I’ll start by saying I had a bit of trouble wording the title but I’ll try to elaborate on it. I find it can be a bit daunting at times figuring out what a decent entry point is in a series of video games without searching online first. Sometimes there will be ten games released across three different generation of consoles with reboots, prequels, and remasters and you can feel a bit left out of the loop if you start with the most recent release.
I’m wondering where people would recommend starting in other popular series like Nier, Final Fantasy, Armored Core, Ace Combat, Assassins Creed, Metal Gear, Metroid, Resident Evil, and so on.
It might make for a fun bit of Friday discussion and encourage some people to try out some new games.
Here’s my example:
With the Fallout series I’d say you could easily start with any game because you have a new protagonist each time and a lot of the lore is reintroduced. The exception being Fallout 2 because it feels a bit more like a direct sequel to the original.
I would probably recommend Fallout New Vegas as a starting point because it’s the fan favorite, has a few quality of life upgrades over Fallout 3, Fallout 4 adds a lot of extra mechanics to the game so going backwards in the series if you wanted more Fallout could feel a tad awkward and take some readjusting if you are accustomed to them, and the classic Fallout games can be a bit of a challenge if you aren’t used to old school RPGs.
You’ll miss out on some spider-lore, but it’s possible to jump into Spider Solitaire for the Windows XP home computor system without having played its predecessor, Spider Solitaire for the Windows 98 home computor system
thank you
I wouldn’t recommend starting with Daggerfall over, say, Skyrim or Oblivion, for example.
Real heads start with Arena
One must start with Arena, of course.
Then Battlespire and all the mobile exclusive games
I really tried to like Battlespire as a kid but didn’t make it far. Major disappointment after Daggerfall! I didn’t even know there were mobile games, glad I missed those.
I think the better question might be what series should you start from game 1, brcause thats a much tougher question. Just about all the long running ones you can hop in wherever and be fine. Where you wanna start with Mario? Don’t matter. Whats the play for Final Fantasy? Probably whatever the recommenders first one was. Megaman? X, 0, or basic its nbd.
Yakuza is one I’d say you either start from the beginning (Technically Kiwami, but 0 is fine) or start at Like a Dragon (7, as it has a new protagonist)
I would be curious to see which games would have you going back the furthest to fully get the story.
Maybe something starting off on something like the MSX or Intellivision that was never remastered.
I think the better question might be what series should you start from game 1, brcause thats a much tougher question.
Trails in the Sky.
2 picks up immediately after 1, and expects the player to already be proficient with the battle system from the start.
3 would be confusing and boring without having played the prior two games.
And yes, it’s a subseries, but still. Lol
I’m so glad I started the series from Trails in the Sky 1. I’m currently on Cold Steel 2 and it’s been a great time.
Mass Effect trilogy.
Black Mesa, if you are playing through the half life franchise. Also, probably one of the best remakes ever. I can’t think of a remake better than the original, and I played HL and Black Mesa back to back to be sure.
Zelda does a good job of this. You don’t usually “miss out” on the lore, because they tend to explain a bit as things go on. Sure, you’d miss the easter eggs placed in the game for fans of older titles, but you also wouldn’t know any different. For example, in Breath of the Wild, a dilapidated farm is present in the main field, and this is a reference to the farm in Ocarina of Time where you find Epona, your horse. If you didn’t play that earlier game, it would just seem like scenery to you. But you wouldn’t actually miss out on anything. So the makers of the Zelda titles do a good job striking a balance between providing nods to earlier titles while also being welcoming to new players.
With Grand Theft Auto I would say you could start anywhere. Each game features a different protagonist and they play quite different to each other.
I would say playing 4 before 5 is probably a good idea because it doesn’t feel like as much of a tremendous leap compared to going from Vice City to San Andreas. Going from 5 back to 4 would probably make things like the car physics stand out even more.
I have a vague memory of some 2D ones early on
The first three GTAs were 2D
Except GTA III—what was 3D, hence the number
There was GTA, GTA London 1969, and GTA 2 all in the 2D era.
