What was your first RPG?

[The Happy Friar]

Yeah, I remember Chernobyl. Never got the point of that game though. I'd always make the reactors overheat and blow on purpose, but nothing cool ever happened, no three headed russian children.

I always leveled the plant too.  Good thing I didn't choose nuke tech as a carrier choice. 

I used to have another one, I think it was like a battleship kinda game. You'd sink other ships, hit submarines, sometimes have planes to shoot down AA fire. Sound familiar?

I don't remember that one.  I did find a website once that listed almost every C64 game and had screens, but I don't know where that bookmark is and I have no clue what name it would be under.

You ever see the website www.loadingreadyrun.com?  They do sketch comedy and use a C64 a decent amount.

[Barton]

I thought Zelda more as a 2D scroller than a rpg. That'd be the first one I played, I guess. Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger, after that.

[[BTF]DeathStalker]

Zelda will always be debated with hard core fans on both sides of the fence.

[The Dreaming Dragon]

When I was 14 I had an Atari 400 with a flat keyboard of oil filled bubbles instead of keys to press,or some such. I'd wear my fingers out typing in these elaborate machine language bsed Games from the Atari computer magazines that would have maybe 12 lines of Basic,then 2 dozen data lines you had to get E-X-A-C=T=L Y or the thing would crash. And if THAT happened you prayed the computer,after being duly shut off to wipe HOURS of work irretrievably off the RAM and reboot it,you managed to get it backed up to the Cassette tape and the computer feels like accepting the data back. Cassette GAMES too. GREAT games...I remember Temple of Apshai,however its spelled. But a great game..it had good graphics in those days...complex multicolored shaes in a sidescrolling format...and you had to solve puzzles,get keys and equip gear. But the best one I could imagine was one on cassette called Telengard. It was a hybrid,same cassette had an Atari and a Commodor 64 version. The games were more sophisticated with the Commodore,it had supeior graphics in some areas,where the Atari did some things better than it. The graphics were altered Font character...but shaped to make a rudmentery line drawing of an object or the side scrolling extention of corridors. You played a guy who had to fight his way out of a dungeon...and ran into helpful denizens as well as monsters to kill and loot. Even had fountains that gave you random buffs or teleported you around. And what I admired most about it is the programmers laid it all out as a Dungeon needing exploring to navigate...you conquered areas to recoup your losses healing from the last venture..and it had an inventory system. I even had a program that would keep track of counters on a real life board that comes with the game that you'd take turns moving,you taking the computers instructions...it lasted exactly 5 minutes with me before I tossed it in the trash. 3 times the total install and the thing is naming hexegons that dfon't have pieces in them. Messuginah! But,if you care to stretch the imagination a bit in your definition of what consists of a RolePlaying Game,then I'll offer this one last anicdote:

There was some science fiction shooter hybrid that I found facinating. It had a rover-robot who had the job of salvaging derilict spacecraft for sellable parts,and you could upgrade your weapons systems with what you find,and sell off the rest for money back at the mothership ,and I think they repaired you as well. It got hard real fast,or more likely I ran into some of the really nasty sentry robots that are what oppose you...repetitive flying saucers of an odd color scheme that when it was a particularly dangerous type. But I always visualized the plight of that lil' guy,like WALL-E forced to defend himself with rocket launchers from legions of those shiny white  foe bots,but with a Poke in the right Peek  (you could use Basic to manipulate the graphics manually.you Peek to see the value of a given statistic,then Poke a new value to enact the change)changed the color to some abombination when you see your ass shot up in seconds...you'll know it was a Super Robot,but it has Super treasure to guard in that ship...But I could not find my way around it...so I gave up. But with an economy sort of Diablolike you could upgrade both armour shields and weaponry I believe...so a remake of the concept would be so cool,and I can see it being a randomly generated layout game like HellGate London.A wimpy little robot trying to steal and survive a junkyard patrolled by all sorts of shit. I suppose its been done a dozen times in Console Land...I bet  those Alien Arena guys could do it...just make a few dozen levels that connect at certain points and randomize what goes where and you have yourselves a franchise. Alien arena and their graphical makeover of the Quake 2 engine is stunning...for the Quake 2 engine . If everything is a stylized low polygon model,then you can get cool looking robots from them,enough to keep the experience varied and interesting. And have the tough monsters mix in with the rest from the get go,say with the third level out. Let True randomness reign! Package it up,sell it through Steam.
 
Yes it was more of a shooter than a roleplaying game,but it was a lot like your Barbarian has treads and a gatling gun and you're doing the same Diablo sort of gaming.Another favorite came to mind,a shooter with upgrade options,the unrelenting Mail Order Monsters. It has been remade,but dunno about that...I just remember this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Order_Monsters

This is what those data chunks looked like...and not only were upper and lower cases important,I'd type them from easily smeared magazine print in TINY fonts. And there'd be at least 25 of the damn things...  http://www.jerkcity.com/jerkcity2582.html

[The Happy Friar]

Zelda will always be debated with hard core fans on both sides of the fence.

