4; Claire Redfield is introduced in Resident Evil 2 and continues into Code: Veronica; Jill Valentine’s clearest match is Resident Evil 3; Chris Redfield’s character-led choice is Resident Evil 5; and Ethan Winters’ story is best played as Resident Evil 7 biohazard followed by Resident Evil Village.
Those recommendations identify the most relevant protagonist and story position, not a universal ranking of game quality. Several entries have shared casts, and remake names can refer to different editions, so check the exact version and platform before you buy or download.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Resident Evil 2 - PlayStation 5 | $15.19 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Resident Evil 2 Remake PS4 | $23.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Resident Evil Requiem Amazon Exclusive Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 | $49.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - PlayStation 4 Standard Edition | $19.50 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Resident Evil 2 Remake - PS5 - UK PAL | $24.75 | Buy on Amazon |
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Quick guide: protagonist to starting game
Use this table when you already know which character interests you. The “continue with” column is for readers who want the character’s next documented story step rather than a separate entry featuring the same person.
| Protagonist | Best starting match | What that story is about | Continue with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leon S. Kennedy | Resident Evil 2 | Leon arrives in Raccoon City for his first police assignment during the outbreak. | Resident Evil 4 for his later mission as an elite agent. |
| Claire Redfield | Resident Evil 2 | Claire enters Raccoon City while searching for her brother, Chris. | Resident Evil Code: Veronica for the continuation of that search. |
| Jill Valentine | Resident Evil 3 | Jill is back in Raccoon City as the T-virus spreads and Nemesis targets the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members. | Resident Evil Revelations is another Jill-and-Chris-led option. |
| Chris Redfield | Resident Evil 5 | Chris investigates a bioweapons-market lead in Africa with Sheva Alomar. | The game itself is the most direct Chris-focused choice in this guide. |
| Ethan Winters | Resident Evil 7 biohazard | Ethan searches for his wife, Mia, at the Baker residence in Louisiana. | Resident Evil Village, which follows his effort to save his daughter Rose. |
Choosing Leon S. Kennedy
Start with Resident Evil 2 for his origin
Resident Evil 2 is the right starting point if you want to see Leon at the beginning of his story. He arrives in Raccoon City for his police job on the same night that Claire arrives looking for her brother. That setup makes the game a shared Leon-and-Claire entry rather than a solo character biography, but Leon’s arrival gives the game a clear place in his personal chronology.
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- TERRIFYING ZOMBIES WAITING AROUND EVERY CORNER -- Driven by insatiable hunger, these creatures act on instinct, gnashing their teeth, ripping at flesh, and devouring their victims. The new immersive camera lets you feel their fangs as they sink into your flesh.
- RACCOON CITY, REBUILT IN INTRICATE DETAIL -- The characters, environments, and story have all been rebuilt from the ground up to create a terrifying world that feels both nostalgic and new.
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Choose this entry when you want the Raccoon City outbreak and Leon’s first experience of it to be the foundation of your playthrough. It also gives you the useful context that later Leon stories assume: he is no longer an inexperienced officer when he appears in the next major character step.
Choose Resident Evil 4 for the later Leon
Resident Evil 4 moves Leon into a different role. He is an elite agent sent to Europe to rescue the president’s daughter. Select it when that assignment sounds more appealing than the earlier police-arrival story, or when you specifically want the later version of Leon rather than his introduction.
You do not have to play Resident Evil 2 first to understand the basic mission in Resident Evil 4. However, playing them in that order gives you a character-led progression from Leon’s first night in Raccoon City to his later government assignment. The two games are therefore different starting answers: Resident Evil 2 is the origin point, while Resident Evil 4 is the later-mission option.
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Start with Resident Evil 2 for her search for Chris
Claire’s most direct introduction is also Resident Evil 2. She is a college student who enters Raccoon City looking for her brother, Chris. Because Leon and Claire are both listed among the game’s main characters, this is an ensemble entry; choose Claire’s route or perspective when available, but expect the wider story to involve both protagonists.
This is the best choice if your interest is the beginning of Claire’s search and the Raccoon City setting itself. It places her objective at the center of why she enters the city instead of presenting her as a later supporting appearance.
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- Based on the release of 1998 but completely rebuilt for a deeper narrative experience
- new over the shoulder camera mode and modernized control scheme
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- RE engine, Resident Evil 2 delivers breathtakingly photorealistic visuals in 4K
- zombies are brought to life with a horrifyingly realistic wet gore Effect.zombies react in real time taking instant visible damage, making every bullet count.engage in frenzied combat with enemies, explore dark menacing corridors & solve puzzles.a terrifying constant fight for survival.enjoy separately playable campaigns for both Leon and Claire
Continue with Resident Evil Code: Veronica
Resident Evil Code: Veronica is the follow-up to choose when continuity matters more than starting with the most familiar numbered title. Capcom’s synopsis continues Claire’s search from an Umbrella facility in Paris to Rockfort Island and Antarctica. That makes it the natural second stop after Resident Evil 2 for readers who want her pursuit of Chris to remain the organizing thread.
