What was your first RPG game?

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desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
The first real RPG game I've played...with a narrative, skills, and so on, probably would be KOTOR, which is why I love it so much.
 

Zorander

Golden Member
Nov 3, 2010
1,143
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I played a bunch of RPGs in early 90s (Zelda, Ultima 7, StarCon 2, etc).

I have stronger, fonder memories of more recent RPGs however (Fallout, Final fantasy 7, Neverwinter Night).
 

Nvidiaguy07

Platinum Member
Feb 22, 2008
2,844
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It was either shining force 2 or sword of vermillion, but I LOVED SF2, so i wont count SOV. Im also not counting zelda for NES either.
 

acheron

Diamond Member
May 27, 2008
3,171
2
81
Depends on what "RPG" means. There was a DOS shareware game called "Kvil" that Google doesn't know about (I still have it; after reading the text files that came with it it turns out it was written by someone a couple towns over from where I lived, so it's possible it never spread beyond a couple local BBSs!) that might count. Stretching a bit you could call it a roguelike. It did have gaining levels by killing monsters, and upgrading your stats with new weapons, and so on, so maybe. No narrative though.

Not counting that... there was a Windows 3.x roguelike called "Castle of the Winds" that I played a ton. That captured my imagination for awhile. It was funny when years later I started playing real roguelikes (Nethack and what not) and suddenly realized what the Castle of the Winds gameplay was based on.

I tend to resist calling Star Control 2 an RPG, but there's that.

Off of the PC there was the Gameboy Zelda. Link's Awakening. I'm not sure that counts any more than SC2.

RPG was never really my genre. More recently there's KOTOR and the Fallouts and whatever but I was never into Ultima or anything like that.
 

JoetheLion

Senior member
Nov 8, 2012
392
2
81
Well, when I made the thread I was hoping for answers of the second part of the question - what made you like RPG as a genre, which specific part or elements of the game made you realize that this is what you want in more games, that this is the game style you prefer.
 

Zorander

Golden Member
Nov 3, 2010
1,143
1
81
Well, when I made the thread I was hoping for answers of the second part of the question - what made you like RPG as a genre, which specific part or elements of the game made you realize that this is what you want in more games, that this is the game style you prefer.
Sorry I missed that. For me, I have always loved the ability to level characters and equip them with inventories.

Later on, with the discovery of Final Fantasy 7 and Neverwinter Nights, great storytelling is also a big plus for me.
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
Well, when I made the thread I was hoping for answers of the second part of the question - what made you like RPG as a genre, which specific part or elements of the game made you realize that this is what you want in more games, that this is the game style you prefer.

I think most of us completely missed that :)

I answered with Pool of Radiance (AD&D Gold Box), and what got me first is the back story. When I was a kid I didn't get exposed to Dungeons and Dragons, so I had no idea what it was. I was maybe in 5th grade when I bought the game, and it introduced me to the fantasy world of Forgotten Realms, with all the history that came with it, the characters, classes, places, etc. and right away I was hooked.

Then I started playing the game and got the sense of progression, the fun in improving my own characters in this new world I just found, which makes it even better. To feel the sense of achievement by having such badass heroes in my party that's just getting better and better as they leveled up (and get more advanced loot!).

Lastly, it was also the turn-based battle. All the strategies, the different attacks/spells you choose to give yourself the best chance to win, the ordering of your characters, and how positioning your characters in the sheet (and therefore the map) could make a huge difference in a tough battle.

Great stuff! :thumbsup:
 

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,852
6
81
For me it was Ultima IV (there was a game before that but I forgot the name).

Played off of 4 floppy disks on a monochrome display. At the time it was an amazing game.
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
9,811
110
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ali baba and the forty thieves on a friend's computer. Since it wasn't on my own system, I only had a limited time to play it, but it got me interested in the RPG game type.

I also played Alternate Reality- the City for some time on an Atari ST, it was a shared family computer, and some of my younger cousins eventually ruined the disks so I never got to play it to completion. Sadly the company making it went out of business and it was impossible to ever replace.

The next games I played were Dragon Warrior for the NES, which I actually completed, and Pool of Radiance on an old Macintosh.

Sometime a bit later I played Ultima 6, which *really* hooked me on the RPG genre.
 

pathos

Senior member
Aug 12, 2009
461
0
0
Well, when I made the thread I was hoping for answers of the second part of the question - what made you like RPG as a genre, which specific part or elements of the game made you realize that this is what you want in more games, that this is the game style you prefer.

Hrm, I actually started out playing table top dungeons and dragons. Then, later advanced dungeons and dragons.

So, playing a computer version of it seemed like a natural progression.

Why do I still play them? For several reasons. Some of the better ones have great stories. ( i also used to read alot of novels, so I really appreciate a good story). Also, having enough control of the storyline through my decisions is a plus (but not a necessity).

Plus, I like being able to control the direction of how my character gets stronger. What skills I purchase, or strengthen, or what class I pick. Or what weapons and armor I choose to equip.

