Approaching Resident Evil for the first time is a daunting prospect. Whether you've been admiring Leon, Chris, Jill, and Claire from a distance since the PS1 days, have caught snippets of some of the best survival horror games during YouTube Let's Plays, or if the Resident Evil Requiem trailer simply piqued your attention and you want to know a bit more about Capcom's legendary series, you've come to the right place.
I've tailored this spoiler-free Resident Evil beginner's guide for the sole purpose of catching you up ahead of perhaps the biggest upcoming horror game of 2026. If you're looking for a much more in-depth guide to pick apart the franchise's lore, our Editor-In-Chief penned an ultimate guide to Resident Evil for you to get stuck into. Here, though, I'll go through the franchise in its broadest strokes, pointing out overlaps in the lore between Resident Evil Requiem and past series instalments to help you decide where to start ahead of its launch – or, to help you go into Requiem with a little more context, at the very least.
