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[Darkmakaimura]

What was your first ever Japanese role-playing game that you played or bought?

For me, I'm pretty sure it was Dragon Warrior on the NES. The game is known as Dragon Quest in the Japan.

It would later become Dragon Quest in America like it was in Japan.

Dragon warrior had a rather complicated story that involved saving a princess and fighting an evil dragon lord who wanted to take over the world. Extremely complicated stuff.

Nonetheless, it has great memories and was great game. In fact I never really played the sequels except I think it was Dragon Warrior 3 or Dragon Warrior 4. It was the sequel that actually revealed the first game takes place underneath the actual world. The reason there's no night and day in Dragon Warrior is because there was an orb that acted as a son in this hollow earth. That blew me away as a kid the way that interconnected with the original game and how you found out it was all taking place in an underworld, sort of.

Dragon Warrior, in a sense, was the Ultima of Japanese role-playing games and I think that's why I liked it so much because I really loved the Ultima series by none other than Richard Garriot. Lord British.

You should play the original one day even though it's extremely outdated in its graphics, it's story and especially how slowly you move. And the amount of combat you get into. There is a lot of slow-moving and a lot of combat so be prepared for that.

But it's sort of like watching a silent film or a really old movie. It's very charmful.

I'm not even sure if they've ever remade Dragon Warrior, the American version? I guess they should if they haven't but I can also understand it is a very simplistic game that really doesn't need to be remade other than adding some quality of life features like faster movement and less random combat.

But anyways this is not about Dragon Warrior or Dragon Quest. This is about you, my friends. This is about your first Japanese role playing game. What was it?

A wise man from Western role-playing games once said "stay awhile and listen" and so should you and I.

 

[BryceNobody]

Been hooked ever since.

 

[HYDE]

Hate the genre personally, glad they’re being made for those that live them.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Been hooked ever since.

In a way this was one of my first Japanese role playing games but on a newer system like the PlayStation 1.

This was also one of the most awe inspiring and impressive role-playing games of the time.

I don't remember much of playing it though when I was a kid. I think I actually watched a friend of mine play it more than I've actually played it myself.

A few years back I bought it on Steam again and played it most of the way through and it still holds up very well.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I'm pretty sure it was Dragon Warrior, not even sure what other game it could be. I played Wizardry 2 around the same time but that isn't a JRPG.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Hate the genre personally, glad they’re being made for those that live them.

I'm starting to hate Western role-playing games.

Actually I love Western role-playing games but I hate what's being done with them in the current political atmosphere which is why more and more I try to stick to Japanese gaming.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Super Mario RPG

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I'm going to get back into Dragon Warrior.... Uh, Dragon Quest.

It's going to start with the later Dragon Quest games.

Aren't there some side games about the slimes? I really like the slimes. They're kind of cute.

 

[NightmareFarm]

Final Fantasy X

 

[TransTrender]

Been hooked ever since.

Same literally
Much formative

 

[Jennings]

The Legend of Zelda on NES.

 

[Ol'Scratch]

Probably Phantasy Star on Master System or Dragon Warrior or the OG FF, both were right about the same time.
I grew up on WIzardry, Bard's Tale, Ultima and the D&D Gold Box games on C64 and was a big hesitant when I got a Master System and Nintendo. I remember picking up WIzards & Warriors based on Box Art , and i got it home and was like "what the fuck is this?" and returned it and picked up Final Fantasy for the first time.

 

[Knightime_X]

Zelda 2 - NES

 

[AmuroChan]

Final Fantasy Legend 2 for the Gameboy.

 

[Topher]

I believe it was Final Fantasy 3 on Nintendo DS. I was strictly PC gamer before that so JRPG wasn’t on my radar.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Final Fantasy 2 (4 in Japan)

 

[Cornbread78]

I'm an old fuck, so Dragon Warrior for me as well OP. Then Final Fantasy.......


So many playthroughs of each, lol

 

[Cohetedor]

Original final fantasy for me, returned a couple Christmas gifts and bought it even though I had never heard of it. I still have it along with the Nintendo Power strategy guide.

 

[nush]

Ys on the master system, not a bad entry point for the genre.

 

[Sakura]

Final Fantasy VIII. I played it at a friends house, and really wanted it for my own, so I asked my mom for it, but I got FFIX instead. At first I was disappointed, but ended up liking it even more.

 

[Rykan]

It was Lufia 2, but it was called just Lufia here.

