How did you get into RPGs?

[Markies]

I played Pokemon when I was a Senior in High School. I played with a friend of mine who was addicted to it and got me interested in it. We were way too old to be playing the game, but we loved it way too much.

That same friend and I went to college together and he recently got a Playstation 2. He had Grand Theft Auto III and Final Fantasy X. I quickly became obsessed with Grand Theft Auto III. After beating it and watching my friend play Final Fantasy X, it was my turn.

I played that game off and on for almost 5 years. I absolutely adored that game and I still love it at this moment. That game is my home. Whenever I want to go home again, I play Final Fantasy X.

That opened the Flood Gates as my friend and I dabbled in VII, VIII & IX. When I got home from college, I went RPG crazy and started from the NES. That is why I play Retro Games and mostly play RPG's.

Before Final Fantasy X, I was a very casual player. I had a few games as a child, but not much as I was more interested in other pursuits. Since Final Fantasy X, I have been more hardcore and gaming has been my main focus in life.

[bmoc]

I think my first RPG-ish experience was probably Legend of Zelda back when it was new. I was a little to young to appreciate it and got constantly lost.

Fast forward to the early 90's and my family got our first PC. We got 1994's King's Quest Collection and I spent months playing those. My sister and I made a graph paper map of the labyrinth of KQ6.

Like many of you, my first JRPG was FFVI. A friend let me borrow it and I was hooked. I brought Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG as soon as they came out.

Around that time I was also saving like a mad man for an Ultra 64 which later became the Nintendo 64. I saw the advertisements in the arcades on Killer Instinct and Crusin' USA and I knew I had to have one. But Square jumped ship from Nintendo and so a Playstation was going to be a must-have.

The economy in the 90's was great and my parents' cabinet business was doing well so they were able to buy a Playstation for me for Christmas in 1995. My first RPG on that system was Wild Arms. It made the wait for FFVII so much more tolerable to impatient teenage bmoc.

I could go on and on about the great PS1 RPGs. I think my biggest surprise on that system of Suikoden. I picked it up at Wal-Mart as an impulse buy for $20 and I was blown away. I was at college when Suikoden II came out and I missed it completely. Seeing Suikoden III on store shelves clued me in to its existence. I wish I had know about it when it came out. By the time Suikoden III was out, it was already around $75 for a used copy. I did get a copy almost 10 years later.

While in college, I picked up Everquest right before the The Legacy of Ykesha expansion came out. My grades definitely suffered for it but it did allow me to remain in touch with the people that would become my future coworkers. I guess it worked out ok in the end.

I eventually abandoned Everquest due to the many missteps of the Gates of Discord expansion and the Berserker class. I sold my two accounts and make around $600. I spent some of that acquiring a WoW beta account. And with Wow I found my new addiction. I played WoW almost exclusively for several years. My biggest feat was getting the realm first level 80 deathknight on Elune. I kept playing until 2010 when my son was born.

After my son was born, I gave up WoW and got back into console gaming. Consoles, after all, have that handy pause button that my wife enjoys so much. One of the first things I fleshed out was my PS1 RPG collection. I am still working on it to this day and they aren't getting any cheaper

[prfsnl_gmr]

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!)

[BoneSnapDeez]

I never got into pen-and-paper games when I was young either. It seems like most people who enjoy D&D have a bunch of friends who also play it. I remember trying to play it several times in the 1990s, but could only get one other kid to join in so it was a spectacular disaster.

I will say that when I started to really fall in love with 16-bit JRPGs I was also playing a ton of Magic: The Gathering.

I had an uncle who purchased the first two Zelda games for me. I was blown away by the fact that an adult could be into video games. Today I'm older than he was in the late 80s, which is kind of amusing.

[Sano]

Lufia & The Fortress of Doom was the first RPG I played through and beat. It is was got me hooked

Also Zelda: A Link To The Past (If you consider this an RPG of some sort).

[prfsnl_gmr]

It is interesting to me that, as much as we argue that Zelda games are not really RPGs, they seem to have served as a stepping stone into the genre for many of us.

[ExedExes]

Any particular tricks in that game? I know the army fight when you first encounter Guy can be skipped with a speed potion and rapidly pausing, but can any of the others? How do you quickly get through the duels?

I had no idea about skipping stuff, really. The speed potions also can heal, so keep that in mind if you're low on yellow potions. You can also pick up extra flasks before the healing waters mission, but even then you can use the waters on all your party members before bringing back one flask.

The duels depend on the scenery used. The first one with the jail guard is probably the worst because he won't jump on the tables. The duels with the outdoor scenery, you can stand on the left side of one of the blue rocks and your opponent will get stuck on the right. Same with the Little John duel, stay off the fallen tree and he'll walk right into you, and finally the indoor duels (including the final one), stay off the table and have your opponent right on top of it, again walks right into you! Those sections are glitchy and they can work out to your advantage.

[TEKTORO]

Some of the first games I've ever played on consoles were Popeye, Smurfs & Donkey Kong on the Coleco, Pitfall on Atari. Once I got my own NES platformers were the thang then, Zelda was my first exposure but I would watch it being played as I couldn't get into the searching for dungeons. Wasnt till Dragon Warrior & Wizardry that I had played an RPG for the first time myself even though both titles are different styles of RPGs I was hooked. The whole battling for experience, upgrades, weapons etc was the allure plus I love adventures with story and games that require time.

When SNES hit RPGs became my go to genre and not until the PS1 was I playing anything outside RPGs (ZAMN exception). Dragon Warrior & Wizardry set the tone but it wasn't till finishing FFMQ that I was now going to find and play as many RPGs that I can!

Pretty much it thanks to Mystic Quest I've been addicted to RPGs for over 20 years now (this year while be my 30th anniversary gaming).

[MrPopo]

Yeah, those strategies are good for beating the duels, but I recall them all being pretty slow; the enemies tended to retreat away from where your sword was. I remember one time when I did the Little John fight I actually got him with his back against the fallen tree and was able to nail him in the shins with my sword but he couldn't hit me, so I could just mash attack and destroy him quickly without downtime.

[ExedExes]

Yeah, those strategies are good for beating the duels, but I recall them all being pretty slow; the enemies tended to retreat away from where your sword was. I remember one time when I did the Little John fight I actually got him with his back against the fallen tree and was able to nail him in the shins with my sword but he couldn't hit me, so I could just mash attack and destroy him quickly without downtime.

It was still a fun RPG-"like" game, and I was surprised how good it was, really.