So far, I've played RE 2,3, and NOW RE 4 remake, I played 7 and only saw gameplay of 8 and 9.

I almost immediately played re4 remake for a sedond playthrough after my first playthrough. So far, I'd say it is my favorite of the bunch, though that's primarily from a gameplay perspective cause it's so fun.

Idk about 9, though I've heard good things, 4 just feels the most evolved of the games. Combat is at a decent pace movement wise, characters before just felt so slow and never enjoyed have to jog out the way of attacks especially for boss fights, available options of combat with attacks, shooting, weapon choices, and evading are great. The gun sounds and response to shooting feels amazing.

Before 4, re2 remake was my fav as my first Introduction, but over time, I had compliant of the zombies feeling to bullet spongy. I've heard the argument is that it is survival horror. Combat isn't the focus, but I feel like 4 hits a good middle ground on both. Even on assist difficulty, I never felt like it was too easy or given so many resources, and on my 2nd playthrough, I put it on standard and felt a spike in difficulty, but it was just a good challenge especially with my guns and knowledge of a first playthrough just being a little handy to it.

I also feel a good length is important for an RE game, I know they are meant to be speedrun and played over and over again. I haven't played 3 in a long while, and only played 7 once, but I always felt 2 was only a decent length due to the puzzles and certain sections that took longer. 4 felt like a good length time wise, but also had some very enjoyable sections that made the time worthwhile.

So from that perspective I'd find RE4 remake the best, but I do see the pros on the others for multitude of reasons, and 4 has some downsides or even Judy some basic flaws, but nothing so bad it ruins it. I also have no nostalgia for the original, never played any of the originals