Aware
Forza Horizon lol
Also Far Cry. No story connection between the games although there is one minor recurring character.
Isn’t New Dawn a sequel to Far Cry 5?
Yes, you got me there. Forgot about New Dawn even though I finally played it for the first time a couple months ago.
I feel like I recall a lot of people saying it was kind of forgettable though I might be thinking about Far Cry 6.
What did you think of it?
I put it off for a long time but I enjoyed it co-op. It was relatively short, the antagonists weren’t that compelling or even very present in the story, but I felt like it was greater than the sum of it’s parts and I enjoyed re-visiting Far Cry 5 locations with post-apocalypse appearances. Like “Hey, here is the island where you started FC5” and “Hey, here is the gas station at the rural intersection where you had to steal the truck.”
I’ve played Far Cry 2 through most of 6. If you don’t recognize particular references, there’s nothing that makes them substantial otherwise in the sea of creative, humorous descriptions of everyone/everything else.
I would say it’s similar with assassin’s creed, keeping it in the family of “ubisoft series gamers love to shit on”. The references are in the same style as other database entries, so you’re not missing anything if you’re unfamiliar. I’ve played 4 through Odyssey.
I’m trying to think of other series and keep landing on the same reasoning, actually. Yeah, I love having more basis for the lore in other series, but I don’t feel I’m missing much without every reference. I mean, Ace Combat was my personality for a few months when 7 came out, prompting me to replay 4 and 5 and buy Zero and 6. As others have said, the main thing is if you do choose to go backwards, things get clunky for both general game and specific series development reasons. Assin 4 was my most recent AC (tried 3, beat Unity>Ody, then beat 4) and man, parkour is tough. I gave up on 3 because it was so awkward and I was too old to learn at the elder age of like 23.
I gotta say though, Forza Horizon 1 remains my favorite. There’s certainly some nostalgia tied to it because it set me up for impossible expectations in the car community (especially now in the post-covid takeover bullshit). It had a more concise campaign and had some story attached to it. I’m up to 4 and it just drops me in like “this is just what you do now” and every race unlocks 4 more races with no end in sight.
For final fantasy, quite literally just pick whichever one has a theme and/or gameplay style that looks interesting to you. As long as it’s not a sequel to a previous game you can pick any.
The only ones with sequels (some prequels) are VII, X, XII and XIII.
Although some could argue with XIII you can also start anywhere.
Well, I think you’d have a hard time finding anyone who’d suggest XI as a starting point too. Considering it’s a “dead” mmo
It’s not dead, I started playing it just a few years ago and had a blast for a few months. There’s even a thriving private server at the moment that even integrates with retroachievements as well which is wild.
HorizonXI for anyone wanting to know the server
Thus my quotes around “dead”. I’m well aware people still play it, it’s just an old design and if there are two Final Fantasy MMOs that someone could play, don’t you think almost everyone would suggest the one in active development, with a significantly larger playerbase, and the one that has had a much better critical reception? Seems obvious to me
Depends what kinda playstyle they want. If they want cookie cutter wow-style theme park mmo in it’s best form, xiv. If you want something unique and unlike anything else you can play right now. For better and worse, xi. Some people don’t like the look of modern mmos but might feel at home with a classic one
The Witcher. The first 2 games are real bad.
The witcher 3 can be played with a great experience even with no background on the series!
I started with number 2 and felt a bit lost. I wonder if it would have been easier to start with 3 in that case.
I think genuinely yeah. 2 built on 1 iirc. 3 is sort of its own thing insofar as the overall story arc
Good to hear. I tried to start with 1, but just can’t do with those controls.
The story of witcher 1 is still quite good and worth experiencing. I’d suggest playing it on easy only so the bad gameplay doesn’t matter too much.
I try to forget but it haunts me
Any action/fighting/shmup franchise because the stories are typically nonexistent/shit anyway:
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Bayonetta: I recommend the original as a starting point for an authentic action experience, but Bayonetta 2 is more beginner-friendly.
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Devil May Cry: either 3, or 5 will work—3 if you’re after a challenging experience, and 5 if you’re looking for an insane combo simulator. 1 could work as an entry point, but it’s too old and will not appeal to everyone.
