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.
All you’d get with starting with an earlier Arma than 3 is losing quality of life features and gaining eurojank
Oh come on! First Arma (Operation Flashpoint) had photorealistic graphics and played like a dream… That’s how I remembered it until I tried it 20 years later. Boy oh boy…
Favourite Series - Recommended Entry Point
- Final Fantasy - VI
- Atelier - Sophie
- Dead or Alive - 5 Last Round
- Senran Kagura - Burst Renewal
- Romancing Saga - 2 Revenge of the Seven
Final Fantasy - VI
I actually think IV, but then skip to VI and go from there.
4 is better if you want an old school fixed-class character-driven JRPG. But 9 and 10 do that in a more modern way.
6 is better if you want an old-school blank-slate character-driven JRPG. But 7 and 8 do that in a more modern way.
7, 8, 9, and 10 are all retro themselves though.
5 is great if you want an old-school “character class” JRPG. And if you want it to be character-focused, you’ve gotta look at something like 10-2.
Recommending specific games from the franchise really depends on what someone is looking for.
Any action/fighting/shmup franchise because the stories are typically nonexistent/shit anyway:
-
Bayonetta: I recommend the original as a starting point for an authentic action experience, but Bayonetta 2 is more beginner-friendly.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion is the superior game.
-
Under Night In-Birth: I recommend Sys:Celes because it’s the only one with functional netcode.
-
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.
-
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.
-
DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou: widely regarded as a shmup goat and the best DoDonPachi game. I recommend the Black Label release.
-
counter strike!
Any recommendations on where to start with Dragon Age?
Origins is def the best place to start. However, with each game having a new protagonist and about a decade in-between the games you could start anywhere. If you end up enjoying one give the others a shot.
origins
I wouldn’t recommend starting with Daggerfall over, say, Skyrim or Oblivion, for example.
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.
Real heads start with Arena
Start with The Witcher 3 and head back to 2.
I was just thinking about witcher 1 while coming in this morning
Coming in what?
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.
Forza Horizon lol
Also Far Cry. No story connection between the games although there is one minor recurring character.
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.
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.”
The Witcher. The first 2 games are real bad.
Uncharted
You can pick up any game in the series and you get a complete story.
Plus imho, one of the best series in recent memory
deleted by creator
Yeah I was gonna hop in here and say Fallout. New Vegas has all the themes of the classic series with the easier to play gameplay of the 3D era. That said though, I really don’t think you can start wherever with that series - IF you want a clear picture of what it’s about. I started with Fallout 3, and that definitely muddies the series themes a bit. Fallout 4 comes around and the realistic themes of humanity’s repetitive follies are all but thrown out the window to focus on the scifi, retrofuturism, and apocalyptic aspects of the series. Fallout 1, 2, and NV are the continued story of society rebuilding and making the same mistakes we always make as a species. Only the first one is a post apocalyptic game, 2 and NV are post-post apocalyptic with large communities and states starting to form.
No hate on the fun there is to be had exploring bombed out ruins, I still love Fallout 3 and I put in a good bit of time with Fallout 4. But while the West Coast tells the story of society rebuilding, with people making adobe houses reasonably soon after the bombs fell and eventually manufacturing concrete, the East Coast is full of convoluted reasons for why society hasn’t rebuilt yet in 200 years and everyone still lives in scrap metal shacks. Not that Fallout games are all realism, but I think the Bethesda games sacrifice the realism of how humanity functions to add more scifi components - and that’s just not what Fallout’s all about.
I should probably say an actual game series I think you can pick up at any game though, and I’ll have to go with Metal Gear Solid. Fantastic story that’s convoluted and told out of order. It doesn’t matter where you start, you’re always going to have fun! I recommend MGS1 for anybody with a day job, and MGS5 for anyone who wants to sink some hours into a sandbox.
For Metroid, start with 2, then Super is a big step up in terms of feel and gameplay. The first one doesn’t explain anything at all, and compared to modern standards feels quite clunky and tedious (you have to find multiple secret passages to finish the game normally, for example.) It’s worth playing if you’re in the mood for NES-era retro gaming, but it can be frustrating trying to figure it out on your own.
For lore, Fusion is next, followed by Dread. I didn’t like Fusion, felt too hand-holdy for me, I would skip it but many seem to like it. Dread is worth playing on its own though. It’s a much faster pace, more action-oriented gameplay. Fusion added a horror element to the game, but for the most part it’s more for vibe than gameplay reasons. Dread took that scary vibe and moved it into the gameplay.
The Prime series I think is a separate canon story. They can definitely be played independently. They follow a storyline and are direct sequels to each other, but gameplay-wise they don’t require playing other games before. You don’t unlock any important knowledge relevant to one game from playing the previous one.
Substitute 1 with Zero Mission, which is a much better remake.
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 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.
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.
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.
