All great game franchises are built upon originals that didn’t just beat their competitors; they reset what games could be, and whole eras grew around them. From GTA and Assassin’s Creed to Far Cry and Final Fantasy, we were lucky to grow up with worlds that kept raising the bar.
However, now with so many successive sequels and spin-offs piled up, it can be really daunting for new players to get into these big names. And that’s what sparked my week-long journey of revisiting the OG titles that laid the groundwork for these modern successes and seeing how they hold up against the competition now.
You see, nostalgia is a pretty funny thing. Oftentimes, we don’t actually remember the game itself; instead, we remember how it made us feel. There’s no doubt that Call of Duty, to this day, is a household name that revolutionized the FPS genre with its award-winning debut in 2003, yet replaying it showed me that some memories are better left as memories.
But that’s where remakes and sequels come into play. They let you appreciate these relics in a modern light, with updated graphics and refined controls, making them the best way to dive into these big names today. Despite the low-effort slop that game companies have been puking out recently, we are lucky enough to still have some franchises where you can skip the original for a welcoming start without missing out on the soul of what made these games good.
10 Tomb Raider
Journey Reboot
After completing Tomb Raider Anniversary and absolutely loving it, I gave the original 1996 game a chance. Although it’s a classic, trying it today with the empty corridors, blocky visuals, rigid animation, and clunky controls make the game quite frustrating and hard to enjoy, to be honest.
Instead, I would recommend the 2013 reboot of the title as the best starting point for new players. It retells the tale of the legendary explorer from novice to adventurer with modern graphics, fluid mechanics, and better cinematic storytelling than ever before.
There are still good games from the OG Lara Croft days to be sure, but you don’t need to start with the first one.
9 Assassin’s Creed
Legendary Relic
My love for third-person games started with the original 2007 Assassin’s Creed. The thrilling, unique mechanics of parkouring over historical landmarks and roaming in a breathing city packed with NPCs, rare at the time, was what exactly hooked a kid like me.
But revisiting it today, it’s clear the game is not the friendliest door to the series anymore. Once the rush of parkour wears off, you are left with unengaging gameplay, repetitive missions, and overly simple combat that gets boring after the first few hours, and even the parkour itself lacks the fluidity later games perfected.
That’s why it’s best to leap into the series with Assassin’s Creed 2, which does everything from the audio to the combat better than the original. And don’t worry about the plot; The second game will cover that as well.
8 The Witcher
Geralt Before Greatness
With nine novels, three mainline games, and three hit Netflix seasons, there is no doubt that The Witcher is one of the best dark fantasies of the last decade, and the original 2000 title brought even more attraction to the franchise with its atmosphere of Vizima, storytelling that was ahead of its time, and well-written characters.
But even for die-hard fans like me, the terrible visuals, poor hit registration, difficulty spikes, and unresponsive controls make it hard to enjoy the beauty the game once had.
Instead, I suggest jumping straight into 2015’s The Witcher 3. It’s a massive upgrade visually, but mechanically, it perfectly delivers the Witcher experience with its combat, dialogues, and standalone plot, which goes hand in hand with an atmosphere that shines brighter than the original.
7 Yakuza
Skip To Zero
What I initially picked up as a just-for-fun game quickly turned into my biggest obsession yet, to the point that I completed the first eight entries of Yakuza in just under a month.
Had I gone with the original 2005 Yakuza game, I am sure the awkward camera angles and stiff combat would’ve been in the way of me giving the other titles a chance. But since I picked the perfect entry point, which was Yakuza Zero, I was able to ignite a spark of joy for gaming that I haven’t felt in a long time.
It’s a prequel to the original, and it goes deep into the protagonist’s past, the lore of key characters, and details that no other entry gives you, making it literally the only perfect starting point in the franchise.
6 Deus Ex
Numb Beginning
The original 2000 Deus Ex was hard to get into as a kid. I found it too complex at times, and dropped it midway. But after revisiting it some time later, I actually enjoyed it more than I thought. The freedom to approach missions, the choice-based gameplay, and its story make it a game worth playing even today.
