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.
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.