Summary
TheResident Evilgames always know how to kick things off with a bang. While many of the games will have incredibly memorable opening acts, such as the Village horde inResident Evil 4or the prison sequence inCode Veronica, even before that, there’s always an opening line that sets the stage for the adventure to come.
Not every first line in these games has ended up being very memorable, but in stark contrast, others have become iconic for how impactful they are. Whether it’s a character’s inner thoughts, narration in the context of the story, or even a quick one-liner, there have been plenty of great first lines in theResident Evilgames, so it’s time to rank them to see which stands as the most memorable of them all.
Players are thrown into quite the action fest upon booting upCode Veronicawith the hectic intro cutscene that sees Claire invading an Umbrella base. After that though, the game simmers down a little asClairefinds herself trapped in a prison, only for a mysterious man to wander in, seemingly wounded, as he says to Claire in a defeated voice to get out, admitting “This place is finished”.
This line immediately creates an aura of mystery that pulls players right into the story. Where exactly has Claire ended up? And what’s happened to cause such a commotion? All of this is revealed throughout the course of the adventure, but this line from Rodrigo did a great job of setting the stage.
TheResident Evil Remakewastes no time getting into the meat of the story, letting players know exactly what’s going on, and where they are geographically. At the same time though, it does also feed into the horror aspect of the series by making specific mention of a forest, and of course, the name drop ofRaccoon Citywill invoke fear in any players who have come back to this game after playingResident Evil 2.
The visual that accompanies the line, showing a POV view of the helicopter flying across the dark and dreary forest adds even more to the scare factor. Overall, this is an opening line that does exactly what it needs to by giving players just enough to have them hooked, without revealing too much about the story in the process.
By the time Chris appears inResident Evil 5, he has become somewhat of a grizzled veteran when it comes to stopping bioterror plots and attacks. His extensive experience in this particular field is made very clear in this short but sweet opening line to the game, where Chris openly admits he’s not all that surprised that yet another outbreak has popped up, this time, in Kijuju.
After playing the full game though, and learning how complex the situation in Kijuju really is, even involvingAlbert Weskerhimself, it gives this line an entirely different meaning, since, in reality, Chris would have no idea what he would be going up against.
The intro toVillageis unlike anything ever seen in the series before. It essentially plays like a storybook which vaguely lays out the entire plot of the game, but at the very beginning of the story is the setup: a young girl venturing into the forest to find some berries for her hard-working father. This is a metaphor for Rose, Ethan’s daughter, who ends up being snatched away and separated between the Four Lords who each serve underMother Miranda.
This opening line stands out for many reasons, one of which is how it is literally the beginning of a fable, which makes it seem as though players have booted up the wrong game entirely. This simply makes it great for subverting expectations though, and in turn, a memorable quote that kicks off Ethan’s final journey in the series.
After the events ofResident Evil 2,bioterrorist attacksbecame a common occurrence across the entire world. It can be easy to forget just how easy it was for bad actors to get their hands on viruses and mutations, but this line said at the very beginning ofRevelations 2, serves as a crucial reminder of just how widespread this issue really is.
Though there is a small bit of narration going over the events of the first game at the beginning ofResident Evil 2, this is the first line said by a character, specifically Leon, as he rolls up to the zombie-infested Raccoon City. After turning up late to his first day on the job, Leon encounters a few dead bodies and a city that seems more or less deserted, causing him to question what in the world happened.
This quote hits pretty hard considering Leon had absolutely no idea the nightmarish situation he was about to plunge himself into, and one that would scar him for the rest of his days. It also just highlighted how naive Leon still was at this point, and his innocence as a character.
The originalResident Evil 3’sopening line excels at getting players intrigued from the moment they load in. Narrated by none other than Jill herself, she opens the game by reflecting on the beginning of the Raccoon City outbreak, and how everything was seemingly as normal as could be before almost the entire population turned into flesh-hungry zombies.
It really puts into perspective just how suddenly the T-virus took hold of people, considering nothing seemed out of the ordinary for at least the first few hours of the day. It therefore makes the incident seem all the more terrifying, resulting in a now iconic memorable linefrom Jill.
In terms of mainline games,Resident Evil 4would be the first appearance of Leon S. Kennedy since his desperate escape from Raccoon City. Even after 6 years, Leon is still visibly haunted by the horrific events that took place back then, as summed up in this well-known opening line which Leon says when reminiscing on those tragic events.
Raccoon City is very much the cornerstone of the entire series and an event that shook the world ofResident Evilto its core, so it feels appropriate that it would be mentioned right off the bat for this new adventure. A slightly different rendition of the quote was said at the start of the remake, which dives even deeper intoLeon’s traumaas a survivor of the Raccoon City Incident.
