it's not a huge deal either way, i'd definitely go with whatever feels most appealing

replicant is chronologically before automata, but the games are set far enough apart that there is no main story overlap between the two.

there is one character that appears in both games who story does continue between games, but i played automata first and i didn't find it lessened my experience

You already asked this on reddit, and pretty much everyone told you to play Replicant first.

A lot of stuff in Automata reference events, characters, and/or places that are from Replicant, so if you play Automata first you will not get all of these references(and thus NOT get the most out of Automata), and if you just so happen to find some specific documents in Automata(i found 9 out of 10 on my own with no guides on my first playthrough), you will get a lot of the story of Replicant completely spoiled.

On the other hand, Replicant contains no spoilers for Automata's story at all, cause when it was first written and released back in 2010, Automata wasn't even a thing yet.

I would suggest play Automata first because Replicant is just so-so. It may well damage your interest for Automata.

Originally posted by TheSeek:

A lot of stuff in Automata reference events, characters, and/or places that are from Replicant, so if you play Automata first you will not get all of these references(and thus NOT get the most out of Automata),

that's just preference. you will notice the references in w/e game you play second and for the most part it won't be a big deal plotwise.

the one thing you can never change is your first experience, and there is a good argument your first experience will be a lot beter the more a game appeals to you.

its like recommending to play dark souls 1 or dark souls 3 first, the answer depends a lot on which part of the experience you think is most imporant/enjoyable.

Originally posted by EleventhStar:

that's just preference. you will notice the references in w/e game you play second and for the most part it won't be a big deal plotwise.

While it being a preference can be debatable, it not being a deal plotwise is quite simply wrong, as a lot of those references containse specific details and spoilers about who did what and how in Replicant, as well as other information about who died and/or lived, what happened to a certain group, as well as the specific backstory about a certain couple of characters which is quite literally one of the plot twists of Replicant, as well as the details of Project Gestalt

On top of this, OP's question is about getting the most out of Automata, and if you haven't played Replicant first, then all those references and callbacks will simply fly over his head as he won't have any idea what they're talking about, meaning he won't get the most out of those at all.
As a specific example, when in Automata you reach the desert and take a look at the ruins, if you have played Replicant you'll immediately recognize they're the ruins of Facade, there's even one or two of the tombstones, and during the side quest Heritage of the Past the people of Facade and their weird rules are directly referenced, as well as the King and Fyra and the wedding. If you havent played Replicant first, all of the above will fly completely over your head and will be completely meaningless to you as you are playing it, so you won't get the most ouf of these elements at all, and considering this is just ONE of the many Replicant references and callbacks present in Automata(another small but very impactful one is when Devola and Popola appear in front of 9S, saying the exact sentences they said in Replicant on top of the shrine, making you doubt for a second that, just like in Replicant, they might not be on your side, except this time they aren't...this is a moment which you absolutely can't get the most out of without the knowledge about them and the specific scene from Replicant), it should be easy to see that to get the most out of it(which is what OP wants), you need to know what the game is referencing in these elements, which have been specifically put into the game for those who have indeed played Replicant.

Personally, i played Automata first, then emulated Gestalt, and then played Replicant 1.22, and in hindsight i wish i had played Gestalt(Replicant if 1.22 had already came out at the time) first, cause i deeply regret not experiencing the intended impact all those references were meant to have.

Lastly, playing Automata first is obviously not the end of the world, but it's undoubtable that it will spoil a god portion of Replicant and that not getting all of the references it does means not getting the most out of it, which is what OP wants instead.

Originally posted by TheSeek:

While it being a preference can be debatable, it not being a deal plotwise is quite simply wrong,

the problem is you cannot know for sure you will enjoy a story ahead of time.

but you can know for sure one game appeals to you more right now.

you have to gamble a potential payoff in the future vs a more guaranteed payoff right now.

i'd just play the first hour or two of both games and if automata is vastly more fun then chances are your overal experience will end up better if you just stick with automate instead of forcing yourself to do something less fun first. if they were about the same amount of fun or replicant is more fun then do replicant first.

spoilers also aren't the be all end all. there are plenty of good stories where you know the ending ahead of time but the storytelling is still plenty good enough to make it very enjoyable. i'm sure you can think of an experience like that yourself where the references worked perfectly fine "in reverse" and despite knowing what would happen, finding out _how_ it happened was more than enough to make up for it.

e.g. breaking bad and better call saul, lord of the rings and the hobbit, etc.

Originally posted by EleventhStar:

the problem is you cannot know for sure you will enjoy a story ahead of time.

