1. Resident Evil

REmake was my third Resident Evil game. I've mentioned this already, but I've never played Director's Cut (even though I do own a digital copy on the PS3), so I can't compare the two games.

Resident Evil is a classic survival horror game. Everyone's heard of it. Everyone knows what it's about. In 1998, near Raccoon City, a S.T.A.R.S. team (including Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield) is sent to investigate a series of murders. Is it still "murder" is the victims are eaten by zombies and zombie dogs (cerberus)? You can play as either Jill or Chris. Jill has more inventory space, acquires a lockpick and has a chance to find a grenade launcher, but her defense isn't great. Chris has less inventory space and has has to waste the few slots he has by collecting old keys, but he has a good amount of health.

REmake is the scariest game in the series, hands down. You have to avoid Lisa Trevor (you're unable to kill her until a specific point in the game, so don't waste your ammo) and as if she isn't bad enough, Capcom added in some fun new enemies for us to deal with, Crimson Heads. Crimson Heads occur when you "kill" a zombie, without burning the body afterward. They reanimate a second time and now they're able to run and slash at you with extremely deadly claws. They're awful. I had read about them before even playing the game and I remember being so scared that I called my cousin (who owned the game, but hadn't played it yet), walking him through the beginning of the game, until you encounter the first Crimson Head. I didn't tell him what was about to happen, I wanted to hear his genuine reaction so I could gauge just how terrible these things were. He barely reacted at all. I, on the other hand, am still afraid of them. If I don't have the supplies to immediately burn a body, I'm not killing any zombies.

This is a great game because it offers a lot of replayability through various unlockable game modes. One Dangerous Zombie turns on (automatically, whether you like it or not) after you play as both Jill and Chris on normal difficulty. In this mode, Forest (a member of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team) returns as a zombie, with grenades attached to him, so you need to avoid him at all costs because shooting him will result in an explosion that will end your game. Real Survival Mode unlocks after beating the game on normal difficulty. Item boxes are no longer linked, so if you want a bit of an extra challenge, this is it. And if you want an extreme challenge, you can unlock Invisible Enemy Mode (by completing the game twice on any difficulty) where, you guessed it, all the enemies are invisible. Good luck with that.

I rate Resident Evil a 10/10 for being a genuinely terrifying experience, having so much additional content to play through, and being the "original" that started the entire series. (It's a remake, but it's a remake of the first game, so it counts.)

2. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

Resident Evil: Code Veronica X takes place on Rockfort Island, where Claire Redfield is imprisoned after infiltrating an Umbrella facility in Paris. She meets another prisoner, Steve Burnside, and the two decide to work together to find a way off the island. Of course, there are zombies, hunters, bandersnatches and a pair of siblings named Alfred and Alexia Ashford who make that task extremely difficult for them. Meanwhile, Chris Redfield travels to Rockfort Island in search of his sister and finds Albert Wesker, his old S.T.A.R.S. leader who betrayed him during the events in Raccoon City.

In CVX, you're not given the option of who to play as. You'll play as both Claire and Chris at different points in the game and you need to really consider which items you keep on you because the other character won't have access to them later.

I really liked Code Veronica. I enjoyed the story, I appreciated that the game seemed a bit longer than the others, I was happy to play as both Claire and Chris because they were my favorite characters (I still love Claire, Chris doesn't exist for me in RE5 and RE6). I tried to get the infinite rocket launcher in this game and I made it to the free save (the only one the game allows you) when you switch disks, but the Nosferatu fight frustrated me and by the time I went back to it, my save data was corrupted. Maybe one day though, now that CVX has been released for the PS3 and PS4. (Yes, I did buy it on both consoles.)

Completing the game on easy or normal will unlock Battle Mode, which has you racing against the clock while defeating various different enemies. It's not my favorite mini game and I didn't spend a significant amount of time playing it.

I rate Code Veronica X an 8/10 for giving us a game starring both Claire and Chris Redfield.

3. Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 2 deals with the aftermath of the events from Resident Evil. The T-Virus has spread into Raccoon City, where Leon Kennedy is headed for his first day of work as a rookie cop at the RPD, because apparently no one told him not to show up for work now that zombies have taken over the city. At the same time, Claire Redfield arrives, looking for her brother, Chris. Leon and Claire are separated shortly after meeting.

