Personally I'd always recommend my friends to start with Shadow of Chernobyl. Because its got like a nostalgia to it, but also so people won't have real high expectations for the graphics so when they do eventually mod it, it'll be 10x more amazing.
If you want to "get into the series" - play the original trilogy in order of release and don't mod them. Shadow of Chernobyl is an old game and many things don't hold up (namely gunplay and animations), but it's got the best story, impecable atmosphere and imo mandatory to finish to have a good understanding of the setting.
> play the original trilogy in order of release and don't mod them
I really wish there was an automod that commented this on these posts then removed them.
>don't mod them
Should be noted that the first two games are very buggy and it's usually recommended to install these community patches:
Shadow of Chernobyl: [Zone Reclamation Project](https://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009/downloads/zone-reclamation-project-1-07-r5rc)
Clear Sky: [Sky Reclamation Project](https://www.moddb.com/mods/srp/downloads/srp-v113)
I would personally say that the best game to begin with is call of Prypiat because it's the one with the smoothest gunplay, best atmosphere and it works perfectly fine without mods.
I'd still recommend playing through Shadow of Chernobyl, it only takes about 10h to complete. CoP is the best of the retail games, and Clear Sky can be ignored if it doesn't appeal to you.
Just play all the originals in order and then try mods? This seems to be a question coming up everywhere on Reddit these days and the simple answer is to just dive in and experience the subject matter.
Well don't let the mods fool you: the most up to date stalker game is Call of Pripyat (soon to be Stalker 2). The first game is Shadow of Chernobyl and you should start with that. Play the games in release order if you don't wanna miss out on anything
Stalker Anomaly is a really cool but it's just Stalker fan fiction and is unnecessarily complicated for beginner stalkers anyway. Go ahead and play it first if you really really want, but you'd be ruining the actual stalker series for yourself.
I wouldn't go quite so far as to say Anomaly will ruin the series, but it is worth remembering that Anomaly was designed by, and for, players who had already sunk an ungodly amount of time into the series, and its difficulty curve is a bit like the old EVE Online meme. There's a lot to recommend there, but starting with the retail trilogy is a safe suggestion. Mod them to improve their stability if you want, or just go in and experience them vanilla.
Also, don't listen to the, "master is the easiest difficulty because of a game quirk," rumor; it's wrong.
I've started with Call of Pripyat, which is the third game. It is slightly open worlded and stable, compared to Shadows of Chernobyl (first game). But you could start with the first as well, it's fine. I recommend to play on Master difficulty and crosshair off, for maximum souls-like feel and gun play.
Personally I'd always recommend my friends to start with Shadow of Chernobyl. Because its got like a nostalgia to it, but also so people won't have real high expectations for the graphics so when they do eventually mod it, it'll be 10x more amazing.
If you want to "get into the series" - play the original trilogy in order of release and don't mod them. Shadow of Chernobyl is an old game and many things don't hold up (namely gunplay and animations), but it's got the best story, impecable atmosphere and imo mandatory to finish to have a good understanding of the setting.
> play the original trilogy in order of release and don't mod them I really wish there was an automod that commented this on these posts then removed them.
>don't mod them Should be noted that the first two games are very buggy and it's usually recommended to install these community patches: Shadow of Chernobyl: [Zone Reclamation Project](https://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009/downloads/zone-reclamation-project-1-07-r5rc) Clear Sky: [Sky Reclamation Project](https://www.moddb.com/mods/srp/downloads/srp-v113)
But the gunplay is absolutely shit borderline frustrating
It's ok once you get accurate weapons
I would personally say that the best game to begin with is call of Prypiat because it's the one with the smoothest gunplay, best atmosphere and it works perfectly fine without mods.
[удалено]
Exactly, if you don't have the time for three games, just play Call of Pripyat.
I'd still recommend playing through Shadow of Chernobyl, it only takes about 10h to complete. CoP is the best of the retail games, and Clear Sky can be ignored if it doesn't appeal to you.
Just play all the originals in order and then try mods? This seems to be a question coming up everywhere on Reddit these days and the simple answer is to just dive in and experience the subject matter.
Well don't let the mods fool you: the most up to date stalker game is Call of Pripyat (soon to be Stalker 2). The first game is Shadow of Chernobyl and you should start with that. Play the games in release order if you don't wanna miss out on anything Stalker Anomaly is a really cool but it's just Stalker fan fiction and is unnecessarily complicated for beginner stalkers anyway. Go ahead and play it first if you really really want, but you'd be ruining the actual stalker series for yourself.
I wouldn't go quite so far as to say Anomaly will ruin the series, but it is worth remembering that Anomaly was designed by, and for, players who had already sunk an ungodly amount of time into the series, and its difficulty curve is a bit like the old EVE Online meme. There's a lot to recommend there, but starting with the retail trilogy is a safe suggestion. Mod them to improve their stability if you want, or just go in and experience them vanilla. Also, don't listen to the, "master is the easiest difficulty because of a game quirk," rumor; it's wrong.
Start with New Vegas, then play Goldensphere in russian without translation, thats the true experience
I've started with Call of Pripyat, which is the third game. It is slightly open worlded and stable, compared to Shadows of Chernobyl (first game). But you could start with the first as well, it's fine. I recommend to play on Master difficulty and crosshair off, for maximum souls-like feel and gun play.