Why do some people want to play Part 2 of a game without playing Part 1?

Dalek · Jun 16, 2020

I keep seeing people say "I never played The Last of Us but I'm looking forward to playing Part 2 this week!"

I...I just don't understand. I see this with movies and TV shows too. People who have never watched a tv show that has 5 seasons will ask if they can just skip to the most recent season. Imagine starting Better Call Saul at Season 5. What's the point? The show/game isn't going anywhere-it's not a limited time thing. Play/watch them in order!

Deleted member 16908 · Jun 16, 2020

FOMO on participating in the launch hype/discourse

Guru Meditation · Jun 16, 2020

Fomo basically. They want to join in with everyone else experiencing it while it's new.

LightKiosk · Jun 16, 2020

They want in on the new hotness regardless of anything else.

Deleted member 1722 · Jun 16, 2020

For the most part you can cruise wikipedia and maybe youtube and you're all caught up.

Lord Fanny · Jun 16, 2020

Because they're weak and we're strong. We are kings of the universe

Ryuelli · Jun 16, 2020

Jtwo said:
For the most part you can cruise wikipedia and maybe youtube and you're all caught up.

Yep. I think that's especially true for games that are heavier on the story where the gameplay doesn't really add much.

LuckyLinus · Jun 16, 2020

Cant really compare it to jumping seasons ahead on a TV show, in most games its fine to jump ahead. Cant think of many examples where its not.

Deleted member 6263 · Jun 16, 2020

The same reason why I didn't play The Witcher 1 and 2 before playing 3. I didn't have the time and The Witcher 3 ended up doing a great job of telling a story that didn't require 20+ hours of prior knowledge of world history, story beats, and character motivations.

Some sequels are good at it, hopefully LoU2 will do that as well. Plus you can't compare 1 game to 5 seasons of a show. Plus you can watch recaps easily, if needed.

Mechaplum · Jun 16, 2020

It's quite easy now to pull up story summaries for most games on youtube anyway.

Halbrand · Jun 16, 2020

Because the predecessors have aged too much or the game can stand on its own well enough.

I played The Witcher 3 before the other two games and I loved being introduction to the Witcher world that way.

Also played Half-Life 2 without ever playing the first one and it was totally fine.

Tomo815 · Jun 16, 2020

Because time is limited and one has to decide how to spend his time/effort?

Look, its not guaranteed that I will like part 2, and right now I dont feel like I want to commit to play through part 1 yet. If the second game impresses me, then sure, I will go play part 1 and all the uncharted games and even the naughty dogs games they made before they became big.

I mean, have you ever experienced this in other mediums? discovered an actor/author/director last work and felt the desire to go watch their earlier works and see what the fuss was all about?

Cosmic Voyager · Jun 16, 2020

Mechaplum said:
It's quite easy now to pull up story summaries for most games on youtube anyway.

but why would you is the question? Reading a summary of a game doesn't give you any real understanding of its nuances or the specialness of the experience.

I personally wouldn't be able to enjoy jumping into the middle of a story without having experienced the beginning of it all

Dalek · Jun 16, 2020

My in laws never watched Fellowship of the Ring or Two Towers but they went to see Return of the King on opening night because "they just wanted to see how it ends." It bugs me to this day.

reKon · Jun 16, 2020

Fortunately, TLoU 1 is a game that you can beat in 15 hours and has been on sale for $10 15,000 times

Dalek · Jun 16, 2020

Tomo815 said:
Because time is limited and one has to decide how to spend his time/effort?

Look, its not guaranteed that I will like part 2, and right now I dont feel like I want to commit to play through part 1 yet. If the second game impresses me, then sure, I will go play part 1 and all the uncharted games and even the naughty dogs games they made before they became big.

I mean, have you ever experienced this in other mediums? discovered an actor/author/director last work and felt the desire to go watch their earlier works and see what the fuss was all about?

