Looking for a new RPG, Ni No Kuni looks interesting

Should I start with the first game or can I skip to the second one? It seems both are highly rated but let's pretend I'm on a budget

Never played the second one. The first one was an ok-good rpg. I thought it was disappointing at the time, but that was because I had high expectations. It's worth a playthrough I think.

The second game is pretty mediocre honestly, I'd give it a 6/10. There's a bunch of different elements they crammed in like an RTS mini-game, a kingdom building simulator, creature raising and none of it is very effective in my opinion. The combat and story are pretty lackluster too

I liked both. I liked the second one more though.

They are connected by their lore(and there is some references to the first one), but you don't have to play the first in order to understand the second.

@ninkendo