However, the outdated graphics, enemies that can be dumb one minute and straight-up wall hackers the next, stiff combat, and poor voice acting can detract from your love for the franchise. Therefore, I suggest starting with Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
It’s chronologically the first game in the franchise, meaning you don’t miss out on the story. Furthermore, the black and gold aesthetic, satisfying stealth gameplay, and a protagonist everyone loves make it a perfect entry point to the universe for newer fans.
5 Mafia
Buried By Remake
The original Mafia game is, without a doubt, a mob story masterpiece. The vintage cars, guns, and atmosphere delivered an experience that made me revisit the game twice.
But I would be lying if I said it’s easily accessible for new players. The visuals and stiff combat can ruin the Mafia experience you were looking forward to. Fortunately, the perfect starting point was released in 2020. It’s the Mafia: Definitive Edition, a full remake of the original game with updated graphics, the same brilliant story, and mechanics that appeal to the modern audience.
And since Mafia: The Old Country is out now, it’s the perfect time to dive into the remake, which welcomes you into the family business without all the troubles from the 2000s.
4 Hitman: Codename 47
World’s Roughest Assassin
The original 2000 Hitman game, well… I won’t lie. It’s definitely one of the most difficult games to enjoy, not just because it’s old, but because the AI was either annoyingly dumb or acted like a hive that would alert a larger number of guards than it was supposed to.
Combine that with not being able to save mid-missions, and you get a frustrating experience. Which is why, besides the original, every other Hitman game is a good start. Later entries like Hitman 2: Silent Assassin perfect the formula from the original.
The most recent entries, such as the Hitman Trilogy, are far more welcoming to newcomers, serving as a soft reboot of Agent 47 with better graphics, AI, and gameplay.
This is a great series that’s mastered creative and rewarding stealth. Just don’t start with the original.
3 Call Of Duty (2003)
Choose What You Want
Although I played the original 2003 Call of Duty long after its release, the game is definitely a cool part of my childhood. The World War 2 setting, multiple perspective storytelling, and immersion through audio and large-scale battles kept me glued to the family computer.
But no matter how much I loved it then, the outdated visuals, horrible controls, and not-so-polished gunplay make it hard to go back to even for the veterans, but that’s where the franchise shines. With so many sub-series, there is no reason to start with the original.
Instead, you can play the Black Ops series or the Modern Warfare series, which set a high bar with their cinematic timelines, jaw-dropping firefights, and an amazing cast of characters the original can’t match.
2 Far Cry
Jungle Tour You Should Skip
Good graphics, large draw distances, and a chaotic open world made the 2004 original Far Cry a game worth grabbing at the time. Revisiting it today, I expected to find the roots of what the series would become, but the original lacks everything the franchise is known for.
It lacks a good story, the slow pacing and clunky controls are clearly not suitable for the fast enemies that appear mid-game, and the “advanced” AI feels too unfair at times. But most importantly, it offers no memorable characters, something the later games in the series have set a remarkably high bar for.
No need to wrestle with the rough first entry. Far Cry 3 is where the series finally thrives, with its wild story, explosive gameplay, and villains so iconic, they outshine half the cast of gaming.
1 Dead Space
Great To Greater
I’ve never been a fan of the horror genre. Forced helplessness or mindless running don’t sit well with me. This was true until I played the original 2008 Dead Space. It was one of the few games that did the horror genre justice by skipping cheap tricks and delivering the experience with unsettling yet beautiful sound design, level designs that constantly keep you on the edge, and combat that rewards precision over aimless shooting.
There is hardly anything wrong with the first game, it’s still very much playable, but with the release of the 2023 Remake of the original, there is no point in going back.
Especially since the remake enhances everything the first game did; the visuals have improved, the controls are more fluid, and they even added side missions, which were nonexistent in the first game.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
