The first sequel is the “Link to the Past” of the series. For now, the sixth game stands as the popular but maligned adrenaline-fueled outlier of the series. It was a game so out of character for the series that the team pivoted hard back to horror for the next sequel. Despite the fact that the game is awful at teaching you its mechanics, it’s a damn fine action game, and a robust evolution of the combat mechanics of “Resident Evil 4,” letting its characters become fully-formed combat experts and zombie martial artists. Still, this title’s low place on the list hurts me. While it was critically lambasted for its departure from horror, it’s still the best-selling entry in the series. The game was littered with quick time events, and its denouement included fighting a zombie Tyrannosaurus rex with a Jeep. It’s the game that took Resident Evil’s cinematic ambitions to farcical, absurd extremes, almost ditching its horror roots in all but name and aesthetics. This placement shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows the series.