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Ninja Gaiden: I recommend the original Ninja Gaiden 2 on XBOX (not Sigma) if you’re after nonstop action, and Ninja Gaiden Black if you’re more of a souls-like fan.
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Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion is the superior game.
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Under Night In-Birth: I recommend Sys:Celes because it’s the only one with functional netcode.
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Persona 4 Arena Ultimax because it’s the only Persona Arena game, they just started at Persona 4, and the story has tie-ins for Persona 3 and 4.
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Guilty Gear: start with XX Accent Core Plus R if you need the “the most Guilty Gear” because every character has the most moves they’ve ever had throughout the series. -STRIVE- for beginners, and Xrd if you find XX inaccessible. OG Guilty Gear is a broken artifact, maybe to be admired, but not taken seriously.
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DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou: widely regarded as a shmup goat and the best DoDonPachi game. I recommend the Black Label release.
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So many nice recommendations here but here are some of my recommendations in genres (in top 5 form). All of them have PC ports (but not all of the series may be available on PC)
Platformers:
- Rayman
- Sonic
- Wonder boy
- Shantae
- Trine
RPGs
- Final Fantasy
- Tales of Series
- Star Ocean
- Elder Scrolls
- Pathfinder
Some noteworthy mentions for RPGs
- YS
- Mana
Shooters:
- Medal of Honor
- Shadow Warrior
- Doom
- Call of Duty
- Wolfenstein
Puzzles, point and click: Note: This was very hard to list since most of them are standalone and those that are not have interesting plot lines that you will not appreciate unless you play in order such as Syberia, Gabriel Knight, Secret Files. Walking Dead)
- Myst (You can play in any order but it would be nice to play the sequels or prequels)
- Broken Sword (Don’t touch 4 and 5 but you can play in any order and it would be nice to play the sequels or prequels)
- Life is Strange (1 and 2 are standalone stories)
- of Loathing series (It has turned based combat but very fun)
- Nancy Drew
I would say I prefer them in the chronological order of their release date. Some of the series I have listed completely have either loosely, small references or completely standalone only sharing a “franchise name”
Do none of the Final Fantasy involve each other?
Very few game sequels are that tied in to it’s predecessor narratively that this is an issue. I would say the vast majority of games are designed to be picked up from anywhere in the series.
Even Mass Effect, where you play as the same character throughout a multi game story arc, still has each game giving the player an on ramp, and each game having it’s own miniature arc to play through.
Mass Effect is one that while every game is independent enough, I’d still say it’s best experienced as the trilogy. You will miss out on stuff in later games
Spoiler for a game old enough to vote
Wrex apparently dies on Virmire if you don’t. My partner started at 2, that was her experience. She played me1 shortly after and yeah, was upset she’d missed out even though he’s not a companion in 2 or 3 outside of Citadel DLC.
Wrex is a solid character, Krogan story just wouldn’t be the same without him. If I recall he’s a part of the reason Mordin changes his view on the Genophage. If you betray the Krogan and pretend to cure it (which I’ve never done, nor will, there’s a limit to how I’ll play renegade), Wrex will see through the deceit, his brother won’t.
There’s also a small misc quest with a certain recurring character in 3 that has an ending idk I’ve ever seen before that requires you to have done certain things in ME1 and not got that person killed in ME2.
There’s a point in the third game that determines the fate of 2 different species that can play out very differently based upon actions you’ve made across the series. And the “best” version depends on your completing the loyalty quests of multiple characters in ME2 before a certain trigger point.
Xcom 2: War of the Chosen
This is, I believe, the last entry in the series. DLC is confusing, but I feel like WotC fundamentally changed things in ways I enjoyed. It added a captain system similar to Shadow of Mordor and has half the main characters from ST:TNG doing the voice acting. I started this series at the very beginning (90’s? Early 2000’s?) and can recommend only the first and second games. However, consider their age and thus I probably enjoy those old ones out of nostalgia.
Counter Strike
I’ve heard you can pick and choose where to start with any sport franchise.
