What was the first RPG you ever played?

[Wolf Kanno]

What it says on the tin folks!

[Ayen]

Final Fantasy VII. It was my introduction to Final Fantasy, RPGs, Square, and JRPGs all at once.

[Pike]

I don't know the name but it was some D&D and Ultima inspired text command-based game for Commodore 64 in the late 80s.

[Fynn]

Pokémon Red! Or Diablo. Can't remember which one I played first.

[Loony BoB]

Mine was also a text based game. It was in DOS and I think it was called Wizard. I think you were basically a wizard navigating a dungeon, fighting things, learning spells, picking up items, etc. If I recall correctly, you could request an ASCII map if you wanted! High tech. ;)

EDIT: It was Wizard's Castle, a 1980 game. I have to download and play this when I get home for great nostalgia.

EDITRA: For modern gaming and the more typical RPGs you see today, my first RPG was probably FFVII.

[Yuffie514]

First one for me is Zelda: A Link To The Past for Super Nintendo. It got me started on my love for role playing games. I used to watch my cousins and brother play RPGs before that. I played video games as a child but did not start RPG-ing on my own until I decided to try my hand at ZALP. I used to have but gave away the remake on GameBoy Advance to my cousin when he passed away (he got me into playing it).

[Ergroilnin]

Diablo 2.

[Sephex]

Some ANCIENT D&D game for the PC. Windows 3.1 wasn't a thing yet.

For something more involving, I played Dragon Warrior like crazy.

[Christmas]

http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/196/1/1/final_fantasy_vi___kefka_by_heavymetalhanzo-d57awsv.png

[Ayen]

Image


It the video game.

[Shauna]

Suikoden or Wild ARMs. I forget which because I used to play the two interchangeably after school at my aunt's house. Vandal Hearts is mixed up in there somewhere too, but I'm fairly certain that came after.

My actual induction into Final Fantasy really came a lot further down the line.

[StarCross1988]

Super Mario RPG. Because of that it's probably my favorite RPG. I can seriously just play it over and over again.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

A few years ago, I came to the realization that the first RPG I played was actually a game called Final Lap Twin for the TurboGrafx-16. It's funny because I never really thought of it as an RPG, but it totally is a racing RPG. At least, it takes a lot of things from RPG games.

I've never gotten very far in the game, but from what I remember you are just going from town to town to try to beat the best racer in each place. It has this nifty over world that you walk your character around in to get to the towns. As you are walking around, you get random encounters.... with other racers. You'll get into a screen where you are challenged to a race. You can then race them or run away (but usually it will still force you to race them). This goes into a more traditional racing game where you are just taking your car around the track to try to beat them. For winning races, you'll get money and I think the bosses will net you car parts and such to "level up" your car. A lot of it is a grind to buy the good parts so you stand a chance against the boss races.

[Rez09]

I believe it was the original Final Fantasy, though I might have played something earlier and simply not remember. It was the first one I really played, at the very least.

[The Man]

Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy IV. It's been too long since I played them to tell you which one I played first.

If Zelda games count, then the original, but if Zelda games count you might as well count roguelikes as well in which case it might be NetHack.

[The Space Pope]

Probably Destiny of An Emperor for the NES, though it's technically a strategy RPG. Either that or Dragon Warrior, though I technically never beat it since it froze right as I killed the Dragonlord. ;/ I don't really play RPGs too much anymore, besides the Fallout series, and the newer ones aren't really 'true' RPGs.

[Pete for President]

Pokémon Blue!

[Wolf Kanno]

58282

[Pike]

If Zelda games count, then the original

Ah yes, that would be mine as well in this case. I don't consider Zelda games to be RPGs though.

[ScottNUMBERS]

The first time I ever played an RPG was when I was 11, my friend let me have a go on his Pokemon Red game. When he finally tore it from my death grip I felt as close to depression as I have ever known. I got my own copy for my birthday which wasn't far from that point and iirc I don't think I ate or spoke until two days later when I ran out of AA batteries.

[black orb]

>>> FF1..:luca:

[radicaledward124]

Well it kind of depends. I played Kingdom Hearts first on PS2, but I played others i think before that..

[Aulayna]

Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy VII
Pokémon Red
Super Mario RPG

Honestly can't remember which one of those I played first.

