Is the first game you play in a series always your favorite?

[Zapp Branniglenn]

There's a common phenomenon that I'm sure many of us notice. When making a dive into a new franchise, the first game we play tends to be our favorite many years later, or at least close to that number one spot. First impressions are everything, as they say. And if you're not enjoying your time, you're probably not going to take a chance on the next game. But I was thinking about contrary examples from my own experience, and thought it may make an interesting discussion topic. I'll be listing examples of games that I played first in a series, that I would not rank as high as top 3. Feel free to post your own list with your own criteria, because I'm trying to avoid a long, drawn out writeup full of examples I don't feel strongly about. Go ahead. Get whatever you need to off your chest.

Spoiler

• Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow: to be honest I don't remember much about how I felt on this game at the time, or even how I came in possession of the game. It did not leave much of an impression at all. Not like Symphony of the Night and Castlevania 1 which I would try out years later and instantly made me a fan. I'd like to revisit Dawn of Sorrow some day to see what its merits are, and so I couldn't tell you where it deserves to rank among the...gosh, twenty castlevania games I've played. Symphony is my #3, and I'm doubtful it can beat that. Most Igavanias have not been particularly good.
• Metroid Prime: When I played Metroid Prime, I was captivated with its Search-action framework, and my Goldeneye/Turok background helped me forgive its...deliberate control scheme. Today though? I've played every official Metroid Game except for Prime Pinball and Federation Force (someday!) and I'd probably rank Metroid Prime 1 as my second least favorite of the lot. Its level design is a major point of contention for me and a lot of its best ideas were done better in either Super Metroid or in the Prime sequels. I think its sister game, Fusion, also has a lot of structural issues. But it comes out ahead in its gripping narrative, dynamic world design, and challenging gameplay. Also man do I hate the Scan Visor. What a pace breaker to be constantly switching visors. Scanning should have been automatic when locked on to a target. I'm going to be looking for that first thing if we ever get a Prime 4. Once the scan is complete, press another button to pull up its data and pause the game so you can read it. Neither the official remake nor fan remakes of Prime 1 have thought of this obvious change and it bugs me. Have they played Other M?
• Mega Man: This is probably not a hot take among Mega Man fans because there's just so damn many of them. I've got a load of nostalgia for that first entry though. It's the only NES Mega Man where I'm confident I could identify every song. I'm very apologetic of the game's shortcomings, but it wouldn't make Top 3, even if we restricted to just the Classic series (1-11).
• Devil May Cry: I don't feel bad dunking on this one since I have revisited it just last year on its hardest difficulty and (almost) getting every S rank. It's my least favorite Devil May Cry out of the six. There's so much clunkiness in its controls and mechanics. It's encounter design is very polarizing (because the game engine would not allow them to load more than one type of enemy at a time in a room). I'll admit there's tons of good ideas, but Execution matters just as much. You can absolutely have fun playing DMC1, but as a casual player when it came out I found it to be a very annoying game. And even when you dive into the tech, it becomes kind of brain dead to play. Nothing beats Grenade Rolling.
• The Legend of Zelda: This was so long ago that I'm not certain which I played first between Zelda 1 or 2, as they were on a friend's console. The first Zelda I owned and really dived into was Majora, so it leaves me kind of conflicted in naming which was 'my first' game. Not conflicted on whether it belongs here though. Zelda 2 is the only one of those three I'd say that I really like, but not on the level of Top 3. I'm lukewarm on Majora. It would sit firmly in the middle of my list. Clearly chasing the Shenmue hype and not having the development time it needed to be properly polished and fleshed out. Worst main dungeon design of the series (maybe it ties with Breath of the Wild, who really cares). It's a more interesting game to talk about than to ever play. That's neither a compliment nor a critique.
• Phantasy Star 2: Not much to say on this one. It's fourth place out of four. 1 and 3 are extremely underrated, while 4 is on the level of a Squaresoft game in my eyes. 2's not bad, it's just really grindy with absurdly long dungeons. And I'm pretty sure it didn't have 3's auto battle scripts to help speed up it's lengthy dungeon dives. It's a neat game though, I'm halfway to taking it off this list.

