Naw, they’re tenuously connected aside from some specific moments and characters across the franchise.


Story wise it’s all pulp horror/scifi. If you want to play the highlights the remakes of part 2 and 4 from the 2010’s are fantastic games and each stand on their own. 7 & 8 are more modern and really good straight horror experiences but not necessary to enjoy Requiem.


Resident Evil Characters wiki page can be a fun read for a little more context but not an absolute need.


Alternately if you want to get caught up without a 100 hour investment in play time, Noah Caldwell-Gervais does great long form essays on video game series’ and his resident evil one will get you up to speed for requiem in significantly less time.


I started playing them on original PlayStation release and have enjoyed them all for different reasons. The story is a hodgepodge of 30 years of writers and artists building a world that is both overly complex and charmingly simple. Each release can be seen as a reflection of the world it was created in and the horror and espionage tropes of the time. At the end of the day though, it is a very silly series that understands the ridiculousness of its characters and world and strikes a great balance between that and being genuinely scary.