Nintendo considers Zelda an adventure game. http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/UjMPD05x5cm07NLiaeMDE5SVFeyNJzUB  The closest one to an RPG from a gameplay point of view is the second one but Nintendo still considers it an Adventure game too.  Zelda *IS* the reason I bought a NES though (gold cart, YEAH!), just like Doom is the reason I bought a PC.

[peewee_RotA]

I define RPG (as opposed to plain RP) as a game involving hack and slash and looting. Or more specifically, leveling and looting.

Zelda was a great game. I really liked Adventure of Link too but I don't think I ever actually beat it. The freaking knights at the end and having to beat the floating head and horse knight again... what a knight-mare!

[The Happy Friar]

I remember having the NES Atlas from Nintendo back then.  It had every map of every level of ~15-20 games.  It was AMAZING!  They don't do guides like that any more, now it's a picture or two and lots of words.  This book was ~1/2" thick.

[Gouki]

Final fantasy 4/chrono trigger

[Whirlingdervish]

Secret of Mana

You win the thread.

[|iR|Focalor]

I remember having the NES Atlas from Nintendo back then.  It had every map of every level of ~15-20 games.  It was AMAZING!  They don't do guides like that any more, now it's a picture or two and lots of words.  This book was ~1/2" thick.

Yeah, I used to do most of my software shopping at a place called Media Play back in the mid to late 90's. Was one of those huge megastores with books, movies, music, video games, and everything in between. They used to have all the software boxes set out on the shelves and then sometimes the strategy guide books right beside them, I guess so you could buy the game AND the guide book. I never got the point of that. Why pay that much for a new game and then basically cheat your way through it faster with a walkthrough. That kinda ruins the fun of it. But I guess that's just the "American way", we want everything RIGHT NOW and don't really wanna work all that hard for it... even when the "work" is actually "play".

[peewee_RotA]

I remember having the NES Atlas from Nintendo back then.  It had every map of every level of ~15-20 games.  It was AMAZING!  They don't do guides like that any more, now it's a picture or two and lots of words.  This book was ~1/2" thick.

Yeah, I used to do most of my software shopping at a place called Media Play back in the mid to late 90's. Was one of those huge megastores with books, movies, music, video games, and everything in between. They used to have all the software boxes set out on the shelves and then sometimes the strategy guide books right beside them, I guess so you could buy the game AND the guide book. I never got the point of that. Why pay that much for a new game and then basically cheat your way through it faster with a walkthrough. That kinda ruins the fun of it. But I guess that's just the "American way", we want everything RIGHT NOW and don't really wanna work all that hard for it... even when the "work" is actually "play".

I always thought of it that way, until I befriended a real die-hard video game fanatic. Purchasing the strategy guide is part of the advertising material. So he never actually used it, he just had to own it because it was official. He was one of those guys who bought all of the Soul Caliber 4 releases in order to get the officially released Arcade Joystick controllers for every console.

[The Happy Friar]

I owned the strategy guides because I already finished the games and wanted to see what I missed.  The atlas wasn't a guide, it was just maps.  No telling you how to finish a level, how to access secrets, etc.  Now games are so easy I don't need help.  Of course the manuals use to help with the game too, not worthless toilet paper like now a days (Mechwarrior 2 manual had a ~40-60 page book on the mech stats.  Awesome!).

I remember Media Play.  That was a neat place but overpriced for the area I live in.  EBGames had the games/hardware cheaper.   I liked EB because it was no-BS game buying.  One time I went in to buy a $15 game with quarters.  Not rolled, in a jar.  The clerk wasn't impressed. 

[peewee_RotA]

I think you're sharing one of my frustrations. Game manuals used to BE the game's story. For example, Turok came with a comic book that told the story. The game itself couldn't give two craps about the plot. It was more: "Here's a grenade launcher, go forth and blow up dinosaurs".

I have my 7th Saga map hanging on the wall next to my computer as we speak. I also recently let my kids write in the "Notes" section of my Megaman X manual. I still have game manuals to games that I don't have. I.E. I have the game manual to Link to the Past even though one of my friends borrowed it without returning it... probably 17 years ago!

Now-a-days the story is the freaking game. You're lucky if you do more shooting in an fps than DDR inspired cutscene minigames. It's disgusting and I don't know why people put up with it. (Actually there is a Sonic RPG for the DS in which you have to play a DDR type minigame every time you cast one of sonic's "Spells")

Lol rant over.

[soh]

Super Mario RPG

[reaper]

A role playing game is about choices and different paths, which is almost the opposite of hacking and slashing and leveling up.  This is where you can see the differences in morrowind and oblivion.  Obvlion feels like it has less choices.  Zelda is pretty much one path, but you can do some different things, so it's a matter of opinion I guess : ).  A link two the past was a strange game but good.