Lunar for Noobs? Gotta disagree on that one. I played it a couple of years ago and I literally got my ass handed to me unless I grinded for awhile. This was in that cave after you leave your hometown or whatever it is. I was like WTF? It is only the beginning, I still gotta continue that.
I think Skies of Arcadia would be a good recommendation, but the encounter rate just sucked all the fun out of the game near the end. Did the GC version improve it that much over the DC version?
Here are a few of my recommendations:
Grandia II (DC) - The player could choose to avoid battles for the most part, but when they did happen, they didn't feel like a chore. Who didn't like Millenia's special attacks?
Wild Arms (Playstation) - The game has really nice FMV cut-scenes, the battles look pretty cool, the exploring isn't tedious and the game doesn't take too long to complete.
Shining: The Holy Ark (Saturn) - It's a nice mix of 16-bit and 32-bit RPGs, with the old dungeon crawling in the 1st person view. Yeah, there are moments where you'll have one encounter right after another, but there are also times where you won't encounter an enemy for a minute or 2. The battle music has a nice tempo and the music sort of fits the mood for this style of game. It's not that long of a game either.
Probably....
Super Mario RPG (SNES): Familiar characters, pretty standard and understandable interface, a fair amount of comedy, and a pleasant, upbeat soundtrack make it more accessible than most.
Earthbound (SNES): A setting that most players will relate with their childhood in some way, an extremely traditional interface, loads of comedy to reward even wasted time, and very little grinding allow Earthbound to be imminently playable.
Lunar (PS1): Anime-flavored swords and sorcery that takes a little grinding, but should appeal to anime fans. Funny, too.
Suikoden (PS1): A real roller coaster of fun and adventure. There is so much to find and an uncomplicated battle system that it can really capture the imagination of a player. You do a ton of stuff without it becoming too overwhelming.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES): Even if they don't finish it, Mystic Quest is a great RPG tutorial. What an easy way to learn tropes like elemental affinities or HP/MP management. About 90% of the game is applicable to the genre.
Edit: forgot about the one per developer rule. Still, I think all of these have distinctive flavors.
Last edited by celerystalker; 07-30-2015 at 09:55 PM.
Wow there are a lot of posts here without yet mentioning or honorable mention for Pokemon. By far it has been the most popular introduction into the genre for the last 15 years. While it may lack in story and other places, it magically makes random battle encounters fun for all ages.
It was my introduction into rpg's when I had always been scared off before at the age of 15. After that I remember picking up Golden Sun thinking Mabey the turn based battles could be fun. Now I buy them for my nices who love them at 6, 7 and 9 years old.
I agree with the list of overall being good RPGs, but I disagree with Dragon Quest 8 and Skies of Arcadia as being good for beginners of the genre. Dragon Quest 8 isn't grindy until later, but the game progresses very slowly going from point to point and I think that may be a turn off to people who are new to the genre. Also, the leveling up feature in Dragon Quest 8 where you use points to learn skills can break your characters, something I wouldn't think of throwing on someone new to the genre, especially since I dislike the way they did it myself. Skies of Arcadia with the high encounter rate, the long flashy skills, and the game being a little disorienting at first is also something that I think would scare away newcomers from the genre instead of get them interested.
I think Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire 3 though were great choices. Lunar is a good choice in terms of the world and the experience, but I'd personally choose Grandia as a game that captures the same sort of feel. With Grandia though, I feel is a much easier title to get into because of how amazing the battle system is and all throughout the game you're working towards better skills, spells, etc, while Lunar you just have a handful of skills, and most newbies to the genre might dislike the lack of variety because they didn't grow up with the games and it would be easier to get into something with more variety than something like Lunar. Lunar can be a good start, but it does seem like the type of game younger generations might not get into until they're already initiated with other games in the genre.