In my case that woudl be just one more reason to play the first story first, as i'd rather digest stories the way they were meant to, in the original order, so that i can get the references the second will do about the first(and thus enjoying the second even more) than just skip ahead and play the second just cause im not enjoying the first, resulting in not even enjoying the second at its best cause i'll miss all the references as they were intended.

Originally posted by EleventhStar:

i'd just play the first hour or two of both games and if automata is vastly more fun then chances are your overal experience will end up better if you just stick with automate instead of forcing yourself to do something less fun first. if they were about the same amount of fun or replicant is more fun then do replicant first.

Again, if i were to do what you suggest and play the first or two hours of both and find Automata more fun, my conclusion would still be to play Replicant first, cause if i have already bought both and intend to play both, i'd rather play the "less fun" Replicant first so that i can experience the improvements done in Automata rather than play Automata first and then having to "downgrade" to a lesser fun Replicant(even more so when i have read a lot of people who, having played Automata first, found Replicant's gameplay underwhelming -and even dropped it entirely cause of this- as they expected more of what Automata did and were instead let down by a gameplay and overall game structure which, while improved if compared to the OG, stll fundamentally felt like an old PS3 game).


Mind that with this im not saying my conclusions are the better ones, rather that your conclusions aren't the only possible ones, given the same approach(of trying both before deciding), the resulting decision can still be entirely opposite than the one you'd take even if the perceived enjoyment is the same as yours(Automata rather than Replicant).

Given this(that two different people can reach a different decison on which to play first after the same approach of trying both first and the same conclusion of finding Automata more fun), the best approach to achieve what OP(so not me with my reasonings and not you with yours) wants, which is to get the most out of Automata, is to completely avoid any sort of spoiler and to get the best possible outcome out of any possible reference the games might make, and that is only possible by playing Replicant first and Automata after.

Originally posted by EleventhStar:

spoilers also aren't the be all end all. there are plenty of good stories where you know the ending ahead of time but the storytelling is still plenty good enough to make it very enjoyable. i'm sure you can think of an experience like that yourself where the references worked perfectly fine "in reverse" and despite knowing what would happen, finding out _how_ it happened was more than enough to make up for it.

Honestly, not at all, each time such thing happened to me i regretted not getting the original intended experience, and i actually found that getting the references in the opposite order often made them underwhelming and lose a lot of their impact, as not only i already knew the result, but the original intent was completely ruined as the result was originally meant to be a well subtly hidden build up ending in a mostly unexpected twist, which obviously didn't happen cause i already knew the result.

Originally posted by TheSeek:

In my case that woudl be just one more reason to play the first story first,

but surely you must have wasted your time a lot taking this approach with stories where the payoff wasn't worth the investment?

the older i get the less patience i have for "it gets good after 100 hours, trust me bro" situations.

(but if you do have the stomach for that, learn advanced math. pretty much no guarantee you will reach the point where it clicks, but if you do it's amazing.)

Originally posted by EleventhStar:

Honestly, not at all, each time such thing happened to me i regretted not getting the original intended experience,

talking about the intent with regards to yoko taro is a tricky subject.

but (if you are familiar) what is your take on better call saul then? should you watch it before or after breaking bad?

I did not read any of those posts. I just want to say it is amazing to see these two creepy watchers to argue with each other.

By the way what are your opinions on the fact that A2 did not ask for clothes in the resistance camp?

Originally posted by TheSeek:

You already asked this on reddit, and pretty much everyone told you to play Replicant first.

A lot of stuff in Automata reference events, characters, and/or places that are from Replicant, so if you play Automata first you will not get all of these references(and thus NOT get the most out of Automata), and if you just so happen to find some specific documents in Automata(i found 9 out of 10 on my own with no guides on my first playthrough), you will get a lot of the story of Replicant completely spoiled.

On the other hand, Replicant contains no spoilers for Automata's story at all, cause when it was first written and released back in 2010, Automata wasn't even a thing yet.

This guy watches reddit as well haha.

making a brbrbrbrbrb to the monitor every 5 seconds

Replicant goes first, both chronologically and release order, the only reason why you would play Automata first is that it has the better gameplay between the two, which is understandable as well

I would only recommend playing Replicant if you have experience with RPG structure tropes in Japan.
In Automata, gameplay supports the narrative very well, and is generally enjoyable.
In Replicant, you are tasked with running back and forth between villages, and collecting 20 pieces of iron ore.
(I'm saying it as someone who just finished 5th playthrough of Replicant. Do not start with this game)
In terms of story - both are presenting its story through somewhat non-linear flashbacks/clarifications. The connection between two games is VERY slim. Automata's "spoilers" for Replicant begin decidedly after Replicant's story fully concluded.

Because of game playstyle, i would say you play Replicant first.