Board 8 > Which games are the worst as an entry into their series?

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Raka_Putra
02/16/22 9:48:13 PM
#1:


I'm watching a 5-hour long KH3 review/recap video and well, with all the darkness mumbo jumbo, bloated cast of characters, and so many plot details spread through dozens of spin-off games, it got me thinking that Kingdom Hearts 3 must be one of the worst games to start with for someone who wants to get into a video game series.

I imagine this applies more to story-heavy series that are direct sequels, but what other games do you know that are just not a good way to introduce a new player to their series?

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Janus5k
02/16/22 9:50:17 PM
#2:


Trails of Cold Steel 4 would have to be up there.

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SSJSephirothGokuX123
02/16/22 9:55:48 PM
#3:


Mega Man X6 from both a story and gameplay perspective.

Probably the Mega Man Zero games too.

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Underleveled
02/16/22 9:57:09 PM
#4:


Zelda II might be up there.

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swordz9
02/16/22 9:57:25 PM
#5:


The latest entry in any game where the story spans multiple games. KH and Trails definitely the first to come to mind there.
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UshiromiyaEva
02/16/22 9:58:12 PM
#6:


Mass Effect 3 should get special mention because the actual marketing team had a major focus on telling people they could start there.

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hombad46
02/16/22 9:58:30 PM
#7:


Metal Gear Solid 4 probably

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-hotdogturtle--
02/16/22 9:59:27 PM
#8:


Super Mario Bros. 35

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Raetsel_Lapin
02/16/22 10:00:49 PM
#9:


Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation, a Battle Network spin-off that has nothing to do with the mainline games. If you thought the number meant it was actually part of the series and started there, you'd have no idea what the series even was.

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Mythiot
02/16/22 10:04:48 PM
#10:


Danganronpa V3
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MZero
02/16/22 10:05:13 PM
#11:


hombad46 posted...
Metal Gear Solid 4 probably

I actually did this! In fact, I still haven't played 1-3

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Raka_Putra
02/16/22 10:07:23 PM
#12:


Yeah, I heard Trails has very tight continuity. I've heard good things about the series but it's kinda daunting to get into.

Mythiot posted...
Danganronpa V3
That's a great answer. Would be very interesting entry point, considering the ending...

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tazzyboyishere
02/16/22 10:09:02 PM
#13:


Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack

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LeonhartFour
02/16/22 10:11:00 PM
#14:


I imagine starting with Spirit of Justice would be a strange decision

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hombad46
02/16/22 10:11:52 PM
#15:


MZero posted...
I actually did this! In fact, I still haven't played 1-3

How well did you understand what was going on?

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Raka_Putra
02/16/22 10:16:22 PM
#16:


While we're talking about getting into a series with later games, recently I played Uncharted 4 without playing any of the previous games and thankfully it worked just fine, though I imagine the ending would've hit much harder for longtime fans.

I also played Radiant Dawn without playing Path of Radiance and did just fine since it had Micaiah, though to me the Dawn Brigade was just a cool bunch of experienced mercs.

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xp1337
02/16/22 10:21:45 PM
#17:


Final Fantasy XIII-3 would be... an experience as an entry point lol.

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Axl_Rose_85
02/16/22 10:25:46 PM
#18:


Like the ones mentioned in the topic

Trails of Cold Steel IV
Trails in the Sky SC
Metal Gear Solid 4

Then others off the top of my head would be

Mass Effect 3
Shenmue III
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Zero Time Dilemma
Xenosaga Episode III
Persona 5 Strikers
Zone of the Enders: The 2

Bad games and a terrible representation to their series

Devil May Cry 2
Dragon Age II
Assassin's Creed (although the series itself is not that great)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Ninja Gaiden 3

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Axl_Rose_85
02/16/22 10:26:28 PM
#19:


Add Dead Space 3 and Fable III to the list as well
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Snake5555555555
02/17/22 12:03:00 AM
#20:


Resident Evil 6, it's very dissimilar to any other main entry game and the canon lore goes pretty hard.


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Accel_R8
02/17/22 12:11:20 AM
#21:


I actually played Yakuza 6 first, it was fine as it was, I thought.

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Raka_Putra
02/17/22 12:13:45 AM
#22:


I've only played 0 and 7 so far which funnily enough makes me completely oblivious to the 'actual' mainline story with Kiryu and Majima.

