I think it actually benefitted me, in hindsight, that I played Homeworld 1 and 2 before Emergence. While both 1 and 2's campaigns had their moments ("Kharak is burning" comes to mind), there's really not much going on as far as characters are concerned. Karan S'jet, overall, doesn't really evolve much as a person. The captain of the Kuun-laan, on the other hand, does feel like they become more confident as the campaign progresses, and isn't nearly as stone-faced as Karan throughout the game -- there's regret, anger, vengence, and relief shown with enough restraint that it remains professional, while making one feel so, so much more invested in the fleet. If you're here because you watched MandaloreGaming's video on this game, spoilers or not, play it anyways for the story. There are some really satisfying moments in there I won't soon forget... I'm sorry about Gozan IV though.
