RPG that hooks you right away?

[Exhuminator]

which RPG has a great start that hooks you and keeps you going?

The first RPG that came to mind for me was Vagrant Story. Its story starts off in medias res and you're fighting and exploring as you're learning the plot. For me it's a masterpiece and one of the few RPGs that I felt never wasted my time.

[Xeogred]

My answer will always be Chrono Trigger.

Ordered this today, actually.

Are you suggesting you've never played it?

[ElkinFencer10]

My answer will always be Chrono Trigger.

Ordered this today, actually.

Are you suggesting you've never played it?

You got it. It was always prohibitively expensive on SNES, but now that I'm using translation patches on my Retron 5, I can get the MUCH cheaper Japanese version.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Dude. It rules. I could play that game for like 10 hours straight. It's THE JRPG.

[Exhuminator]

Elkin, pretty much everybody will say Chrono Trigger is OMFGarrglgleffluff amazing. Well bud, I beat it back in 1998, and I didn't feel that way. It was like an 8/10 for me. Just putting that out there, to help temper expectations a little. Now that's not me being contrarian or a hipster, just the honest truth.

Is Chrono Trigger a great game? Yes! Is it the greatest 16-bit JRPG ever? I don't think so. I enjoyed Final Fantasy 6, Super Mario RPG, and Phantasy Star IV more than it, for example. Should you play it as soon as possible? By all means! It's a classic after all. But do I regret selling a complete mint boxed Chrono Trigger to some dude in Australia for $280 back in 2009? Not one little bit.

[Xeogred]

Exhum knocking on Secret of Mana and now Chrono Trigger!

I actually do like a good chunk of games more than CT. But it's like figuring out your ordering of 10/10's. Timeless top tier SNES stuff for sure and the fusion of Mitsuda and Uematsu on one game is insane to hear.

[Exhuminator]

Exhum knocking on Secret of Mana and now Chrono Trigger!

I honestly believe these games are lauded so highly by the common player because of their outstanding graphics and audio first and foremost. But going beyond that, there are some issues I have with each, yes.

Secret of Mana was great for its time. I bought it in 1997 from a pawn shop and beat it that same year, and loved it. But earlier this year, my wife and I attempted to co-op through it together, and neither of us were enjoying it. Yes the graphics and music are still great, no question. But the fighting system is wonky with shoddy hit detection, having to constantly charge your attacks is annoying, the pacing is all over the place, the game doesn't do a great job of directing the player where to go, and the difficulty vacillates wildly. And don't even get me started on how bad the friendly AI is. And there are glitches to boot. Does that mean I think it's a bad game? No, I'd still give SoM an 8/10.

Chrono Trigger... again, amazing graphics and audio, no issues there. Where I get hung up is the plot and characters. I just don't particularly care for the plot overall, and Lavos is just a boring antagonist. Quite a few of the main characters I don't find appealing aesthetically or from a personality perspective. So while I agree Chrono Trigger has outstanding production, fun gameplay, cool battle system, and great pacing... as an RPG its plot and characters do not appeal to me, thus getting sucked into its world from an immersion standpoint is difficult for this player. Does that mean I think it's a bad game? No, I'd still give Chrono Trigger an 8.5/10.

To be fair, I know my personal tastes are a bit... skewed. After all, I love King's Field. That pretty much sums it up right there. What kind of terrible gamer with abysmal taste could possibly love this?:

Anyway, looking forward to Elkin popping his Chrono Trigger cherry.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I actually really like the whole Lavos mythos. It was fascinating to see how he was worshiped, feared, and revered in the various time periods.

[noiseredux]

Chrono Trigger sucks.

[Sarge]

I really like the plot and characters, so that's why it resonates with me quite a bit. As you say, it nails everything else, so I can totally see if the plot doesn't draw you in, it's not going to top your list. For me, it does. I put it above everything else, but the other games you mention (SMRPG, FFVI, and PSIV) are just a smidge beneath it for me. It's close. Like different flavors of 10/10. Well, maybe not fair, more like 9.75 compared to 9.5, whatever. Even Chrono Trigger has some annoying segments for me, but that's true of everything, so... yeah, back to 10/10.

I pretty much agree with you completely on Mana. Still good, but wildly uneven.

Talking about enjoying "bad" games, though: I actually enjoyed Shadow Madness. From a gameplay and balance perspective, it's terrible, but it's buoyed by some fun writing, so sometimes plot really can bring things back from the brink.