[ping]

Very much not the case for me, I think:

• Fire Emblem: First one was BlaBla, favourites are BinBla and PoR, for very different reasons.
• Final Fantasy: First one was VII, favourite is IX. Not that I dislike VII, not at all, but Zidane is the greatest.
• Monkey Island: Not entirely sure which one I played first - my first exposure to the series was watching my older brothers play the first one, but it's possible that I played MI3 before going back to 1 and 2. In any case, my favourite is MI2, which is definitely not the first one I played.
• Civilization: I played a lot of Civ2 as a wee lad, but Civ4 thoroughly replaced it when I got that one. Just a better game overall, I find; just the best iteration of the "classic" Civ formula. These days, Civ5 is easily the one I play the most, although I still have a lot of love for Civ4.
• Pokémon might be an exception, though. Gen1 was the first one I played, and I have a soft spot for its jank to this day. Not that I think it's the best one - out of the generations that I played, 1-5, I think I would call Emerald the best game, but running through Kanto with some shitty pokes on the team is something I still enjoy once in a while. It probably helps that the game is overall fairly short.

There isn't a lot of series that I played more than two games of, come to think of it. I could stretch the definition with Baldur's Gate, I guess, as people seem to refer to BG2's expansion as the third entry of the BG trilogy (and, for the record, BG2 >>> BG1 > BG2 expansion), but otherwise, I can't think of any others.

[Fabulously Olivier]

Not really. It certainly holds true for my favorite Fire Emblem, but I was actually able to go back and re-examine it now to confirm it was in fact the best.

 

It does not, for example, hold true for my favorite Pokemon (gen 3), favorite Uncharted (3), Devil May Cry (5), Assassin's Creeds (2 and Syndicate), favorite musous (FEW, FEW3H, OPPW3), Xenoblade (3), Trails (Sky 2) or Final Fantasy (which never really clicked until 7 Remake). None of these were my first.

[Capt. Fargus]

Blazing Sword is my favorite FE game so far and it was my first. 

Bloodrayne I didn’t particularly like, but BR2 was better IMHO

The original Heroes of Might and Magic was my first in that series and HOMM3 is leaps and bounds better by far

Original Castlevania? Nah, Symphony of the Night definitely beats that. Tough for me to say though since I was there for the NES originals to quite a few series that evolved a long ways since

[Florete]

It's actually difficult for me to think of a series (with at least three games that I've played) where the first one I played is still my favorite. Resident Evil is the only one that comes to mind, where RE4 was my first and favorite to this day. Dark Souls would apply if you only count the games titled "Dark Souls," where Dark Souls 1 was my first and favorite, but I played Demon's Souls before Dark Souls 1.

Some others...

First FE was Blazing Blade, I like Radiant Dawn and Conquest more now.

First Pokemon was gen 1, I like gen 3 and 5 more now.

First Zelda was OoT, I like Windwaker and Breath of the Wild more now.

First Metroid was Fusion, Prime 2 is my favorite.

First Donkey Kong Country was the first one (I think), I like 2 and 3 more.

First 3D Mario was Mario 64, I like Sunshine and Odyssey more. I don't remember what my first 2D Mario was.

First Shantae was the first one, favorite is Pirate's Curse.

First Bioshock was the first one, favorite is 2.

First Ratchet and Clank game was the first one, favorite is Up Your Arsenal.

First Sly Cooper was the first one, Sly 2 is my favorite.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I feel the first game in the series being my favourite is rare for me, which makes sense, since on average, I do think game design improves with time, as devs build on the good ideas of old games. Off the top of my head: Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Pokemon, Ace Attorney, Mario, Mega Man, Mega Man X, Castlevania, Suikoden, Wild Arms, Tales, Xenosaga, Metroid, Ace Attorney, Zero Escape are all series where the first I played is definitely not my favourite.

Some series where the first one I played ranks the highest for me are:

-the first Valkyrie Profile was a game that really drew me in with its unique story and pacing, I really enjoyed all the little einherjar vignettes building toward a common theme. It is something that few RPGs have done before or since. By contrast VP2 was much more generic and VPDS is kinda muddled with bad gameplay.

-the first Devil May Cry is the only one in the series I really love. Its enemy design just feels so much more interesting than the rest of the series, which I tend to find more mindless (caveat: I haven't played 5). When I learned that some of the main people involved with DMC1 weren't part of the rest of the series it was the least surprising thing in the world to me. Fortunately Bayonetta actually lived up to DMC for me, and... I think I barely prefer 1 to 2 although you could argue me on that. (Haven't gotten around to 3.)

