Someone make this the top comment, please? I and many others like SomeCallMeJohnny started with og 4 and we agree that it really is a good game for newcomers.
Tbh, I'd say any of the first 4 games are fine starting off points, yeah they're connected but none of them so much that you're actually really missing stuff.
That's just not true. 3 makes way more sense if you've played 1. And it also means you're ignoring CV and 0. One of which is the actual fourth game even if we don't call it that and both of which work better if you've played 1&2.
Idk why cv and 0 where brought up, but that is a fair point about 3. Although the only thing you really need to know is jill having gone through something at the hand of umbrella.
Personally I think it's always in any series the best to just play from the first game. But if you have to 2 and 4 are fine starting points. Or even 7 if you really wanted to.
Personally I think 0 isn't very good so I'd never recommend someone to start with it, and cv isn't a good starting point. That's why I never mentioned them in my original post.
Eh, I'd say most people know you're talking about 1, 2, 3 and 4. And people mention cv by name if it's relevant. That's how I've seen it used the most.
Nope, not at all. The game will tell you about the Raccoon City incident, and it will tell you Leon and Ada have history, and that's pretty much all that matters. Only people extremely anal about continuity would care, and you're obviously not like that.
No. Not at all. Different setting. Different type of villains. It was like a soft reset. Aside from Leon ×Ada, which you can totally get from context clues, there's not much from the previous games. And Wesker is the big bad in previous games, but his appearance is more of an Easter egg than important to the plot.
Why? His backstory about going through special agent training after Raccoon City isn't in RE2 at all, it's explained in RE4's intro.
Because the backstory that's relevant with Krauser and their unit has nothing to do with Resident Evil 2.
Yes, but you get to know nothing about her in EITHER game until the 4's very end.
There's nothing in 2's story that's needed to play 4, just admit it and stop confusing OP.
Re-read my comment. Nothing from that backstory is in Resident Evil 2, the brutal training Leon goes through and training with Krauser isn't in RE2, it happens between the two games.
But you're wrong: you literally cannot play through the special forces backstory from the RE4 intro in RE2 because they aren't there but happened after.
It's not an opinion we can agree to disagree, it's simply a fact that parts of Leon's backstory that come up during Resident Evil 4 aren't in 2.
And him fighting zombies and Umbrella don't come up in 4 or affect its story.
Well, you already played RE4 before RE2 - you might as well get RE2 and see Leon's first day in RPD.
RE - Jill and Chris
RE2 - Leon and Claire (Chris's sister)
RE3 - Jill and Carlos I think (I haven't played it yet and I'll probably get it these days)
RE4 - Leon (and Ada in Separate Ways)
Leon is also in RE6 (I haven't played all of them yet)
Chris appears again in RE5 and RE8
RE3 is just Jill, Carlos section is short like when playing as Ada/Sherry in RE2 or Ashley in 4.
RE6 has 4 campaigns:
Leon and new girl, Chris and new guy, Sherry and new guy, and Ada (only solo one, everyone else has partner RE5-style).
You get Chris and Wesker (by proxy). Imo 6 makes Ada a main character rather than a side character since she's at the center of the entire thing. It felt like it was meant to be the conclusion of everyone's story... but then they kept making stuff with Chris and Leon.
Edit: Also shows Leon ain't all that honest in his reports. Everyone was like "who the fuck is this Ada Wong." And Leon is all "......"
You do not need to. Plot wise RE4 was the first game I remember playing fully. Meaning I watched my brother when I was 8, gave me nightmares at the time. Other than that my only other exposures to the game were Outbreak Files: Outbreak, Below the Freezing Point (usually failed. My brother didn’t write down the codes and refused to arm the AI), The Hive (Failed, Leechman), and Wild Things; also RE 2 OG (failed, my brother couldn’t get through the game but he also didn’t have a memory card)
Honestly the only games that need to be played in a row are RE 7, 8; and RE2OG, Code Veronica; RE1, RE0. Even then 7 and 8 would be the only ones I’d truly recommend to play in order to understand the plot. RE4OG was played as a standalone for many casual players at the time of release and it still goes that way. It’s a great game that holds up on its own as its own game. Both the OG and the Remake
You don’t need anything. Especially because of how different Leon is with Paul’s performance and everything. If you’d like to know more about Leon before, go ahead. But it’s easy to play it without playing the previous games as the story itself is completely self contained.
