this vs part 1?

[Homer Pimpson]

Should I get this one or part 1? why?

side note - where are the other ones on pc? what other ones exist? I only knew of the first one way back on ps3.

[kmpt]

VC1 has better, more dramatic story and nice main characters. VC4 has better gameplay, better graphics, pretty fine DLCs and you get to know your side characters better thanks to squad stories. It's hard to say which one is better.
Only two parts of the series were released on PC, you can play more VC games on consoles.

[Tapasvi]

Also, VC4 still have Denuvo.

[Lanzagranadas]

VC4 is VC1 gameplay but better balanced and with a bunch of new features. It does what VC1 did and more, using the same formula but offering a more complete and refined gameplay experience.

VC1 is an easier starting point because it's more basic so for newcomers there is less mechanics to get used to. If you care about story and characters, VC1 cast is also generally more liked than VC4's which is usually critisized after its Anime tropes.

[ElZavier]

Start with 1 first then proceed to 4 and play the rest, or play them in release order (1-2-3-4).

2 and 3 are on PSP, you can play them easily with emulator. 2 and 3 obviously would look and play a bit differently since the PSP hardware limitation

You can play 2 or skip it since imo it has the weakest story and characters, setting is 2 years after the europan war (VC 1,3,&4), in Gallian military academy, it's basically teenager school setting anime which is unlike the other war setting games. it's still not a bad game though.

3 on the other hand has the best story and characters in the series, it has the same setting as the first game (at Gallia during the imperial invasion), story is about MC is wrongly accused of treason and sent to the lowest ranked and most notorious squad in the country, the penal squad, which consist on "criminals" and "wrongdoers", here MC is appointed as the squad's captain and he swore to clean his name and prove that he is innocent. Story is very serious which talks about genocide and warcrime and also about the reality of war is: no side is black and white in the war. MC is easily the best in the series because he is a very mature and composed person, your squad member is actively participating in the story unlike on the other games where only main characters are involved in the story, the "villain" of the story is very well written too unlike your typical "boo hoo he is evil" villain. overall i very much recommending you to not skip the 3rd game, play it too.

[Humble]

I like part one because humble story and good story, good characters, part 4 is better gameplay as sandbox, but never play part 2 and 3 because it's wasn't on steam, I guess.

I had both anyway

[That Terrible Biscuit]

I mean personally why not both. Its the same story told from different perspective and same with VC2. Id say VC3 stands out the most.

But just start with VC1. If you like it try get VC2 for the PSP (or emulator) and same with VC3. VC3 has an unofficial English patch and its easy to install. You actually have more customization on VC2 & 3 and more unit types. Like engineers have a pull out shield and warhammer. And some are Greatsword users but the per-atk is overkill, stronger than the flamethrower.

[Gabrinius]

History and characters are better in VC1 and VC3 (only psp and need to find fan translation)

gameplay and graphics are better in VC4, but the story is.... weak... and the characters are like some "seasonal forgetable anime" cast, even worst than most "average" anime.

I, personally, prefer VC 1.

VC 2 is horrible in almost everything