With so much hype surrounding the imminent release ofResident Evil Village, many fans have taken the time to go back and play older games in the long-running survival horror franchise. Naturally, this leads into discussions online about which games are best in the series, and which ones that aren’t necessarily worth replaying before the new title. While each game can be somewhat contentious among fans,Resident Evil 5andResident Evil 6each have more than enough merit to warrant playing through again.
TheResident Evilfranchise has spanned an impressive number of mainline games, spin-offs, and other media since its original inception.Resident Evilis even set to cross into streaming television soon. With so many entries in a popular franchise, there are bound to be some entries that are contentious among the fans. Two prime examples in the mainline series areResident Evil 5andResident Evil 6. Each game built out from the new framework established inResident Evil 4, but many felt that the move towards action moreso than true survival horror was overall detrimental. That being said, each game definitely has its own legs to stand own.
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Resident Evil 5 Has Its Own Value
Part of whyResident Evil 5received the amount of criticism that it did was simply a matter of timing.Resident Evil 4was massively popular and is still considered by many to be the greatestResident Evilgame of all time. Aremake ofResident Evil 4was one thing fans were hoping to see at the recent showcase.
With such a high bar set in expectation ofResident Evil 5, it was only natural that players and critics would be comparing every moment ofResident Evil 5with a microscope. The game definitely had a larger focus on action in its gameplay, more enemies and ammo around, bigger set-pieces, and more action-thriller style encounters. ButResident Evil 5still has many things that made it a fun and important part of the franchise.
Resident Evil 5was, when taken out of the context of being aResident Eviltitle, objectively fun to play. The controls were tighter, and the co-op gameplay was full of tense moments and required cooperation. Theco-op was a big draw forResident Evil 5, its emphasis on communication and coordination made the experience challenging and exciting. Sharing resources between two players brought back an element of the survival elements as players couldn’t just hoard them for one character the way they might for the single-player campaign. This was also the first timeResident Evilfans were able to play through a game together.
ObviouslyResident Evil 5has some absolutely bonkers moments (Chris punching a boulder into pieces) that really pushed its genre more toward action than horror. But the game still features some of the most horrifying creatures andResident Evil 5offered some of the most intense sequencesin gaming at the time. The story also helped to weave the events ofResident Evil 4back into the main plot, with Wesker’s attempts at dominating the world through engineering of the T-Virus. It was also an important vehicle for shaping the events that would jade Chris Redfield into the version of him players have seen inResident Evil 7and the upcomingResident Evil Village.
OverallResident Evil 5was a solid entry in the franchise for its gameplay, features, and overall importance to the story at large.
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The Merits of Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 6is certainly the more controversial of the two games. The game’s tone skewed more towards that of theResident Evilmovies, both live-action and animated. The action was over-the-top, sometimes reachingDevil May Crylevels of action. A lot happenedbetweenResident Evil 5andResident Evil 6as well that culminated in a story that was often crazier than anything the series had done before. However just likeResident Evil 5,Resident Evil 6has plenty of things that still make it a worthwhile detour in the series' history.
Gameplay conventions introduced inResident Evil 6would later find their way into other titles, including the remakes. It expanded on the fan-favoriteMercenaries mode that’s still a part ofResident Evilnow. The game also widened the scope of the co-op experience and introduced a mainlineResident Evilwith more playable characters than fans had seen in a single game. The gameplay was precise enough to compete with many of the over-the-shoulder shooters that had been inspired byResident Evil 4in the first place, and featured an incredibly robust system for weapon upgrades and character growth in aResident Eviltitle.
The story ofResident Evil 6is largely responsible for the contentious relationship some fans have with the game. That being said, it still does a lot for the franchise and some of its characters as a whole.Resident Evil 6does a lot for Chris Redfieldand his overall narrative, continuing from the events ofResident Evil 5to change him into the antagonistic force players will see inResident Evil Village.
Seeing his ideals clash with those of other series mainstay Leon Kennedy was something that seemed like fan service, but does a lot to tie the disparate elements of the story together. And without spoiling much, the game does a decent job of wrapping up the story of Albert Wesker and his manipulations of the Umbrella Corporation.
Resident Evil 5andResident Evil 6are definitely still controversial among longtime fans. Both games moved further away from the survival horror roots of the series original release. That being said, both titles were natural extensions of trends pulled fromResident Evil 4, which is still inspiring the seriestoday. Fans of either title are still correct in identifying the game’s individual merits.
Each game features gameplay mechanics that further enhanced player control and ability and expanded on multiplayer in ways that greatly enhanced replayability. While the two titles may not be the perfect games for every fan of the franchise,Resident Evil 5andResident Evil 6are both still very strong entries in a series with now more than twenty-five years of games under its belt.
Resident Evil Villageis set to release on May 17, 2025, on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.
