You HAVE to play this!

[Pumpkin]

Say you have a friend who recently discovered RPG's and turns to you all "WOW WHO KNOW THERE WERE GAMES OTHER THAN DATING SIMS!?!?"

What games would you tell that friend they absolutely have to try as an example of the series?

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I'm trying to think of RPGs that don't break the mold in some way, they just do everything an RPG does really well.

Skies of Arcadia
Final Fantasy 5 (I guess the job system is a little different)
Chrono Trigger
First or second Star Ocean
Final Fantasy 9

Good ones that go outside the mold to some degree

Shadowrun for SNES
Earthbound
Zelda (first one, LttP,)
Secret of Mana
Xenogears
Final Fantasy 6-8
Betrayal at Krondor

That leaves plenty of room for other recommendations.

[Colonel Angus]

Phantasy Star IV
Chrono Trigger

[Pete for President]

Tempted to say Dark Souls but then again getting absolutely destroyed might scare them off the genre and back to dating sims. I'd say FFX because it's easy to get into, got some good summery happy vibes and is just solid overall.

[Spuuky]

Depends on how committed they are. I could give them an entire RPG history lesson (starting with Dragon Quest 1, because my pre-DQ RPG knowledge of Ultima and Wizardry and stuff is poor) and currently ending with Divinity: Original Sin).

Or I could just pick out a few games I think are the best; or a few games that I think even a non-RPG player could appreciate, or whatever. There are a lot of ways to go. Or the most influential/iconic RPGs? I'd really have to evaluate the character of the person playing them.

On the other hand I actually kind of did this for my sister, and I made her play:
DQ1, 3, 4
FF6
CT
Earthbound
Xenosaga

Of course that was quite a while ago now so any new-ish games couldn't have been included, and she probably wouldn't have played more than about that many games.

[Colonel Angus]

Final Fantasy I might be a good one, except that it's Grind City until you get to Lich.

As Pete said, X might be the best choice. The graphics are great, the gameplay pretty simple. The most annoying parts (Butterfly & Lightning dodging) aren't necessary. It also has a fantastic story & characters. #FearTheSpear

[The Man]

FFVI, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest V, Secret of Mana and/or Seiken Densetsu 3, Suikoden II

[Pheesh]

I'd start with WRPG's honestly. Mass Effect series, KotOR etc.

They're just less of a jump from the action/adventure games most people are used to playing, and hell, those two I mentioned have some dating sims aspects in them as well.

[Ayen]

Final Fantasy, Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, Breath of Fire, Super Mario RPG.

Wouldn't really care which entry of FF and BoF they'd want to try.

[Skyblade]

Chrono Trigger
Rune Factory 3
Shining Force II
Fire Emblem Awakening
Persona 3 (any incarnation)
Megaman Battle Network 3

[Motdrafin]

My favorite RPGs consist of:

SMT I-IV and every spinoff (Persona, Digital Devil Saga, etc.)
MOTHER 1-3
Dragon Quest IV-VI
Final Fantasy IV-VII
Tales of Phantasia, the Abyss, and Symphonia

So I would definitely recommend those!

[Mirage]

Say you have a friend who recently discovered RPG's and turns to you all "WOW WHO KNOW THERE WERE GAMES OTHER THAN DATING SIMS!?!?"

What games would you tell that friend they absolutely have to try as an example of the series?

Try games with social aspects in them. Like an affection stat that gives you hidden scenes later in the game.

[Vyk]

I'd honestly have to write off most of my favorite JRPGs and maybe even a few of my favorite WRPGs. Anything with a lot of micromanagement or busywork from bygone days is probably going to make a newcomer lose interest too quickly. So, sadly, we'd have to start with more streamlined pieces. Or things like Mass Effect, where the side quests have purpose, and everyone talks, and there's a lot of high stakes intensity to keep you interested and going. I don't think Baldur's Gate is going to have the same appeal to a newcomer as it did to hardcore PC gamers back in the day. Might be able to work up to that, but that would be far from my immediate goal

And old RPGs, especially NES ones would probably be off the table. I'd honestly question the legitimacy of appeal to new comers for games even on the SNES, and maybe even PS2. Because at least as far as JRPGs go, the random encounter rate was completely ridiculous until recently. And the only reason we trudged through them is because we were already fans. If I were to introduce someone to say Albert Odyssey, an amusing little starter RPG that has a reprehensible encounter rate that can quite literally get you into a battle every two steps, it's not going to have the same appeal. Hell I only endured it because I'd gotten used to it on better games like Final Fantasy VI and Phantasy Star IV. I built up that tolerance. And it makes me sad that even the redone Skies of Arcadia still has an encounter rate that just ruins the game for me anymore

With that in mind, I would agree that more modern WRPGs are probably better places to start. And with BioWare you get a lot of social aspects too. And a lot of "movie" moments, where you get the same intensity as watching a big budget movie on the big screen. Kudos to them for capturing that from time to time

I'm trying to think of more traditional games. I think maybe Xenogears or Xenosaga may be good starter JRPGs. They're big budget with large casts and lots of cinema and running around talking reading and learning and not a huge emphasis on random encounters. The encounter rates may still be a little ridiculous. But there's so much time spent doing other stuff between dungeons it may be more forgivable to a newcomer

[Del Murder]

I'm trying to think of RPGs that don't break the mold in some way, they just do everything an RPG does really well.

Skies of Arcadia

Where could you even find this?

Chrono Trigger is probably the best place to start. If you don't like that game, then this isn't the genre for you.

[Pumpkin]

I'm playing Skies of Arcadia now actually