I recently picked up Broken Sword 5 as part of a humble bundle. Point and click adventure, mystery theme, sounds like I would enjoy the game. But I've never played any game in the series, and I was wondering how important the earlier games are to the story, which would be worth playing first, and if fans of the series think I should skip 3 and 4, or if the story won't make sense if I do.

I know a lot of fans didn't care for the change in gameplay controls introduced in the 3rd and 4th games, but are they really as bad as others suggest, and how important are they to the story?

As said, I already own the fifth game, and all the other games are part of the steam sale right now for only 1.50 each, so I'd like to know where I should start and what I should or shouldn't skip.

Play 1, 2 and 5? Play the whole series in order? Just play 5 and see how that is? What would you suggest?

Beyond the two protagonists, there are characters that reappear occasionally, but I don't think it would pose too much of a problem. The main stories are self-contained, and the call backs are generally sign-posted in a way that you wouldn't miss much (when they meet characters from earlier games, they tend to give a brief rundown of when they met before).

1 and 2 are worth playing just because they are good games, but I don't think you need to worry about the order (I've never played 3 or 4, and I played 2 before 1).

Its my favourite adventure series, i would always recommend you play them in order, just so you get a sense of the characters from the beginning, but its not essential if you just want to play 5. BS4 really bad.

On a side note i really wish Vinny would play these

I am firmly in the 1, 2, 5 camp on this, I wouldn't touch 3 and 4.

Thank you all for the advice. I'll play 1, 2, and 5, and I'll skip 3 and 4. I'm glad to hear that they're self-contained stories.

1 and 2 are exemplary adventure games. 3 and 4 are examples of 2000's awkward 3D adventure games. Most of them are painfully mediocre. If you're up for more 90's adventure games, check out stuff like Beneath a Steel Sky and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father.

As long as you play the first one. I should really replay it myself, one of my favorite adventure games along with Grim Fandango and I don't think I've touched it since the first time I played and finished it...around 20 years ago, oh god.

I have never quite understood the love for Broken Sword 2. First one is a fantastic game and one of the very best adventure games in my opinion. Second one however is kinda awful. Story, dialogue and puzzles are all much worse than the first game. I would say that 3 is a better game overall as long as you can get past the bad controls and sometimes bad camera angles.