New to RPG's....where to start?

jaffacaique · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:15

I am looking at buying an RPG for the Xbox 360, but as I've never played one before which title would you recommend as a starter. Also do all RPG's have to be played online as I am not an Xbox live gold subscriber. The graphics look good on the titles I have seen in the shops but you cannot tell from the screenshots or descriptions on them whether they would be suitable for beginners... ie Final Fantasy XIII

Gornall · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:21

jaffacaique said:
I am looking at buying an RPG for the Xbox 360, but as I've never played one before which title would you recommend as a starter. Also do all RPG's have to be played online as I am not an Xbox live gold subscriber. The graphics look good on the titles I have seen in the shops but you cannot tell from the screenshots or descriptions on them whether they would be suitable for beginners... ie Final Fantasy XIII

RPGs in nature aren't very beginner friendly, FFXIII is a great game though, but slow starting. Xbox360 very strong for RPGS lately.

Tefal · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:22

Fallout 2 on the pc. The greatest RPG of all time.

Should cost you about £3

*note 2 not the bastardization that is 3*

Gamer_T · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:22

I don't think there's any online RPG out for the consoles at the moment?

Anyway, I'd recommend

Oblivion
Fable 2 - Brilliant game
Fallout 3

Demoniser · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:24

jaffacaique said:
I am looking at buying an RPG for the Xbox 360, but as I've never played one before which title would you recommend as a starter. Also do all RPG's have to be played online as I am not an Xbox live gold subscriber. The graphics look good on the titles I have seen in the shops but you cannot tell from the screenshots or descriptions on them whether they would be suitable for beginners... ie Final Fantasy XIII

Eternal Sonata is pretty straightforward so that might be one for you to try.

I'd also suggest Blue Dragon but i was never really a fan of that one.

FTM · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:25

on the 360?

Blue dragon was ok but very tight fisted with achievements!
eternal sonata was a wierd storyline but nice to play
really enjoyed lost odyssey (once it was installed on the hard drive!)
fallout 3 of course for a slightly more action orientated RPG
tales of vesperia gets good write ups as well

and of course...mass effect 1 and 2
I think if you are looking for a starter in the jrpg style eternal sonata was the easiest to get into for me and probably available for buttons now

Mark1989 · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:25

ME1/2, FF13 (this the better one imo), Lost Oddessy,Fable2,Fallout 3

All can be had for fairly cheap excluding ME2/FF13 as both still fairly recent

wannabedamned · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:27

I would start with Lost Odyssey or Eternal Sonata.

FF13 is a fantastic game, and im loving it to pieces. But I could imagine a first timer being overwhelmed with certain game mechanics. I could be wrong

FTM · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:31

wannabedamned said:
I would start with Lost Odyssey or Eternal Sonata.

FF13 is a fantastic game, and im loving it to pieces. But I could imagine a first timer being overwhelmed with certain game mechanics. I could be wrong

so true

plus just about every jrpg seems to follow the same kind of premise, the spells are usually element based (so earth, wind, fire and water) and all the creatures have an elemental origin so some spells work better than other against each type.front and back rows for combat etc, So once you have played one each one after that seems a little bit more familiar
I liked the rings in lost odyssey as well, just added a little bit some extra, plus you never outlevelled an area as it was more scaled, so it always wanted you to be in a certain range of levels for each map

_dogma_ · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:31

I think for a beginner, Blue Dragon would be a good one to start you off. It's not too difficult and the menus and things are really easy to navigate.

Mp4 · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:32

Fable 2

Fallout 3

Dragon Age

FTM · 12 Mar 2010 at 13:33

_dogma_ said:
I think for a beginner, Blue Dragon would be a good one to start you off. It's not too difficult and the menus and things are really easy to navigate.

plus there was no random combat really as you could avoid any encounters if you wanted to..something that I wish was in every rpg!

but I slogged away for bloomin hours and got next to no achievements for it, it really was tight!

CliffyBiro · 12 Mar 2010 at 14:00

I too am a RPG beginner (apart from Fallout 3, but that's more action tbh), and I have taken to FFXIII like a duck to water.

It's very noob friendly I feel.

crunchman · 12 Mar 2010 at 14:01

FTM said:
plus there was no random combat really as you could avoid any encounters if you wanted to..something that I wish was in every rpg!

but I slogged away for bloomin hours and got next to no achievements for it, it really was tight!

Yup it is, completed it last night and saw nothing for it achievement wise.

Well, only have one dragon left to beat till I can get the bracelet so a few points

Wyrdo · 12 Mar 2010 at 14:16

Tefal said:
Fallout 2 on the pc. The greatest RPG of all time.

Should cost you about £3

*note 2 not the bastardization that is 3*

A man of good taste.

I was going ot suggest The Hobbit text adventure to really get you started

Spirited · 12 Mar 2010 at 14:22

Fallout 3 would be my pick for a newcomer to the genre. Nice balance of shooter and rpg, without going too heavy on either. Should ease you into how rpg's work quite nicely.

Oblivion is next. Getting quite rpg-ish now, lots of classes and magic use.

Mass Effect next. Maybe ME2 right after, if you liked 1.

Then Dragon Age, the best rpg this gen.

Ysmalari · 12 Mar 2010 at 14:42

I'm alternating between Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 at the moment.

Dragon Age is a much more in-depth rpg that allows finer upgrading of your characters and their weaponry/armour, and in the long term it has a fair amount of replay value as many of the choices in the game effect npc's reactions to you and the choices you get.

Mass Effect 2 is in my view much more stylish and if you like some gun play to your games then it is definitely for you, it's more of an RPG-third-person shooter. It's still screams bioware as it is a very 'talky' game which involves lots of conversations to progress the story, but the addition of the FPS element makes it more 'pick-up-and-play' than Dragon Age. I would recommend though that you play Mass Effect 1 first as it will give you the full background of the universe and there are elements from an ME1 save game that can be used in ME2.

Basically if you want western RPGs go with any bioware game

Abooie · 12 Mar 2010 at 16:19

360 rpgs? Go on then I'll bite...

First off do you fancy a story driven but more linear japanese (j)rpg or a more open world western (w)rpg?

Without doubt I'd argue the best jrpg to wet your whistle would be Blue Dragon. It's fun, friendly, easy and whilst linear does open up on the 2nd disc with exploration via airship.

If you fancy a wrpg you could either go in with Fable 2; a more light hearted action fantasy-setting rpg-lite or maybe try Mass Effect a story driven rpg-shooter hybrid.

There's certainly many more I'd recommend like Dragon Age: Origins, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Divinity II, Lost Odyssey, Magna Carta 2, Tales of Vesperia, The Last Remnant to name a few but I'd start with these.

Creature · 12 Mar 2010 at 16:42

^ Listen to this man. He is the 360 rpg god

wannabedamned · 12 Mar 2010 at 17:24

Gotta be honest with you, I found blue dragon way way way too childish. Wasnt a fan atall, And i did play it for quite a while. Just didnt personally couldnt get my head around it. I was also not a fan of dragon quest on PS2 for a similar reason. Again though i tried to play it lol