Start with Code: Veronica only if you already understand that it is a continuation rather than Claire’s first appearance. Beginning with Resident Evil 2 supplies the reason for her journey; moving to Code: Veronica then follows that unresolved goal into new locations.
Choosing Jill Valentine
Start with Resident Evil 3 for the most direct match
Resident Evil 3 is Jill Valentine’s clearest mainline match in this guide. Capcom places Jill back in Raccoon City while the T-virus outbreak is spreading and describes Umbrella unleashing Nemesis against the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members. If your priority is Jill rather than a general series entry, this is the straightforward selection.
The game also belongs to the Raccoon City part of the timeline, so it suits readers who want Jill’s return to the outbreak environment and a threat specifically directed at her organization. It is a more focused choice for Jill than Resident Evil 2, whose main-character lineup is shared by Leon and Claire.
Consider Resident Evil Revelations for another Jill-led option
Resident Evil Revelations is an alternative when you want Jill and Chris together among the main characters. It is not presented here as a replacement for Jill’s direct Resident Evil 3 match; it is another option for readers who prefer a shared Jill-and-Chris story. Pick it when both protagonists matter to you, and pick Resident Evil 3 when Jill’s Raccoon City conflict is the reason you are playing.
Rank #3
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- Grace Ashcroft, an FBI intelligence analyst who is introverted and easily scared, representing a new type of character for the Resident Evil series. Grace will experience horror from the same perspective as the player as she learns to overcome her fears throughout the course of the story.
- For the first time ever in Resident Evil history, players will be able to freely switch between both first- and third-person perspectives throughout the game.
- An Anniversary to Remember: With March 2026 marking the Resident Evil series’ 30-year anniversary, Resident Evil Requiem marks its own milestone in the franchise.
- Pre-orders for Resident Evil Requiem are now open, with the bonus of Grace’s costume: Apocalypse. Please note that the picture weapon does not come with the costume, but it can be obtained in-game.
Choosing Chris Redfield
Start with Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5 is the strongest protagonist match for Chris in this set of recommendations. Chris travels to Africa to investigate a lead connected to the bioweapons market. Sheva Alomar is also a main character, and Jill and Wesker are part of the named cast, so this is a shared-character operation rather than a story in which Chris is the only important figure.
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That distinction matters when choosing. Select Resident Evil 5 if you want Chris’s investigation and are comfortable with an ensemble structure. If you want a Chris story that also gives Sheva a major role, this pairing is a feature, not a drawback. If you want only one protagonist with no co-lead, the documented premise does not support describing this game that way.
Choosing Ethan Winters
Begin with Resident Evil 7 biohazard
Ethan’s story starts in Resident Evil 7 biohazard. He travels to Louisiana to find his wife, Mia, whom he believed was dead, and enters the Baker residence. Capcom describes this as Ethan’s first step into survival horror, making it the clear entry point for anyone choosing the series because of him.
Choose this game even if your eventual interest is Rose, Ethan’s daughter. The family situation that drives the later game begins here, so skipping the first chapter removes the context for Ethan’s decisions and the Baker House incident referenced by the sequel.
Follow with Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Village takes place three years after the Baker House incident. Its central premise is Ethan trying to save his kidnapped daughter, Rose. For a character-led playthrough, the order is therefore direct: play Resident Evil 7 biohazard first, then Resident Evil Village.
Rank #4
- Survival horror returns - A brand new tale in the Resident Evil Revelations saga comes to current and next generation gaming consoles
- Clare Redfield and Moira Burton star - Fan favorite Claire returns to the horrors that haunted her in the past alongside Moira Burton, daughter of Resident Evil legend Barry Burton.
- Evil is watching - Set in what appears to be an abandoned detention facility on a remote island, the horror awaits players around every dark corner. Will there be a way to escape?
- A brand new type of enemy - Not as mindless as zombies, the scary design of the 'Afflicted' means they are able to move quickly and attack the player with basic weapons, making them a genuine threat to players' survival.
- Assistive co-op play - Players will need to switch between the two characters to overcome the nightmares in either single player mode with an AI partner or offline co-op. Utilize Moira's torch to temporarily blind the enemy before Claire takes them out!
This two-game sequence is the clearest continuity path in the guide because both games are explicitly tied to Ethan’s family story. Starting with Village is possible if you only want its immediate premise, but it is not the best choice when your reason for playing is to understand Ethan’s complete arc.
How the character stories fit together
Raccoon City: Leon, Claire and Jill
Three of the recommendations are anchored to Raccoon City, but they answer different character questions. Resident Evil 2 follows Leon’s arrival for his police assignment and Claire’s arrival in search of Chris. Resident Evil 3 follows Jill’s return as the T-virus spreads and Nemesis pursues the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members.
Choose between them by asking whose objective you want to start with. Leon and Claire give you a two-protagonist entry built around simultaneous arrivals and overlapping circumstances. Jill gives you a return to the city centered on a specific pursuit. The shared setting does not make the games interchangeable from a character perspective.
Leon’s later mission
Resident Evil 4 is not another version of Leon’s introduction. It advances him into an elite-agent role and gives him a rescue mission in Europe. That change in job and location is why it works either as a second Leon game after Resident Evil 2 or as a standalone starting point for a reader interested in the later assignment.
