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sheath wrote:In that case I do think a brand new player with no prior experience might appreciate the genre as a whole better if they started with the original (console) turn based RPGs.

It's an understandable mentality for someone who is already a fan, but it's not necessarily one that works for a new player.

For the fan, going back to the beginning lets you see the core features, developments, etc. You can appreciate what a game brought to the table at the time.

However...

An established fan also understands that an older game might be missing newer design conventions, conveniences, and so on. Things that might serve to help grab someone approaching the genre fresh.

What a new player should find is a game they just plain like, regardless of where it falls in gaming history, subgenre, and so on. Everyone has their own particular likes/dislikes, and in turn the game(s) that just "clicked" and turned them on to a particular genre. Chances are, if someone isn't already into RPGs, then what will grab them will likely be something that benefited from a few rounds of improvements (and even then there's no guarantee).

When you're talking about "making" a fan, it's less about what they "should" play, and more about what they'd want to.

For example, if someone said they'd never played a fighting game before, I'd probably not recommend they go back and dig up a copy of Fighting Street just so they can fully appreciate how far things have come. The point would be to find what'd be easiest to jump into and have fun.

In cases of Western RPGs and more exploration based role playing games I'd still say that starting out with something like King's Quest and early Detective style games would be best, but only if the player was willing to go back first.

In terms of genres, those games would more typically be considered Adventure games, not RPGs.

I was assuming the person in question was a gamer, I would suggest entirely different things to a non-gamer. They should start out light with a puzzle game, or something that appeals to their baser instincts and go from there.

sheath wrote:I was assuming the person in question was a gamer, I would suggest entirely different things to a non-gamer. They should start out light with a puzzle game, or something that appeals to their baser instincts and go from there.

There are quite a lot of people who have clocked many thousands of hours on PC or console games, but never delved into an RPG, or never stuck with one.

Not all gamers have the same tastes, plus what someone does like might change over time (or what represents a genre may evolve into something they'd like).

Yes indeed, and they may never enjoy an individual game no matter what they claim their tastes are. I would persist though, that they would appreciate any genre better if they worked their way from the beginning forward in whatever increment they might tolerate (and not using emulation for gaming's sake!). Although emulation works pretty darn well for slow paced games really.

sheath wrote:Yes indeed, and they may never enjoy an individual game no matter what they claim their tastes are. I would persist though, that they would appreciate any genre better if they worked their way from the beginning forward in whatever increment they might tolerate (and not using emulation for gaming's sake!). Although emulation works pretty darn well for slow paced games really.

Well, sure.

Playing a genre "from the beginning" would certainly put a lot more into context - what this title did new/better, how that one excelled, etc. Of course, so would simply playing more games in general. It certainly would allow for better appreciation of titles - particularly older ones that may lack later refinements.

My point is that for a lot of people, that doesn't necessarily correspond to fun. What you're looking for is a good experience. Something that will change "I might like this genre" to "I like some games in this genre". If, for no other reason, because once it's established there are some titles you like, you're more likely to keep looking if you try one example and don't care for it.

Bradtemple87 wrote:Super Mario RPG legend of the seven stars

This has my vote.

What got me into RPGs was Pokemon. I would recommend probably FireRed/LeafGreen or HeartGold/SoulSilver to people new to the series. They have the enhancements of the newer games, but with Pokemon that don't look stupid as hell.

Another RPG that helped me get into the series is the Final Fantasy series, mainly Origins and VII. I probably wouldn't recommend Origins though, but rather IV and VI. Those are solid fun games. And Chrono Trigger is great too. Dragon Quest is a great series, and the DS remakes of IV-VI are good. Actually I think Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for the PSP would be a good starting point as well. The combat isn't too hard at all, and the dungeons can be solved pretty easy for the most part. The story and characters aren't half bad either.

So Pokemon, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest IV, and Lunar Silver Star Harmony all get my votes.

@paulkhanti

So you did you end up liking Chrono Trigger? Still playing it?

Phantasy Star IV on the genesis was the first rpg to genuinely interest me. I was definitely not interested in RPGs at all before I gave that a shot (don't really remember why I decided I wanted to try it). I rented it back in the days but there was no manual and I had no idea what HP or MP were and I had no idea how to restore my HP. It opened the door of my mind much later when I would play FFVII which would be the first RPG I would complete.

I ended up going back to Phantasy Star IV and beating it. It was fun but quite difficult at least compared to PS1 final fantasy games. I liked that you could set up macros and also set up special team attacks. The plot was compelling enough to motivate me to progress although I think the story overall was not necessarily good (I don't remember it honestly). I don't remember it taking too long to beat. Just due to its difficulty I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a first RPG. I think Final Fantasy IX would be my pick.

I've always found that I'm never particularly interested in the actual gameplay of the RPG and often it's more of a chore and what really drives me is the story. So I think in that sense, assuming the gameplay/combat aren't prohibitively unfun or difficult then finding a game that has a story that intrigues a new player would be ideal.

chrono trigger or Super Mario RPG