My first experience with Oddworld was at a friend's house. He had an Xbox and a copy of Munch's Oddysee, and I played a bit of that game for a while. Then, in my second experience, it was on a PlayStation 2, with a physical copy of the first game, Abe's Oddysee. It was back when I was a depressed, volatile teenager and because I gravitated towards FPS games back then, I stopped playing it after a while.
Now, that I'm branching out to other genres, I'm making my way through arguably the most accessible installment in the series: Stranger's Wrath, a standalone platformer/shooter hybrid, and really fantastic. Oddworld in general is unique in that it is overtly political, but done in a right, responsible way where the anti-consumerist messages are built into the fabric of each game's basic plot and the Oddworld itself. There are also spiritual themes in each game, and there's plenty of dark humour to balance things out.
So what was your first experience with Oddworld?
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Follow me."
"Okay."
Splat.
BUN-DUN-DUN-DUN. (the game over music)
The first game on the PlayStation, about which I don't remember much except a music video or something. Then just the remake of the first game on the PS3 or 4.
There was a kinda similar game (no text and everything "alien") on the PS1 that was stop animated, I believe by that Christian cartoonist who was later blacklisted from the mainstream entertainment industry for his religious beliefs.
Probably The Neverhood, then? Doug Tenapel's done some good stuff.
I wonder what he's up to now that I think about it. He got yeeted off of youtube a year or two ago.
He made another claymation game. Not as well liked.
Remakes and ports of the original and other games like Stranger are on PC now. I've heard good and bad about both versions of the remade games.
I played Abe's Oddysee on the original Playstation. I know I got the good ending, but don't recall whether I saved absolutely everyone.
I also played at least part of the second game, and watched a Let's Play of the most recent one, but haven't otherwise kept up with the series.
My first experience was a demo of the first game (Abe's Oddysee), on the PS1, which came on a demo disc you had to order. I remember being creeped out by some of the ambient sounds that would play before the main menu (I was young). I wouldn't play the full version of the game until years later.