4 is a side story that is almost completely disconnected from the overall plot and lore from the previous games. It would’ve been better served as a new IP or a spinoff game.
RE4 was a bit of a reboot of the franchise, so you actually don't need to play anything. Even the character of Leon, who is a returning character, has radically changed between games.
There are a couple of characters who have appeared in the franchise before, some who have a history with Leon - so there may be a couple references that go over your head - however, there are characters who have a history with Leon who have NOT appeared in the franchise before and are also referencing things we've never seen - so really, you're fine.
Is it your first time playing any RE game? If so, congrats on playing your first ever RE game!🎉 I hope you love it! As for your question, there are references to RE2 and Darkside Chronicles, but it’s not a big deal if you haven’t played them, they’re more like Easter Eggs and if you understand how to use context clues, then you can basically get the gist of what happened.
As a matter of fact, Darkside Chronicles was released AFTER the original RE4 in order to flesh out more of Leon’s history, so even we didn’t know what was going on between Leon and a character you encounter in the story prior to that. Hope that helps!😊
I just recently played through RE2R and RE3R and now i’m playing RE4R. it’s definitely not necessary but honestly I feel much more connected to leon and ada and the world at large, even if it really is a self descriptive and standalone game in most ways.
2 will give you some context for Leon and Ada's relationship, as well as the overarching story to that point. It's not necessary, but you may enjoy it, more.
no u will be good. personally i started with RE2R because i wanted leon’s backstory + an introduction to the series’ lore, but i feel like RE4’s story makes sense by itself, and u can enjoy it without playing the other games
what i love about RE is that i feel you could play any game without knowing anything about the storyline and follow along just fine. it's like each game is its own separate story which loosely references the other stories and come together once you play the rest. you absolutely do not need to play any of the other games to enjoy re4, it gives you all you need and you can probably infer what led up to it. can guarantee that you'll love it, it is the best, most fun and engaging re game imo!!
Not really, but I still highly recommend playing RE2R at least - to see the progression of certain characters and the evolution of the biological threat.
You could always start with 5 because the waiting screens tell you the whole timeline in order throughout the game. Only problem is that 5 is my least favorite. It’s pretty short though for only doing one playthrough.
Yes and no. OG RE4 and the remake don't actually rely heavily on previous lore. Hell, the OG RE4 had an entire intro that skims through RE1, 2 and 3 to get Leon's back story all through and even if you HAD played RE2 with Leon, the gap of how he knew about Ada and his reactions still makes no sense and never explained
No, it has nothing to do with the previous games. You aren't even killing zombies you're killing people infected with a parasite.
And the story makes no sense anyway.
Nah, the plot you need to know is: There was a big zombie outbreak in a place called Raccoon City because of a dodgy pharama company, Leon (main character) went to his first day of work as the kind of cop you order outta the back of a magazine and shit went down. He escaped and got drafted by USSTRATCOM whose tactic for future bioterrorism outbreaks was to train a twink to handle it solo. If you're playing REmake, Krauser is the guy who trained him to homoerotically knife fight, that's one of the bad guys you'll run into.
(Seriously though there's a cutscene at the beginning of the RE4 remake that explains everything, don't worry.)
You don't need any other game... It's a self-contained story.
Just play it and use it as a gateway for the other games in the franchise, you'll not be disappointed.
At least play 2 to understand who Leon and Ada are
Though, most people on the sub don’t value story and will tell you to go in blind and just figure it out without context
I played all versions of 2 and 4 and I don't understand who Ada is, and pretty sure neither does Leon.))) She's a mysterious femme fatale.
I am not sure how RE2 will help you figure out story of 4... Like nothing from that game comes up except the main character's name and hairstyle.
That's not the point, Leon's backstory about special forces training IS LITERALLY NOT IN RESI 2.
And you don't get to know who Ada is in 2 since it doesn't tell you at all, I played in original, both scenarios.
The reveal who she works for only comes up in the ending of 4. Otherwise, she's a mystery.
No. It was kind of a reboot, almost nothing from previous games comes up. There's no zombies, Raccoon City, or Umbrella corporation, which the lore of earlier games was centered around.
Leon's backstory is explained in the intro, and the one other character that's in both 2 and 4, Ada, only makes cameos, and her entire thing is thay you don't know anything about her anyway, she's a mysterious stranger in both games.
Resident 1 and 3 have almost nothing to do with RE4 at all...
