Your first RPG game(s)

[Antiyonder]

My 1st RPG was Dragon Quest due to receiving a copy of the original game through Nintendo Power in the 90s (back when the game was localized as Dragon Warrior). Knowing as much as I do now, yeah it was likely down to reduce how much copies they stocked up on, but hey it got me into the genre and DQ series so yeah.

I probably would have looked into Pokémon regardless, but part of the draw* for me was definitely monsters becoming your friend and fighting for you rather than being created minions of a demon lord.**

And yes I'm posting this as a response to DQ's announcement in Smash as it means that one of my current favorites is mixed in with my oldest favorite.

*Yeah I am one who has no problem with the cute factor of some Pokémon. A similar reason I'm into My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

**Yes I did eventually play the Super Famicom version of V, as well as getting it on the DS and even downloaded it on the Android I got last year.

 

[Tactician Karina]

The first RPG I played together with my father was FFIV, while the first RPG I played on my own was Pokémon Red. Then I got into Fire Emblem with Sacred Stones and Blazing Sword first (for tactical RPGs, played FF Tactics not too long after as well). Branched out more since but FF, Pokémon, and FE were pretty much my first foray into the genre.

 

[Lylian]

Golden Sun, Fire Emblem- Blazing Sword, Golden Sun- The Lost Age, and Fire Emblem- Sacred Stones for GBA.

I might have even bought Golden Sun with the system.

 

[henrymidfields]

A true RPG game (besides Pokemon)? Final Fantasy 10 for the PS2, and I was quite surprised how many aspects of the story runs parallel to the Jesus in the Bible!

 

[Antiyonder]

A true RPG game (besides Pokemon)?

Yes little kid. RPGs besides Pokémon do exist. Apparently incidentally, the trade mechanic in the series was the result of Tajiri getting a couple rare drops of the Mysterious hat/Mad cap in Dragon Quest II and wanted to give one to a friend with no way to do such.

 

[prog rocker]

Both Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX for the PS1.

 

[dragon_nataku]

so, I grew up in a third world country. I had an NES, and then an SNES, which I was still playing in 1999, because third world countries weren't exactly known for getting tech back in those times. Hell, I wasn't even aware that handheld consoles were a thing until 2004 when Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories came out. Anyway. My family and I would spend summer/winter vacation here in Miami, which was the only time I could acquire games. The only things I really played were Bubsy games, the one and only original Mario Kart, and various incarnations of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

On one such trip, I was watching telly when suddenly this beautiful video appeared on my screen. I was mesmerised, and just going "What is this? WHAT IS THIS??" The graphics and the music were so beautiful, like nothing I'd ever seen before. And it turned out to be the Chrono Cross intro cinematic. I was like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN "IT'S A GAME"??" We didn't have video game commercials where I was from, and, only having had an NES and an SNES up to that point, it sure didn't look like any game I'd ever seen before. I went nuts over this thing and I think we went out to buy it like the very next day, along with a Playstation console.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=923fVDDwaHo


This is what I saw on my telly that day. This was my first RPG ever. And I will always and forever love this game.

 

[Stratelier]

My first RPG would be the original Final Fantasy on the NES. It was a friend's copy, but we played the hell out of it and loved (almost) everything about it. We didn't know then just how much of a broken mess it was on the technical side, but in the day there was just nothing else like it.

 

[Blockhead Pippi]

Technically Pokemon falls under the category, so I'd have to say Pokemon Red was my first ever RPG. But when discounting that, my first would have been Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64.

 

[King Robert]

Does anyone remember Shining Force? It came with the Sega Genesis my mom got from a coworker she worked with (along with Sonic 2) back in 1995.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

Mine would be Final Fantasy IV, the SNES version that tried to pretend it was FFII because II and III weren't localised for western release (incidentally it would not be until halfway through high school that I learned that, no, the one with Cecil is FFIV, not II). However, it was an emulated version, and I've never finished it. First I was a nooby kid who didn't understand how to beat Dark Cecil, then I got to the moon but the computer had its hard drive burn out, and then I just can't bring myself to slog through 90% of the game again just to experience the ending (especially given that I already know said ending).

 

[FinalArcadia]

Other than Pokemon (Yellow was probably technically my first RPG), I think it was Paper Mario on the N64. I had a SNES growing up too, but I mostly only played games my dad had for it (and he's not exactly the RPG type lol), and I only got to play the RPGs that the system has a bit later on (or through ports, like the SNES Final Fantasy games on GBA).

I LOVE Paper Mario with all my heart, and it made me love turn-based combat. It's a good beginner RPG since it's not too complicated, but since it was my first RPG, I will admit I had a hard time against some bosses as a kid, like Huff 'n Puff. Every time I replay the game and get to that fight, I can't help but think about how many times I had to retry that fight and go back to Toad Town to stock up on more mushrooms and try to level up when things didn't work out years ago lol.

 

[Juliko]

Do you even need to ask? Pokemon!

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

"Pokémon" is probably the obvious answer for most of us here, haha!

But besides that, the first RPG I remember playing is Kingdom Hearts — the very first one — for the PS2, back in 2004 when that series was much smaller and simpler than it is now. There's a funny story about how I ended up with Kingdom Hearts, actually; I was really more interested in Final Fantasy X. But it was rated Teen and had a warning for blood, both of which were big no-no's for my parents at the time (I was only 11 years old then). So I settled on Kingdom Hearts as the next thing to that — it being a Squaresoft game and an RPG — even if the Disney characters made me raise an eyebrow a bit at first. In the end, though, that forced switcheroo paid off, and I have very fond memories of playing that game on my PS2 for the first time (it was the first game I ever played on the PS2, actually). I never did get a chance to play FFX on there, though; oh well.

Since then, I've made an effort to buy at least one RPG for every system that I get, although I haven't always succeeded at that. And even then, I find myself having less time in my life to actually complete all of these epic RPGs. To this day, Kingdom Hearts remains the only RPG (besides Pokémon, again) that I've actually completed to the end, making it kind of special, in a way.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Mine was Pokémon Silver. Unsurprising considering the corner of the Internet we’re in, but now I’m really gonna embarrass myself because I can’t think of any RPGs I played until I was in, like, my freshman year of high school. Little me probably did not respond well to all the complexity and jargon that comes with RPGs. Nowadays they’re some of my favorite games, but as a kid Pokémon was as deep as I was willing to dip my toes in the genre, when I wasn’t playing Super Mario 64 all day every day.

 

[Aulos]

I do not think I played any before Pokemon Red in 1999. Before Pokemon I pretty much only played Mario games. Yes, Super Mario RPG was a thing, but I didn't play it until after I played Paper Mario, and TBH, I've never gotten into it.

The order of the RPGs I played earliest for me goes something like - Pokemon (1999) -> Paper Mario (2001) -> Golden Sun (2002). Whichever anyone wants to consider a first real RPG.

 

[TeaWest]

Pokemon Crystal for me, but that's an obvious answer

I think the first three RPGs I played outside of Pokemon were FFX, FFVII and Chrono Trigger

 

[Scruffyjay]

Probably Pokemon Fire Red. I really can't think of any RPG I played prior to that. I was 9 years old and I didn't realize games could be like that, and now I'm hooked!

 

[Parissong]

Pokémon Diamond. Gen IV stans unite!

 

[mariopepper]

world of warcraft