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No-spoiler safe game sequels
Deusfaux
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Could ya'll help me out and tell me which of these games are safe to play
where "safe" - means there are no major spoilers for previous titles in the series
and "play" - means giving the game a basic spin (likely less than an hour's worth, playing through an introductory sequence or tutorial up until the game opens up, just to get a sense of the look and feel of the game)
That is to say, some sequels are prequels, some are just new/different adventures not particularly linked to events of the first games, etc etc.
Again it's important to note this is only really dealing with the opening hour or so. If there are major spoilers or references beyond that, it's still safe. If the spoilers are contained within intro FMV or cutscenes, but the first hour or so of GAMEPLAY is still safe, then it's safe. (FMV's and cutscense can be skipped or avoided until the gameplay starts)
Assassin’s Creed 2
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Bioshock 2
Darksiders 2
Dead Space 2
Devil May Cry 4 (DMC1 completed)
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3
God of War 3
God of War Chains of Olympus
God of War Ghost of Sparta
Halo 3 (Halo1 completed)
Halo ODST
Halo Reach
Halo 4
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS1 completed)
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (MGS1 completed)
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 3
where "safe" - means there are no major spoilers for previous titles in the series
and "play" - means giving the game a basic spin (likely less than an hour's worth, playing through an introductory sequence or tutorial up until the game opens up, just to get a sense of the look and feel of the game)
That is to say, some sequels are prequels, some are just new/different adventures not particularly linked to events of the first games, etc etc.
Again it's important to note this is only really dealing with the opening hour or so. If there are major spoilers or references beyond that, it's still safe. If the spoilers are contained within intro FMV or cutscenes, but the first hour or so of GAMEPLAY is still safe, then it's safe. (FMV's and cutscense can be skipped or avoided until the gameplay starts)
Assassin’s Creed 2
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Bioshock 2
Darksiders 2
Dead Space 2
Devil May Cry 4 (DMC1 completed)
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3
God of War 3
God of War Chains of Olympus
God of War Ghost of Sparta
Halo 3 (Halo1 completed)
Halo ODST
Halo Reach
Halo 4
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS1 completed)
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (MGS1 completed)
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 3
Deusfaux on
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Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3 I do believe they are both spoiler-free within at the very least the first hour or so, but IIRC each one stands almost completely by itself and none of them make reference to each other.
God of War 3 is not safe to play. Pretty certain major details of the previous game(s) are recapped within the first few minutes.
Final Fantasy X-2 is not safe. It stands entirely on the shoulders of the game before. It's been a very long time since I was around this game, but based on the plot alone I think it's fair to say that no, it's not safe to play. It may not even be safe to read the back of the case.
Assassin's Creed 2 is not safe to play. It begins right where the first ends and events are explained.
I thiiiink MGS4 doesn't have unskippable spoilers at the beginning... maybe? It's been a long time since I played it. If there are spoilers, I don't think they were obvious as spoilers to someone who hasn't played the previous games (because I hadn't, I am ashamed to say). I seem to remember there's stuff that I would consider spoilery a couple hours in though.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is just like Final Fantasy X-2, in that it relies on the first game.
Halo 3 relies on Halo 2.
The Assassins Creed series goes 1->2->Brotherhood->Revelations->3. It is assumed you know what's up in the previous games. You can safely skip 1 though, because quite honestly 1 is worse in every way, and 2 explains everything you need to know right up front.
I think of Halo 2 and to the best of my memory all that's really established in the first bit is that Master Chief is going to fight some more Covenant. Maybe there is more going on but I think it was easy to tune out, and shut if off before it got into the meat of a new story.
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edit: the tricky ones I guess I'm wary of sorta recap or play their cutscenes through the initial gameplay, rather than before it.
Especially Mass Effect 2, 15min or so in there is a "Hey remember these key plot points and surprises in Mass Effect?" conversation.
In that case AC2 is definitely a bad one. There's dialogue about previous events as you're progressing.
edit: Some of these games are only as good as, or even worse, than their predecessors by most accounts (Darksiders 2, Bioshock 2, Dead Space 2, God of War 3, Devil May Cry 4, and IMHO Mass Effect 2) so you should really just play the first game too.
