Yeah but if you play the prequel without reading the novella first then what are you even doing with your life.

there is a game boy side series that explains why the villain become the villain so he you would sympathise him to an extent - he actually has a point

All right first you're gonna need to track down a Nokia N-gage, then what you're gonna wanna do is take the battery out...

I think for new players it makes most sense to play them in release order and then for a second playthrough go chronologically.

If you want to know about what happened back there in Paris you'll need to.