BoneSnapDeez wrote:For as long I remember I had been interested in medieval fantasy, swords & sorcery, and so on. As a young kid I was pretty obsessed with the first Zelda game. I'm not sure why I never got into 8-bit JRPGs back in the day, they must have not been available locally to rent or buy.
Once I got a SNES I started making purchases based on what looked intriguing in Nintendo Power and most of these were JRPGs - Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy VI, EarthBound, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, etc. It didn't take long to decide that this was my favorite genre. Later in high school (junior year or so) I finally started playing WRPGs via the Ultima Collection.
This tracks my experience pretty closely. I, too, always liked medieval fantasy, swords & sorcery, etc., but unlike many of my friends, I never understood the appeal of pen-and-paper RPGs. (Lord knows I tried...) I was also hooked on video games as soon as I touched an NES, and my <totally awesome> dad bought me a copy of The Legend of Zelda shortly after I received my own NES in 1987-88. Even though I inadvertently played through the second quest first, I still loved it, and I sought more games that I perceived to be like it. Dragon Warrior fit the bill, but I found it too slow and cryptic. I enjoyed Final Fantasy more, but again, it did not thrill me. (Thankfully, I only rented these games or played them at my friends houses.) A misguided AD&D: Heroes of the Lance purchase almost poisoned me on the genre forever, but, thankfully, I picked up Crystalis a few months later. I loved it, and after playing through it, I began to recognize the ARPG play mechanics I enjoyed the most.
Some years later, I received a SNES, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was one of the first games I bought for the system. (It was, of course, great, and I still love it.) I rented Secret of Mana enough times to beat it twice, and started seeking more games from Squaresoft. I later rented Chrono Trigger and FFVI enough times to beat them each twice, decided that turn-based RPGs weren't that hard (or boring), and tried out more tactical and turn-based RPGs after that. (The only ones I didn't really like were Earthbound and The 7th Saga...

) FFVII and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night sold me on a PS1, and I devoured JRPGs on that system.
I have been drawn to RPGs since then, but I never really got into WRPGs. Moreover, sixth generation console RPGs really put me off the genre for a while. I began to appreciate the genre again, however, after my children were born and my gaming time became largely restricted to handheld systems (where, IMO, modern JRPGs are really flourishing).
Currently, I am going back to finish up some classic JRPG series and revisiting some classic RPGs I missed or overlooked. I also fully expect to beat some classic WRPGs at some point. (Ultima IV is sitting on my iPad just begging for my attention this summer!)