Also, I'll note I prefer turn based strategies over action rpg's. I've always favored them more. But, as I get older, I appreciate the games that make me use my brain over those that make me try and make use of what little hand eye coordination I have left :D
 

JoetheLion

Senior member
Nov 8, 2012
392
2
81
Nice, guys. :) One of the reasons that I've played my first RPG in 1997 was that all of my friends who had a computer or a console at that time preferred action, arcade, racing and sports games, so basically I was the first who wanted to try out this RPG concept, because I liked broad stories with many characters and character development and it was an overwhelming experience for me - I didn't except a video game to be that deep and full of possibilities, most of the games I've played till Fallout were more like "here are some guns, shoot your way through" or "jump through the scrolling screen to the end of the level". I instantly felt, like those action and arcade games were shallow and childish when compared to RPG. Me and my friend then started to say that RPG is nobility among VG genres.
 

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
Dragon Warrior

Then Mystic Quest (rented with a friend because it was two player and he insisted on RPG)

I ended up hooked and finished it myself before taking it back a day late.

Then, having a taste, I had to check out Final Fantasy II (US) that boring red box, a game I glossed over and put back many times, completely uninterested. That people said was hard. Or was checked out all the time.

Finally got ahold of it and OMG my life was changed forever. That would be my first experience with huddling under the covers on the edge of my seat wide eyed at 3am playing a video game. I could NOT stop.

To this day it remains one if my favorite games, contested for #1 only very recently by my first play of Xenogears.

Turns out the game that made me a JRPG whore just happens to be widely accepted by many others to be the best in the Final Fantasy series as THE definitive example of one of the best and most beloved fairytale storybook JRPGs ever made.

It set a very high gold standard for me very early on that has been damn near impossible to beat, and is what made me extremely picky and demanding in my game choices.
 
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exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
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Endearing characters, epic fairy tale story book adventures, drama, tension, tragedy, love, hate, friendship, betrayal, hope, loss, sacrifice, etc. Good RPGs just move me.

After 100+ hours and its over and I'm sad for several days that its not a world I can visit and meet and just hang out with those characters in real life. That is what a good RPG does to me.

I want to be there when Cecil overcomes his past, I want to be there and share the sorrow when Palom and Porum go to Baron. I guess I like having my emotions fucked with by a interactive story, because honestly I'm not an emotional person at ALL in real life, I'm actually quite the sociopath. But for some reason when those slow tragic orchestra strings fade in and somebody I've grown attatched to sacrifices themselves to save the group I get soft and teary. I see it coming too when that person starts taking selflessly and the music either stops completely or plays a slow sad melody, and a I'm already feeling chills and thinking No...No....omg no ...

Same thing with massive plot twists and revelations...such as "we arrived at what is said to be the resting place of God that had been previously resting deep in the ocean for eons...it appeared to be the hull of a colossal spacecraft over 10,000 years old..." I got full body numbing chills just typing that even now.

Love me some tragedy.
 
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crownjules

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2005
4,858
0
76
My first was on the NES - Dragon Warrior.

On PC, it was AD&D Gold Box: Death Knights of Krynn.
 

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
Another subtle thing I enjoy about RPGs.

The title screen main theme music.

At first its just a pleasant catchy tune with a blank emotional slate. It doesn't yet have any personal meaning, value, or attachment.

But as you play it becomes the heart and soul of the game.

After playing 20-30-40 hours in and coming back to it, you can leave it on the title screen and the title theme comes to represent and encompass the story and mood of the game from hopeful beginning to bittersweet end. The hope, sorrow, yearning, adventure, etc summed up as if the whole game story could be told just by the title theme to those who have played it.

I can listen to the Final Fantasy II title screen all day long and its like my life as Cecil flashes by and all the events of the game come surging up from memories larger than life.
 
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Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,695
4
0
Well, when I made the thread I was hoping for answers of the second part of the question - what made you like RPG as a genre, which specific part or elements of the game made you realize that this is what you want in more games, that this is the game style you prefer.

I love so many things about true RPGs.

I love the whole dynamic of exploring a new world, coming across new cities and towns and castles and dark forests and dungeons, meeting new people, doing quests, getting stronger, being able to control your progression, the great plot twists so many if theses games have
Damn you, Yoshimo!
. And of course - saving the world. Can't leave that out.

A great RPG allows me to be a noble hero, something I'm unfortunately not in real life (I'm more of a chaotic neutral type). I can't get into evil playthroughs no matter how hard I try.

I'm pretty sure I've played all the modern ones (since 2000 at least), and I'm jonesing so bad for a new world to explore I might start going back farther. I heard that Betrayal at Krondor is too old to play nowadays and I've been warned against buying it, but I might give it a go anyway.
 

exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
13,679
10
81
I'm pretty sure I've played all the modern ones (since 2000 at least), and I'm jonesing so bad for a new world to explore I might start going back farther. I heard that Betrayal at Krondor is too old to play nowadays and I've been warned against buying it, but I might give it a go anyway.

Ni no Kuni :D
 

JoetheLion

Senior member
Nov 8, 2012
392
2
81
And of course - saving the world. Can't leave that out.

On the contrary, this is usually one of my least favourite parts of a video game. If it's well implemented, I have nothing against it (I mean when it comes to saving the world without initial intention of the characters to do so or to have to do it at all), but in most cases, saving the world is an excuse for the developers to make a blank main character with no real reasons to do what he does. I prefer intimate stories like the one in Planescape: Torment for example. All the prophecies and "must save world!" things are a big clichés. A cheap MacGuffin in most cases.
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,695
4
0
Ni no Kuni :D

That's a JRPG, right? I've always been more partial to the Western style.

I wish they would graphically remake all of those classics from the late 80s and early to mid 90s to make them easier to play today.