Final Fantasy X2 kind of depends, since both it and Final Fantasy X have multiple endings. There's kind-of a sort-of spoiler for a possible Final Fantasy X ending within the first couple of hours of the game, but, really, it's not much more of a spoiler than if you just looked at the cast of characters who are in X2 versus the ones in X.
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Yeah Bioshock 2 is more or less a side story and doesn't depend on the first games story all that much out side of a few familiar names. But considering Bioshock 1 can be found on the cheap you'd be doing yourself a diservice not to play the first.
Borderlands 2 could be safe-ish. Other than what was in the vault in the first game and who a few of the major NPCs are its pretty stand alone. There are a few moments that could be gut punches if you played the first game and the characters involved were your main. But in reality its a game about loot, booze, Moxxi's rocking boobage, and wondering if you can find a gun thats more awesome than your last gun that ate lightning and shat thunder.
so by the time you're getting 'real experience with some of gaming's best' - the real experience is at least a couple hours in, if not more, and by that time, with few exceptions, even safe games will have spoilery references to events in the previous titles.
also, the first games in the series are dirt cheap by now, especially during steam/holiday sales. for me, if i can buy a game for less than a grande mocha at starbucks, then i'm not too upset about there being no demo.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Well, I'll save you some time and tell you that AC1 isn't really worth playing at this point. AC2 tells you what you need to know and you won't have to deal with the frustrating mechanics from AC1.
Beyond that, Halo ODST is pretty safe (it's a side-story for Halo 3, FWIW) and Halo Reach is totally safe since it's a prequel. A lot of the other games on your list are either spoiler unsafe or just won't make much sense if you haven't played the first one.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
* Assassin’s Creed 2 - Start with this game. AC1 can be skipped/watched on YouTube.
* Bioshock 2 - Play Bioshock 1 first. Only play this game if you loved Bioshock and want more of it.
* Darksiders 2 - Almost a completely different experience from the first Darksiders. You can probably play this by itself without experiencing Darksiders 1, as long as you realize that the two games are different in tone and style. They barely overlap, in terms of story.
* Dead Space 2 - Play Dead Space 1 first. Dead Space 2 is like Bioshock 2, in that it's just more of the same.
* Devil May Cry 4 (DMC1 completed) - Safe to play on its own.
* Final Fantasy X-2 - Completely different from Final Fantasy X. Probably safe to play by itself with no experience of FF-X.
* Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Continuation of the story from FF XIII. Should probably play FF XIII first.
* God of War - Should probably play these games in sequence.
* Mass Effect - While the trilogy is meant to be played in sequence (some aspects of the saves carry over from game to game), the first game is markedly different than the 2nd and 3rd games (goddamn Mako sections), and shit doesn't get real until the 2nd game anyway. If I were to do it all over again, I would have skipped out on the first game, then played ME 2 and ME 3 in sequence. If you are playing the games just to get an "experience" of them, though, you should "experience" a few hours of ME 1, just to see how it is. Play your way to the point where you land on planets with the Mako, then you'll get the gist of the game and its horrible inventory system.
* Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS1 completed) - This almost requires you to have played all Metal Gear games prior to it, at least to truly appreciate it. I'd not play this game until you completed MGS 2 and MGS 3, minimum. The gameplay is more refined than the prior games, but you will want to play this in sequence.
* Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker (MGS1 completed) - Very minor spoilers, but can be played as a standalone. It barely influences/is influenced story-wise by the other MGS games. Also the most fun Metal Gear game ever made, in my opinion, especially in co-op.
* Uncharted - Very minor story elements are carried over in between each game. They are just about as related as the Indiana Jones movies are related (as in, not much at all). You can play each game on its own. The gameplay of 2 and 3 are pretty much identical, and both have outstanding set-pieces that you'll have to play all the way through to experience.
Far Cry 3
Deus Ex 2 (To be avoided as it shows how bad things can go when making a PC game on a console)
Deus Ex 3
NOLF 2
Serious Sam 2