Worth playing the original first?

[Bullett00th]

Or should I just jump into the sequel?

[HereIsPlenty]

Go for the second one, the first one can be a bit dull and the second was a blast.

[Jayne_Cobb]

I'd say both games stand well on their own. I was playing the original's new game plus for five times just before jumping into the second one. There are some changes to the dynamics of the game. So both have something unique. There is quiet a bit of humour, easter eggs and secrets to explore in the first one. You don't need to have played the original to dive in into the second one. But I for one can only recommend playing both. I had a blast with both ones.

[Habba]

We've made some UX improvements to the sequel that the first version is lacking, and we'd like to believe that we've improved the game.

However, there are some features that are only present in the first game, such as raisable heroes and reanimation of dead enemies (you get to raise dead enemies as they were, instead of creating monsters of your own choosing). Some people find these features crucial, and thus prefer the first game. Some people prefer to build the army by themselves, and thus prefer the second version.

The story is similar, yet disconnected between the games. You don't have to play the first part to understand the second one.

Based on the feedback I've read, the first one might be bit easier and simpler. There are few challenges in the second one that are quite difficult and require a specific approach in order to overcome them.

[Sigvuld]

(Dev answer is objectively the best one here btw)

As someone who's played the first, nah, you're 100% fine to skip it unless you gravely (oh god that was an unintended pun) dislike being able to choose what you raise enemies as vs. having to just roll with whatever you killed being what you raise, like killing chickens = you raise chickens, etc. whereas in this one you can kill chickens and raise whatever you want from them

The first one's a lot more "win via sheer numbers" and this one's got more strategy to it, also just more meat on the bone in general!