You want to play a new game from a series you've never tried. What do usually you do?

This is something that crosses my mind from time to time: a hot new game is getting released in a few weeks, but I've never played any previous installment in the series. What should I do? Do I just jump in blindlyIt's happening to me right now with games like Splinter Cell: Black List, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance or Tomb Raider, and just recently with DmC: Devil May Cry.

I love stories. So much so that I've turned it into my profession, actually, at least in a holistic sense. And this is something that crosses my mind from time to time: a hot new game is getting released in a few weeks, but I've never played any previous installment in the series. What should I do? Do I just jump in blindly, without knowing what's happening in the game if it's part of a larger continuity? Or do I go back and try to play every game in the series to get a firm grip of its backstory?

It's happening to me right now with games like Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance or Tomb Raider, and just recently with DmC: Devil May Cry. And, God forbid, with Resident Evil 6. Some of these games (TR, DmC) are meant to reboot the series, but I still can't shake the feeling that I will be missing "something" if I don't have a general understanding of the origins of their respective pedigree. Now, this probably doesn't mean that I will actually play all the Tomb Raiders and Splinter Cells to date, but, hey. That little voice in the back of my head is there... and, oddly enough, sounds like Bradley...

I'm curious about you guys. What do you usually do in this situation, duders? Do you jump in and try to absorb the game's plot for what it is, or do you try to play the series in order, to fully involve yourself with its story?

Depends on the franchise. For Metal Gear Solid and God Of War I went back and played from the beginning, but with something like Splinter Cell, or the non-numbered assassin's creed games I usually just read up on them if I don't want to play the old ones.

I'll play games like Brad if they're not from different generations. Otherwise, I'll start with the first one on current gen hardware.

If we're talking about Shin Megami Tensei, a series I've got something of a growing interest in but have never played? I'm not going to play all of them. I'd probably look into Nocturne or get one of the DS games. Same with Fire Emblem. I'm not going back to play all of the long runners, probably just a noteworthy game or two in the series.

However, if there is only a few games in the series and they're all relatively recent, I'll look into the first one.

I usually tackle the latest entry unless it has a significant story connection to a previous one.

I usually play some music and flash dance to meditate and think.

I always like to go back and play from the beginning of a franchise/series, even if there's little or no plot reason to do so. If nothing else, you can usually appreciate what the newer game is doing (or see why what it's doing is bad).

If the series is known for its story Ill play them in the right order.

I've played numerous popcorn shooters without any series context, including Modern Warfare, Halo, and Uncharted. Those games are all about the spectacle.

With Assassin's creed, I went back to play the older games because of the seemingly powerful narrative hooks.

C. I don't play spin-off games that don't matter.  
 
Like, I wouldn't play Resident Evil Gaiden or some shit. 
 
Some games it doesn't matter though.

I'm trying to think if there are any series where I'll jump in somewhere in the middle, and it occurs to me that I usually tend to stick to the franchises I'm already familiar with and entirely new series more often than not. There was the Yakuza games, where I hopped in with Yakuza 3, but fortunately they actually had a surprisingly detailed recap of the stories from the first two it was all good. That said, I wouldn't mind giving the older Yakuza games a go if they release that HD collection over here. I'll vote A anywhoo since that sounds like what I'd do under the circumstances anyway because of:

@WinterSnowblind said:

I always like to go back and play from the beginning of a franchise/series, even if there's little or no plot reason to do so. If nothing else, you can usually appreciate what the newer game is doing (or see why what it's doing is bad).

this.

@believer258 said:

If we're talking about Shin Megami Tensei, a series I've got something of a growing interest in but have never played? I'm not going to play all of them. I'd probably look into Nocturne or get one of the DS games. Same with Fire Emblem. I'm not going back to play all of the long runners, probably just a noteworthy game or two in the series.

Ugh, Shin Megami Tensei has been my Achille's heel. I wanted to watch the Endurance Run, but I didn't want to get Persona 4 spoiled. I decided to get the game and play it as I watched the ER. But then I realized that Persona 4 references Persona 3 from time to time... so I got Persona 3 Portable and I'm playing through it, to get all the references to it in Persona 4. Yup. Since I like the games I'll probably try to go back to Persona and Persona 2 (and, hopefully, by that time, Eternal Punishment will have been translated on PSP, but I'm not holding my breath) and expand to the core SMT franchise and its recently-or-soon-to-be released spin-offs (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Overclocked, Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, etc.).