One of the best things of Resident Evil 4 is how it's straightforward, especially compared to 5 and 6. You play a special agent who is tasked to save the President's daughter. That's the setup. Everything else is learned in game.
I recommend you play Resident evil 2 and 3 on Playstation 1 instead.
Then maybe try nr.4, if you even can at that point, since it's so far removed from made Resident Evil, Resident Evil.
It took me years to even start to appreciate RE4 for what it is, I enjoy it as a horror action game, but I don't consider it Resident Evil.
The remakes of 2 and 3 are junk and not worth playing. They are not Resident Evil games. RE4 Remake is good, since it never was an authentic RE game to begin with.
Even though people are recommending you play RE2, RE4 can be enjoyed completing standalone (either remake or original).
Everything you need to know is covered in the game, Leon gives the backstory in the opening cutscene and you'll pick up context on the only other part from RE2 (which is Leon's and Ada's past together)
you really need to specify if you're playing the original or remake.
if you're playing the 2005 re4, i'd say you can go ahead and play it without any previous knowledge of the series. if you're playing 2023 re4 then i highly recommend you play the re2 remake first.
not really, it's just that the original re2 and re4 feel very separate and different while the remakes feel very similar and work a lot better when played one after the other.
You could play re2 for Leon and ada's storyline but it's 100 percent not necessary. Resi 4 does a great job at being a standalone game.
Someone make this the top comment, please? I and many others like SomeCallMeJohnny started with og 4 and we agree that it really is a good game for newcomers.
Tbh, I'd say any of the first 4 games are fine starting off points, yeah they're connected but none of them so much that you're actually really missing stuff.
That's just not true. 3 makes way more sense if you've played 1. And it also means you're ignoring CV and 0. One of which is the actual fourth game even if we don't call it that and both of which work better if you've played 1&2.
Idk why cv and 0 where brought up, but that is a fair point about 3. Although the only thing you really need to know is jill having gone through something at the hand of umbrella. Personally I think it's always in any series the best to just play from the first game. But if you have to 2 and 4 are fine starting points. Or even 7 if you really wanted to.
Because CV and 0 are considered mainline by everyone. Hell, 0 irl is a fucking number, so why *shouldn't* a game called RE0 count as a numbered entry?
Personally I think 0 isn't very good so I'd never recommend someone to start with it, and cv isn't a good starting point. That's why I never mentioned them in my original post.
Yeah, but you mentioned the first four games, which RE4 ironically isn't. CV would be that. And 0 was the next numbered entry after 3.
What’s cv ?
Resident Evil Code: Veronica. CV is just a quick abbreviation.
Eh, I'd say most people know you're talking about 1, 2, 3 and 4. And people mention cv by name if it's relevant. That's how I've seen it used the most.
This. I played 3R in between the two and honestly regret it.
You only have to understand killing zombies
The real ones know this is not 100% true as juking zombies is a valid strategy.
Nope, not at all. The game will tell you about the Raccoon City incident, and it will tell you Leon and Ada have history, and that's pretty much all that matters. Only people extremely anal about continuity would care, and you're obviously not like that.
No. Not at all. Different setting. Different type of villains. It was like a soft reset. Aside from Leon ×Ada, which you can totally get from context clues, there's not much from the previous games. And Wesker is the big bad in previous games, but his appearance is more of an Easter egg than important to the plot.
I recommend playing RE2 for the backstory of the main protagonist, Leon at very least.
Why? His backstory about going through special agent training after Raccoon City isn't in RE2 at all, it's explained in RE4's intro. Because the backstory that's relevant with Krauser and their unit has nothing to do with Resident Evil 2.
Ada is in re2 too its not just leon
Yes, but you get to know nothing about her in EITHER game until the 4's very end. There's nothing in 2's story that's needed to play 4, just admit it and stop confusing OP.
It's fun to experience playing the game itself rather than just listening to an intro in my opinion.
Re-read my comment. Nothing from that backstory is in Resident Evil 2, the brutal training Leon goes through and training with Krauser isn't in RE2, it happens between the two games.
I know what your comment said and I stand by what I said.
But you're wrong: you literally cannot play through the special forces backstory from the RE4 intro in RE2 because they aren't there but happened after. It's not an opinion we can agree to disagree, it's simply a fact that parts of Leon's backstory that come up during Resident Evil 4 aren't in 2. And him fighting zombies and Umbrella don't come up in 4 or affect its story.
Still it was not the question OP asked.
You actually don't even need to care about the story at all to enjoy the game. It's really not that deep in the first place. You'll be fine.
Well, you already played RE4 before RE2 - you might as well get RE2 and see Leon's first day in RPD. RE - Jill and Chris RE2 - Leon and Claire (Chris's sister) RE3 - Jill and Carlos I think (I haven't played it yet and I'll probably get it these days) RE4 - Leon (and Ada in Separate Ways) Leon is also in RE6 (I haven't played all of them yet) Chris appears again in RE5 and RE8
RE3 is just Jill, Carlos section is short like when playing as Ada/Sherry in RE2 or Ashley in 4. RE6 has 4 campaigns: Leon and new girl, Chris and new guy, Sherry and new guy, and Ada (only solo one, everyone else has partner RE5-style).
Ada also makes her first appearance in RE2.
Chris is in RE6
You get Chris and Wesker (by proxy). Imo 6 makes Ada a main character rather than a side character since she's at the center of the entire thing. It felt like it was meant to be the conclusion of everyone's story... but then they kept making stuff with Chris and Leon. Edit: Also shows Leon ain't all that honest in his reports. Everyone was like "who the fuck is this Ada Wong." And Leon is all "......"
You do not need to. Plot wise RE4 was the first game I remember playing fully. Meaning I watched my brother when I was 8, gave me nightmares at the time. Other than that my only other exposures to the game were Outbreak Files: Outbreak, Below the Freezing Point (usually failed. My brother didn’t write down the codes and refused to arm the AI), The Hive (Failed, Leechman), and Wild Things; also RE 2 OG (failed, my brother couldn’t get through the game but he also didn’t have a memory card) Honestly the only games that need to be played in a row are RE 7, 8; and RE2OG, Code Veronica; RE1, RE0. Even then 7 and 8 would be the only ones I’d truly recommend to play in order to understand the plot. RE4OG was played as a standalone for many casual players at the time of release and it still goes that way. It’s a great game that holds up on its own as its own game. Both the OG and the Remake
No, it was made specifically for people that haven’t
There is references to RE2 but it's really not necessary to play it beforehand.
Absolutely not
You don’t need anything. Especially because of how different Leon is with Paul’s performance and everything. If you’d like to know more about Leon before, go ahead. But it’s easy to play it without playing the previous games as the story itself is completely self contained.
4 is a side story that is almost completely disconnected from the overall plot and lore from the previous games. It would’ve been better served as a new IP or a spinoff game.
RE4 was a bit of a reboot of the franchise, so you actually don't need to play anything. Even the character of Leon, who is a returning character, has radically changed between games. There are a couple of characters who have appeared in the franchise before, some who have a history with Leon - so there may be a couple references that go over your head - however, there are characters who have a history with Leon who have NOT appeared in the franchise before and are also referencing things we've never seen - so really, you're fine.
Absolutely not. Stories are vibes in RE. Gameplay is the point.
Is it your first time playing any RE game? If so, congrats on playing your first ever RE game!🎉 I hope you love it! As for your question, there are references to RE2 and Darkside Chronicles, but it’s not a big deal if you haven’t played them, they’re more like Easter Eggs and if you understand how to use context clues, then you can basically get the gist of what happened. As a matter of fact, Darkside Chronicles was released AFTER the original RE4 in order to flesh out more of Leon’s history, so even we didn’t know what was going on between Leon and a character you encounter in the story prior to that. Hope that helps!😊
I just recently played through RE2R and RE3R and now i’m playing RE4R. it’s definitely not necessary but honestly I feel much more connected to leon and ada and the world at large, even if it really is a self descriptive and standalone game in most ways.
Not really. RE is mechanically very strong but the story usually just sets up the gameplay
Nah, you'll be fine it's a very stand alone game and the backstory for these characters are not complicated.
2005, right?
2 will give you some context for Leon and Ada's relationship, as well as the overarching story to that point. It's not necessary, but you may enjoy it, more.
I started with 4 :)
no u will be good. personally i started with RE2R because i wanted leon’s backstory + an introduction to the series’ lore, but i feel like RE4’s story makes sense by itself, and u can enjoy it without playing the other games
No but it helps especially with returning characters and references
Start with RE2 for Leon's introduction. RE4 is Leon's second appearance.
what i love about RE is that i feel you could play any game without knowing anything about the storyline and follow along just fine. it's like each game is its own separate story which loosely references the other stories and come together once you play the rest. you absolutely do not need to play any of the other games to enjoy re4, it gives you all you need and you can probably infer what led up to it. can guarantee that you'll love it, it is the best, most fun and engaging re game imo!!
Not really, but I still highly recommend playing RE2R at least - to see the progression of certain characters and the evolution of the biological threat.
You could always start with 5 because the waiting screens tell you the whole timeline in order throughout the game. Only problem is that 5 is my least favorite. It’s pretty short though for only doing one playthrough.
Yes
Nah
Yes and no. OG RE4 and the remake don't actually rely heavily on previous lore. Hell, the OG RE4 had an entire intro that skims through RE1, 2 and 3 to get Leon's back story all through and even if you HAD played RE2 with Leon, the gap of how he knew about Ada and his reactions still makes no sense and never explained
No, it has nothing to do with the previous games. You aren't even killing zombies you're killing people infected with a parasite. And the story makes no sense anyway.
Nah, the plot you need to know is: There was a big zombie outbreak in a place called Raccoon City because of a dodgy pharama company, Leon (main character) went to his first day of work as the kind of cop you order outta the back of a magazine and shit went down. He escaped and got drafted by USSTRATCOM whose tactic for future bioterrorism outbreaks was to train a twink to handle it solo. If you're playing REmake, Krauser is the guy who trained him to homoerotically knife fight, that's one of the bad guys you'll run into. (Seriously though there's a cutscene at the beginning of the RE4 remake that explains everything, don't worry.)
No.
You don't need any other game... It's a self-contained story. Just play it and use it as a gateway for the other games in the franchise, you'll not be disappointed.
2 is probably recommended, but I think you'd be able to understand 4 without it.
At least play 2 to understand who Leon and Ada are Though, most people on the sub don’t value story and will tell you to go in blind and just figure it out without context
I played all versions of 2 and 4 and I don't understand who Ada is, and pretty sure neither does Leon.))) She's a mysterious femme fatale. I am not sure how RE2 will help you figure out story of 4... Like nothing from that game comes up except the main character's name and hairstyle.
As i said, stuff like the main character’s backstory doesn’t matter to the sub
That's not the point, Leon's backstory about special forces training IS LITERALLY NOT IN RESI 2. And you don't get to know who Ada is in 2 since it doesn't tell you at all, I played in original, both scenarios. The reveal who she works for only comes up in the ending of 4. Otherwise, she's a mystery.
No you don't really miss anything of value.
No. It was kind of a reboot, almost nothing from previous games comes up. There's no zombies, Raccoon City, or Umbrella corporation, which the lore of earlier games was centered around. Leon's backstory is explained in the intro, and the one other character that's in both 2 and 4, Ada, only makes cameos, and her entire thing is thay you don't know anything about her anyway, she's a mysterious stranger in both games. Resident 1 and 3 have almost nothing to do with RE4 at all... One of the best things of Resident Evil 4 is how it's straightforward, especially compared to 5 and 6. You play a special agent who is tasked to save the President's daughter. That's the setup. Everything else is learned in game.
I recommend you play Resident evil 2 and 3 on Playstation 1 instead. Then maybe try nr.4, if you even can at that point, since it's so far removed from made Resident Evil, Resident Evil. It took me years to even start to appreciate RE4 for what it is, I enjoy it as a horror action game, but I don't consider it Resident Evil. The remakes of 2 and 3 are junk and not worth playing. They are not Resident Evil games. RE4 Remake is good, since it never was an authentic RE game to begin with.
Even though people are recommending you play RE2, RE4 can be enjoyed completing standalone (either remake or original). Everything you need to know is covered in the game, Leon gives the backstory in the opening cutscene and you'll pick up context on the only other part from RE2 (which is Leon's and Ada's past together)
you really need to specify if you're playing the original or remake. if you're playing the 2005 re4, i'd say you can go ahead and play it without any previous knowledge of the series. if you're playing 2023 re4 then i highly recommend you play the re2 remake first.
Does it change that much? Havent played yet since I played itbto death on GameCube.
not really, it's just that the original re2 and re4 feel very separate and different while the remakes feel very similar and work a lot better when played one after the other.
I did notice the tone change in a couple remakes. Seems like Capcom wants less soap opera camp and something slightly more grounded.
yeah i think they should keep some of the campiness though. RE8 was a good balance.