It'd be best, although PoP2 was the first one I played and was still able to have fun just based on the gameplay, part of why the change in tone didn't bother me.

The platforming, which is the crux of the series, is great in all the games, what changes is the story and combat. In most of the games they try to keep this slightly light-harted Arabian Nights vibe, with 2 being the odd one out as it is more of a grim-dark affair. The combat in 1 showed potential but was a bit barebones (and had one very op move), in 2 they introduced secondary weapons, lots of combos and environmental moves, in 3 they went mostly with a shallow stealth system, and in 4 they had a very simple just mash the attack button combat.

Again, the platforming is the most important thing and it is stellar throughout the series, what changes is the secondary stuff surrounding it.

All three are good, but if I had to pick I'd go with Prince of Persia.

I dont know the other two so i cant say which one is better but Prince of Persia Sands of Time is an amazing game. I remember how my PC wasnt able to run it and i had to play it at my friends house. You definitely cant go wrong with that one.

just one? that's torture. I'd go with Psychonauts. It's funny, fun, and has an ending with more closure than the others.

I highly recommend Beyond Good & Evil.

I hated PoP:SoT, the controls were terrible and it had checkpoint saves, which meant that some of the areas were incredibly challenging to complete due to the camera/control issues.

BG&E had some control issues which were deal breakers for me. Specifically, I like to play with the Y axis inverted, but the invert setting in BG&E inverts both the X and Y axis', something I have never seen before or since in any game. I can only assume the developers were idiots.

PoP:SoT is great if you like timed jumping puzzles and checkpoint saves. I don't.

Psychonauts is a goddamned work of art. Go play it. Now.

Did GOG ever get that update to Psychonauts that Steam got with the controller update and all that?
When I played it I used a mod some kind soul on GOG had made by 'hacking' the Steam update.

If you want a well-made Zelda-style action adventure with elements of various other genres (such as stealth), a charming cast of characters and an intriguing storyline, try Beyond Good and Evil. It does feel a bit rushed towards the end, though.

If you want more swashbuckling action and excellent platforming with puzzles, go for Prince of Persia. Each title in the series has its own pros and cons, but the core virtues are present in all of them.
Sands of Time's only real flaw is that the combat is rather repetitive and becomes somewhat tedious after a while. It also throws in some light escort-mission bits later on, which are a bit annoying, but not too bad. The game does shine in almost every other aspect, though, especially the characterizations and narrative.

The second one, Warrior Within, is often bashed for its radical shift in tone towards being more "dark". Personally, I never had an issue with that, as the well-executed story- this time revolving almost entirely around time travel- kind of warranted it. It was a bit unnecessary, although if you actually read the original "Arabian Nights" stories, you'll notice that a lot of them are pretty grim and violent as well.
In terms of gameplay, WW rectifies pretty much every flaw SoT had. Especially the combat system has been improved immensely, it flows much better and is significantly more varied. The game is also structured a bit differently than the first one: While SoT was very linear (not in a bad way, mind you), WW is basically a metroidvania, where you often revisit certain areas with new abilities or on different paths to progress. That gives it a sense of taking place in a an actually complex location, rather than just a series of rooms to traverse.

Two Thrones retains most of WW's improvements, but also returns to a much less dark tone for its setting and story.
For some reason, they decided to cram in a whole bunch of other gameplay mechanics, like stealth sections, chariot races and timed sections. Those don't work nearly as well as the "core" aspects of the series and feel a bit out of place. Also, unlike in Sands of Time, the linearity is very noticeable, to the point where it feels like the game is often heavily railroading you towards a particular destination, in part due to the above mentioned "new" mechanics/gameplay elements.
It's not bad at all, and it does a very good job at concluding the storyline for the series, but it does suffer from seemingly succumbing to some of the then emerging "modern" trends in gaming.

I'd say that playing them in order isn't strictly necessary, at least for SoT and WW, although it would be beneficial, whereas TT's story will probably make very little sense without having played the first two.

Don't bother with Prince of Persia (2008). That's one of the most boring and tedious action games I've ever played.

As someone who's played and loved all three of those games (although I've only recently replayed Psychonauts), I'd say BG&E.

I gotta vote Psychonauts. Really was one of the finest games Double Fine ever made and had very, very creative level design.

Okay, I've downloaded demo's for all three. Each game is uniquely different and they all appear to have great production values.

My biggest gripe with Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is the lack of native xbox controller support. I had to use the keyboard/mouse setup and I'm not sure I like that, especially given that the combat was rather tedious with this setup. Other than that the gameplay reminded me of a more fluid & smooth version of Tomb Raider Legend/ Anniversary. I like the arabian nights theme a lot .

I had the same problem with Beyond Good & Evil. The game doesn't seem to have native controller (or controller options at all) support. However, the keyboard/ mouse setup wasn't so bad here compared to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which requires more platforming and acrobatic movements.

Psychonauts was the only demo where my xbox controller responded instantly. I didn't have to configure anything in the settings. The only thing that didn't seem linked with the xbox controller was the camera movement on the right analog stick. Everything else was configured on the controller.

With all that said, how does the gog versions of these games compare in terms of controller compatibility? Have they been patched for gamepad support?

Psychonauts, definitely. A perfect blend of exploration, action, and comedy.

So far from what everyone has been saying Psychonauts seems to be the most suggested.

POP:SOT - 5 votes
Psychonauts - 11 votes
BG&E - 5 votes