Best RPG for starting out

[WalterCronkite]

Final Fantasy IV or VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG get my vote. Those started it all for me.

Indeed. Especially FFVI. Also Earthbound. And Fallout 1 and 2.

[ninjainspandex]

honestly i would suggest fallout 3 or new vegas to get someone into rpgs its a bit more fast paced and is a good bridge for someone who may of been just interested in FPS games. i got some COD only friends to branch out because of these games. borderlands is another one.

[sabrage]

Final Fantasy IV or VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG get my vote. Those started it all for me.

And Fallout 1 and 2.

Nah.

[foxhound1022]

Mario RPG for SNES. Very straightforward, and extremely fun, with just the right amount of customization and puzzles sprinkled in. Plus, I thought there were some very humorous scenes, too.

PS1 - FFVlll: Only because it doesn't bring overly high prices, and it still delivers a good FF punch.

[MrPopo]

Final Fantasy IV or VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG get my vote. Those started it all for me.

And Fallout 1 and 2.

Nah.

To clarify: good games, not good for a neophite.

[sabrage]

To clarify: good games, not good for a neophite.

Exactly. If someone specifically wanted to get into CRPGs, I'd definitely recommend Fallout over, say, Baldur's Gate (and certainly Ultima or Pool of Radiance) but for someone who's never even played Pokemon they wouldn't even cross my head.

[Dougtron]

I second all the votes for FFIV, FFVI, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG. I'd also throw Phantasy Star IV into the mix; I had a Genesis growing up and that one is what really got me hooked on RPGs. If we're talking about SRPG's as well I'd definitely say to check out Shining Force 2. Pretty straight forward as far as the genre goes, but a pretty solid game.

[pakopako]

How many "RPG-elements" must a game have before it is classified as "part-RPG?"

Just one particular one: a statistical leveling system. If you can level up from the accumulation of points (as opposed to items, like in Zelda), then it's an RPG.

So my recommendation for a first rpg would be Knights of the Round.

I feel like this discussion should be on the RPG 101 thread.

On that front, I still like RPGs that don't use XP (SaGa) or even HP (PnP variants). I even remember the manual for Betrayal at Krondor (PC) where the programmers were sick of "fight, treasure, climb, repeat" and wanted to create a new flow to RPGs.

For new players, I still stick with something fast-paced (little grinding), but not reactive (e.g. timed-actions, RTS games) -- with some exceptions to the rule (the SMB RPG series utilizes timed-actions, but as an advanced-but-not-required technique).