Resident Evil Requiem is the ninth game in the mainline series (depending on what you count), but you don’t need to play every preceding game to get caught up on the essentials. Within the complex web of Resident Evil storytelling, some Resident Evil Requiem connections are a lot more relevant than others.

If you’re in a total rush to try it out, playing Resident Evil Requiem before any other games won’t be the end of the world. If you want to get the full story experience, however, you’ll want to do a little bit of backtracking before you jump into the newest survival horror experience. Those wanting to catch up on the story before watching Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, meanwhile, can simply jump in with the film. While Cregger’s take has plenty of nods to the games, it’s a fresh version of the core concept with new central characters.

You Need To Play Resident Evil 2 Remake Before Requiem

The Number One Essential

If you only play one Resident Evil game before Requiem, make it the remake of Resident Evil 2. This is the first adventure to star Resident Evil Requiem co-protagonist Leon, and it provides an essential foundation for understanding his character. Along with setting up his story in Raccoon City, Resident Evil 2 covers the initial city-wide virus outbreak, laying the core foundation for the events of Resident Evil Requiem.

The gameplay of Resident Evil 2 is also a major inspiration for the nature of the gameplay sequences starring Grace, so it’ll get you accustomed to hiding from overwhelming threats and managing resources. This can be a nice way to ease into things, as Requiem focuses even more on a sense of powerlessness when playing as Grace.

The original Resident Evil 2 is another valid way to cover the story essentials, and it’s still a great game today. Requiem makes some references to remake-exclusive story material, though, so the remake is the better option when it comes to getting everything you need to know for Requiem.

Resident Evil 3 Remake Fills In Gaps

More Raccoon City History

Resident Evil 3 isn’t as foundational to Requiem as Resident Evil 2, but it still has some direct connections. Starring Jill Valentine, Resident Evil 3 continues the story of Raccoon City’s destruction, bridging the biggest gap between the events of Resident Evil 2 and Requiem.

Aside from the overarching narrative trajectory, Requiem features one significant direct connection to Resident Evil 3, but it’s not central enough to make playing Resident Evil 3 first completely necessary. If you have the time, though, it will still enhance the Resident Evil Requiem experience.

If you’re starting with the remake of Resident Evil 2, playing the remake of Resident Evil 3 will feel like a more cohesive journey. In this case, however, there isn’t much narrative relevance to which version you play. If you want to ignore the controversial remake and play the original Resident Evil 3 instead, it should still prepare you for Requiem adequately.

Resident Evil 4 Remake Continues Leon’s Story

Get Caught Up On The Action

The final game with significant relevance to Resident Evil Requiem is Resident Evil 4, which picks up Leon’s adventures after he’s sent on a mission to rescue the president’s daughter. The setting, characters, and narrative events of Resident Evil 4 don’t have much to do with Requiem, so this one is less essential than either Resident Evil 2 or 3.

One of the biggest advantages to playing Resident Evil 4 first is simply seeing how Leon evolves as a character from Resident Evil 2. No longer a rookie thrust into an overwhelming experience, Leon shows up as the proficient specialist that eventually returns in Requiem.

Resident Evil 4 also serves as the foundation for Requiem‘s Leon sequences, introducing a more over-the-top action experience that sidelines the survival element in favor of a guns-blazing attitude. The remake’s gameplay and portrayal of Leon are closer to Requiem‘s than the original game’s, but this is another case where playing either will more or less get the job done.

Other Resident Evil Games Are Inessential For Requiem

Completionism Not Required

Although Resident Evil Requiem pulls DNA from every game in the series, none of the others are directly relevant to the core Requiem experience. In some cases, games outside the remake canon may not even line up entirely with Requiem‘s story. The classic remake of the original Resident Evil is a nice way to see how things started, but Resident Evil 2 provides enough context for the important parts.

While Resident Evil 5 goes into more depth regarding the origins of the virus, it’s fallen somewhat out of sync with the remake canon and doesn’t focus on characters or events relative to Requiem. Resident Evil 6 offers another look at Leon’s developing story, but none of its events (or characterization of Leon) tie into Requiem in a meaningful way. It’s also a notably weak entry, so playing through even Leon’s campaign before Requiem isn’t a particularly worthy use of your time.

Despite being Requiem‘s direct predecessors, 7: Biohazard and Village are also of minimal relevance to the events of Requiem. They provide glimpses of how the world of Resident Evil has continued to develop since the events in Raccoon City, but they mostly focus on the relatively insular story of Ethan Winters, a character with no particular connection to Requiem.

As for spin-offs, Grace’s mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, made her debut in Resident Evil Outbreak. This could be a nice way to meet her character and get a broader look at the first infections in Raccoon City, but it isn’t as necessary as playing a few of the mainline games.

The Resident Evil Revelations games can be interesting connections from a game design perspective, as the gameplay formula of Revelations 2 especially lays a lot of the groundwork for the more recent games. They also swap back and forth between characters in a way somewhat similar to Requiem, rather than following each character’s campaign through to its end before starting another in the manner of previous Resident Evil games. All the same, they’re in no way essential for the story, so you can just as easily play them after Requiem to appreciate this.

At the end of the day, playing through every Resident Evil game can be a blast, but Requiem doesn’t have to arrive only at the end of such a long haul. If you want to balance getting proper context for the game while not getting too bogged down in a series that’s been around for decades, your best bet is to play the remakes of Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 before diving into Resident Evil Requiem.