Do you have to play the games in order?

[Whiskeyjack]

Hey all, just a quick question. Picked the series up on Steam today, and just randomly decided to start with part 5. I'd previously (like five years ago) played part 2 almost to completion, but don't remember the plot AT ALL. So, I figured, hell...I'll just pick one at random.

 

My question: Are the plots related to each other aside from general setting? Do they flow into each other at all? I'd be willing to restart with 1 for continuity reasons, but I'm almost 5 hours into part 5 already so I'd prefer to keep playing that if the plots are unrelated.

 

Thank you!

[nikki.]

They do, yes. They pretty much directly follow on.

 

Click to reveal..

In VERY general terms, the secrets from G1 get carried to G2, where the antagonist for G3 is produced. At the end of G3, the rebellion declares open war on the Shapers, and by G4 has invaded the Shaper homeland. At the start of G4, the rebellion has been pushed back, but by the time G5 comes around, half of the Shaper mainland has fallen.

 

With G5 being the last game, there is no canonical ending, so really, what happens after all this is up to you, but with the others, there is a clear progression.

 

That said, everything you need to know will be explained in the later games, and whilst there is a lot to be said for going forward chronologically, it'd probably be fun in another way to play out of order. That way you'd get to say "oh, right, that's what so-and-so was referring to", or see the discrepancies that the passing time (and war) has created.

[Whiskeyjack]

Thanks very much for the great answer!