Presumably after playing traditional turn based RPGs; How much did it throw you off? For instance - FFT was my first Turn Based RPG. I remember being so mystified by it, I didnt touch it again for a month. Did any of you have a similar experience?
It was Shining Force. When I first started it, I kept on playing for hours. I really liked how fresh and new it felt compared to all the turned based rpgs I had played before.
My first RPG in general was Shining Force 2. So, I wasn’t really thrown off at all.
I first played FFT when I was 12, and I’m pretty sure that was my first TRPG. I remember it being verrrry hard, but I mean, I got through the game. I had to look up a lot of strategies on the internet for beating Velius, though. Fuck that guy!
The closest thing to a tRPG I’ve been really impressed by is Suikoden 2, but FFT was the first I played.
I really wish this was a thread about RTS so I could talk about WC1: Orcs and Humans.
First SRPG was Shining Force: The Sword of Hadjya (or however it’s spelled) on Game Gear. Hell, it was one of my first RPGs period (having only rented Dragon Warrior 4 and played FF4 at a friend’s house prior to that). It took a minute to figure out what the menu options meant, but after that, it was easy sailing.
Too bad the series is over.
FFT.
It took the entire three day rental period just to figure out how to deploy characters other than Ramza. After that it was generally smooth sailing with the occasional difficulty spike presenting the remaining roadblocks I faced (and unlike other players I figured out how to be Velius on my own during my first playthrough).
My first RPG depending on who’s asking was either Secret of Mana, FFIV, or FFVI.
Your first RTS was WC1? What was it like?
(I think my first RTS was Dune 2 for Mega Drive and it was pretty fun, though at that age our playing style was a bit… lacking.)
The first TRPG I played was Shining Force too. SF represent.
I had tried Ogre Battle before, but the cards were an instant dealbreaker back then.
Vandal Hearts, which SG reviewed the other day. Honestly, I didn’t find it that special, it was the same as your average RPG except you had to move the characters over a field, big deal. It wasn’t until FFT (which I played soon afterwards) that I learned to enjoy the nuances of SRPGs. I actually like them better now (regular RPGs + realistic graphics = very silly look. “Hey mr. monster, please stay there while I go up to you, bonk you on the head and then return to my position!” :hahaha;) On the other hand, some SRPGs (like Chaos Wars, which I’m playing right now) can be awfully slow.
Does Uncharted Waters: New Horizons count? Naval battles are on a grid, duels are weighted rock paper scissors, and wandering around town is typical snes era JRPG fare. It doesn’t have the typical THERE IS ONLY WAR AND YOU WILL FIGHT plot that SRPGs tend toward (in fact there’s at least one character who can win without a single battle).
Other than that, probably FFT unless you really want to stretch say Jagged Alliance.
Wasn’t it a lot of peoples’ firsts? It’s ancient. A lot of things that are done for you automatically in recent RTS games are manual in WC1. It’s got that vintage charm to it, but it’s really not a lot of fun to play imo.
And now that you mention it, my first tRPG was Ogre Battle. I forgot about that one. It was alright… But I couldn’t get into it. It tried to do too much at once. The first battle is alright, but then suddenly you have like 30 units of 5 characters each to maintain… my response: “I’m out.”
Shining Force.
I replayed that game so many times as a kid.
First time through, the plains battle in chapter three (where you get Earnest at the end and Vankar at the start, I think that’s chapter three…) infuriated me. I made a mobile front-line offence of three up front, defence on the sides, squishys in the middle and won the god damn day. Upon subsequent replays, I just blazed through it.
That, and abused the hell out of the healter-exp gain system. Soon, my healers were my main tanks. Ridiculous, but shit; Lowe crushing tanks with one hit from the pimp cane brightened my day as a junior-high schooler.
Did anyone ever do the cheat where you re-named all your playable characters in the game?
Not at all. I’ve forgot which was my first, though; maybe Ogre Battle. It is my preferred genre so I’ve been through a lot of them.
Ogre Battle was definitley my first. But as much as I liked this game, I was never able to beat it, just because I want to be the “good guy” and this game seems to make you go through a lot of really stupid hoops so you don’t wind up a dickweed in everybody’s eyes.
Shining Force here too. I did not have a whole lot of RPG experience at the time, though. That said, I fell in love with it instantly.
I think the battle is a bit different from typical TRPGs where you handle many characters at once. I remember gambling being my main source of income in that game (especially easy to break with an emu).
I don’t know, I’ve met a lot more people whose first was WC II (or C&C, obviously). The second game was probably so successful it brought new people into RTSs and overshadowed the original.
Someone make a thread about ridiculous mid-90s strategy games plz
I played Ogre Battle first, but I’ll still say FFT because I have trouble considering the two games as being on the exact same genre.
Ogre Battle did somewhat confuse me a bit at first and I had to restart the game once ebcause I stupidly used my Leader in most battles and crapped on his ALI completely. I also didn’t get the hang of promoting units at first. Still, once I got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing.
Weirdly, I eased right into FFT with no problems despite no previous experience. The first roadblock I hit was in… Barius Hill I think? I dunno, it was one of the battles after you get Mustadio, the one where you first see enemy Summoners. I hadn’t really been experimenting with classes too much (I think my party was mostly just a bunch of Lancers) so I had to take a break and reorganize my whole team. Once I learned how to deal with that, the rest was just trial and error. Velius was tough, but in a “difficulty spike” kind of way instead of a “Must resort to Gamefaqs to figure it out” sense.
If you ever actually feel like replaying it, ask about it again here because as everyone who finished it will tell you, sidestepping the whole power-Vs-morality issue is easy as hell. Despite how the game tries to make you fight balanced battles, it’s extremely easy to flip it the finger and do whatever you want so long as you know a couple basic tricks.
I think Ogre Battle was my first strategy-RPG. It was extensively covered by Nintendo Power back in the day, and they really made it sound interesting and detailed (and provided many useful hints). I think the game is very good and original, although the good/evil thing was difficult to figure out for a long time.
The first Warcraft game was also my first RTS. At the time, I thought the ideas in it were really neat, but I didn’t have the patience to beat it. I thought the resource-gathering and the different types of units and buildings were really interesting concepts (I didn’t know anything about RTS games at the time), but I thought the gameplay was tedious. I enjoyed Warcraft II much more.
I think I played the Warcraft II demo, then got the battle chest. So I played it too. I beat it, but it was very difficult (I was like, 8). Warcraft I was quirky. Things like building on the road and stuff was tedious. Certain units were way powerful too - like mages could summon creatures (like a Fire Demon and… something else). I can’t remember if you could play as both races though. But, besides building on the road and fire demons and a generally depressing setting I dont remember much about WC1.
As for Strategy RPGS I think FFT was mine as well. In general I think the whole genre fucking sucks. I played Final Fantasy for like, an hour about 4 times and hated every minute of it. Sooo… thats pretty much it. Fuck Strategy RPGs.
If we’re listing our first RTS then Age of Empires was mine. Nothing beats an Egyptian navy save for a couple of really annoying priests (although Egypt had good priests too).
Originally Posted by Sephiroth Katana
I think Ogre Battle was my first strategy-RPG. It was extensively covered by Nintendo Power back in the day, and they really made it sound interesting and detailed (and provided many useful hints). I think the game is very good and original, although the good/evil thing was difficult to figure out for a long time.
Ah Epic Center! You and those comics were the best things to come out of those magazines.