How did you get into RPGs?

[Lirishae]

My first video game memory was also my first RPG memory. I came down to my grandmother's house at the age of four to find my cousin Jesse playing Dragon Warrior on the NES. He loaded up a save at level 5 with the spells "Heal" and "Hurt" (go go gadget early game translations!) and I watched with utter fascination as he wandered around killing drakees, ghosts, and magicians to level up. A year later my parents bought an NES for me and my brother, after which we soon acquired Final Fantasy. Just figuring out the interface was a massive challenge for a five and four year old with limited reading ability, so things like equipping the gear we bought was a major accomplishment for us. Playing RPGs really improved our vocabulary and reading comprehension though, since we had to put what we read into practice. I distinctly recall eschewing rapiers at the beginning of the game because I read it as "wrapper" and figured a candy wrapper for a weapon could NOT be very good XDDD So it was Iron (sword icon) for the fighter and red mage, since that looked way more powerful to me. Somehow or other we muddled our way to Pravoka and got the ship...only to have Jesse inform us that our party was bad (it was the default one), and made us start over with Fighter/Black Belt/White Mage/Black Mage. We were SO proud of ourselves for making it that far without his help, so we were heartbroken to start all over

The game that really made me go, "Wow, I really want to play more games like this one," was Final Fantasy IV though. The story, characters, and gameplay may look dated now, but back in the day, cutscenes were still something of a novelty to me. The first one I saw was in Dragon Warrior II's intro, and it amazed me so much that I made Jesse replay it twice before I would consent to start the game XD (I was also really enchanted with the Princess of Moonbrooke, since it was the first time I'd seen a girl getting to fight.) Final Fantasy 4 had the best story and characters and gameplay I'd seen in an RPG, so I made a conscious decision to seek them out and play every single one I could find. Living in the middle of nowhere over a hundred miles from any game retailer pre-internet age, this was quite a daunting and ambitious task XD More than once it involved my mom calling the manufacturer to order it directly, and it also involved begging for trips to the other end of the state to check every single game retailer until at last a copy could be found. SNES cartridges were quite expensive (I paid 70$ on average, and 82$ for Lufia 2), so a great many extra chores were done and lesser pleasures given up on... But it was worth it

So, anyone else have stories they feel like sharing? ^^

[zborgerd]

As console RPGs go, it was probably Dragon Warrior. And my friends and I played all of the sequels, and ultimately the Final Fantasy series on the NES and SNES. My friend had a Genesis and was into Phantasy Star. I picked up a TG16 and some of its RPGs as well. On the PC, it was the Wizardry series. I can't remember if I played others.

Zelda and "action RPGs" don't count as far as I am concerned, even though they are older than Dragon Warrior. In my opinion, a real RPG has its roots in Wizardry and the likes.

[Shizukari]

Pokémon Yellow, with Final Fantasy VII right after.

[Lord of Pirates]

Baldur's Gate demo.

[daylightdies]

Final Fantasy II (FF4) for the SNES was my first game I bought on a whim. After that I got into the Dragon Warrior IV on NES, and backtracked through all of those and the original Final Fantasy.

[ramzastrife]

I used to watch my oldest brother and my friend's dad play Dragon Warrior, and it was the coolest thing ever. However the nintendo was my brother's and he didn't like to share unless we did his chores and stuff. I remember he made us kneel at his doorstep and wait without saying anything for like 30-45 minutes before he would let us come in and watch. That aside, I didn't really get into rpgs until Shining Force and FFII. I think I was 7 when I played Shining Force and about 8 when I played FFII. And then when I moved and met my friend Johnny who had FFIII, it was over. It was awesome having a friend that played and liked rpgs like I did. Then once Chrono Trigger came out I was done, though 80 bucks was tough lol.

[zborgerd]

I used to watch my oldest brother and my friend's dad play Dragon Warrior, and it was the coolest thing ever. However the nintendo was my brother's and he didn't like to share unless we did his chores and stuff. I remember he made us kneel at his doorstep and wait without saying anything for like 30-45 minutes before he would let us come in and watch. That aside, I didn't really get into rpgs until Shining Force and FFII. I think I was 7 when I played Shining Force and about 8 when I played FFII. And then when I moved and met my friend Johnny who had FFIII, it was over. It was awesome having a friend that played and liked rpgs like I did. Then once Chrono Trigger came out I was done, though 80 bucks was tough lol.

I completely forgot about that insane price. That's what we had to pay when RPGs game out, or else buy it used for not much less. I think that department store prices were generally lower though. That's also why we played through them a dozen times to get the most out of it. RPG releases were few and far between.

I seem to even remember it to a lesser degree with 8-bit RPGs, like Dragon Warrior III. I remember only finding it at some lone game store all the way across town, for a pretty hefty price. I probably lost a good majority of my classic game collection as a kid to trade-ins, sometimes for RPGs that I loathed (Eye of the Beholder was one such game that I got totally ripped off on with trade-ins). Really bad decision on my part.

[obliviousmeph]

Mine was Dragon Warrior Monsters on gameboy - my brother had Pokemon, but I wasn't allowed to play his copy because there was only one save file. A friend of mine gave me his copy of DWM because he thought it was too hard, and I fell in love with slimes and grinding. I've never been the same since. xD

[ramzastrife]

I completely forgot about that insane price. That's what we had to pay when RPGs game out, or else buy it used for not much less. I think that department store prices were generally lower though. That's also why we played through them a dozen times to get the most out of it. RPG releases were few and far between.

I seem to even remember it to a lesser degree with 8-bit RPGs, like Dragon Warrior III. I remember only finding it at some lone game store all the way across town, for a pretty hefty price. I probably lost a good majority of my classic game collection as a kid to trade-ins, sometimes for RPGs that I loathed (Eye of the Beholder was one such game that I got totally ripped off on with trade-ins). Really bad decision on my part.

That was at wal-mart. I got Chrono Trigger and some clothes for Christmas that year, and my brother got Secret of Evermore and some clothes that year.

[zborgerd]

That was at wal-mart. I got Chrono Trigger and some clothes for Christmas that year, and my brother got Secret of Evermore and some clothes that year.

Sounds like my childhood. I got Secret of Mana and clothes one year. Final Fantasy III (VI) and clothes the next. Good times.