Some games have decent recaps or disconnected stories which mean you can start from the latest release and still have the full experience.
In Fallout for example, with the 3D games, you can start wherever and because it’s a new protagonist and location every time you aren’t missing a ton. The disconnect is slightly more noticeable going from Fallout to Fallout 2 (the isometric titles) however because of how the games build on top of each other.
What I am wondering about are series where you really do need to start from the beginning (or some early point) to get the full experience.
Can you think of any examples that are truly difficult?
Maybe they started on DOS, MSX, or the NES and their latest releases are on the PS5 and Xbox Series X and on top of that the genre shifted.
This is obviously going to vary from person to person. Like with The Elder Scrolls series for example. People might argue for different starting points.
For context I am playing The Witcher 2 and I feel like I’m missing a notable part of the story. That might be because it’s a fantasy game though and it isn’t based in our world.
It made me think of Metal Gear and Final Fantasy. Two popular series where I don’t know how interconnected the games are.
Never played them myself, but apparently the kingdom hearts series is one that you should play from the very first entry.
But the series is crazy extensive, it even got mobile games that aren’t available any more but do have important canon lore in it.
AVGN had video about the game’s timeline.
And before the PS4 HD-Remasters, you also needed a lot different consoles. I think you needed to have to play all of the games a PS2, PSP, GBA, Nintendo DS+3DS, a Smartphone and for the third part a PS4. In the remaster Edition some of the games were as a compilation of cut scenes and text
I feel like you could get away with playing them chronologically instead of release order