[arenzi]

Pokemon Blue on my old GameBoy Pocket.

[Sephiroth]

http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/196/1/1/final_fantasy_vi___kefka_by_heavymetalhanzo-d57awsv.png



That Mc Donald's game for the Sega Mega Drive?

Final Fantasy VII. Zelda is an Adventure and I would never count Pokémon as RPG as people know. It's its own genre if anything and missing too many normal RPG elements.

[Dat Matt]

Grandia, actually. Picked it up for £4 from Asda. I couldn't get a part in Disc 2 and ended up finishing it a few years ago.

[Vyk]

A few years ago, I came to the realization that the first RPG I played was actually a game called Final Lap Twin for the TurboGrafx-16. It's funny because I never really thought of it as an RPG, but it totally is a racing RPG. At least, it takes a lot of things from RPG games.

I've never gotten very far in the game, but from what I remember you are just going from town to town to try to beat the best racer in each place. It has this nifty over world that you walk your character around in to get to the towns. As you are walking around, you get random encounters.... with other racers. You'll get into a screen where you are challenged to a race. You can then race them or run away (but usually it will still force you to race them). This goes into a more traditional racing game where you are just taking your car around the track to try to beat them. For winning races, you'll get money and I think the bosses will net you car parts and such to "level up" your car. A lot of it is a grind to buy the good parts so you stand a chance against the boss races.

That... sounds awesome! That's like my desire to find RPGs with "fighting game" battle systems. I never really bothered to think about or hunt down RPGs with battle systems related to other genres (other than FPS games [go Bethesda])

My first RPG was actually pen and paper. My brothers introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons when I was 6 or 7. I believe if I had a PC I would have been like Pike and played early text games, or Ultima and stuff

But I was too deprived and merely had an NES lol Or rather my brother had an NES, but my mom got me a subscription to Nintendo Power, and in those early days they gave away a free promotional game: Dragon Quest. Though my bro bought the original Final Fantasy around the same time. So if we're talking about traditional video game RPGs/JRPGs then either of those would probably count for me

[Shorty]

I don't think Tomb Raider techinically qualifies as an RPG, but that was it. Otherwise, FFVIII.

[blackmage_nuke]

Pokemon then FFVIII

[botnslave]

I think it was Illusion of Gaia, but it might have been super Mario RPG. We had a NES, but I don't remember playing RPG's on it.

As for non linear RPG's like the racing one- Inazuma eleven for DS is a soccer RPG that's quite good I thought.

[Edge7]

Pokemon, then Tales of Symphonia.

Although Fire Emblem was the first RPG I played that I formally recognized as an RPG

[Spooniest]

The first RPG I ever played and beat was FF1, but I had played FF4 before that, so...I'm not sure how to finish this sentence.

[VorpalCyberWolf]

Super Hydlide for Sega Genesis :D

[theundeadhero]

Dragon Warrior 1 on NES, because Zelda isn't an RPG.

[Quindiana Jones]

Y'know, I think it really might be FFIX. xD

Ah wait, no! Pokemon Blue. I remember the exact date; 26/10/2000. In South Wales. On a brand new lime green GameBoy Color. :bigsmile:

[escobert]

If Zelda counts than that. Otherwise FFVII.

[Formalhaut]

I guess Pokemon, but after that, Probably Final Fantasy X.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

58821

[Bright Shield]

Dragon Warrior

[AssassinDX]

Secret of Mana, if we're not counting Zelda.

[black orb]

>>> oops, wrong thread..:luca:

[Christmas]

I think it was Dragon Quest 3 or something. Got a bad impression of it due to the lack of guidance and it bugged out in late game. Not sure what happened but I was just a little girl & got traumatized. :(

[Dr. Acula]

Ocarina of Time! I played for about 5 mins at my local video store that had a Nintendo hooked up. Apart from that, FF7 and Pokemon Yellow.

[DK]

Shining Force 2, I think. Still a great game now! The music was great, creeped me right out as a kid.

[tidus79]

Secret of Mana (Snes) was my first Rpg :)

[Christmas]

Secret of Mana (Snes) was my first Rpg :)

That was my first "action" RPG!! Haha!

