Question to you Resident Evil players out there

I played only main series (those with numbers) and read the story for the rest. I think I haven't missed anything important by not playing spinoff games (it's sidestory anyway). But if you're die-hard fan then go with the other games too.

It all depends if you're a graphics elitist or not. "Old school" gamers will always prefer the first games, because they still had the Survival Horror bit that made RE famous. Regarding RE4, it's probably the only hybrid between modern and old, and that's the reason why is the favorite in the poll

I´ve been a fan of RE for a long time and I think is a great franchise, despite the fact that now is more action-oriented than horror. If you want to follow the "main storyline" I would play the original trilogy for PS1, then RE CV, RE 0, RE 4, 5, Revelations 1 and 2. I´m not sure about RE 6 because is not that great, but if you want to follow the story of the main characters (Leon, Chris, etc...) you should give it a try. You can also play the remake of RE 1 and the Chronicles series (Umbrella and Darkside) which recap the events of the first three games and CV and also there are some extra chapters that expand the story of the Umbrella downfall.

I haven't played many, but realistically... they're not that scary. They're tense! On the harder difficulties any way.

My fav is 4, as is most peoples, 4 is not scary in the slightest... well, maybe one section, but most of it is just great cheese.

Since you've played the 3rd one already
I'd say you should get to playing 2 and 4, the level design is great, they have intensely fun boss battles, and Leon is one of the greatest protagonists you'll ever have the pleasure of playing as
5 is all good fun (especially when playing with someone), but you probably won't care for it if you're all about the survival horror
6 honestly just has kinda wonky controls (mainly in terms of melee and environment interaction), and it may seem painfully over the top at times. It's best to play it with someone else, or if you really want to follow the story of the characters
In Revelations, the dialogue is kinda meh, and the dodging mechanic is pretty wonky (and somewhat necessary for the hardest difficulty, so that can be annoyingly difficult), but the atmosphere/audio is pretty nice
Only played a few minutes of Zero, but, gameplay and spooky-scary-skeletons-wise it seemed pretty comparable to 2 and 3
Never got to play Veronica or any of the other ones, so can't say anything about them ¯ _(ツ)_/¯

Resident Evil 4 :)

For the main games, I have only played RE1, 4, and 5 completely. RE0-3 and Code Veronica is the meat and flesh of the franchise, no doubt. It has more emphasis on survival rather than the horror part. They still have their own share of jump scares, but most of the time you'll only be focused on keeping your character alive and kicking.

RE4 is still great. Although it steers the franchise from its original formula, the atmosphere is still great. RE5 is where things get downhill though. Making a Resident Evil game with a co-op main campaign is just... a terrible decision. On top of that, you're free to purchase any items, which butchered the survival part completely. It's a decent game as a new IP, but not as a Resident Evil game.

If you want to skip through the franchise, play the Chronicles series. Several parts are altered, but the major plot is still the same with the games they were based on.

Sorry for my English !
First, about horror element, things made people fear in the past no longer useful anymore.

About what RE games order you should play, I recommend you play like this.

Main series: RE0 - RE1 - RE2 - RE :Code Veronica - RE3 - RE4 - RE5 - RE6 - RE: Revelations 1 - RE: Revelations 2 - (RE7). Some people may say Revelations series is not belong to to the main series, I doubt that. They shared a lot of things in common: same characters, same organizations ...

Outbreak series: RE Outbreak 1-2. If you love the "dead" camera used in old RE titles (RE 0-1-CV-3), want to know how common people deal with a disaster, this game is for you.

Other spin-off: feel free to play them or skip them, whatever. Some of them is pretty good, reveal to us a lot of interesting details. For example, Darkside Chronicles, Dead Aim ... But some are totally garbage, Operation Raccoon City

For me, the best RE titles by far is RE4. That is the first game on earth introduce us the "fixed-shoulder" camera. If not because of this game, you will not see Gears of War, Dead Space ... And I can't remember how many platform/time Capcom re-released RE4: Game Cube, PS2, XBOX, Wii, PC (2 times), PS3, X360, Android, iOS. I bet Capcom will release another on PS4 and X1 soon.

As someone who literally has every game in your poll I really have a hard time making a suggestion. The original trilogy as well as Code Veronica and Code Veronica X play to the series' roots, but have tank controls, predetermined camera angles, a somewhat brutal item management system in which one cannot simply drop items or discard them but rather must find storage rooms to house unwanted items in containers, and limited number of save games via ink ribbons for typewriters. As such, they may not be for someone who hasn't the nostalgic fuel to their flame. If you're enjoying 3 I sincerely recommend starting from the original. The true original is similar to three with dated graphics (or there are two remakes if you'd like something newer) but is significantly more difficult as 3 provides the player with vast guns and resources from the start. If you're looking for an easier item and weapon management system with more action orientation move on to 5 and newer.

My vote is to start with the originals and move in order, but I also admit I have massive nostalgic goggles for this series and an unhealthy obsession with it. :3

reasident evil is fun, but yes, it's not THAT scary. If you want a similar game that's scarier, go with Silent Hill.

Revelations plays more like a survival horror then an action game apparently

The remake of RE1 is my favourite, but RE4 is the best game in the series.

@OP Don't skip Code: Veronica! It's one of the most important ones story wise! It was actually supposed to be titled RE3, but Capcom didn't want the big third part of the story to be on a different console (Dreamcast) than the Playstation, so the actual spin-off Nemesis was then called RE3. But Code Veronica is the TRUE third part of the story.

The first 3 games were more focused on survival and getting to finish alive rather than killing everything. The newer games are the exact opposite (talking about RE4 and the games that came afterwards), they are mainly focused on the action and actually hunting enemies so you score more points which you can then use to buy better gear.

Not saying that the games that came after RE4 are bad, they're just different.

Also, my favorite games in the franchise are RE2, RE3, RE: Outbreak 1&2, Gun Survivor (it's really fun with a light gun), Revelations 1 and RE6.

Revelations is fun, because you have a wide variety of gun and modifications for them, Raid Mode is godly and there are events running Resident Evil net that award you points and various goodies based on your performance.

The terms scary and creepy are rather overused. Resi was never any of those, That would be Silent Hill. Resident Evil is best described as atmospheric imo.

If you're into the story then I recommend playing all the numbered entries (yes even 6), Darkside and Umbrella Chronicles ( they contain Wesker's story after the events of Code Veronica, and Krauser's backstory) and Code Veronica, Revelations 2. Code Veronica is set after the events of RE3 and explains a lot about Claire's fate after her escape of Raccoon City and the rivalry between Wesker and Chris. The game is one of the best non-numbered entry in the series both story- and gameplay-wise. Be warned though, that in terms of difficulty it's one of the tougher ones along with Resi0.

Revelations 1 doesn't add much to the lore and one of the weaker games in the series well, but Revelations 2 has a lot of ties to other games ( the return of Claire and Barry, as well as the Wesker project that has been teased since Resi5).