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trdl23
02/17/22 12:23:53 AM
#23:


Persona 3. Its systems have aged so, so poorly that it's become my favorite game I can never recommend.

Bioshock 2 for various reasons.

Any of the Final Fantasy sequel games (though Crisis Core holds up pretty well on its own as a prequel).

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TheRock1525
02/17/22 12:31:19 AM
#24:


Xenosaga 3. I was so damn confused.

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banananor
02/17/22 12:42:30 AM
#25:


this is a good question. hotline miami 2's difficulty starts at the maximum of 1's and only goes up from there

but there's gotta be some story-based game that's inscrutable to newcomers

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banananor
02/17/22 12:42:58 AM
#26:


trdl23 posted...
Persona 3. Its systems have aged so, so poorly that it's become my favorite game I can never recommend.
i agree with that, although it's not even aging poorly, the gameplay/long dungeons sucked at the time!

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LazyKenny
02/17/22 1:02:46 AM
#27:


Hitman: Absolution

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Raka_Putra
02/17/22 1:35:04 AM
#28:


Persona 3 might be hard to get into nowadays, but it'll be even tougher to go back to if you start with P4/P5.
...and that's before taking P1-P2 into account.

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Snake5555555555
02/17/22 1:42:18 AM
#29:


LazyKenny posted...
Hitman: Absolution

It was actually my first game I played in the series and I loved it so much I went back and played all the rest.

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MZero
02/17/22 4:32:54 AM
#30:


hombad46 posted...
How well did you understand what was going on?

I don't remember being all that confused, but this was in 2008 so it's a bit blurry. I'm sure a lot went over my head, but I enjoyed it!

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Nanis23
02/17/22 4:47:22 AM
#31:


Story-wise...a lot can fit
But from gameplay, I have to go with this-

SSJSephirothGokuX123 posted...
Mega Man X6
This game is such a mess. Worst yet is that the community refuse to admit it's the worst mainline game in the series so you can't go in thinking "oh this is the black sheep of the series" like you do with X7
Anyway not only is this game terrible, but the level design is so punishing and terrible that you might think that this is how the whole series is supposed to be

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Isquen
02/17/22 5:50:19 AM
#32:


Nanis23 posted...


This game is such a mess. Worst yet is that the community refuse to admit it's the worst mainline game in the series so you can't go in thinking "oh this is the black sheep of the series" like you do with X7
Anyway not only is this game terrible, but the level design is so punishing and terrible that you might think that this is how the whole series is supposed to be

Metal Shark Player's level of "oops came in normal gear you can't beat the level now" can go screw itself and I agree with like all of this.

Seriously how did X6 fuck everything up so bad?

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Strife2
02/17/22 6:37:06 AM
#33:


Final Fantasy 12 or 13 are so...strange combat wise, you wonder if they are from the same franchise. As awkward as 8 is from a design and story perspective, once you see the combat, you can immediately transfer "some" of those ideas to any of the first ten games.

12 and 13 are so wildly different, you're better off going, "What these Bravely Traveller things on the handheld games"


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TomNook
02/17/22 6:41:45 AM
#34:


X6 is the 3rd best X game.

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Nanis23
02/17/22 6:46:40 AM
#35:


Isquen posted...
Metal Shark Player's level of "oops came in normal gear you can't beat the level now" can go screw itself and I agree with like all of this.

Seriously how did X6 fuck everything up so bad?
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/7/8/AADUNGAAC77y.jpg
You mean this part? I think they expect you to somehow wall-jump on the very small part between the spikes and the ceiling
Of course you have like 90% chance of fucking that up
And then when the ceiling finally goes up you need to land a perfect dash jump because it's not high enough so you can bump your head into it and make X fall down instead
It's terrible

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Axl_Rose_85
02/17/22 7:04:56 AM
#36:


Nanis23 posted...
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/7/8/AADUNGAAC77y.jpg
You mean this part? I think they expect you to somehow wall-jump on the very small part between the spikes and the ceiling
Of course you have like 90% chance of fucking that up
And then when the ceiling finally goes up you need to land a perfect dash jump because it's not high enough so you can bump your head into it and make X fall down instead
It's terrible

X6 is by far the worst Mega Man X game or maybe even in the entire series including spin-offs. X7 is bad but I liked some of the ideas there and the attempt at a 3D game despite its poor implementation. X6 on the other hand was almost unplayable because of how badly designed it was and I can't say that for any Mega Man game.
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RaidenGarai
02/17/22 7:30:46 AM
#37:


X6 was bad, easily second worst in the series, but X7 is one of the worst games ever.

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ctesjbuvf
02/17/22 7:34:46 AM
#38:


Metal Gear Solid 4 is a good call. I love the game, but probably wouldn't if I hadn't played the others.

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tcaz2
02/17/22 8:07:56 AM
#39:


Raka_Putra posted...
I've only played 0 and 7 so far which funnily enough makes me completely oblivious to the 'actual' mainline story with Kiryu and Majima.

Interestingly I think 6 is the only Yakuza I'd put in this topic. Most of the rest definitely have connections and recurring characters but not to the point you couldn't feasibly start with them.

Yakuza games tend to be self-contained stories with the real continuity being in clear character development from one game to the next, not payoffs of hanging plot threads not being resolved like some others in the topic.

Basically they're more like something like the Die Hard movies or a season of 24. Completely possible to use any given one of them as an entry point, you just won't get quite as much out of it as if you did them all in order.

This is compared to something like Trails where if you don't play them all before Cold Steel 4 you will just be completely and utterly lost on many major plot threads and character arcs.
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azuarc
02/17/22 10:26:14 AM
#40:


Besides story-driven sequels, which are not really fair answers...I feel like most Ys games are not the best game to start with. TBH, I'm not really sure which one *is* the best to start with.

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Mac Arrowny
02/17/22 10:28:48 AM
#41:


azuarc posted...
Besides story-driven sequels, which are not really fair answers...I feel like most Ys games are not the best game to start with. TBH, I'm not really sure which one *is* the best to start with.
8

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Raka_Putra
02/17/22 10:40:08 AM
#42:


tcaz2 posted...
Interestingly I think 6 is the only Yakuza I'd put in this topic. Most of the rest definitely have connections and recurring characters but not to the point you couldn't feasibly start with them.
Yeah, I did get that impression from the way people on the internet and my friends talk about them. Though when/if I want to dive into the series further I imagine I'll start with Kiwami.

azuarc posted...
.I feel like most Ys games are not the best game to start with.
Why? Is the gameplay too complex or something?

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lordjers
02/17/22 11:01:55 AM
#43:


Super Mario Bros. 2 (japan)

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ZeeksFire
02/17/22 11:54:52 AM
#44:


Heroes of Might and Magic 4. the only one that tried grid based battles and having the heroes be army units. that worked out well... (note, it was garbage to lots.)
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masterplum
02/17/22 12:25:17 PM
#45:


X7 didnt have boss weaknesses (At least for zero. Dont remember X)

How do you make a mega man game without boss weaknesses?!?

I mean X6 is really really bad, but at least its a mega man game. It would be like making Final Fantasy 16 have no RPG elements

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KommunistKoala
02/17/22 12:27:49 PM
#46:


Assassin's Creed 1

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redrocket
02/17/22 12:30:54 PM
#47:


Which is more of a Mega Man game, X7 or Mighty No. 9?

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Strife2
02/17/22 2:10:15 PM
#48:


Mac Arrowny posted...
8

This is the answer. Ys VIII is my second favorite game other than Persona 5 released the last 5-10 years. Ys doesn't even really require story context. Just jump right in.

*Adol rides a ship, Adol finds a place, Adol EXPLAINS THE SITUATION (usually a shipwreck), Adol find monster, Adol stab monster, Adol keeps EXPLAINING THE SITUATION, then Adol find blue haired girl*

Same setup, different games. All good times. But VIII was the best of those times and had the best blue-haired girl to boot.

Just play and have fun stabbing.


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WhiteLens
02/17/22 6:19:09 PM
#49:


Raka_Putra posted...
Persona 3 might be hard to get into nowadays, but it'll be even tougher to go back to if you start with P4/P5.
...and that's before taking P1-P2 into account.
Persona 3 really shouldn't apply here. It was the entry game to the series for many of us on this very board.
And I've seen it picked up by other (possibly younger) people before in recent years, so I think it's fine.

It's like something you have to ask, do you think young people with a lot of free time on their hands have no resilience?

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tcaz2
02/17/22 6:21:28 PM
#50:


You shouldn't start with any Ys games because they all suck
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