Do you do this with books as well? Do you start with Chapter 7 to make sure you'll like the book and then maybe later go back and read Chapter 1–and then jump ahead and read the final chaptet just to save time? If you can just read a summary on Wikipedia then what's the big deal? Who cares for nuance when you can just read a synopsis and be up to date?

BoxManLocke · Jun 16, 2020

You're telling us you've never ever failed to start a franchise from the first entry ?

It's not a direct sequel, there's a fair bit of representation in this game, people just want to experience the new hotness like everybody else... there are plenty of possible reasons, and nothing wrong with any of them.

BasilZero · Jun 16, 2020

If its not story exact like Final Fantasy - its fine.

I dont understand on story centric games like....say you start Mass Effect 2 without playing Mass Effect 1..like what?

Dalek · Jun 16, 2020

BoxManLocke said:
You're telling us you've never ever failed to start a franchise from the first entry ?

It's not a direct sequel, there's a fair bit of representation in this game, people just want to experience the new hotness like everybody else... there are plenty of possible reasons, and nothing wrong with any of them.

Something like NBA Jam-sure there no loss. But if it's a story based game or show-then why skip the first chapter?

Halbrand · Jun 16, 2020

Dalek said:
Do you do this with books as well? Do you start with Chapter 7 to make sure you'll like the book and then maybe later go back and read Chapter 1–and then jump ahead and read the final chaptet just to save time? If you can just read a summary on Wikipedia then what's the big deal? Who cares for nuance when you can just read a synopsis and be up to date?

It's not the same thing at all. Individual games' narratives should be able to standalone as a complete story.

Soriku · Jun 16, 2020

People are saying this about TLOU2? Personally I haven't seen this.

Dougieflesh · Jun 16, 2020

Because sometimes a Part 2 is more appealing to an individual than a Part 1. It's really not that deep.

Mechaplum · Jun 16, 2020

Cosmic Voyager said:
but why would you is the question? Reading a summary of a game doesn't give you any real understanding of its nuances or the specialness of the experience.

I personally wouldn't be able to enjoy jumping into the middle of a story without having experienced the beginning of it all

Lack of time and/or access? I did that with the Witcher 3. I also know many who skipped the first Mass effect and go straight into the second.

Noctis · Jun 16, 2020

FOMO, that's all it is. Then some will complain and quit. Nonsensical shit as usual.

TiltedParadoxes · Jun 16, 2020

It's their lives they can do what they want. Resident Evil 4 was the first RE game I ever finished and it was great.

GJ · Jun 16, 2020

To me The Last of Us kind of differentiates itself from other sequels by the way it's been titled. The Last of Us Part 2 makes it clear it's the second part of the same story. It's not The Last of Us 2, it's not The Last of Us: Whatever, it's The Last of Us Part 2. Part 2 of the same story. That's different from let's say Assassin's Creed 2, where outside of the overarching minor storyline it's entirely it's own thing. It's a continuation of the same story, so yeah, it's best to have played the first part. A summary or recap video won't do the experience justice in this case.

Spyware · Jun 16, 2020

You can't compare a video game to four seasons of a TV-series.
But I am also one of the people that think TLoU was nothing special.
Reading a summary of the story is absolutely enough. Very little "nuances" and whatever. You go there, do this, the people do X for Y reason. Done.
What you miss is directly filled in by the characters in the second game showing what they are and have become.

Dalek said:
Do you do this with books as well? Do you start with Chapter 7 to make sure you'll like the book and then maybe later go back and read Chapter 1–and then jump ahead and read the final chaptet just to save time? If you can just read a summary on Wikipedia then what's the big deal? Who cares for nuance when you can just read a synopsis and be up to date?

An even worse comparison! If it's like chapter 7 of a book it should be released as free DLC for the first game or sold as a season pass like episodic games. Are you saying the first game in incomplete?

If this game doesn't work as a stand-alone experience, it's a failure.