[Tigmafuzz]

When I was a wee lad of about 3, my grandpa bought a secondhand *deep voice* NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM because it was super cheap after the release of the *deep voice but with more echo* PLAYSTATION and a handful of the games he heard were the best. We had the TMNT arcade port, Mario/Duck Hunt and Mario 3, Zelda 2, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Tetris, StarTropics, BattleToads, Mega Man 2, River City Ransom, and of course, Final Fantasy. I hadn't yet developed the hand/eye coordination and planning skills to be good at the more action-y games, so I'd usually just tag along as my grandpa's second player until I died from something silly. I even sucked at Mario as a youngling. But Final Fantasy? Turn-based. I could spend as much time as I wanted trying to figure out the next move. I could roam around in the towns talking to each person, I could build up my team's strength by repeatedly battling and earning experience, learning the weaknesses of each enemy and earning gold to buy better weapons. It was perfectly linear, easy to understand, and I even got out of some of my usual studying because I spent my whole day reading and doing math in my head anyway. Less copying words out of the dictionary, more snooping around trying to figure out how to find the next location.

Then, right before he passed, he bought me a Genesis for my 5th birthday, and another handful of the games he heard were the best. By that time, I had gotten better at using the Nintendo controller and had spent 2 years getting better at gaming in general, so I was ready for the action, and that Sega controller was so badass-looking (and giant in my tiny boy hands) that I couldn't wait; I didn't have school the next day, so I spent probably 12-14 hours straight, awake all night, playing games like Shinobi 3, Contra Hard Corps, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Streets of Rage for the first time. I was in kid heaven.

After a few days, I felt like playing something a little less intense, so I tried Shining Force 2... and for some reason, I just didn't like it. Maybe I felt like the pacing was off, maybe I didn't like the art style, who knows. I just felt like it wasn't designed for me, whereas Final Fantasy felt like it was made just for me. I started to love mythology and recognizing names of creatures I'd seen named as monsters in Final Fantasy. I started to enjoy creating my own rpg scenarios, drawing maps on my driveway in chalk and having entire notebooks filled with creatures, characters, weapons and armor, and oh-so-deep lore. I would go to my friends' houses just to play Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger because we didn't have a SNES. They would wonder why I didn't want to play Donkey Kong or Metroid, and I would too. I think I just wanted to look at numbers, really.

Then, right before I turned 6, my brother had saved up enough to get himself a PS1 for his 13th birthday. Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, that was the beginning of the end for me. The first time I saw him boot up that Final Fantasy Tactics animated intro, I was hooked forever. It was almost nothing but rpgs from that point on. Chrono Cross, Suikoden, Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Legaia, Legend of Mana, Wild Arms, Lunar, Thousand Arms, Azure Dreams, Threads of Fate, they were all amazing. But none of the other rpgs felt as "right" to me as the Final Fantasy games. 7, 8, and 9 all felt perfect to me in different ways. I even replayed them because of how amazing they were, and then went back and replayed the other Final Fantasy titles that I didn't get to experience in order. I played 4 through 6 after playing 9, then went further back and played 2 and 3. Other kids would be running home so they'd make it in time to catch DBZ on Toonami, I'd be rushing home to play Final Fantasy (although the TV was loud enough that I could hear DBZ on in the other room.) But I could never stop playing Final Fantasy. Even to this day, I replay one or two a year.

Teen years were a bit of a wash, awful things happened and I was tossed around for a while, went from being homeless to being in jail a lot. But the silliest thing is, even when I wasn't with a foster family, I would go to the library a lot or go to my friends' houses to come check this cool website all about Final Fantasy games. I'd be in the irc for hours, participating in some of the silliest flame wars and poorest attempts at trolling you've ever seen. But I was almost always here through those years, and there were some people here that helped me get through some tough times, even if they were just providing an open ear. Pike, Sharky and shion Pumpkin, Jowy, Mel, Paula, Sephex, Proto, Megan, etc. all kept my spirits up while I was dealing with being a troubled teen with no real place to call home and no real identity. And through it all, I somehow came out ahead; I've got lots of close friends, I'm very financially stable, and I even almost got married.

And it all started because the first game that little me was able to git gud at was Final Fantasy. It's no wonder people can't stay away from this place for very long :razz: