RPG's: Your First, "Focus," Finished, and Favorite

[Nz17]

First {which you played}: Final Fantasy (NES) ...unless you count Adventure for Atari 2600

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Final Fantasy VI (SNES FFIII)

Finished {first you defeated}: Final Fantasy VII (PSX)

Favorite: LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete (PSX)

Playing Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy really got me reflecting on my history with RPGs across the ages. For myself, I didn't play very many RPGs except for the consoles which I owned. Growing up poor, that meant rentals for the NES and later presents for the PlayStation. And while I played Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy for Nintendo and a few computer RPGs along the way with occasional RPG exposure at a friend's house due to his Super Nintendo and N64, my personal golden age for RPGs didn't start until I got a PlayStation in 1997. That's when I was old enough and determined enough to start saving and buying many role-playing games for the console which was home to many, the first PlayStation.

Wild ARMs; Xenogears; Final Fantasy VII; Chrono Cross (well not so much ); Final Fantasy Anthology (FFV & FFVI); Final Fantasy Chronicles (FFIV & Chrono Trigger); Final Fantasy Origins (FFI & FFII); LUNAR: Eternal Blue Complete; LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete; Breath of Fire III; Breath of Fire IV (could've been better, still good); and many more, both here and on earlier and later consoles...

All of which got me to thinking, what are your RPG memories? The first you can remember? The one which really clicked with you? The first you got to see the end credits with? A cherished favorite? Perhaps one you completed with a friend. Please share if you would.

[bigbacon]

not counting atari or PC games

first: Dragon Warrior
focus : FF2 (4)
finished: Dragon warrior
favorite: (and I know everything will think this is nuts) Final Fantasy 8 (with FF12 close behind)

somthing about the characters in 8 just drew me in WAY more than any others until 12. 8 is still my favorite though of the "3d" FFs, with 2 (4) being my favorite in the old school ones.

I also really like the Xenosaga games. Still listen to the soundtracks to all three daily.

[gamingpalooza]

Personally speaking, I am not a huge RPG fan but I will answer to this as a person who is not necersarly a huge RPG fan.

My first RPG that I tried playing would have to be probably Zelda Links Awaken on Gameboy, as well as the Pokemon games.

My first RPG that I focused on quite a bit was probably Oasis on Sega Saturn and Pandoras Tower on the Wii wasn't bad either for me. I also downloaded a RPG game on DS-i ware and it was pretty good for awhile.

I never finished any RPG because I lost my interest in them after awhile.

I'm not sure if I have a favorite, only because I am not a huge RPG gamer.

[j_factor]

First: Ultima III (C64)
Focus: Phantasy Star (SMS)
Finished: Legacy of the Ancients (C64)

I'm not 100% sure on these, because I played RPGs from a very young age, so I may be misremembering. But I definitely have a soft spot for these.

Favorite: Dragon Force (saturn)

I don't really have a single favorite, so my answer to this will change every time. But Dragon Force is definitely one of my most-played. I love its battle system.

[SEGA_Queen]

First {which you played}: Pokemon (Game Boy)

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast)

Finished {first you defeated}: Pokemon (and Skies of Arcadia after that.)

Favorite: Current - Solatorobo, Ni no Kuni DS, Tales of Hearts, and Eternal Sonata.

Pokemon was the game that introduced me to the world of RPGs. But SoA (and to a lesser extent the Evolution series) was what solidified my love for them!

I stay away from full-blown strategy RPGs. (FF Tactics, Fire Emblem, etc.) However, I don't mind RPGs with light strategy elements, as long as the battles don't drag on.

[Natty Bumppo]

First {which you played}: Final Fantasy (SNES)

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Shining Force II (Genesis)

Finished {first you defeated}: Final Fantasy II (SNES)

Favorite: Dark Wizard (Sega CD)

Final Fantasy II was one of the first two (the other was Tetris) games I bought when I bought my first console (I got in late in the game (as it were) and got an SNES when I was 39 or so. Game sucked me right in and I finished it before I bought any more games.

The Shining Force games snagged me early on (a genesis was my second console) and SFII was the best of the first three (the two genesis and the sega cd one) - pretty simple mechanics with an interesting story line and enough characters to offer a lot of replay value. Although I did miss a lot of stuff (like the blacksmith) on my first playthrough.

Dark Wizard has always been my favorite RPG game - kinda like Shining Force on steroids crossed with Master of Monsters (another favorite) for the genesis. Not only do you get a large army, but you can vary its compositon in a really wide variety of ways. And tons of secrets to discover. The only real drawback (which most console stragety games suffer from) is an AI that is generally dumber than a box of rocks.