That's as down the rabbit hole as I've been gone...

I usually start at the first entry on most games to appreciate the following sequels even more, if it's conveniently available on current hardware or hardware I own (digital download, HD collection, etc.). There are some I have played without starting with earlier ones. MGS4 and Fallout 3 I played first without playing the prior entries. Fallout 3 was just so different from the first 2 that it didn't really make much of a difference, and MGS4 came bundled with my PS3 (never owned a PS2 or PS1).

So yea, depends on the series for me. I'll probably skip AC2: Revelations and go straight to 3 though, as I've heard there's not much to be gained from it.

@JoeyRavn said:

@believer258 said:

If we're talking about Shin Megami Tensei, a series I've got something of a growing interest in but have never played? I'm not going to play all of them. I'd probably look into Nocturne or get one of the DS games. Same with Fire Emblem. I'm not going back to play all of the long runners, probably just a noteworthy game or two in the series.

Ugh, Shin Megami Tensei has been my Achille's heel. I wanted to watch the Endurance Run, but I didn't want to get Persona 4 spoiled. I decided to get the game and play it as I watched the ER. But then I realized that Persona 4 references Persona 3 from time to time... so I got Persona 3 Portable and I'm playing through it, to get all the references to it in Persona 4. Yup. Since I like the games I'll probably try to go back to Persona and Persona 2 (and, hopefully, by that time, Eternal Punishment will have been translated on PSP, but I'm not holding my breath) and expand to the core SMT franchise and its recently-or-soon-to-be released spin-offs (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Overclocked, Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, etc.).

That's as down the rabbit hole as I've been gone...

Oh, that actually reminds me an awful lot of the time when I decided to give the Koei Warriors franchises a look see... I never went right to the beginning, but I invested an awful lot of time into DW5, DW5: Empires, Samurai Warriors, Samurai Warriors 2, SW2: Empires, Dynasty Warriors 7, Warriors Orochi 1, 2, and 3, and DW: Gundam 3. I should have ideally just went straight to Orochi 3, but oh no, we couldn't have that! I had to play the older games to properly understand all of the relationships and storylines and to see for how myself just how similar they are to one another.

I was at one time planning on writing up a stupidly extensive blog about all of the games and comparing/contrasting them all, but I got lazy >=(

Depends on the series really. I never got into Mass Effect right off the bat when it came out. I first tried the original maybe a year after released and afterwards, I jumped into the novels and was instantly hooked.

I'll usually play the new game and if it interests me, I'll go back through the old ones. In franchises that are rather long and branched out quite a bit, I'll usually just pick and choose the parts of the series that interest me most and then fill in the holes of my experience by reading through a wiki or something to that effect.

It does depend on the game ovoiusly.

I wouldn't play Assassins Creed Brotherhood until I beat the first two games, I beat the first one but burnt out during the second one. Funnily enough I would play Borderlands 2 before I beat Borderlands, so I played Borderlands all the way through then the following day jumped right until Borderlands 2.

I tend to be overly concerned about the associated universe and prior story. I am ashamed to admit that I went back and played Killzone prior to playing through Killzone 2. It was... humbling.

I Vinny that thing like a mother.

I do it based on platform. So if I were for example to play Lords of Shadow 2, I might wish to play Lords of Shadow first. But to want to play all the Castlevanias first, well that would be pointless.

• Size Matters was my first Ratchet title. I didn't care about the other Ratchets when I played it.
• Chains of Olympus was also my first God of War.
• I obviously wouldn't go back and play all the FF titles if I wanted to try 12 or 13. But I might want to play 13 before playing 13-2.
• I would definitely play Castlevania Mirror of Fate without playing either Lords of Shadow titles. The gameplay isn't even the same. (which is the case for a lot of new entries in a series, which is a major reason why going back and playing the older titles is pointless)
• I would definitely play RE4, RE5, and RE6 without having finished RE1 or CX and without having played RE2 and RE3 at all. They are different formulas of RE.