-So has anyone else even heard of the Marathon triogy? Bungie's big thing before Halo, but hardly anyone played it because Mac-exclusive. Anyway the three games are very similar in terms of gameplay, but the first game has the best atmosphere IMO.

-I suppose if one considers the Xeno games a series then Xenogears is my first and my favourite, but -saga and -blade are enough of a departure in terms of tone (not to mention having different names) that I'm not really inclined to count this one.

[Jotari]

It makes sense. Games tend to run on the same themes of gameplay and plot even if modifications are made. So your first exposure is definitely going to leave the heaviest impact. But I think near the top of a favourite list is going to be a lot more accurate than at the actual top. For me I'll toss out

Zelda: First game was Ocarina of Time. But my favourite games are Majora's Mask and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. And I'd rate The Wind Waker as equal to Ocarina of Time. All in all though I'd have to say Ocarina of Time was pretty formative to me.

Metroid: First game the original Metroid on the NES. Favourite game, probably Fusion. I played all of the main series Metroid games in release order which, to me, meant each one was better than the last. Though Super Metroid is definitely a contender for Fusion and Dread is also great, though not without some issues. The one thing playing the NES version before all the others probably influenced was my perception of Zero Mission however. Others seem to like it a lot better than I do.

Fire Emblem: First game was Radiant Dawn. Favourite games, it you put a gun to my head, probably Binding Blade, Shadow Dragon or Engage. But I like all of the Fire Emblem games quite a lot. However I think the inverse of first game bias hit me pretty hard in regards to Path of Radiance. As I played that not only after Radiant Dawn, but after most of the series. As a result if felt a bit stale and unoriginal by the time I got to it.

Final Fantasy: First game Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VIII. Favourite games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VIII. So, yeah, this is probably first time bias hitting me really hard on this example. Maybe because these games are more plot focused? Nah, that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense as Final Fantasy stories tend to be pretty diverse. For what it's worth I really like IX as well.

Ace Attorney: First game was the first game while my favourites are Tirals and Tribulations and Spirit of Justice.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Jotari

[Armagon]

Hmmm. I think this really only holds true for me with.....Pokemon. And even then, it's BW2 that's my favorite, not BW, the ones i actually started with. Just to list off a few series in addition to that:

• Xeno: started with Xenoblade 1, 2 was my favorite game of all time for years until 3 surpassed it.
• Fire Emblem: started with Awakening, current favorite is Engage (previous record holder was Radiant Dawn).
• Zelda: dual-start with Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening, current favorite is Tears of the Kingdom (previous record holder was Majora's Mask).
• Metroid: started with Super, current favorite is Dread.
• Atelier: started with Rorona, current favorite is Lulua.
• Kirby: started with Return to Dream Land, current favorite is a tie between Planet Robobot and Forgotten Land.
• 2D Mario: started with Mario Land, current favorite is Wonder (previous record holder was NSMB Wii).
• 3D Mario: started with Galaxy, current favorite is Galaxy 2.

We'll be here all day if i keep going but if anything, i'm noticing the opposite. The most recent entry is the one that tends to be my favorite. This is admittedly a new trend however and given some of my previous favorites were ones i held onto for years, i don't think it's as simple as it being recency bias.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Armagon

[Baron the Shining Blade]

This is harder than I thought it would be when I actually thought about it, since a fair amount of series I only played one or two entries (Final Fantasy, Tales of, Zelda, Wolfenstein, Metroid)

At the moment I can think of two of each where 1st game bias is true or false

True

Sonic: Sonic CD was my first and will probably always be my favorite. I was 6 or 7 when the first PC port came out, and with the rockin' US soundtrack, it made the series for me

Mario: Okay......I'm actually unsure about this one. I remember playing Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World at my neighbors all the time, and SMW is my favorite. But I got a Game Boy for my 5th birthday (I think. That along with eating some Alpha-Bits cereal at my grandma's is literally one of the earliest memories I can recall) and eventually my first owned Mario game, Super Mario Land. I'm not entirely sure which I actually played first, but considering the SNES and All-Stars were out before I got a Game Boy, I'm gonna assume I played the former first, therefore holding to true first game bias

 

False

Fire Emblem: Started with Blazing Blade though it is up there, favorite is Heroes (beating old favorites I once set like Radiant Dawn and Warriors)

Kirby: Started with Dream Land 2, favorite I would say is Forgotten Land

[Fire Emblem Fan]

