Hello,

I'm trying to catch up on games that are likely to be discussed in depth during the GOTY discussions and I imagine this one is there. However, I've not played the other three games in this series (I watched my roommate play some of Uncharted 1 and all I can remember is there's something to do with Nazis?).

I do own the Nathan Drake Collection but clearly don't have time to play those 3 games and this before GOTY.

So, will I be able to understand the story in this without having played the others? I know there'll be plenty of references that I'll miss but I'm hoping the main story is "standalone".

Cheers!

The story is fairly standalone, so you will probably be fine. There are a couple of sections at least that I remember that call very explicitly back to the previous games and those probably won`t hit if you haven`t played those games. And more in general as with most series some stuff won`t hit as hard because you don`t have the connections with the characters or have seen the relationships develop, but overall you will probably still enjoy most of that game.

I just bought a PS4 and I've been diving in without really playing much of any of the first 3 and so far it's been pretty good about being self contained. There's clearly a LOT of stuff that's referencing past games which fans of the series would get a kick out of but none of has been necessary to enjoy the story so far. I certainly haven't had any trouble understanding the story or getting lost in the references. Though at the very least I guess you should know that this isn't Drakes first adventure.

If you want to get the full experience without committing the time to play through 4 games, there's always the option of just watching one of those "Uncharted the movie" super cuts on youtube though? Those seem to run about 3 hours per game if that's your type of thing.

Although it's not necessary to have played the previous games to simply understand what happens in Uncharted 4, I don't think most of the emotional beats will land as hard for you since they're founded on the relationships that were built in the first three.

I believe that's what ultimately makes this entry special and my favorite of the series. It's not so much the nitty gritty of the plot but how Naughty Dog cashes in on the characters' histories.

If you don't care about any of that, yeah, go ahead and play it. It's still a neat story with twists and turns that someone new to the series can appreciate.

I technically played the original trilogy but couldn't tell you a thing about them. I watched a recap prior to playing 4 and ended up really enjoying it.

I think you'd be fine.

I didn't, even though I really felt like I needed to. It's not at all necessary.

Thanks All.

I'm going to watch a summary of the first three games on YouTube whilst I'm waiting for Uncharted 4 to install and patch.

Um... who care about the GOTY discussion? You're gonna play the series backwards (and spoil the older ones with summaries) even though you have them all, just to comment on someone's irrelevant opinion? Don't do that to yourself. You'll only experience it the first time once.

I gotta agree with Ezekiel to a degree. If you ever plan to play the first three games I wouldn`t recommend watching a summary for them. If you have to play 4 first I would instead recommend just playing the fourth one. You won`t get the connections to the characters by watching a summary anyway so there is not much point to it.

You CAN play Uncharted 4 without playing the previous games, but I probably wouldn't recommend it. Uncharted 4 is sort of a culmination of the other games and references them heavily both directly and through themes and plot devices. I think it will also in some ways make it hard to go back to the other games (1 is already hard to go back to) because it has certain mechanical refinements that are really nice, AND it just looks amazing.

If you don't care about the other games in the series I guess you can JUST play 4, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that fully either. The Uncharted games, more than most, are really kind of hybrid movie/game experiences. There's better combat to be had elsewhere and while I like the traversal stuff, a lot of people don't. A lot of the puzzles are also just lame, though I will say that I liked 4's puzzles more than previous games'.

What makes the games great is A) the graphics, which tend to be both technically and artistically fantastic, and B) the characters, which are among the most realized that video games have to offer.

You will still get to enjoy the spectacular graphics if you jump in with 4, but a lot of the character stuff will seem muted and undeveloped. Elena will seem sympathetic without understanding what's come before, Sully will seem like something of a jerk, and the central relationship in the game (between Nate and Sam) will be less meaningful if you don't understand who Drake is and has been. The whole thing will be flatter and more muted. Plus the Epilogue will DEFINITELY not have the same impact, and that epilogue is amazing if you've played the previous games.

I feel like Uncharted 4 on its own will just be kind of an average campaign with pacing issues (every Uncharted game has pacing issues) and not the great, meaningful, farewell tour it was for people who spent 3 previous games with these characters.

I don't know if it's worth playing on its own for GOTY purposes, though there are some great set pieces and pretty spectacular graphics to enjoy, so it wouldn't be BAD or anything.

To be fair, I hate jumping into series midstream if I can avoid it. I played Uncharted 3 right before 4 came out (I already had played 1 and 2) which meant I played a LOT of Uncharted this year, but it was worth it for me.

The only game I in the series I finished before 4 was 1. Keep in mind I had played 2 & 3, just not to completion. I think it's fairly standalone. I would also not recommend playing the others because they aren't fun or very well written, but that's my minority opinion. 4 is head and shoulders above the other games in both departments.

The first 3 build up the relationships of everyone. I can't imagine playing 4 and getting nearly as much out of it without that experience.

Well i personally would just play the original trilogy(at least 2 and 3 and maybe watch a video of 1) and just skip 4. Personally i think its the weakest of the bunch besides 1 and still consider 2 to be the best and must play.

There are sort of two different things going on in Uncharted 4. Firstly you have a standalone globe-trotting adventure story about pirates and car chases and other Indiana Jones shenanigans (but now prettier). Secondly, you have a sort of commentary on the nature of having yet another globetrotting adventure with these same characters who are initially presented as older and more settled down. Without playing the other games it would be easy to understand and enjoy the first part of the game. The second part, however, would lose some of its impact. The idea of an older more emotionally conflicted Drake isn't as interesting if you don't have the contrast of how he's behaved in the past. Sort of like how the idea of an older Solid Snake in MGS4 wouldn't have much impact if you hadnt played MGS1. Or, for a better analogy imagine jumping in to Indiana Jones with the 4th one. Of course Uncharted 4 is much better than Indiana Jones 4, but both try and make a point about how the character is older and has changed which would be lost without watching the other movies.

Honestly, Just play the older games first. The Uncharted collection is I think 20 dollars now on ps4 and has all three of the first games. The first one can be skipped if you want, and the third one is kind of redundant (but still good). But really really you should play Uncharted 2 before you play Uncharted 4 (I honestly think 2 is a better game anyways).

While Uncharted 4 is a great standalone game, without playing the previous titles I think you'll be missing out on a portion of the overall experience. Most notably, attachment to the characters and the knowledge of the characters personal interrelationships will be lacking.

The games aren't long, you can easily in play the first three games in like 25 hours total. I don't know what your free time is like, but that's totally reasonable to do in like a week. 4 is a good deal longer, but you've still got like 2 weeks until GOTY.

As others have said, Uncharted 4 can certainly work as a standalone game, but it's better if you've played the previous games. I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice to deliberately have a lesser experience than you could, especially since you already have access to the best versions of those games.

There's no rule saying you have to listen to the GOTY discussions the second they are released, and I still think you'd be able to play all those games in time anyway.

Well I've played through uncharted 1 and 2 and I honestly don't care what happens to the characters because I've found the story in both games to be pretty lame, at least in comparison to TLOU, which I played first.

I'm told that 3 is a step down in quality, which has led me to hold off on bothering with3 and 4 for the time being.

VERY IMPORTANT.

You'll completely miss out on the impact of saying goodbye to these characters if you skip more than half their adventures.

Seriously, don't just skip ahead. If you have the collection, play them in order. Don't be a silly