Resident Evil Requiem's director, Koshi Nakanishi, has made it abundantly clear that the two games which most closely relate to his latest work are Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 7, both of which you can buy right now at a sizeable discount via the Fanatical Capcom All-Stars Bundle.
Requiem is a new continuation of the mainline story, meaning you don't need any prior knowledge of Resi to make sense of the unfolding narrative. With a new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, who will explore places of interest in the Resi universe, including a destroyed Raccoon City. But some prior knowledge will help sniff out easter eggs and get a good grasp of how the story will likely unfold.