[Rickstilwell1]

Not counting Zeldas or action RPGs

First {which you played}: Wizardry - NES

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Dragon Warrior - NES

Finished {first you defeated}: Beyond the Beyond - Playstation

Favorite: Suikoden II - Playstation

First I played was Wizardry but I was 6 and didn't know much about what I was doing. I just had fun imagining what the weapons looked like and going through the maze trying to find as many different monsters as I could.

Next came Faxanadu 6 months after my 6th birthday, but as an action RPG I decided not to include it. I beat the game when I was 7 while I was in first grade.

Next action RPG/adventure came The Legend of Zelda when I was 8, but I didn't beat it till I was about 10 because I could never find level 7 before I found it accidentally one day when I was trying to warp from that screen to a previous level as a shortcut. Doesn't count here, but great game.


When I was 9, I finally got my first 2D third person RPG, Dragon Warrior. I say this is the first one I clicked with because it was like the fun I had aimlessly exploring in Wizardry, except I could see where I was going and tell what I was doing. Still as a kid I couldn't beat it because my Nintendo was always blinking so much ruining my progress and I was also trying to go too far when my level was too low. The one thing that really stopped me from progressing was that I didn't understand that I had to find a pendant in order to activate the Stones of Sunlight and Staff of Rain. But hey, that's pretty far for a kid who's only played his own games for 3 years. In my high school years I would revisit this game and annihilate it multiple times since then. One time I played it all day and beat it in one sitting.

On my 10th birthday I got Zelda: A Link to the Past which didn't take me long to finish and 6 months later I got Link's Awakening which I had the help of Nintendo Power to beat. Those were the last two RPG-esque adventures I would get before discovering the Playstation.

When I was 11 I started 5th grade and Pokemon came out. I got it that Christmas and played it like crazy, watched the anime and bought Pokemon cards. A fad that lasted a few years. For a while we were excited about the new Pokemon coming out in Gold and Silver but after they were officially revealed and named I just lost interest. No more fun hype and speculation, just a fixed reality.

When I was 11 my mom started dating this guy and they ended up having a daughter. By the time I was 12 they moved closer to me and I got to go over there on weekends. He had a Playstation and it was his favorite system ever. Only having seen NES, Genesis, SNES, Game Boy Pocket and Nintendo 64 in action yet, I saw how good it was and how it had a great share of interesting games. One day when going through his games I put in Beyond the Beyond and immediately fell in love with it. I was like awesome! This was like Dragon Warrior with way more color, good graphics, and multiple characters like Wizardry except they were unique characters with their own personalities. Once I got into this game I played it all the time. My stepdad found another Playstation with the dualshock controller he was missing so he let me borrow one of the systems and gave it back after a while. I told him what games I liked on it and he gave it back to me that Christmas with Beyond the Beyond. It took a few months but I finally beat the game using Gameshark. In later years I would find out it was possible to save Percy without using the walk through walls code and I would learn where almost everything in the game was. I managed to beat it 10 more times over the years without using cheats. It's one of my all-time favorites.

Next I got to try the strategy RPG, Vandal-Hearts. I was 13 yes, game rated M, but what the hell. The story was very interesting and easy to follow. Some stages needed to be replayed multiple times before a good strategy would be devloped, but for the most part it was pretty easy. It is up there among my favorites, but misses the top spot by just a little.

Also in 7th grade, but later in the year: My friend let me borrow his copy of Final Fantasy III for SNES after this making it my first Final Fantasy experience. To me it had some similarities to Beyond the Beyond, but it had taken battles in a different direction where if you just stood there without pausing, enemies would hurt you. There was more dialogue, making the story much longer. I made it to the point where the world changes and tried exploring a bit but it started getting hard and other games stole my attention.

And here comes 8th grade. I finally played through Suikoden I. The only game series that would surpass my enjoyment of when I discovered Beyond the Beyond would be the Suikoden series. I spent much of May playing this game while I stayed home from school with labyrinthitis caused by being on my dad's boat for the first time. I would secretly play this, putting a blanket over the Playstation and turning off the TV every time I heard footsteps down the hallway. A technique that would allow me to videotape and watch porn from public access TV without ever getting caught. lol.

While I love all the games in the series, I would give the award of favorite game to Suikoden II for integrating the most characters from a past Suikoden game in to its storyline, and for having good-looking 2D graphics. Something visual I would have loved to see more of before they went all-out with the 3D. The story for Suikoden I was very interesting, but Suikoden II's story was even more interesting and involved. I picked this game up at Game Crazy for $20 during my first year of high school.

Many games have come and went since then including Final Fantasy VII, The Legend of Dragoon, the 2D Final Fantasy remakes for GBA, Diablo, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, X-Men Legends and so on. I think my appreciation for certain games comes from the order in which I got to experience these games.

