RPG's for beginners?

[puke_face]

A really good one to help prepare you for one like Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the lions is one for the psp called Adventures to go! It pretty much allows you to fight at the pace you want, and you never really leave the town. I found a copy of it for $10 at a local store.

http://psp.ign.com/articles/104/1045996p1.html

[pakopako]

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

I know thats what it was created for, but I don't really think this is a good starting rpg. Its like most college prep classes in high school. Really easy to get through, and doesn't actually prepare you for anything.

I'd position it as something like a High School prep-class. It's not bad to introduce young players to a menu interface.

Robotrek (SNES) is a step up from that (introducing character customization)

Final Fantasy IV Easytype (SuperFami) is a very streamlined cinematic RPG; very linear while showing off a winding plot-line via intermission cut-scenes. I would also put Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy X into this category as well. (All three just happen to be the first game on new hardware too.)

I began my road to RPGs with the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest games, which especially by today's standards are very grind-heavy and would probably induce fits of rage.

I already have Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Dragon Quest IX, and Final Fantasy Tactics:War of the Lions... I'm still having trouble getting into FFT.

Tactical RPGs tend to be more micro-management heavy than RPGs. Like playing an RTS game such as Starcraft, you have to have your eye on a lot of things at once. Unlike an RTS, the action is turn-based so you have time to pause and think. A tactical RPGs that requires a little less management would be the original Shining Force series (recently remade for the GBA). Instead of hiring and managing fodder (generic soldiers) it gives you a very VERY large roster to work with (akin to Suikoden).

If you liked Dragon Quest IX, I have no fear that you would like the Pokémon games. The Pokémon games can get grind heavy if you want to "catch'em all" or breed the ultimate combination... but at its heart, it's about finding new stuff under every rock.

Since you liked Mario and Luigi, maybe action-RPGs (akin to Zelda's action-adventure style) are your speed? The SNES had a lot of them from Enix's Soul Blazer games (the sequel, Illusion of Gaia/Illusion of Time, and the spiritual sequel, Terranigma) to Square's Seiken/Mana line: Final Fantasy Adventure (GB), Secret of Mana (SNES), Seiken Densetsu 3 (SuperFami), Sword of Mana (GBA) and off-shoots like Secret of Evermore (SNES), Legend of Mana (PSx). If you can stand NES games, Crystalis is a must play.

And then there are free-roaming PC RPGs like Ultima: Quest of the Avatar or Fallout 2, but the latter is very buggy (even with fan patches) and the former has a somewhat clunky menu interface (the console versions on SEGA's GameGear/MasterSystem or the NES are more streamlined). For a console equivalent, the original Final Fantasy (play the remakes; they have an easier menu system) works the same way; after completing the first major quest, you get a "quest check-list" that you can complete in any order before taking on the "final boss".

[Gnashvar]

Final Fantasy IV all the way. It's one of the games that made me think RPGs were awesome.

[StuntDouble]

Well, going by what you all have said about FFT:War of the Lions, I want to stay away from the strategy or tactical rpg's. I also don't mind the more open ended games, like Fable or Oblivion, though I think Oblivion may have taken open ended too far.

Mr. Popo,

Lost Odyssey was one of the rpg's on the 360 that really caught my eye. Blue Dragon is rather intriguing as well. The nice thing is that it seems both can be found pretty cheap.

dunpeal2064,

I actually have a PS2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast, but they spend most of their time boxed up these days. It's mainly because we just have the one tv, and like to keep things simple and uncluttered. Plus it's nice to be able to play from the couch, rather than being restricted by controllers with cords. I may have grown up with Nintendo, but man, I'm too old to sit my ass on a hard floor for too long these days.

pakopako,

I actually played the original Fallout quite a bit, and I enjoyed it until the game pretty much self destructed one day. For some reason it crashed, and when I went back to load my save, it was gone. I never could bring myself to go back to playing it.

When it comes to heavy grinding, it doesn't really bother me too much, as long as it is worth it in the end. Besides, it seems like the more you grind, the better you'll get at playing the game.

I must admit, it's a bit overwhelming just how many good rpg's there are out there. I think all of you have suggested enough to keep one person going for a lifetime. I think I'm going to start with a Pokemon game and FFIV, and maybe pick up Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey on the 360 and then go from there.

By the way, is there any particular version of Pokemon that stands out? I've been looking at HeartGold or SoulSilver, since they appear to be remakes of the original games, but I'm open to the GBA versions as well.


I want to thank you all again for the suggestions, it's been a big help.

[Breetai]

If you are ever interested in strategy RPGs, Shining Force 1 or 2 are probably your most "beginner friendly" choices. They are both very fun and easy to manage.

[final fight cd]

a few people have said FFVII. the game is great, but the story is pretty involved. the average gamer probably needs to play the game twice to fully understand the story and to catch everything.

[isiolia]

Chrono Trigger is a good beginner's pick - it's relatively short, and relatively easy. Likely, in part, to encourage use of the New Game+ feature to see multiple endings...but that makes it a prime pick for those newer to the genre as well.

[the7k]

Final Fantasy Tactics is altogether a different monster from the typical RPG - so finding a good beginners RPG won't necessarily prepare you for FFT. (Though, honestly, FFT was my first tactics game and I still loved it. Just required a lot of trial and error.)

A good beginners RPG is Super Mario RPG.
A good beginners Tactics game is Advance Wars.

Leave it to Nintendo.

[Bradtemple87]

Super Mario RPG and Robotrek are both great options to recommend what others have suggested.

[t0yrobo]

Maybe it's just me, but imo nearly any rpg that isn't a dungeon crawler/rougelike game is pretty suitable for beginners. It seems like it's far more common for them to be really time consuming than really difficult.