Zach you make alot of assumptions for someone who doesn't seem to like any video games other than Elder Scrolls or CoD.
According to "Internet" Resident Evil isn't better than Elder Scrolls? Exactly what internet? According to Game Rankings, a review aggregate (and this is poor argument anyway but you brought it up so I'm just gonna do it better) Resident Evil 4 has a 95.75, putting it just under the top 10 highest ranked games, according to critics. No Elder Scrolls game is even close, though they are good games, I don't hate on games I don't understand. I like CoD, I am good at zombies, it is not a great reason to buy the game if you don't like the multiplayer or the designers.
Silent Hill hasn't made an impact on gaming? Are you trolling? Or just fucking stupid?
I don't think you've even played any of the games you are talking about. Or very many games at all. Sometimes my brother talks shit about 90s games but that's because he wasn't born until 97. Are you by any chance 13 years old?
EDIT: Fuck, Code Veronica is only 2 positions below Oblivion, and most RE fans consider Code Veronica to be one of the worst games in the series. Not to mention that most Elder Scrolls fans prefer Morrowind, which isn't as highly ranked. Review aggregate does NOT equal popular opinion.
Who said I have never heard of Resident Evil 2? there are 5 Resident Evil games in the main series, so clearly 2 would be one of those.
If this is the sort of logic I can expect from you, just give up now.
What exactly are you trying to argue anyway? That you don't like a game so therefore it is not significant? I fucking hate Jak and Daxter, but it probably improved some of Naughty Dog's skills which led them to make Uncharted, one of the most acclaimed games of this generation. If nothing else, Resident Evil popularized survival horror which makes it responsible for hundreds of games that have come out in the last 15 years. Silent Hill is used as a source of inspiration constantly for other survival horror games as well, not to mention its reputation as one of the headiest and best written game series of all time (a distinction not earned by the first game in my opinion, but that's my opinion and public opinion puts SH very high).
What exactly do you hate about Resident Evil 4? It is simply put, the best designed game ever made by a pretty wide margin. It introduced environmentally tactical gameplay that you just don't see in other games, including its sequel. There's a good reason that many people hold it as high as Ocarina of Time, FF7, and MGS.