Gaming franchises you wished you got on board with sooner

There are some franchises like Mario and Pokemon where it doesn't really matter which game in the series you decide to pick up first, because even though different games will offer you different experiences, for the most part the story and formula of those games always remain very similar.

What about long running franchises where it's important to follow the story or the continuity of the game? For example I got into Metal Gear Solid for the first time just last year when I bought the 3DS port of Snake Eater. I was blown away by the game so when the MGS Legacy Collection came out I picked it up without a second thought.

Now I'm not saying that I regret my purchase. I definitely got my money's worth. But when I tried to play some of the older games in the series like MGS 1 & 2, I found myself struggling with the controls and put off by the dated graphics. I think this is natural to anyone playing older games in a series they just got into. I wouldn't expect my 5 year old brother to fully appreciate the original Red & Blue Pokemon games.

So what about you? Are there any gaming franchises that you wished you would have gotten into sooner, or felt as if you missed the train completely?

Pokemon, but not because of a continuing story. I started with Crystal in '03, and most of my friends started with Gen I shortly after it came out. (I was born in '94, for context.) The majority of Pokemon players in general must have started after me, but I still feel left behind.

For the reason you mentioned, Sonic. I have a vague memory of playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle at an exhibition or something, which must've been around 2001 when it came out, and I rented Sonic Heroes when it was fairly recent, but the 3D one I really started with was Shadow the Hedgehog. I wish I'd played Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 and Sonic Heroes so I'd understood the background to the story more. (I now own all three of these games.)

StarCraft, as this was the only RTS series i did not know of untill 2013, which is shameful as this seems to be a really popular RTS game. Though i catched up with it, i still feel ashamed for not hearing of it anytime sooner.

Definitely the Elder Scrolls Franchise after playing Skyrim which was one of the best games I've ever played. I also wished I'd have gotten into Zelda sooner; I have no idea what it involves other than fighting monsters and... saving a princess? I've never played a Zelda game (ooooh the shaaaaame) so I suppose my lack of knowledge on the franchise is only natural, xD Assassin's Creed I wish I also got into earlier, as I've heard it is a great franchise.

When I played the elder scroll morrowind I new it was the third one and I remember seeing it sitting in my grandfathers house and I saw the ma sign and contemplated if its okay to play. As soon as I played it I wanted to play the originals which until skyrim I felt left out but skyrim brang in a lot of new people who probably never learn the lore or story of the elder scrolls games so it makes me feel better. As satoshi ookami said it was a few years ago when I finally got into the MegaTen series.

Dragon Quest. I didn't get into it until I played VIII, at which point I fell in love with it. I'd played the original years before and VII for a short time, but they just didn't click at the time.

It's my favorite JRPG series now. Go figure.

Huh. I've never touched even one of those games. To the Emulatormobile!

Assassins Creed. I started with 3 and it was amazing to me, 4 was as well. Unfortunately, when I tried playing the earlier games, they seemed outdated to me, so I couldn't fully enjoy them, which is a shame because I have heard that they are amazing games.

Battlefield. (for multiplayer only) so much better than CoD

Definitely Assassin's Creed; it's a great franchise. I got into it two years ago back in 2012, and my first game was AC II. As soon as I put the disc into my Xbox and started playing, I instantly fell in love with it. The graphics were mesmerizing to me, and the story was just very easy to get dragged into.

Sceptile14 said:

Assassins Creed. I started with 3 and it was amazing to me, 4 was as well. Unfortunately, when I tried playing the earlier games, they seemed outdated to me, so I couldn't fully enjoy them, which is a shame because I have heard that they are amazing games.

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Nymphadora said:

Definitely Assassin's Creed; it's a great franchise. I got into it two years ago back in 2012, and my first game was AC II. As soon as I put the disc into my Xbox and started playing, I instantly fell in love with it. The graphics were mesmerizing to me, and the story was just very easy to get dragged into.

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I first played part II just before Brotherhood was released, if it wasn't for my friend in High School quoting AC all the time I wouldn't have gotten into it! I played the first one with no problems though, I guess I didn't mind the repetitiveness. AC III is my favourite in the series, I really liked the Assassin's personality (Connor).

I'm not even sure I want to continue it with part IV though, it ended in part III in my opinion...

I'm on the Assassin's Creed Train as well, although, I don't think I'll ever give the series a proper play through, I wish I would of played through the first one when it was released, because I enjoy the series, but I'm too stubborn to slog through the first game, and I won't play the other games because I want to experience the story in order. I have enjoyed the multiplayer from Brotherhood/Revelations alot though.

....I'm surprised at the AC3 love. I thought it was widely acknowledged as awful. o_o

I'm not even sure I want to continue it with part IV though, it ended in part III in my opinion...

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AC4 is way way waaaaay better than AC3. Give it a go.

Definitely Advance Wars for me. Been playing Fire Emblem all the time for my strategy fix, but after playing Advance Wars this year every single FE I play feels so SHALLOW.

I don't care what they do to Fire Emblem anymore. Just give me Advance Wars 3DS. (Preferably in an Advance Wars 1/Days of Ruin style of simplicity. Dual Strike was way too much.)

Pokemon! D: I feel like I'm missing out on so much on this community because it revolves around the franchise. I know nearly nothing about the strategies, settings, etc. aside from the actual Pokemon themselves. Additionally, there are a number of other series that I wish I got on board with earlier on instead of just sticking to Final Fantasy and Zelda. The 'Tales of' series is definitely a franchise I wish I knew about sooner rather than later, and also CoD.

(lists name of every RPG franchise ever)

I really like Fire Emblem Awakening the first time I played it. I heard it's easier than earlier FE games, though.

Definitely the Zelda series. I could never get into it or understand the concepts and by the time I attempted to get into it, it got too complex. I feel I've missed out on a lot of series completely, but that's the only one that I really felt like I was too late to catch.

It's gotta be the Elder Scrolls for me! XD loved Skyrim and Morrowind but, didn't play the latter until after Skyrim last year

Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect (Still haven't played, still don't have enough money to buy the trilogy), Pokemon ofc, Portal (I didn't knew about it until like 5 months ago), NBA 2K (I just started with 2K11 last 2012 xD).

Pretty much just that :3