I am spending Thanksgiving with friends and old housemates and wishing everyone a Happy Refugee Awareness Day ! <| sep |> I tried to play the first game and it was so frustrating . The story is good but its just so much of a grind . With the second game you can see more of a progression into the third . Some parts are still grindy but you interact more with characters like Roche love his sass . If its on sale and you want to play one , go with the second game . If you decide to read the books just know there are some translating differences from the original into the English version . I have read all but the seventh book and really enjoyed them . They add more background knowledge to the events in the game .