I think it’s worth playing the first because it’s a much smaller scale and sets up the world. This one is set 30 years later so the society from the first game has significantly grown and expanded, with a lot of the evolutions in gameplay stemming from that. You probably could jump right into the second, but you may feel like you’re missing something at the start.
This is a major change in formula. You could absolutely play the first one without feeling like it's the same game. The story in the second doesn't require you to play the first one though.