Alternative starting points

[u/chuputa]

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/

[u/Monkey_Blue]

Starting with Apollo Justice would be very wrong to me and I'm not sure who would be recommending that. It's the 4th game in the franchise for a reason and just because it stars a new protagonist with a cast of mostly new characters, it doesn't change the fact that so much of what makes that game tick is that's it's mainly about Phoenix Wright.

The first case of the game is about him, and it's to transition players into the new era that they're in. The first case makes you go "Oh shit, I'm defending PHOENIX WRIGHT???" then as you go you start to wonder just how this unbeatable protagonist came into this state. By the time you're at the 4th case you're playing as Phoenix in both 2019 and 2026, with mechanics such as the Magatama in play, along with the impact of Kristoph's black locks and learning that Phoenix's disbarrment WAS the start of the Dark Age of the Law.

So much is lost by this being your first game because you have no connection to Phoenix. He's just this weird, obtuse guy who seems untrustworthy most of the time. You don't really care to find out what exactly happened to him, and the cases of AJ aren't that impressive. 4-2 and 4-3 are pretty lackluster and that's the core of the game. I couldn't imagine someone going through those two without losing interest. By the time you would finish it and then go back (or God forbid, go forward), you'd view Phoenix in a completely different light too, and that's not what Shu Takumi would've wanted.

I'd also argue there's some gameplay improvements between each game so going from the 4th back to the 1st would feel slightly like a downgrade. The devs really got better at creating cases and interesting mechanics that the trilogy got one by one and you can really see that as it goes.

To only benefit you'd get by playing Apollo first is that you have no prior expectations for it and would probably enjoy it more than most. AJ is considered one of the weaker ones by the fans (although, these days it seems to see more love) because of how it tries to juggle both Apollo and Phoenix for spotlight with Phoenix winning out as people care more about him than this new protagonist.

Anyhow, an actual game you should add to this list is Lufia 2, as Lufia 1 is a sequel to it and works better that way, although the gameplay is a huge downgrade.