Do you need to play SH1 first?

[GuNsLinger]

yeah i feel it is important to play 1 first because it will help you to further understand the story

[KristinT]

I've only been able to play every Silent Hill game EXCEPT the original!

I actually think they set SH3 up really well - sure, if you've played SH1 you'll get a lot more out of it, but it's not like something out of the 'Saw' film franchise where if you didn't see the first two anything subsequent is an incomprehensible mess. Whilst I'd recommend watching a full Let's Play (Youtube has stacks of them), or at the very least reading the synopsis on Silent Hill Heaven, my partner (who likes to watch, ha ha) was able to follow the storyline of SH3 just fine as I played. Literally the only things I needed to tell him was that Heather's dad was the protagonist of the first game and that Heather mysteriously came into existence at the end of that game and he's raised her as his daughter.

[simeonalo]

I believe that only these points should be understood in order to fully understandx SH3:

-Harry is the protagonist of the first game, set 17 years before SH3
-Ancient Cult attempts to summon their god through a priestess's daughter
-The Daughter, who is Alessa, summons a "God" but is destroyed by Harry Mason, again, protagonist
-Alessa gives Harry another being who he later names Heather

There is a lot more mythos to it, and you could play SH1 to understand further nature of the cult.

[warfare315]

yeah i feel it is important to play 1 first because it will help you to further understand the story

Agreed- - you can see how it comes full circle, but to be honest I played SH3 much before I was able to pick up the original, and I enjoyed it just as much, and enjoyed the story to the extent that I could, obviously missing the many SH1 references. So I say although it helps, if you can't find SH1 but you can find SH3 and really want to play, DO IT!

[simeonalo]

I feel like it's like between Silent Hill: Past Life and SH8. People say you can understand the character in SH8, but you can understand he/she even more if you play the game.

[wonder's boy]

If playing 1 before 3 isn't really an option, you could look at 1 as a prequel to 3 after playing 3, though it might be confusing to look at it that way. However, I recommend playing 1 before 3 because of spoilers that lurk in 3 that would possibly ruin 1's experience. 13131313313131313 haha

[SilentWren]

As long as you play the third game after playing the first game, it'll all click.

Have you played Origins?

[clips]

Looks like this thread will be over quick since everybody pretty much is in agreement here...oh well might as well jump on the bandwagon....yessir...definitely play the first one....the graphics by today's standards might be horrific,*badum pssh*......but it's still an incredibly creepy and disturbing experience...

[Miette]

It's probably a better idea, but it's not needed. You might be scratching your head a bit, but it's nothing that taking a peak at Silent Hill Wiki won't fix, I guess.

[Cake]

You don't NEED to play SH1 first, I didn't anyway. Aslong as you know the basic story around the first game, you'll understand the outline of Silent Hill 3, but to understand the depths of the story, you should play the first game. It all depends what you want to learn from the story. ^^

[Agent of God]

It's better off if you play SH1 first.
The emotions are gonna come off better.

Everything you need to know is briefly explained in SH3 itself.
But the expirience will feel better if you play them in order.

[Doctor Eggnog]

The older graphics of the first game might seem less bothersome if you haven't played SH3, it might be easier to look at them for graphic style rather than quality. Maybe also true with the voice acting, but even some people who've played it first can't get over that haaha.

[Zaneゼイン]

Hey everyone I have a question about this.

I am new to the game series and I´ve started playing the 3rd one and the 1st for a bit, is this really true? I get a better game experience by playing the 1st and then the 3rd? What about the 2nd one, do you consider it necessary too, before moving on to the third game?

Also, from what I´ve read from this thread, there´s this name "Alessa", this is the same girl from the movie right? The twin sister of Sharon? As the movie is based on the game series, by watching the movie do I already have some knowledge about what´s going on in the first game?

[Cake]

Hey everyone I have a question about this.

I am new to the game series and I´ve started playing the 3rd one and the 1st for a bit, is this really true? I get a better game experience by playing the 1st and then the 3rd? What about the 2nd one, do you consider it necessary too, before moving on to the third game?

Also, from what I´ve read from this thread, there´s this name "Alessa", this is the same girl from the movie right? The twin sister of Sharon? As the movie is based on the game series, by watching the movie do I already have some knowledge about what´s going on in the first game?

You do get a better gaming experience and better knowledge if you play the 1st game first. The second one has a completely different story and doesn't really involve one and three. As I've said previously, it depends what YOU want to learn from the games.

Yes, Alessa is the same girl from the movie but she's not the twin sister of Sharon. Sharon is a completely different character in the games and is known as Cheryl, and she doesn't play a huge part in the games at all, you'd need to play the first game to get a hold of that story. By watching the movie you get a basic, and not totally true, outline of the story.

[Doctor Eggnog]

Do not have the movie at all in your mind at any moment while playing any Silent Hill game dealing with Alessa. It will only screw everything up. It's better to play SH1 first and you can use that information in your mind while playing SH3, and vice versa if you like the way that SH3 tells things.

Silent Hill 2 can be played anytime, it is hardly if at all connected to 1 and 3, so just play it when the time feels right.

[Zaneゼイン]

Hey! I´ve just completed the first game, it was really awesome! I think I´m getting a "little" obsessed

I got the bad ending, I think I´ll first complete this game again and try to achieve the good ending


So, after that I can skip 2 if I want.. Is the connection just between the 1st and 2nd game? What about the fourth game, is it connected to any of the previous titles, according to story?

[Mephisto]

^According to story, SH4 is connected with SH2. In some ways. . . .

[leftshoe18]

^According to story, SH4 is connected with SH2. In some ways. . . .

But not in any ways that would require playing part two.

The only ones that are really connected from a story standpoint are:
Silent Hill, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill: Origins.
The rest are stand-alone stories.

[axel-cd]

Yes, definitely, It would be like:

PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:

watching The Empire Strikes Back before Star Wars...

[Tillerman]

Another reason why you should play SH1 first is just because SH1 is a classic and still one of the best damn games in the series. If you're interested in SH and you haven't played SH1, then you really need to, and that's all there is to it.

I would suggest either buying a used PS1, or just using an emulator if you have to (it's not like you haven't bought the game.) SH3 is a great game and you can probably follow it well enough, but you'll really enjoy it more if you play them in order.