You're once again able to choose which character you play as. If you choose Claire, you'll meet a child named Sherry Birkin, the daughter of William Birkin (who has injected himself with the G-Virus). As Leon, you'll encounter Ada Wong, a woman who to this day, after many appearances in this series, I still don't know the motivations of.

Resident Evil 2 is a nice change of pace because you're taken out of the mansion and given a chance to explore the city a bit. You do spend a significant amount of time in the police department (and later on, the lab), but it's nice to see Raccoon City at all. My favorite thing about this game is the way the A/B scenarios work. You can play as Claire or Leon first and then follow that up by playing as whichever character you didn't choose initially. What you do with the first character affects what happens when playing as the second. You'll have to solve different puzzles and fight new bosses and it was really well done and made playing through the game multiple times interesting.

Unlockables include Extreme Battle Mode (which gives you limited health and ammo and sends you off to fight through hordes of enemies, while planting anti virus bombs), 4th Survivor (a canon mini game about an Umbrella operative, HUNK, who has to escape from Raccoon City with a sample of the G-Virus, while sparingly using what few items you're given to start with) and Tofu Survivor (exactly like 4th Survivor, except you play as a piece of Tofu and you're only armed with a knife and a couple healing items).

I rate Resident Evil 2 a 9/10 (I rated it higher than the next title on my list, but it's still third). I love the way the A/B scenarios were implemented in this game, it really added a lot of replayability to RE2.

4. Resident Evil 0

Resident Evil 0 was my first RE game. Knowing what I know now, I regret playing this one first because there are major spoilers for the original Resident Evil in RE0.

In this game, you play as Rebecca Chambers (a member of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team) and Billy Coen (a convicted felon). Rebecca has a talent for mixing herbs (and playing piano, but that's in Resident Evil) and Billy...Can push things and use a lighter. He's also able to take more hits than Rebecca and if you strategize well enough, you can avoid taking damage from a lot of enemies by having Rebecca wait in a corner somewhere and calling her over to you when you reach a door to the next area. (If you're playing the remaster, you can also play "Wesker Mode" and replace Billy with Albert Wesker, who has a few of his own advantages.)

Resident Evil 0 starts off with a train being attacked by leeches. Eventually, Rebecca wanders onto it, where she meets Billy. Even though Billy is a wanted man, they decide to work together because there are some damn strange things happening on that train. The train arrives at a training facility belonging to Umbrella Corporation, where Rebecca and Billy are forced to explore and find a way to escape.

Truthfully, Resident Evil 0's story isn't my favorite. There are two main reasons I love this game. The first is nostalgia. This was the first RE game I ever played, it was like nothing I had ever played before (I grew up on Mario and Donkey Kong games) and I really enjoyed it. The second reason is that I love the Leech Hunter mini game. Out of every mini game in this series, Leech Hunter is my favorite. Your goal is to go around the training facility and collect 100 leeches, 50 blue and 50 green. The catch is that the leeches take up space in your inventory, so you have to make your way around the facility, killing everything in your path, and then go back and pick the leeches up. The problem is that once you collect a certain amount of leeches, enemies will begin to respawn, so you have to leave the leeches in the rooms closest to the main hall for last, that way you can quickly run in and grab them and get back out. Depending on the number of leeches you collect, you'll be rewarded with new weapons and infinite ammo for the story campaign.

People have very mixed feelings on inventory management in this game. You're able to drop items from your inventory wherever you want, but then you have to go back and get them if you need them later on. (Leaving items in the main hall is always a good idea.) Again, this was my first Resident Evil game, so I had nothing to compare it to and I actually enjoyed it. I found it easier to drop items in strategic locations than I found it to store items in the inventory boxes like you have to in other games.

I rate Resident Evil 0 an 8/10 for having the best mini game in the entire series.

5. Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 7 was a breath of fresh air for this series after RE4, RE5 and RE6. Was it a perfect Resident Evil game? Not exactly. But I still loved every second of it, even if it's a departure from the zombies in the first several games. I appreciate that Capcom listened to the fans and brought back the horror atmosphere instead of releasing another third person shooter. And the demos for the game were genius, adding more with each new update.

In this game, you play as a man named Ethan, who is looking for his missing wife, Mia. While searching through a rundown house, he finds Mia, but there's clearly something wrong with her and she attacks Ethan with a chainsaw, severing his hand. When he regains consciousness, he's tied to a chair and surrounded by the Baker family. He manages to get loose and for the rest of the game, you're meant to evade this crazy family as they continue to stalk you throughout their property.

Most of Resident Evil 7 really does focus on survival and building tension. In the final act, it becomes more of an action game, but that can be forgiven because of how amazing the rest of the game is. I wasn't sure how I would feel about a first person Resident Evil, but it didn't take anything away from the experience. I wish I could have played it in VR because I imagine it must be 10 times more terrifying that way. It's cool that they implemented VR into the game.

Resident Evil 7's only free mini game/side story is the Not a Hero DLC featuring [SPOILERS] Chris Redfield and thank God they completely remodeled him because I hated his character model in RE5 and RE6 (as well as his personality). The DLC has Chris exploring the mine, where Lucas has set up more of his traps.

I rate Resident Evil 7 a 7/10. It brought back the horror this series so desperately needed and got us away from the third person action shooters the previous games were.

6. Resident Evil 2 Remake

I'll start off by saying this game would have been so much higher on my list if Capcom didn't force us to repeat boss fights in the A/B playthroughs that are supposed to take place during the same timeline. You could tell that was tacked on at the last minute and I would rather have not had it at all than have a version of the game that's identical in too many ways and therefore makes no sense. I get suspension of disbelief and all, but the original game got it right, so there's no acceptable reason for how this turned out. I loved the game so much during my Claire playthrough, but when I started playing as Leon afterwards and I had to fight William Birkin again after I had already been through that exact same fight with Claire, it really took away a lot of the initial excitement I felt.

Mr. X was an absolute nightmare this time around. He never leaves, until you progress to the next area (and even then, he comes back eventually). There were times I found it absolutely impossible to lose him, which was incredibly frustrating during my first playthrough because I didn't have the foresight to set certain things up for later, to make my life easier before he was triggered. I also felt like, because I could never escape him, I was always rushing through the game, which made it difficult to explore thoroughly and really take the time to enjoy it.

Resident Evil 2 Remake includes the 4th Survivor and Tofu Survivor modes, which I'll talk about a little more when I get to the original Resident Evil 2. In addition to those two mini games, Capcom released free DLC called Ghost Survivors, featuring three minor characters from Resident Evil 2, including the gun shop owner, the mayor's daughter and a third character who is a soldier.

I rate Resident Evil 2 Remake a 7/10 because even though I'm disappointed in how Capcom handled the timelines, I can't deny that this was an incredible game.

7. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Resident Evil 3 takes place before and after the events in Resident Evil 2. You play as former S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine, who is trying to escape from Raccoon City, which is now overrun with zombies. Oh, and there's a terrifying new super-enemy, Nemesis, who stalks you throughout the entire game. At various points, you'll be given two options on screen and you have to choose which one sounds less deadly. Good luck.

I really don't have a lot to say about Resident Evil 3. I've only played it once because I was really bad at it (even on easy) and I was so stressed out by Nemesis that I never went back to it again. It was a fun game and I did like it, but it's my least favorite of the "classic" Resident Evil games. I've heard that Capcom is remaking it and I'll definitely pick it up when it's released. If Nemesis gets the same upgrade Mr. X got in the RE2 Remake, I'm sure I'll be even more stressed out.

By completing the game, you'll unlock the Mercenaries mini game. You get to play as one of three different characters and your goal is to make it to the Warehouse Save Room. However, you're given a very short amount of time to accomplish this, so as you progress, you're forced to defeat enemies, which earns you more time.

I rate Resident Evil 3 a 6.5/10 because it's so much better than Resident Evil 5, but it's not in the same league as the next couple games I'll be discussing.

