I'd say if you can get the HD remake of the original game for the PS4, that's what I'd say is the apex of the entire franchise. But they're all generally quite good, in various measures. The titles from 4 onwards are more so Call of Duty rip-off titles, just with RE related creatures in them, and like Marmite, you'll either like or hate that direction, assuming you've attempted to play them in order and can realize that 4 was the turning point. For better or worse! 7 was kind of like a semi-reboot, because while it is still a sequel, most of the game doesn't feel like it quite belongs in the franchise. You spend most of the game playing an ordinary guy who is looking for his missing wife, and you just fight boring looking black monsters and a possessed family that has sadly been taken over by some new virus. There's some puzzles here and there, but to me, it was just like a cash grab of the original game's premise, in that they set it in a big house and just used the RE name to make it sell more copies. The main character (Chris Redfield) just so happens to show up during the endings, both good and bad, so the additional content you have to buy online, pretty much focuses on him basically cleaning up the scraps, but they also throw in some plot "twist" as well. And to be honest, they redesigned his model in the most ridiculous way. He doesn't look that 'beefed-up' any more compared to his RE parts 5 and 6 counterpart, and his voice and face is all wrong now too. It's almost like he has aged backwards by 30 years. I'd hate for this trend to continue with the other characters. To me, it's like Capcom only cares about the money, so they're more than willing to just piss off the old-school fans who have supported them for well over 20 years now.
By the way, the Mexican guy who plays one of the marines, was also in Planet Terror. He had a small role as a deputy, who was killed by zombies outside a police station.
I would play every single resident evil game that has ever been released; have i done this, no. But, I would if possible. Resident Evil is a classic - no matter what franchise edition. I love them all (but only played 2 versions). Resident Evil and Silent Hill rendered with me as games I wanted to play. I just hated the limited inventory space and ammo, but whatever. Resident Evil games were awesome. The movies are good too! Love it. Give me all the Resident Evil I could take. And Milla Javovich, come on.
I recently finished RE3 on the PS4, and it's a highly crappy remake. They missed out a lot of locations. In the original, you may recall you were aboard a train that derailed into a clock tower. That's completely gone. You also get no ending where Barry saves Jill and Carlos. The game is very short, and Nemesis himself isn't a big threat. Now there's also word going around online that M-Two (who created RE3) will remake RE4 by 2022.