For me, I would say it's actually kind of rare for the first game I play in a series to be my favorite. Fire Emblem, for example, the first one I played was Shadow Dragon on the DS. Now, Blazing Blade is my favorite, and SD isn't even in my Top 5 FE games (still love it, though, of course). Crash Bandicoot, first one I played was the original, but my favorite is Warped (the third one), and there's three other Crash games I like more than the original. Spyro, first I played was the original, favorite is the second one. First Metroid was Fusion, but I like Super, Zero Mission, Prime 1, and Dread all more than it. First Mario was Super Mario Bros. 2, but I like Super Mario Bros. 3, World, both Galaxy games, 3D Land and 3D World, and other Mario games more than it. First Ratchet & Clank was the original, but I like Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal, Tools of Destruction, A Crack in Time, and others more than it. And so on and so forth with some other franchises.

Castlevania and Resident Evil are the two big ones I can think of where the first one I played has remained my favorite. My first Castlevania was Symphony of the Night, my first RE was RE4.

[Armchair General]

It doesn't really holds up with me. With Smash Bros. I grew up with Melee, came to love Brawl significantly more. After that, the series kind of lost it's magic. 

 

Pokemon is kind of bland, considering how my first game was Diamond and the highest point for me was Black 2.

Only thing that might be true is the fact that I liked Fates and Awakening more than the newer games in the series

[lenticular]

For me, it varies. There are some series where it either fully or mostly applies, but others where it just isn't the case at all. First, the ones where it holds mostly true:

The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past was my first, and is still my favourite by quite a distance. I still go back and fully replay it every so often, and it was the only Zelda game that had managed to hold my interest enough for me to complete until the Switch remake of Link's Awakening.

Super Mario: Technically, my first was Super Mario Bros 3 on my cousin's NES, but the first I really got into was Super Mario World when I got a SNES. These days, I'd say it's pretty much a tie between World and Odyssey for my favourite.

Fire Emblem: My first was Path of Radiance, and while I don't call it my absolute favourite these days, it's still up there. There really isn't much between Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, and Three Houses for me.

Now ones where it doesn't:

Mario Kart: Super was my first, but Double Dash is my favourite.

Civilization: My first was Civ II but my favourite is a tossup between 4 and 5 (or Alpha Centauri if you count that).

Life Is Strange: My first was the original, but my favourite is True Colors.

XCOM: I started with Enemy Unknown, but my favourite now is Chimera Squad.

Mass Effect: I started with 1, but vastly prefer both 2 and 3.

The Sims: Started with 1, favourite was 3.

I suspect that if I tried hard to think of more, it'd be easier for me to come up with ones where the rule didn't apply than ones where it does. But I will say that The Legend of Zelda is the one example where it really holds up for me. I've spent thirty years hoping for a game that hits me in quite the same way that Link to the Past does, and nothing else in the series has even come close. And I doubt that it ever will, because no matter how good the game is, it just has too much inertia of nostalgia to compete with at this point.

[Cysx]

I've also noticed this, but I think it mostly holds true for people who don't play a lot of games in general.
I, uh, I don't know where to start for me.

... actually I just remembered I made a top 100 list, recently, I knew this would be useful at some point. I'll only do series with over four games I've played or so, otherwise I'll be here forever.
 

Spoiler

Fire Emblem :
First : Blazing Blade
Favorite ? : No, it's Radiant Dawn

Castlevania :
First : Harmony of Dissonance
Favorite ? : No, Aria of Sorrow

Shining Force :
First : Shining the Holy Ark
Favorite ? : Yes !

Zelda :
First : Zelda 1
Favorite ? : No, either Oracle of Ages or Majora's Mask

Phantasy Star :
First : Phantasy Star 2
Favorite ? : No, either Phantasy Star IV or Phantasy Star Online I & II

Megaman :
First : Megaman 2
Favorite ? : I like Zero 3 a bit more, but as far as classic Megaman goes, yes.

Mario :
First : Mario 1
Favorite ? : No, Mario Odyssey is

Mario RPGS :
First : Superstar Saga
Favorite ? : Yes

Metroid :
First : Metroid Fusion
Favorite ? : Probably Metroid Prime but it's kind of a four-ways tie up there

Super Smash Bros :
First : Melee
Favorite ? : It was for a long time, but I gotta give it to Ultimate, I think.

The King of Fighters :
First : '99
Favorite ? : No, it's XIII

Dead or Alive :
First : DoA 2
Favorite ? : Almost, but it's 5.