M. Wallace · Jun 16, 2020

Cause I don't give a shit about the story.

BoxManLocke · Jun 16, 2020

Dalek said:
Something like NBA Jam-sure there no loss. But if it's a story based game or show-then why skip the first chapter?

Because plenty of entries in big franchises are newcomer friendly.

The Witcher 3 is one of my favorite games of all time and I've never played the first one. Tried to play the second a bunch of times and lost interest.

Hell, if a franchise is known for being impossible to grasp unless you play all entries, I'm more likely to stay away from it altogether.

Tomo815 · Jun 16, 2020

Dalek said:
Do you do this with books as well? Do you start with Chapter 7 to make sure you'll like the book and then maybe later go back and read Chapter 1–and then jump ahead and read the final chaptet just to save time? If you can just read a summary on Wikipedia then what's the big deal? Who cares for nuance when you can just read a synopsis and be up to date?

With books I do it this way: I read the book everybody is talking about right now, and if I like it well enough, I will go look for older works by the same author. I read Haruki Murakami´s Dance Dance Dance first, and then went looking for A Wild Sheep Chase later because I enjoyed it so much.

it makes no sense to invest yourself into something before you even know if you are going to like it.

Finaika · Jun 16, 2020

Because Part 1 is old.

Milk · Jun 16, 2020

??? Who cares? Why get so upset at someone just wanting to play a game lmao

Playing older games in a series is not a mandatory prerequisite.

Dalek · Jun 16, 2020

Milk said:
??? Who cares? Why get so upset at someone just wanting to play a game lmao

Playing older games in a series is not a mandatory prerequisite.

For Contra and Super Contra-sure.

For Last of Us 1 and 2 it's pretty vital.

BoxManLocke · Jun 16, 2020

Dalek said:
For Contra and Super Contra-sure.

For Last of Us 1 and 2 it's pretty vital.

Not really. If the writing is good enough it should stand on its own. Especially for a sequel that takes place five years later.

Newcomers might miss some things, sure. But if they like the game, then they'll find the drive to play the first one and everybody wins.

Also people who started a franchise in a different order might have a new outlook on things, which makes for some interesting discussions.

Hikari · Jun 16, 2020

I started with Halo 2 over halo 1. Sorry OP!

Tomo815 · Jun 16, 2020

Dalek said:
For Contra and Super Contra-sure.

For Last of Us 1 and 2 it's pretty vital.

Look, lets be real here. The way storytelling and narrative go, there are only two ways a story can go in the sequel:

1. more of the same. The hero fights new enemies in a new location (this to me is basically all videogame sequels lol)

2. you either die a hero or live to become the villain (this is TLOU2 lol)

So you know, even before your play/watch/read something, what you are going to get, more or less.

MrConbon210 · Jun 16, 2020

Dalek said:
For Contra and Super Contra-sure.

For Last of Us 1 and 2 it's pretty vital.

You can easily find multiple videos on YouTube doing a great job at explaining the plot of TLOU. The beat by beat plot is not exactly that hard to sum up.

Deleted member 1722 · Jun 16, 2020

MrConbon210 said:
You can easily find multiple videos on YouTube doing a great job at explaining the plot of TLOU. The beat by beat plot is not exactly that hard to sum up.

Yeah, especially with a series as rote as TLOU. Sometimes the videos are even better! That 5 hour Destiny documentary, or VaatiVidya's Dark Souls work come to mind.

Giga Man · Jun 16, 2020

If it was me, I'd watch a full playthrough of The Last of Us Part 1 on youtube before I played Part II.

JCH! · Jun 16, 2020

I'm not playing TLOU2 anytime soon. But I can definitely understand people not playing the first game.

I gave it a shot last year and while the premise was interesting, I felt the gameplay has not aged well at all. Couldn't get halfway through before I got frustrated and gave up. Was just not having fun.