Suikoden would be another choice I'd add to the list. Battles in Suikoden are visually appealing while being fast paced and it has a overall good battle system without any grinding whatsoever. For a game with 108 characters, there are a lot of memorable characters throughout many major scenes throughout the game. Additionally, while they won't get this experience from the first game alone, when they do get into RPGs and start playing future titles from the series because of the experience they had with this title, they'll notice how much each game ties to one another and see how much an expansive world the Suikoden universe is once they play the second game afterwards(even if they stop playing at that.)
Guardian's Crusade. Now without a recommendation, this is one of those games I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't play, but I'd recommend this to both beginners and veterans alike. The world of this game is graphically like Mega Man Legends and progression wise through most of the game plays similar although much larger. The game is explorable but has set paths to keep you on track so while being a fully 3D open world, you won't get lost and not be able to find where to go(atleast until late game when you get the grasshopper/ship.) Combat is simplistic with the player controlling a single character but that doesn't stop there being depth to the combat system thanks to the living toy system that act as additional characters that can be brought to and stay on the field of battle or one that come on the field and cast a single spell then leave. You also have your AI ally baby who is randomly controlled and will use attacks and spells on his own.
That's how I'd update your list. Still include Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire 3, replace the others for Grandia, Suikoden, and Guardian's Crusade.
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
I love this game, but even if people hate the game you got to love the soundtrack. >> <<Originally Posted by celerystalker
Nice video!
Good point!
Very good point. I guess it's one of those thing where something is so obvious people just overlook it. I think the history alone on it with it being like 20 years old now (amazing I know) with the age demographic it shoots for, yet the other ages it still retains, says a lot for its staying power as a 'best' of the JRPGs. Sure they don't vary much, but it's one hell of an introduction to RPGs and it also benefits from as dash said -- making random battle encounters fun for all ages. I for one can't stand yet can at the same time Pokemon depending on the game. I can't finish the things, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I had 2 versions of it I keep around because I end up missing the random finds and captures of the things so I keep Yellow and FireRed around. It may get tiring after another 10hours or something I put into it, but I always tend to come back and piddle some more time on it after wiping the save and going at it again. It has all the RPGs mechanics on it other than the all party/team attack where everyone benefits from the fight XP and all (though the latest X/Y has a very potent XP share item.) You buy, you sell, it just lacks buying/selling using weapons and armor, has spells, brute attacks, defense, parry, item usage, mid-boss and full boss fights, and so on with it.
Well done, Daria, and that means the list but in particular the explanations why the games should be on the list.
I know about the 'one developer-one game'-rule, but I'd get rid of the rule and throw out Skies of Arcadia, and instead put FFX or FFXII or Ni No Kuni on the list.
I'm so glad you put Dragon Quest VIII on top. It is such an underrated game, and it is possibly the best RPG I've ever played. I underline everything you said about the game, additionally there was one extraordinary aspect which made it brilliant: the pacing. The pacing was so good, there seemed to be no tedious or boring moment throughout the game. You leveled up if you needed to, the story developed at the right time, the boss battles weren't too early or too late, even the unavoidable grinding was fun. It was a perfect balance of all important RPG elements. To go after the golden and silver slimes was just great.
DQ VIII bridged perfectly the old and new RPGs. In 3D it gives you the feeling of an 8bit or 16bit RPG while the visuals and self-humoring story is modern. Just a great game.
Keep those posts and videos up, I love to watch and read them.
Final Fantasy V. Yes, the class system takes some work, but (iirc) you're eased into it; the story overall doesn't take itself all that seriously. I would've said VI instead, but between the Esper-based spell-learning system (which can easily be skipped, of course) and Gau's Rages, plus the bugginess of most versions, I can't quite recommend it as the 1st game.
...to my surprise, most of the other games that come to mind are either just SLIGHTLY too complicated and/or eyebrow-raising (SMT: Digital Devil Saga), not menu-based for the character you directly control (Tales of Symphonia), or were also made by Squaresoft (FF4,9,10; Chrono Trigger, Threads of Fate[aka Dewprism]). :/
I hate it when people write their initials on a game cart's label. Can't get it off without ruining part of the label!
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