Tales of :
First : Symphonia
Favorite ? : It's up there, but Graces F wins.

Sonic :
First : Sonic 2
Favorite ? : Just like with Mario I vastly prefer 3D so this format doesn't really work. But unlike Mario the first 3D one I've played, Sonic Adventure, is still my favorite.

Final Fantasy :
First : FFIX
Favorite ? : Absolutely.

Resident Evil :
First : Resident Evil Remake
Favorite ? : No, it's RE4.

Nintendo Wars :
First : Advance Wars
Favorite ? : Somehow all four Advance Wars are kinda tied for me, so in a way yes ?

 

TL;DR : It varies.

Merry christmas 🙂

Edited December 25, 2023 by Cysx

[indigoasis]

Well, let's see...

• I'll start with the obvious; my first Fire Emblem game was Blazing Blade, but I'd say SoV or PoR are my favorites.
• My first Zelda game was technically Four Swords, and then Ocarina of Time right after that, so I usually say OoT was the first real game I played in the series... not to say Four Swords is bad, but OoT kinda stole the thunder after that for me.
• For my favorite series, Castlevania, the first one I played was the original and I binged through the rest of the series from there. Bloodlines is my favorite of the classic style (with ReBirth in a close second if not tied), and Portrait of Ruin is my favorite of the Metroidvania style.
• As far as Halo goes, the first game I had any exposure to was Reach at a friend's house. The first one I actually got around to playing on my own was Combat Evolved in MCC, but Halo 2 is my pick for favorite.
• For Need for Speed, the first one I played was Carbon. That's probably still my favorite, but I'm sure nostalgia has a lot to do with that.
• For Xenoblade, X was the first one I actually played, but 3 is probably my favorite.

I could probably go on, but generally, it seems like the first game in a series I play doesn't tend to stick if I play other games.

[vanguard333]

For me, I think being the first game I've played in the series probably helps, but it is not a guarantee.

The Legend of Zelda: my favourite game in the series: Spirit Tracks, was definitely not my first Zelda game; my first Zelda games were the original, Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask; all on the Collector's Edition on the GameCube. However, as a kid, I didn't get very far on any of them, I ended up missing Twilight Princess for a long time as a result of indecision on whether to get the GameCube version or the Wii version, and I skipped Phantom Hourglass, so Spirit Tracks ended up being the first Zelda game that I completed.

Fire Emblem: my first Fire Emblem game: Path of Radiance, is still my favourite Fire Emblem game.

Pokémon: my favourite Pokémon game is Platinum, and it was definitely not my first Pokémon game. Before that, I had played Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Sapphire. However, they were both my brother's games; Diamond was both the first Pokémon game that was mine and the first one where I really began to fully understand how to play it; the first game where it clicked, and Platinum was essentially a better Diamond.

Mario (3D): my first 3D Mario is Sunshine, and it definitely is not my favourite, as even as a kid, I was not blind to its faults that I later learned were a result of its rushed development. My favourite is Mario Galaxy.

Mario Kart: Mario Kart 64 was my first Mario Kart game, but my favourite would have to be either Double-Dash or Mario Kart Wii.

[Integrity]

23 hours ago, Florete said:

Resident Evil is the only one that comes to mind, where RE4 was my first and favorite to this day.

i've been thinking about this all day and i think it's precisely the same for me. i can't think of a single (other) franchise where i played >3 games where i absolutely prefer the first one that i played.

age of empires: played 1 first as a child, 1 is dogshit, 2 is the best and it isn't close; bioshock: played 1 first, liked 2 more; call of duty: played 2 first, it's nowhere near my top of calls of duty i've played; command and conquer: first red alert as a child, but i'm far too fond of 3/kw; fromsoft games: played dark souls 1 first, like dark souls 2 the most; doom: played 1 first as a child, like 2 or 2016 most; elder scrolls: played daggerfall as a child, i don't know what my favorite is but it sure as shit isn't daggerfall; the ace attorney faire: played 3 first and it wasn't even my favorite of the first two i played; monster hunter: same story right down to the numbers; mechwarrior: no idea if i played 1 or 2 first but my favorite is easily 5; mega man technically: played 2 first, like 4 best so far; quake: played 3 first, i think, and now my favorite is 1; sonic: no memory of if i played 1 or 2 first, but my favorite so far is either lost world or frontiers so it's immaterial; total war: first rome, best -hammer; xcom: first the original, best chimera squad; rgg: first yakuza 0, best judgment if we're generalizing all the way, or 6 if it's just the kiryu games

e: couple other random ones i thought of while feeding the cat: it ain't fallout: played 2 first and now think 2 sucks ass; wolfenstein: played 3d first and 3d is genuinely painful to play now; ys: i either played felghana first or played one of the originals way back before i had real cognition since my dad had them, but in either case i liked origins more; baldur's gate: first was 1 out of the four or five i've played and 1 is the worst by far; metroid: first was zero mission, favorite was prime

thinking idly about non-steam franchises that are on top of my head or i stole from the thread: it ain't fire emblem: first 8 and, while i still like it, it isn't my favorite; final fantasy: first 7 or 8 and favorite x-2; zelda: first link to past, favorite wind wanker; heroes of might and magic: first 2, best 3; non-heroes of might and magic: first was one of the xeen ones, best is 7

there's a maybe, though: for etrian odyssey i played 3 first and think i preferred 4, but it's been long enough that could be revisited

and then there's resident evil. my top two residents evil are probably 4 and 4R lol

e2: I THOUGHT OF ANOTHER: soul calibur. 2 still hasn't been surpassed

Edited December 25, 2023 by Integrity

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Nope. Plenty of cases where I've found different entries that I prefer.

Metroid - Fusion was first, Super and Zero Mission and preferred

Fire Emblem - Binding Blade was first, favorite is Thracia 776

Megaman X - Megaman Xtreme 2 was first, X6 and X1 are preferred

Ori and the Blind Forest - Played them in order and much prefer the 2nd game

Kingdom Hearts - Played them in order, prefer the 2nd game

Super Mario Bros - Played Mario 1 and 3 first, prefer Super Mario World.

20xx - Played 20xx first, prefer 30xx.

Sonic - Played Sonic 1 and 2 first, refer Sonic 3.

Super Robot Wars - Played Alpha Gaiden first, favorite is W followed by Z2 Saisei

 

I could go go on!

[Jotari]

Another aspect to this is that you're probably more likely to play one of the better games in a well established series first. Few people start with Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light and then move on from there. But even with that in mind, it seems the general vibe of most people is an overwhelming "No", with any yes instances being mostly incidental.

[Florete]

4 hours ago, Integrity said:

e2: I THOUGHT OF ANOTHER: soul calibur. 2 still hasn't been surpassed

Oh, I forgot about that series. That's another one that doesn't fit the theme for me, because I played SC2 first but ended up preferring SC3 because I unironically loved the single player mode...which I remember being hated on a lot, but I just Googled it and found a lot of people praising it. Huh.

[Integrity]

31 minutes ago, Florete said:

Oh, I forgot about that series. That's another one that doesn't fit the theme for me, because I played SC2 first but ended up preferring SC3 because I unironically loved the single player mode...which I remember being hated on a lot, but I just Googled it and found a lot of people praising it. Huh.

yeah the sc3 singleplayer fans are.... weird. it's like a grassroots campaign to rehabilitate the image of the singleplayer modes of sc3 and try to push the narrative that they were overhated, but nobody's actually organizing it or anything. i've always been a hater, so i can't really speak to what's going on, but it's one of those things where the lovers are really performative and vocal for some reason

e:

2 hours ago, Dr. Tarrasque said:

Super Robot Wars - Played Alpha Gaiden first,

condolences

Edited December 26, 2023 by Integrity

[ARMADS!!!]

I thought about this "theory" too as it happens with a bunch of stuff for me (not only games, I mean).

 - My sorta favorite Fire Emblem is FE7, well maybe not anymore, but it still is somewhat special for me even though I know it's not the one with the highest quality or with the most coherent plot, and that's surely because it was my first ono, if I had played it after FE6 Im sure Id be shitting on the plot holes, and if I had played it after almost any other FE Id shitting be on the plot.

 - But that's not always the case, I'm sure my first Sonic game was either Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 (or Sonic Flash but I guess this one doesn't count lol) but my favorite is Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Mania might be a strong contender too, but my inability to finish Oil Ocean with Knuckles + the fact that I dislike the Emerald chasing special stages a lot might put it behind Sonic 3&K, either way Mania was far from being my first Sonic game).