I'll give it another shot and try to plow through in the future because I feel TLOU2 will address most of my complaints with the first one, though.

You could easily just read up/watch a plot summary and be fine.

dock · Jun 16, 2020

Gotta say, the more I look back at The Last of Us 1 the more I think it was a lot of nicely made cinematics driving to the next set of zombie combat.

I don't think there are any Naughty Dog games that require you to know the history of the characters, and we can expect plenty of thickly laden exposition between the combat arenas.

jman1954goat · Jun 16, 2020

P.S.A part 1 is still on sale for only 10 dollars on psn if you want the full experience

sredgrin · Jun 16, 2020

You're gonna get a lot of snotty replies from people that didn't play Witcher 1 or 2 in this thread.

Sometimes it's just a time investment thing, and sometimes in games especially, shit just ages badly. I love Baldur's Gate 2 but I'm not gonna shit on anyone that just plays 3, even if the story was a direct sequel. Sometimes people just wanna go "ooh Monster's Inc!" without investing 400 hours in the leadup to KH3.

Gabriel Hall · Jun 16, 2020

Could be also that people want to play as Ellie more than they want to play as Joel.

kirby_fox · Jun 16, 2020

It's all about investing your time into something and not wanting to get spoiled later. If you just spoil everything before you can still understand the story.

I also feel like games are not often seen by a lot of people as telling a linear story.

Jotakori · Jun 16, 2020

Normally I'm the type who has to personally consume everything in a series in order, but if a game can easily be consumed as a stand alone and I haven't gotten around to playing the previous entries, impatience and wanting to participate in release cycle hype will get the best of me. (Experienced this with Nier:Automata, for example.)

In the case of The Last of Us, well, I actually only "discovered" the game about a couple of months back. I had ran out of things to watch so randomly put on a playthrough of it from a streamer I liked and, omg, fell in love. I haven't played it on my own partially cuz I just haven't gotten around to it but mostly because I'm kinda sorta a big wimp when it comes to actually playing through scary games myself (jump scares get me every god damn time lol). I've been debating back and forth with myself constantly this past week on if I wanna pick up TLOU2 or not cuz of it. Like, I super wanna be able to experience the continuation of the story for myself and through my own actions, but idk if I'll be able to actually play it jklf;dsafd.

I couldn't imagine jumping into a story heavy game sequel without at least watching some kind of recap or play through of the first parts, though. The whole only playing story games for the gameplay thing is completely beyond me.

Pau · Jun 16, 2020

If it's a video game, I probably won't really care about experience the story. So if the sequel has better gameplay and I expect to only play one game in the series, sure, I'll jump in at part two or three. If I like it enough, maybe I'll go back.

Jane · Jun 16, 2020

Tomo815 said:
Because time is limited and one has to decide how to spend his time/effort?

Look, its not guaranteed that I will like part 2, and right now I dont feel like I want to commit to play through part 1 yet. If the second game impresses me, then sure, I will go play part 1 and all the uncharted games and even the naughty dogs games they made before they became big.

I mean, have you ever experienced this in other mediums? discovered an actor/author/director last work and felt the desire to go watch their earlier works and see what the fuss was all about?

Wouldn't you rather do this the other way around, though? As in, try the first one, and if you like it, then play the second. Especially considering TLoU1 can be had for very cheap nowadays.

MrConbon210 · Jun 16, 2020

JediLink said:
Wouldn't you rather do this the other way around, though? As in, try the first one, and if you like it, then play the second. Especially considering TLoU1 can be had for very cheap nowadays.

TLOU2 is the newest big thing. Many people want it just because of how big it will be. Hype is contagious.

Shoichi · Jun 16, 2020

Launch hype. Seeing people enjoy the first enough to want to play the sequel.

i couldn't do that to myself. Needed to speed my way through part 1. It's like watch a second season of something without knowing the build up

Why do some people want to play Part 2 of a game without playing Part 1?

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