The older a title is the more likely it is bad for a reason. It's a shame that every new sequel made is treated as a reason to go back and play the old one, instead of the opposite.

Depends, i wouldn't ever play the older persona games before 2 since (at least form my limited knowledge on persona) doesn't really matter and factor into my enjoyment on playing 3 or 4.

Assassins creed however i am playing through them all at my own pace ,though i'm now up to AC Rev so far and at least they are connected in a way that makes me feel i should get the story on all of them, I've never read any books or fiction stuff other than the odd thing i might see on a forum if it seems interesting but i don't go out and search for it.

But then you get to a game like The Witcher 2 which is set up and works story wise even with all this past story stuff that's already been going on for awhile now and i feel like i can play and leave The Witcher 2 as just its own thing on its own.

So basicly it wildly vary s from game to game is what im trying to say, but i never go overload on something even if it is rich in its lore.

I just play the current one. I think the only time you should go back is if playing the original impacts your current story (Mass Effect, The Walking Dead, etc). I actually played the entire Metal Gear Solid out of order and still really enjoyed it.

I try to Brad it to the best of my abilities.

Both feet into yakuza three and that told me EVERYTHING that happend in the first two.

It depends on the franchise, how much the newer games tie in to the older ones, and how good the original installments are/hold up (also how many of them there are).

For example, I played Deus Ex before Deus Ex: Human Revolution, because I had heard good things, and wanted to have that frame of reference.

On the other hand, I started The Witcher, wasn't really loving how it played, so I skipped the rest of it and went straight into The Witcher 2, which I really liked. Or, with something like Fallout or Half-Life, I jumped into the newer games, which are mostly removed from the original fiction, and then went back and played the originals later because I had fallen so in love with the games.

Read the character bios.

Only if the story is crucial. I want to get into MGS, so I will be playing MGS 1-4 in prep for MGS 5 and so on

I have already played through most of the franchises I'm interested in and try to keep fairly up-to-date with what happens in other franchises.

If I jump into a franchise? Wiki it.

Unless the games in the series are an unwieldy selection of time sinks (huge rpgs, strategy games, for example) I try and track down and play every game since the first.

Depends how old the other games are. If the original games predate most modern gameplay conventions, I would probably skip it. If I had never played an MGS game, there is no way I would start with the first. But if things haven't changed too much, I might go back to the start. I could see going back to the first Splinter Cell or PoP Sands of Time

I don't have the time to play all the other entries unless theres only one other game and the new one isn't coming out for quite some time.

E.

If the games are old as granny's or don't interest me as much as the sequel does, I'll just YouTube a walkthrough of them. But I'll usually play from the beginning. But it depends on money too. I'll watch all the side games on YouTube also. Like the Dead Space franchise. I played both the main games and YouTube'd Dead Space Extraction& Ignition. I played the iOS version because no one made a walkthrough of it.

@WinterSnowblind said:

I always like to go back and play from the beginning of a franchise/series, even if there's little or no plot reason to do so. If nothing else, you can usually appreciate what the newer game is doing (or see why what it's doing is bad).

True for me. Bought Metal Gear Solid 1 on PSN and just got the MGS HD collection on 360, so im set. One special case was playing DMC4 as my first DMC when it came out. Finished the new DMC now, and got the DMC HD collection on my table.

Depends on the franchise if it's a story driven franchise like mass effect I would have to start with the first one but if it's a franchise with an irrelevant story like call of duty I will jump in wherever.

I would love to just play through all the games, but in some cases I just don't want to dig that far back and deal with old game design. Nowadays I think I'd just play the new one; don'e have enough time.

Depends, really. I only started playing the Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed series within the past few months, but I'm approaching them differently. I'm interested in Mass Effect because of the fiction, so I started with the first one and will play them in order. Assassin's Creed, however, only interests me in terms of mechanics, so I'm fine starting with the most recent. I may go back and play AC2 at some point, as I've heard it's the best in the franchise thus far, but the story doesn't grip me enough to justify the time investment.