 - On the other hand, Sonic Adventure DX was my first 3D Sonic game and I gotta say I like it more than any of the newer 3D ones, even though I reconize it has worse quality (I mean, bugs that make you die on botomless pits, everything about Big's levels,...), it still has a special place there, for me (also I like the cheesiness of the dialogue on older 3D Sonic games than on the newer ones).

 - Ace Attorney 1 was my first Ace Attorney and while I LOVE it (so much Im now playing it for the third time on the spam of a year and a half), AA3 is such a masterpiece that it is my favorite.

 - I played two Pokemon games until now, Emerald and Fire Red, started Fire Red first and... I can't say I like one more than the other, Emerald definitively feels like a bit bit of an inprovement in terms of quality but not enough to make me like it more.

 - I surely like GTA V better than San Andreas, and I played San Andreas first.

 

 Gee, I can't remember the order I played other games from game series I played more than one entry of, a bunch of them I just played a bit of each game in a row and decided to keep playing the one I liked the most (like when I played MegaMan 1 to 4 or 5 and decided I liked MM3 better, or when I played the first 3 Streets of Rage and decided I liked Streets of Rage 2 better, or sort of with Final Fantasy too, or Eccho the Dolphin until I decided I didn't know what the fuck was happening in neither and stopped playing them altogheter but I had a favorite one,...) but guess this doesn't really count since I played only a bit of each game to see which I liked the most, so it didn't have that feeling of nostalgia or of being "the one that got you into the series". If I remember more I might edit the post later...

Edited December 26, 2023 by ARMADS!!!

[miranda]

For me it doesn't apply to all games.

Edited April 6 by miranda

[Noctis51]

2 is the golden number for me. Suikoden 2, Breath of fire 2, sonic the hedgehog 2, Super Mario brothers 2 (NES), Super Mario World 2 (SNES era), Star Fox 64 (after Star Fox SNES), Tales of Destiny 2, Golden Axe 2, Shining Force 2, Illusion of Gaia (2nd in soul blazer trilogy), Sacred Stones (My 2nd FE after Radiant Dawn, and also the 2nd localized FE), Earthbound (2nd in mother series, even though I played Mother 1 2nd), Zone of Enders 2nd Runner, Metal Gear Solid 2, and possibly more. 

One thought I had a long time ago about trilogies (in movies or games, etc) in like college or something was like, in art, 1 is the creative get everything started hard work to get a good result, 3 is the get serious have to make a final statement, and 2 is just a party in between. 

I like the parties, not that I always play in order but often I end up doing that. 

Super Mario RPG is an exception I guess, but that's because I think Paper Mario was so not a true sequel in content.

[Yexin]

my experience is:

Pokémon, first played FireRed, it IS my favorite pokémon game to replay, but my favorite pokemon in general is Platinum

Dark Souls, first played DS1, and i think that it's the best DS game overall, but I like DS3 better

Kingdom Hearts, first played KH1 and it is indeed the one i like the most story-wise, but gameplay is of course better in KH2, so I'd say overall I like KH" better

Final Fantasy, my order was 1, 2 (interrupted), 5 (interrupted), 6, 7, 10 (interrupted), 15, 8 (interrupted), 9 (interrupted), 10 (completed), 8 again (interrupted again), 16, and my favorite is 10

Trails, played first CS1 then 2, the went back to the Sky trilogy, then Crossbell, then replayed CS1 and 2, continued with 3 and 4, still have to play Hajimari, but I honestly wouldn't be able to pick one as my favorite... i'd probably pick Sky the 3rd, so I guess I'll fall in love with Hajimari, according to what I've heard about it

Bravely, played them in release order (Default, Second, Default 2), my favorite is Second

Inazuma Eleven, played them in release order (1, 2 (both versions), 3 (all 3 versions), Go, Go 2, Go 3 is still japan-only), and my favorite overall is IE3, although I really like how the endgame of IE Go 2 plays

Fire Emblem, my order was 7, 13, 8, 6, 4, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and my favorite is 9

God of War, i played them in release order (spin-offs included), and my favorite is GoW2 (GoW4 is interrupted and of course I haven't played GoW5 yet)

there's probably more, but yeah i'm generally not among people who think their first game in a series is their favorite

Edited January 9 by Yexin

[Original Alear]

I prefer Fata Morgana original on steam (played first) to the prequel and to 7th Lair. I also think that it's better than the Switch version. However, the prequel is pretty damned good.

Edited January 7 by Original Alear