When a game boasts a big ol’ “2” in the title, it’s usually safe to assume it’s a sequel, continuing a concept or story that came before it. It’s not always the case, however, that you need to experience the original product to enjoy the follow up (Final Fantasy comes to mind), so do you need to play the first game before Ghostrunner 2?
You’d think that a game starring a cyborg ninja doing dirty deeds in a cyberpunk dystopia known as The Tower would be simple enough that you could understand immediately what’s going on. A set up like that doesn’t need complex characters, deep world-building, or established lore to work. Yet having played through Ghostrunner 2 without playing the first game (don’t @ me, that’s the nature of this job), I’ll tell you that the story is borderline incomprehensible.
Do You Need to Play the Original Game Before Ghostrunner 2?
I should note up front that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I’m sure folks who loved the Ghostrunner and its world of cybernetic warriors and shadow governments will ADORE how the sequel expands on these concepts. Honestly, the writing is actually pretty decent at times. Not fantastic but by video game standards, it’s good. It’s made more compelling by the voice acting, which gives each character a distinct voice — even the edgelord protagonist and villains, which seems above and beyond to me.
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So, while all of that is great, the problem (or maybe not a problem, but an issue) that people new to the franchise will struggle with is how much this game expects you to know straight off the bat. The Asura? Yeah, you know those guys, of course you do. The Architect? Come one, he’s like a super huge deal, you know all about him, right? Mara, the Keymaster? Essential to the story!
All of those names and MANY MORE are just dropped on you with little explanation at the start of the game. As someone who didn’t play Ghostrunner, it was difficult to not instantly turn my brain off and ignore every story element since none of it made sense to me. That’s a shame because while Ghostrunner 2 wants to be taken seriously in terms of its mechanics, there was also clearly a great deal of effort placed into the lore.
Does Ghostrunner 2 Have A Story Recap?
It would be remiss of me to not mention that Ghostrunner 2‘s main menu includes an option to watch a “catch-up” video that describes the plot of the first game. Honestly, though, if you watched it and told me you understood what happened in any kind of detail, I’d call you a bald-faced liar. It’s a fairly poor summary that still expects players to know the minutiae of the world and is presented as some kind of heady speech about rebellion. Just tell me why Cyborg Assassin Man is so angry and why he likes to stab things so much and let’s go.
Honestly, I think the addition of some kind of Codex containing files and details on all the game’s characters would have been a major asset to Ghostrunner 2. I’m about 10 hours in at the time of writing and still have no idea who anyone is, what’s happening, or why the Asura (who are definitely the baddies, I know that) are so evil.
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I’m reminded of Like a Dragon: Ishin! which included a fantastic feature that highlighted key words and phrases in the middle of dialogue that may be unfamiliar to players. Hitting a single button brings up brief explanation that provides context on what the characters are talking about. I’d never heard of Tosa before playing Ishin! but after an hour, I knew exactly what it was and why it mattered in the melodramatic story of coup d’état and betrayal.
Ghostrunner 2 is great, I’ve had plenty of fun with it. But I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who hasn’t played the first game or, at the very least, isn’t willing to read through an entire Wiki summarizing the original’s plot. So, to answer the question raised at the very beginning of the article, you can enjoy Ghostrunner 2 without playing the first Ghostrunner, but I strongly advise against it. The resulting story is just a mass of names, technobabble, and references to previous events.
At the very least, the sword slashing is still great and you definitely don’t need to play the first Ghostrunner to get a kick out of that.