I won't delve into the series if its had past iterations that were part of the current storyline. Something like Mass Effect. Would love to give it a try, especially 2, but I will not play part 1 just to play the sequels and I won't just start playing 2 cause It would feel, to me, like I'm jumping into a movie theater room with the movie half way through. I would feel like I'm missing out of the full experience. ME 1 is just wayyyy tooo horrible for me to waste hours on.

Now a series that comes out with a story arc in a new game, I'll try. Like Bioshock 2. A prequel, but that's fine. Didn't feel like I lost out on anything. I haven't played BIO1...

I usually will play the game that piqued my interest and if its good ill go and check out the previous installments. I played Resident Evil 2 Before the first one. Fell in love with it and stayed current with the series and went back to the first game, did the same with Gears of war.

play ga;me

I go off of word of mouth as to which game I should play.

If I can't find and access all the games in the series and play them in their proper order, I don't play them. This is why I have missed out on a lot of series, like Fire Emblem and Shin Megemi blah blah. I have no interest in joining a series half a dozen games in. This is why it would serve developers and publisher to put out their older related content and put it all out on the same system (for example, I shouldn't need four different platforms just to access all the Dragon Quest games).

I usually buy the first game, get about an hour in before the 'outdated' controls and handling drive me insane and then look the story up on wikipedia before playing the latest game.

Seriously, it's incredible how many tiny little touches can change in even a short time.

i play the game i wanted to play and then i might play the others afterwards if i still like the franchie. how many of them depends on how many games there is and how much i like it

Depends on the series, but I lean more towards the concept of "play all of the things". As a stupid huge fan of Fire Emblem, I ultimately intend to play every game in the series to completion (including Tear Ring Saga, which is Fire Emblem in everything but name), for as dated and crusty as those first two NES games (and to a lesser extent, the first SNES game) really are, but to use a different series I am a stupid huge fan of, I will never ever ever play through the first two Might and Magic games because those are literally too crusty and old for me to be able to play without going slightly insane.

I've had this issue with few games, like Mass Effect series, but Ass Creed has definetly been the worst case. I've wanted to play more parts of it besides two, but since I didn't even finish that back in the days, I should buy that again, then Brotherhood, Revolutions and the third one...and maybe the first one as well to really start the story up.

I guess I should pick (E), but I'm not sure if I'm awake enough to specify it with enough detail...but I can say one thing about what bothers me, regarding franchises. Even if I wouldn't feel the need to play all parts of some series, it's such a terrible sight, (especially with physical copies) when you watch your shelf and see "Shootery Part 1" and "Shootery Part III" standing in there, with the middle one missing. It's just...argh! Even better when one of those two games is in it's original package and the other one has some "GOTY PLATINIUM BEST SELLER" vomiting package on it, because you couldn't find the original one anymore or wanted to save 30 euros by buying that ugly, cheaper one. Tears me apart!

Depends on if the latest game is a direct sequel to the previous games or if it's a stand-alone game has it's own story.

Option A but to be honest there are not that many series that could be potentially interesting to me and I have not played them. Still this is the reason why I have not yet played AC3. I'm stuck at Revelations.

@Yummylee said:

Oh, that actually reminds me an awful lot of the time when I decided to give the Koei Warriors franchises a look see... I never went right to the beginning, but I invested an awful lot of time into DW5, DW5: Empires, Samurai Warriors, Samurai Warriors 2, SW2: Empires, Dynasty Warriors 7, Warriors Orochi 1, 2, and 3, and DW: Gundam 3. I should have ideally just went straight to Orochi 3, but oh no, we couldn't have that! I had to play the older games to properly understand all of the relationships and storylines and to see for how myself just how similar they are to one another.

I was at one time planning on writing up a stupidly extensive blog about all of the games and comparing/contrasting them all, but I got lazy >=(

All Dynasty Warriors should have almost identical story (except 7 where they have added new faction). Its almost the same stages all the time since every game is just Romance of Three Kingdoms.

I'll play the games that are related to each other by story, only when I've played them all and still feel the want to play more of it will I play any sort of spin off from the franchise.

C if it is a game where the story/characters matter.

If not, I just go to the newest one. If I like the new one, I might go back and play the older games in the series.