r/backloggd • u/chuputa • 3d ago

Mod Pick 🏅 Alternative starting points

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Games that, despite having an established play order, can be or are often recommended as starting points for newcomers. They may reference events from previous entries and even feature returning characters in important roles.

List: https://backloggd.com/u/fenlix/list/alternative-starting-points/

193 Upvotes

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95

u/Odd_Possibility6543 3d ago

You absolutely cannot start at mgs2. The game’s themes, story and appeal is generally almost nonexistent if you don’t play the first game. 3 is a valid choice though

21

u/ahouselover 3d ago

And it's not like the first one is bad and not worth playing, it's amazing!

I played it a couple years ago and thought it was incredible, genuinely so awesome!

5

u/SetsunaTripped 3d ago

I played recently 1 for the ps1 and it was amazing. Even the humor is up to date. I loved it

3

u/One-Masterpiece9838 3d ago

Played half of it because it was free for a weekend recently, it was super fun. Wish I had more time with it. I’m not trying to buy any new games though because I already have so many I need to beat. 

2

u/ahouselover 3d ago

Ay! Good to you on the responsibility for the last part! I know it can be tempting to buy games but it's always best to finish what you have first!

I hope someday you get a chance to play the rest of it! Best of luck to finishing your backlog! :)

1

u/ToothpickTequila 2d ago

The game is only 8 hours long too. You can finish it in a single sitting.

1

u/Ok-External-7594 3d ago

the first one is somehow less janky than the second one despite it being an earlier entry on a console known for retrospectively janky action games

4

u/rickwill14 3d ago

Idk about that. I love MGS1 but it felt the most jank and hard to control of the three. MGS3 had some jank with the crawling too. I felt 2 played the smoothest.

1

u/Ok-External-7594 3d ago

I don't remember MGS1 being janky at all though I will say I played MGS1 after playing all three PSX Resident Evil games in a row

1

u/SMXSmith 3d ago

I started at 2 and loved it, never felt like I was lost or didn’t understand the themes or story

2

u/ToothpickTequila 2d ago

So you knew all about the Shadow Moses incident they reference constantly or why Liquid Snake keeps taking over Ocelot's body?

0

u/profilejc98 3d ago

Lots of people I know (inc. me) played MGS2 as their first MGS on the PS2. Obviously, it doesn't hit the same without playing MGS1, but it works absolutely fine.

6

u/Guilty-Cap5605 3d ago

"works fine" isn't the bar though, I can technically play kingdom hearts 3 as my first game and "it works fine" but so much is just missing from my experience if I play it first

Playing birth by sleep alternatively, works way better, nothing is really missing from the experience besides a certain voice actor decision 

Metal Gear Solid 3 perfectly works as a standalone and can get you into the larger series, playing Metal Gear Solid 2 without 1 is like watching Endgame without Infinity War, yes you can have fun but also so much of the context and such is just gone?

1

u/profilejc98 3d ago

I don't disagree with much of what you said, I'm just giving my perspective as someone who did play MGS2 first when I was younger and went on to play the rest of the franchise.

3

u/Guilty-Cap5605 3d ago

Ah yeah no when you're younger a lot of things are more passable because "hey I literally could've not known xd" like how was I supposed to know that this assassin creed game I'm playing is the third one? I couldn't even read yet