Phantom Doctrine, Hard West, XCOM, what should I play first?

[Eigan123]

Soooo... PD has been my most anticipated game of 2018, I am likely to get it before the 21st but I was wondering, is knowledge of Hard West/XCOM advised/recommended before diving into the game?

I own both, I just haven't played them.

Am curious if being familiar with their game mechanics will help me to "get into" Phantom Doctrine or experience it to its fullest.

Should I play one/both of them first before getting PD?

What attracts me to PD is the stealth elements (love, love, love stealth), the setting, and I just dig turn-based games in general. Looking forward to it, just wanna know if the other mentioned games should take priority first...

[BigFatLaDy]

Ignore Hard West, its cool but compared to XCOM and PD a waste of time. You sound like somebody new to the genre and PD is advanced stuff so you will have an hard entrance. But if you like been challenged then go ahead and play PD.

XCOM is like Diablo3
PD is like Darkest Dungeon

If you wanna chill after work, go with XCOM.

[Delberto]

I never played Hard West, XCOM felt like a mobile game, I enjoyed XCOM 2 a lot more but things came up and I never got around to finishing it. I was kind of looking forward to playing it again and finishing it out, but then I saw Phantom Doctrine. And after playing Phantom Doctrine I think ti's ruined XCOM for me.

I don't think it's as difficult or advanced as BigFatLaDy makes it out to be, but it does take a lot more patience in planning and execution.

[Ordinary Time]

PD has a bad tutorial and a steep learning curve.

XCOM has a good tutorial and a steep learning curve. Better to start with XCOM.

[FroBodine]

Hard West is a good game. Not a waste of time at all. All three of these games are fun, and you should eventually play all of them. They are all different enough in the combat mechanics that there really is no better one to play first. I'd say give them all a try, and whatever one grabs you the most, continue with it! Enjoy the games!