With the recent arrival of RE Requiem, which do you consider the best mainline game in the series, (as the original releases, not including the remakes) and why?

Haven't played 9, thus will go with 8. Just creepy as ****, cool story, love the atmosphere and feels polished from a gameplay perspective.

It's curious you made that question when I just finished 7 and I am halfway into Village getting ready for Requiem.

Well, I never played the original 4. I loved 7 because of how scary and unsetting it is. I like 6 a lot due to the cool action gameplay too, and the original trilogy on PS1 is really good. I think 5 is my least favorite in the series, since I had some troubles with the gameplay and the atmosphere.

To be honest I would vote for 7. I love 6, but 7 is just a superior game. I'm really enjoying Village too.

For me, out of the ones I've played, it's RE2. It had the balance between story, visuals and sound, and gameplay. It was pretty long as well, especially for its time and genre. Where the original started with mystery and atmosphere built on the unspoken, the sequel went balls-to-the-walls and sent you straight into manic action on the open streets. Amazing opening! 

Resident Evil 4 for me. I feel like the first three games haven't aged well at all due to being on weak hardware. Resident Evil 4 still feels modern and its gameplay loop is just addicting. It's almost endlessly replayable and I still prefer it to its remake. Requiem might just be my second favorite games in the series when only talking about originals and excluding remakes.

Resident Evil 1 Remake might just be my overall favorite in the series, though. I can't decide if I prefer RE1 remake or RE 4 (original) more. The series has many amazing games, thankfully! 

The first game was an instant classic and one of the games that defined the Playstation.
The balance of exploring, puzzle solving and fighting was perfect, whereas the sequels started to bend towards straigth up action and urgency more and more.
I loved the feeling of exploring the giant, creepy mansion and slowly uncovering its secrets. Of course, as the first game, it had the advantage of blowing our minds with the whole Umbrella secret lab situation that you did not see coming and setting up the lore, and the sequels basically just recycled the same beats while trying to make everything more impressive.
The original was a different vibe, one that gradually got lost as the series went along.

The original on ps1. It started it all, and still in my opinion, has the best soundtrack and horror atmosphere. The images of the mansion still are so vivid in my mind, the sound effects and movement of the undead. Though i spent more time playing re3 , re1 is the greatest horror game everm

My choice too, for pretty much the same reasons. It was incredible to play at the time - I'd never experienced anything like it. The atmosphere is unrivalled (helped by the soundtrack - one of the best in gaming), and the way the story slowly unfolded was gripping. One of those games that I wish I could play for the first time again.

To the people who think the PSX originals are still the best: Do you think they are still worth it for new players to get into? I got into Resident Evil on the GameCube (with Remake and 4) and have been a huge fan ever since. However, RE 2 Remake and RE 3 Remake are quite different from the originals. Do you think it is worth playing these games in 2026 for someone like me? I played a bit of Resident Evil 2 a few years ago but not a whole lot. Would be curious to know what you guys think.

If you have played RE 2 remake on PS4 and RE 1 remake on GBN, I see few reasons to go back to originals

There are reasons to play RE 3 original, since the remake is a bit different from the original 

With that in mind, try Code Veronica. It's a mainline game, but people forget about it because it doesn't have a number in the title