[TonyTheTiger]

First {which you played}: Ultima Exodus (NES)

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Finished {first you defeated}: Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Favorite: Chrono Trigger (SNES) and/or Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

[kupomogli]

First {which you played}: Dragon Warrior (NES)

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Final Fantasy (NES)

Finished {first you defeated}: Dragon Warrior (NES)

Favorite: Brigandine Legend of Forsena (PSX)

[Damaniel]

First {which you played}: Dragon Warrior (NES) - got it from that Nintendo Power promotion

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Final Fantasy IV (SNES)

Finished {first you defeated}: Dragon Warrior (NES)

Favorite: Final Fantasy VI (SNES), but Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest VIII are a close second and third

[tom]

First: DragonStomper....a nice and easy to get into RPG on VCS, three levels, fun game play
Focus: Wizard's Crown....A8, a super classic RPG, one of the best out there, still nowadays, a diamond RPG, unbeatable
Finished: Wizard's Crown, followed by all SSI Gold boxes (not the console rubbish, the real C64/PC classics), SSI was truly one of the best RPG makers out there.
Favourite: Curse of the Azure Bonds or Treasures of the Savage Frontier

[SpaceHarrier]

First {which you played}: Final Fantasy III/VI (SNES) (unless Ogre Battle (SNES) counts as an RPG... I think it's more strategy?)

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Suikoden (PSX)

Finished {first you defeated}: Suikoden (PSX)

Favorite: Final Fantasy VII (PSX)


First RPG I was interested in was Dragon Warrior, and I asked my mom to get it for me after reading about it in Nintendo Power. She looked at the screenshots and said, "that doesn't look very fun."

I never played an RPG until the SNES days, but I wasn't so taken with what I tried until Suikoden. It was simple, and had an amazing story that just drew me in. Great music too. And the whole affair was on the order of 10 hours long. Final Fantasy VII sealed the deal. I was ready for a more complex game at that point. Then came FF8, Lunar: SSSC, Chrono Cross... so many great RPGs on the Playstation.

I'm sure liking FFVII best is probably seen as somewhat derp but after all these years I still prefer it... it's my desert island rpg, if you will. I'm still struggling to play through VI, its good but doesn't grab me quite the same.

[Steven]

First: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Focus: Final Fantasy II
Finished: FFMQ
Favorite: toss-up between FFIII and Chrono Trigger

[shopkins]

First: Dragon Warrior
Focus: Dragon Warrior.
Finished: Dragon Warrior. Yes. There is a theme. I got this when I got my NES, if I'm remembering correctly, and after a short period where I was annoyed with it because it wasn't an action game I went back to it and fell in love.
Favorite: Planescape: Torment.

I could probably say I have two entries for the focus category. The first RPG to excite me was Dragon Warrior, and for years I was all about JRPGs. I never really could afford a computer that could play current PC RPGs. But years after it came out I found a budget two-pack of Fallout and Fallout 2 and it was like discovering RPGs all over again. They were the kind of games I'd idly find myself thinking about strategies and scenarios for when I was driving around or at work. From then on I still loved JRPGs, but I broadened my horizons and included WRPGS as well.

[IHatedSega]

Pokemon for the first 3, and Favorite I cant say, too many I havent played yet.

Pokemon is probably one of the more complex RPG's out there from how many Pokemon there are and so many different attacks, if it wasnt such red hot phenomenon at the time the games would just be kiddy versions of The Megami Tensei Series.

[G-Boobie]

First: Final Fantasy 6

Focus: Morrowind

Finished: Morrowind

Favorite: Persona 4

Currently playing: P4 Golden, VTM Bloodlines.

[jonebone]

First - Final Fantasy NES
Focus - Final Fantasy II SNES
Finished - Final Fantasy NES
Favorite - Dragon Age (X360)

[Battyone]

First {which you played}: Might and Magic III

Focus {first RPG which really clicked with you on a powerful level}: Final Fantasy IV (II US, but after I discovered the J2ETranslations fan translation I never looked back)

Finished {first you defeated}: Final Fantasy II/IV

Favorite: (J)Chrono Trigger/(US)Knights of the Old Republic

[understatement]

First played: Final Fantasy II (SNES)
Focus: Xenogears (PSX)
First finished: Final Fantasy II (SNES)

I had to break down the favorite into genres, I can’t name one favorite above all RPGs.

Favorite Standard RPG: Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Favorite Action RPG: Brave Fencer Musashi (PXS)
Favorite Tactical RPG: Dragon Force (Saturn)

[Dashopepper]

First: Final Fantasy mystic quest

Focus: Pokemon gold

Finished: Golden Sun

Favorite: Crono trigger

I really hated RPGs after mystic quest, Golden Sun For the Gameboy Advance put me on the right path, just a little late for the heyday.