8. Resident Evil 5

I actually had to look up a plot summary for Resident Evil 5 because I don't think I've ever bothered to watch all the cutscenes, I was so bored by the game. Chris Redfield is now a BSAA agent, working with Sheva Alomar, to find and capture Ricardo Irving (who is attempting to sell BOWs). Albert Wesker is somehow involved in all of this, and he's also got a mind-controlled Jill Valentine working with him. The plot of Resident Evil was so convoluted by this point that I don't even care. The point is, Wesker is involved, Chris looks and behaves like a completely different person than the Chris from RE1 and RECVX, the story and gameplay are boring and Capcom decided adding co-op to a supposed "horror" game was a good idea.

Oh! And what the hell happened to the light affecting visibility feature that Jun Takeuchi said would be in the game? Supposedly, when you were outside in the sun and then walked inside, your eyes would have to adjust to the darkness. I still haven't forgotten about that, you know.

Now, with that being said, here's the thing. If you can make yourself forget that this is supposed to be a Resident Evil game, it can be fun. But only if you play co-op on Pro difficulty. It has to be on Pro, any other difficulty is too easy and the game becomes boring. If you play on Pro, you're going to die in one hit unless your partner is standing right next to you to heal you. They have like, a second to help you out, or it's game over. It sounds terrible, but it actually is fun because you need to rely on good teamwork to get through the game, rather than just shooting everything down.

Resident Evil 5 has a Mercenaries mode that's unlockable after beating the game. You're given a limited amount of time to score as many points as possible (by killing enemies). I do not enjoy the Mercenaries mini game in any of the RE games.

I'm not going to discuss any other DLC, but I do want to mention that Lost in Nightmares is fantastic and I highly recommend plaything through it, it's the best part of this whole mess. You can play with a friend or the AI, as Jill or Chris, and it takes place before the events of RE5. You start off in an area that looks exactly like the mansion from the first game (and if you click on the front door a few times,  the camera will change to the classic Resident Evil static camera in the main hall) and you're forced to flee from enemies that remind me of a large version of Lisa Trevor. To escape from them, you have to solve a bit of a puzzle (it's intense), but don't celebrate yet because you're then forced into battle with Albert Wesker. This is a really fun side story that takes around an hour to complete and it really brings the horror element back into the game. Plus, it's a nice throwback to the original Resident Evil.

I rate Resident Evil 5 a 5/10. The only thing that saved it is Lost in Nightmares and co-op on Pro difficulty.

9. Resident Evil 4

Warning: I'm about to tear Resident Evil 4 apart. I was actually going to make a dedicated post about why this failed as a Resident Evil game (in my opinion), but we're here now, so I might as well get it over with. To summarize: I have a grudge against this game because it completely changed the series, and not in a positive way. I also feel like if they were trying to turn Resident Evil into a third person shooter, the controls should have reflected that, with complete control over the camera and the ability to walk and shoot at the same time. Leon Kennedy...Is an imbecile. He has the worst one-liners I've ever heard. They're not even so bad they're funny, they're just bad. I really liked him in RE2, but I can't stand him in RE4.

So here's what's going on in the game. Leon is sent on a mission to rescue the president's daughter, who has been kidnapped by a cult. The T-Virus isn't present, instead, we're given Las Plagas. These infected are not zombies, they are mind-controlled humans. Or something. And they're not that scary. (Except for the ones dressed in robes who you hear mumbling in the castle, they're creepy as hell and I hate them.) I'm just not into the story or the enemies at all. This is where the series really changed. And it's because people loved this game, it did extremely well. I'm not sure if Resident Evil 4 was so well received because it attracted a bunch of new fans or if the old fans were really receptive to the changes Capcom made here, but I think I'm in the minority because I really didn't care for it.

A lot of RE4 was an absolute nightmare to play through (remember the water room?) and it only became somewhat tolerable on subsequent playthroughs after unlocking Ashley's suit of armor and the Chicago Typewriter. I don't like having to babysit characters in video games. For the same reason I hate The Sims. I want to be able to play a game without worrying about a really needy character. I don't want to feed you, or bathe you, or save you from being carried off by murderous cultists. I'm not good at multitasking, just give me one person to look after at a time.

Here's a list of grievances I have with Resident Evil 4:

1. The story changed completely from the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City (to be fair, the city was destroyed).
2. Giving players the ability to carry more ammo and having enemies drop ammo takes away from the survival aspect of the previous games.
3. The script is corny. The Resident Evil series isn't known for having the best dialogue, but this was especially cringeworthy, from beginning to end, with Leon being the worst offender (to the point of him being unlikable).
4. It's a third person shooter without the ability to move and shoot at the same time and you're not given full control of the camera. It's a disaster.
5. It's not scary. I know that's subjective, but hey, it's my blog, right? With the exception of the brief section that allows you to play as Ashley, I was never scared, I was just frustrated.

I don't think I have a problem with change. Resident Evil 7 was a huge step in the right direction for this series, I loved that it returned to a rundown, creepy estate, even if there are no technical "zombies" in the game. It felt claustrophobic, it was dark, and that feeling of dread was brought back (at least until you get to Lucas' part of the game, but honestly, I even found that really fun to play). As another example, Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 are my favorite games in the Silent Hill series, but I really loved Shattered Memories and Downpour, too. They were both very different than the original games, but they were done in a way that still worked.

I think Resident Evil 4 would have been more interesting if they had gone with the original idea involving "hook man" (which we're supposedly getting in RE8 now). It's hard to say because we've only ever been given a brief glimpse at a short demo of that version of the game, but that demo looked scarier than anything I saw in the entirety of the official release of RE4.

As for additional content, we're given three new modes upon completing the game once. The Mercenaries has you killing as many enemies as possible in a limited amount of time, to attain a high score. Assignment Ada has you playing as, you guessed it, Ada Wong, and your objective is to collect plaga samples. I actually like this mini game, so I'll add a point to my rating just for that. The final mode is Separate Ways and it's basically showing you what Ada was up to during the events of the main game.

I rate Resident Evil 4 a 4/10 for bad dialogue, poor gameplay and the fact that the changes it made to the series eventually resulted in RE5 and RE6.

10. Resident Evil 6

Disclaimer: Please be aware that this post (as well as the next couple posts) is not indicative of my attitude towards the rest of the series. I just really dislike Resident Evil 6 and I want to get this post over with so I don't have to talk about it anymore.

Capcom was "ambitious" with this one. "Ambitious how?" you ask. There are four separate campaigns to play through (with a co-op partner, wonderful, co-op in a "horror" game), three to start with and one that's unlocked after clearing the three starting campaigns. Here's the lineup and a brief description of what to expect:

Chris Redfield and Piers Nivans - Did you like Resident Evil 5? Do you like your Chris Redfield with oversized arms, wallowing in self-pity? Then this is the campaign for you, folks. All action, no horror. And here's a tip: If you want to make this campaign a tiny bit interesting, choose to play as Piers for the final boss fight.

Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin - Capcom would like you to believe this is a stealth based campaign, but guess what? It's going to go right back to the action game it always wanted to be.

Leon Kennedy and Helena Harper - This one...This hurt. I played the RE6 demo when it was released and I was so excited because it actually looked like we were getting a zombie horror game again. And we did, for about thirty minutes. Then it was right back to more of the same 3rd person shooter gameplay from the previous Resident Evil. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Ada Wong and some random soldier - This is what I like to call "Let's throw everything at you at once and make your life a living hell" mode.

I'm going to say this for Resident Evil 5 as well, but the story in RE6 is so convoluted at this point that not only do I not want to summarize it, I don't even think I could if asked to. The game isn't interesting, in any way. It's so bad I can't even think of anything to say about it other than the few things I've already said.

Unlockables include Agent Hunt (a multiplayer mode that's unlocked once you beat any campaign and allows you to play as either the infected or humans), Mercenaries (immediately available, your goal is to get the highest possible score in a limited amount of time) and, finally, Ada's campaign (available after clearing all three default campaigns).

I rate Resident Evil 6 a 2/10 because I can't even think of one redeeming thing about it except that it was the last awful game in a string of lackluster sequels.

Ranking Every Main Resident Evil Game

Last month, Resident Evil 0, REmake and Resident Evil 4 were released for the Nintendo Switch. In the middle of ranting that REmake was sneakily included as a download in the Origins Collection (which I understood to be a physical copy of both RE0 and REmake), I tweeted a list, ranking all of the main Resident Evil games. I thought it would be fun to elaborate on why I ranked the games the way I did, so I decided to continue it over here for the next week and a half.

I'm almost ashamed to say I own many of these games as digital copies as well, between the PS3, PS4 and Switch.

Disclaimer: I know that, for at least Resident Evil 4, there are some content variations between the Gamecube version and the other versions. I may discuss content that's included in one release, but excluded from another. Also, I know Resident Evil: Director's Cut is missing from this list and that's because I've never actually played it. I do own it (a digital copy on the PS3), but I played REmake first and that was such an excellent game that I never really felt the desire to go back and play the original. Don't kill me.

My History with the Resident Evil Series

I started playing videos games when I was four-years-old. Both of my parents played (my dad more than my mom, although my mom did keep me home from school on occasion to help her with Super Mario Bros. 3) and they passed the hobby onto me. When I was around 15-years-old, I stopped playing. Not because I no longer enjoyed it, but because I cared too much about what my friends thought. Five years went by before I played another game.

I remember watching Resident Evil in the middle of the night on some movie channel (I have so many stories that start this way), back when I would watch any horror movie even if it sounded terrible. I actually really enjoyed it and I still feel that way about the first movie even today. As its own thing, Resident Evil is not a bad addition to the RE universe. It's when they began adding in known characters while completely changing their personalities and making them Alice's sidekicks, and turning Alice into a superhuman, that things went downhill. So basically, Resident Evil Apocalypse. To get back on track though, because I always go off on a tangent, the first movie wasn't horrible. Especially to someone who knew nothing about the games, it was a decent zombie film. I had heard of the games, of course, and I knew my cousin played them, so I asked him, "Is this what the games are like?" And he said no. Not at all.

Fast forward a few months. I went to stay with my aunt and cousin in Florida for five weeks. I asked my cousin to show me the Resident Evil games, I was still curious about them. At that time, he owned RE Director's Cut, RE0, RE2, RE3 and RE4. I started playing RE0. Was that a mistake? Yeah, probably. Play the first game before 0 if you don't want to spoil the story. My cousin told me he never beat that game, he never even figured out how to get off the train. I did. At that point, we started passing the controller back and forth, taking turns playing through the rest of the game. That was my first experience with the Resident Evil series and, regardless of what other people say about RE0, I really enjoyed it and I still love that game.

When I went back home, I had to get a Gamecube. To go with it, there was RE0 and RE4. I give RE4 a lot of hell these days, but back then, I spent a significant amount of time playing it over the phone with my cousin, because I was pathetic and I wanted him to tell me what was waiting in each room before I entered. I had a difficult time with this one, it was only the second game I had played since my five year break and my first time ever playing a shooter (yes, that's what it is, a third person shooter without the ability to completely control the camera because someone made bad choices). It stressed me out. It still stresses me out. I can't even think about the water room without getting frustrated. But again, I spent a lot of time playing it, especially after acquiring the Chicago Typewriter. And if the game had included Ashley's suit of armor, I would have had even more fun with it.

After that, I believe REmake was next. My cousin bought it at the same time I did, but I started playing it first. I read a lot about the game beforehand and I knew Crimson Heads were a thing, and I also knew where the first encounter was. They sounded awful, but I wasn't sure just how bad they actually were. I needed a way to gauge it before I faced off against one, so I called my cousin and said, "Hey, I'm going to walk you through the first part of the game so you can catch up to me!" And that's exactly what I did, like he did for me with RE4. I walked him through everything in the beginning of the game, told him exactly what to expect, except for when he had to walk past that first Crimson Head and it woke up. I purposely left that out so I could hear his reaction and see if it was as scary as I had built it up to be in my head, but...He didn't even react. He just carried on like it was nothing. I would have to get over it and see for myself. As bad as the Crimson Heads were, they were nothing compared to what was waiting for me later in the game.

I don't remember exactly what came next between RE2, RE3 and RE CVX, but I can say I enjoyed RE2 immensely and spent a long time replaying it. The same goes for CVX and I eventually started my infinite rocket launcher run, which was a complete nightmare. I made it to the free save in the middle of the game and never finished it because of the Nosferatu fight. As for RE3, I only played that game once, on easy (sadly), and for whatever reason, I really struggled with it. Nemesis was too much for me and I wasn't good at fighting him. I really need to go back and play it again eventually.

To give you an idea of where my life was at this point, I was someone who went on GameFAQs and read through this entire plot analysis, as well as this one, because I was so enthralled by the story in this series, before RE5. I even read some of the S. D. Perry novels.

By this point, I had run out of Resident Evil games to play, until RE5 was released for the PS3. This time it was co-op! And I could use a mic to talk to my cousin, we didn't have to talk over the phone while we played anymore. Perfect. I can say with 100% certainty that RE5 is my most played Resident Evil game and the thing is, I don't even like it. It's boring. The only way that game is fun is if you're playing with a co-op partner on Pro. And that's what we did most of the time, until the Lost in Nightmares DLC was released. That DLC was amazing, it felt nothing like the main game and it was genuinely frightening. To me, it completely made up for how terrible the rest of the game was.

Next up was RE6...You know, I had high hopes for that game after the demo. The opening of Leon's scenario was quiet and dark and there were ZOMBIES. Actual zombies. Not people with parasites popping out of their heads. So imagine my disappointment when the game was released and I continued playing, only to find that the zombies were replaced by enemies that can be described as mutant dinosaurs. The story was ridiculous and the enemies were even worse. Chris, who was my favorite character in the series prior to RE5, was insufferable. Even the co-op couldn't save this one, and playing alone made me realize how bored I was by it.

I'll briefly mention that I played Umbrella Chronicles, Darkside Chronicles, and Revelations 1 and 2. I don't have much to say about them though. I own Operation Raccoon City, but I've never bothered to play it, I'm pretty sure I bought it on sale for almost nothing. I would love to get my hands on Gaiden, only because I want to see, for myself, Leon supposedly being infected with a virus before RE4 was released. I know Gaiden wasn't canon, but if it were, the implications of that whole thing would be super interesting.

Finally, there's RE7. There was this random, creepy trailer shown during Sony's E3 2016 press conference. The reveal at the end of the short clip was that it was Resident Evil 7. I was stunned and excited and amazed. All kinds of emotions were rushing through me. It was so unexpected and the trailer looked awesome and like nothing we had seen before from the series, which normally would have bothered me, but Capcom already went off the rails with RE4/5/6, so at least if they were done with zombies, this looked like something that would still be really scary. They released several playable demos before the game came out, all of which added something new to what we had already played through. By the time January hit and RE7 was finally in my hands, the anticipation was killing me.

Resident Evil 7 was everything I ever could have hoped for. That game was terrifying. It starts off very survival horror-ish and becomes a bit more action oriented by the end, but you know what? I'll take that over what we were given in RE5 and RE6. Even when it did seem more action-y at the end, it was still fun and my faith in Capcom was completely restored. They were still capable of making a really great Resident Evil game, and on top of that, they finally proved (to me, at least) that they don't have to follow the same old formula to be successful with this series.

Next up for Resident Evil is the remake of RE2, which will be released in January. I went to E3 in June and while I didn't get to play the demo (they cut off the line because it was so long), it was fun to see the mock RPD they set up there. I do have some reservations about the game (specifically, the camera) and I'm slightly disappointed that they're not going the REmake route with it where it's classic and mostly the same, with updated graphics and a few items switched around/things added, but I still think it will be a fun game and I like that they're including the option to use the original soundtrack (if you buy the deluxe edition).

I have a long, love-hate relationship with Resident Evil. The highs were really high and the lows were incredibly low. It's not my favorite horror series, but it's definitely in my top 5 and I am really excited to see where Capcom goes from here, now that I know they're still capable of creating installments that have new ideas while instilling the same sort of dread in me that the original games did. I can't wait to see what the remake of RE2 (and eventually RE8) will have in store for us.