i've been in an absolute gaming hole recently. after playing through REmake last year and falling in love with it (one of the prettiest games i've ever played, think about those menus all the time) i tore through resident evil 2 remake, 3 remake, 7 and 8 in the span of about a week.
this is just such an incredible comfort series for me, i love to walk around getting keys for doors and clearing rooms. i also feel like it occupies a very underserved space in horror gaming. there are a lot of horror games going for jumpscares or really unsettling spaces and while the series does hit those notes, it revels in the schlocky incredibly mid b-horror creature features that your stoner friend would insist on keeping you up late to watch
individual game thoughts:
2 is an incredibly streamlined well paced game (the most consistent i've played so far), and probably the best intro to resident evil for a newcomer. doesn't bring a lot new to the formula of 1 though.
3 has a really fun monster, but not very memorable areas (also weirdly horny attack animations)
7 has probably my favorite story of the series, and i generally appreciate pulling from a different stable of horror tropes, but i think visually it's pretty cluttered and ugly, and the goopy black monsters are the worst offenders.
8 is just a fuckin slam dunk, my favorite of the bunch. Great character performances (adore both Lady D and Heisenberg), lots of distinct setpieces, bombastic boss fights, and it looks gorgeous. it definitely lacks the resource and routing tension of some of the previous games, but if i want that experience i have REmake and 2. i also think the the village map is very confusing, but i really appreciated having a hub to comb back through after every major area, and little mini dungeons to discover.
very excited to see where the series goes next. gimme a Rose secret agent with powers game please.