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Claire’s path is the one in which the stated personal objective carries most visibly from one recommendation to the next. Resident Evil 2 establishes her search for Chris; Code: Veronica continues it through Paris, Rockfort Island and Antarctica. Follow that order if story continuity is your deciding factor.
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Chris and shared operations
Chris’s recommended game is built around an investigation with Sheva, not a solitary journey. Jill and Wesker also appear in the named cast of Resident Evil 5. This makes it a useful pick for readers who want Chris while accepting that the narrative belongs to a team and a wider bioweapons investigation.
Ethan’s two-game family arc
Ethan is the easiest character for a strict consecutive-play order: Louisiana and the Baker residence in Resident Evil 7 biohazard, followed three years later by the effort to save Rose in Resident Evil Village. Treat the pair as one connected storyline rather than two unrelated character appearances.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Originals, remakes and edition names
Check the subtitle, year and platform listing before selecting a game. Capcom’s timeline labels the modern Resident Evil 2 as a remake of the original Resident Evil 2. It also explicitly identifies Resident Evil 3 as the remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which was released in September 1999.
When a store listing says only “Resident Evil 2” or “Resident Evil 3,” verify which edition it means. A remake and an original release share a protagonist and broad story position, but they are not the same product. The safest wording when directing someone to a listing is to name the game and edition together, such as “Resident Evil 2 remake” or “the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis,” and then confirm the platform.
Do not assume that a game available in one country, console family or storefront is available in another. The official series portal provides the lineup, but current prices, stock, platform support and regional availability can change. Treat those details as purchase checks rather than permanent facts about the series.
Choose by the kind of story you want
If you are undecided between several characters, use the story setting and role as a second filter.
| If you want… | Choose… | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| A first night in an outbreak city | Resident Evil 2 | Leon arrives for his police job while Claire searches for Chris. |
| Jill confronting a threat aimed at S.T.A.R.S. | Resident Evil 3 | Nemesis is sent after the remaining members as the T-virus spreads. |
| A later Leon rescue assignment | Resident Evil 4 | Leon is an elite agent sent to rescue the president’s daughter in Europe. |
| Claire’s search continuing across new locations | Resident Evil Code: Veronica | The search moves from Paris to Rockfort Island and Antarctica. |
| A Chris-led international investigation | Resident Evil 5 | Chris and Sheva investigate a bioweapons lead in Africa. |
| A connected family story | Resident Evil 7 biohazard then Village | Ethan searches for Mia, then tries to save Rose three years later. |
Practical starting paths
Path 1: Leon from the beginning
- Select the Resident Evil 2 edition that matches your platform, checking whether the listing is the remake or the original release.
- Use it as Leon’s arrival and Raccoon City introduction.
- Move to Resident Evil 4 when you want his later role as an elite agent on the European rescue mission.
Path 2: Claire’s personal search
- Start with Resident Evil 2 and follow Claire’s reason for entering Raccoon City.
- Choose Resident Evil Code: Veronica next if you want the search for Chris to continue.
- Confirm the platform and edition separately, because availability can differ by region and storefront.
Path 3: Jill in Raccoon City
- Choose Resident Evil 3, confirming whether the listing is the remake or the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
- Use Resident Evil Revelations instead when a Jill-and-Chris-led story is the more appealing format.
Path 4: Chris and the team operation
- Start with Resident Evil 5 if Chris’s investigation in Africa is your priority.
- Expect Sheva to be a central co-lead and recognize that Jill and Wesker are also part of the named cast.
Path 5: Ethan’s complete arc
- Play Resident Evil 7 biohazard first for Ethan’s search for Mia at the Baker residence.
- Continue immediately to Resident Evil Village for the later effort to save Rose.
- Keep the three-year time jump in mind when reading the second game’s premise.
Common selection mistakes
- Treating a shared-cast game as a solo character game: Resident Evil 2 has Leon and Claire as main characters, while Resident Evil 5 pairs Chris with Sheva. Choose those entries when you welcome the ensemble.
- Confusing a character introduction with a later chapter: Resident Evil 2 introduces Leon; Resident Evil 4 presents him as an elite agent. They answer different preferences.
- Starting Claire’s continuation without her setup: Code: Veronica continues the search established in Resident Evil 2.
- Mixing remake and original listings: Check the exact subtitle, edition and platform instead of assuming two similarly named products are identical.
- Expecting current availability to be universal: Region, date and platform affect whether a particular edition can be purchased or played.
- Stopping Ethan’s story after one game: The most straightforward Ethan sequence contains both Resident Evil 7 biohazard and Resident Evil Village.
A final decision rule
Pick Resident Evil 2 if you want Leon or Claire at the start of their Raccoon City stories. Pick Resident Evil 3 for Jill’s most direct mainline appearance, Resident Evil 4 for later-career Leon, Resident Evil Code: Veronica for Claire’s continuing search, and Resident Evil 5 for Chris’s team investigation with Sheva. If Ethan is the reason you are playing, follow Resident Evil 7 biohazard with Resident Evil Village. Then verify the edition, remake status and platform before selecting the store listing.
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