It was the very first and only SNES RPG that was translated to my native language, so even 7 years old me could play it.

 

[Esca]

Dragon Warrior. Got it for free with my Nintendo power sub. I remember farming gold golems a lot when I first encounter them lol.

 

[remember_spinal]

 

[Razzy-]

Suikoden 2. recommended by a friend. Got it second hand. It was so good.

 

[Alex Anderson]

Phantasy Star IV.

The most recent probably being Skies of Arcadia back when it came out

The closest thing I played before was Tactics Ogre on GBA. I really like it.

 

[eastcoastkody]

had to be Dragon Warrior

 

[BouncyFrag]

Loved this game!

 

[Sleepwalker]

Depends if pokemon qualifies, if it does then that. Pokemon red.

If not then it was either fire emblem 2003 gba and if that doesnt count then golden sun.

Im not too big on the genre

 

[Pallas]

If speaking specifically traditional JRPG’s then the first Lufia, otherwise original Zelda on NES.

 

[Drell]

My first exposition to it was FF8 at a friend's house. Bug then the first one I owned was Pokémon Red.
Spoiler: I can't stand Pokémon since after Red/Blue/Yellow but except for ghis series. JRPG is my favorite genre.

 

[Meicyn]

Phantasy Star 4. Prior to getting my first console, I was primarily playing games on a Commodore 64. Ultima 4 was my first RPG.

 

[Boneless]

Been hooked ever since.

This.

Still want a proper remaster...

 

[gothmog]

Dragon Warrior was my earliest I think. Fond memories of Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star as well.

 

[F31 Leopard]

My 1st JRPG? Does LoZ count? My 1st turn based JRPG? Its the best Final Fantasy. FF"3"(FF6)

 

[Mephisto40]

Final Fantasy 7 was the first one I actually finished, I played other ones before then but lost interest quickly, I only really had a master system before my PS1 though so thats probably why

 

[drganon]

Pokémon red. Got to the last gym but couldn't beat it. The first jrpg I actually beat was Persona 5 if we're excluding Zelda games. It took me a long time to get into the genre, but now it's probably my favorite.

 

[Cao Cao]

 

[Davevil]

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

I rented Legend of Dragoon (PS1) as a kid once, mostly because on the back of the box it showed some guy with Dragon wings flying around. I thought it was going to be some sort of flight combat game, instead it was turned based and I got bored of it pretty quickly.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Phantasy Star on the SMS, it made it pretty hard to play other JRPGs on the 8-Bit NES (my friend had the SMS and let me borrow it for this game).

Anyway, this is a game that is head and shoulders above anything that existed in the time period... So I had to wait for the Genesis, and obviously SNES later to find similar games that I would enjoy.

 

[nightmare-slain]

excluding pokémon it's probably ocarina of time on 3ds.

never really got into games like persona, shin megami tensei, final fantasy, zelda until about 2017. i know i play ocarina on 3ds and while i enjoyed it i never really went and played any other zelda games until both. tried getting into persona 4 on vita but didnt play much. persona 5 is the one i got into. first shin megami tensei v last year only because i was into persona. tried final fantasy games but the first one i enjoyed was ffvii remake and i'm currently playing the original.

 

[Zathalus]

Breath of Fire.

 

[dave_d]

Miracle Warriors on the SMS. It was a really basic one when you got down to it. (You had a party but only one guy could fight at a time. So yes, in a round only one of your guys did damage or could get hurt.) Oh it also had a topless harpy as the final boss. (Please don't tell me you need spoilers, the game is about 35 years old.)

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[Synless]

Dragon Warrior on NES.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Secret of Evermore on my bro's SNES.

Didn't get very far since I was a little kid, but I played it again like a year ago or so and ended up enjoying it quite a lot. The atmosphere is great and, some jank aside, it's pretty cool gameplay wise too.

Also, OST by Jeremy Soule, which is always a plus.

 

[fran.fernandez]

Lunar silver star story

Something like that

 

[64bitmodels]

Hate the genre personally, glad they’re being made for those that live them.

..... don't talk in a thread all about them, then


anyways, it was either Pokemon or Earthbound. One of these franchises turned me off from RPGs as a whole because of how simplistic and boring it was, the other inspired a turn based RPG renaissance in the 2010s of unique, creative well made RPGs with a story to tell.


TBH if i didn't play earthbound after pokemon i would never have gotten into JRPGs as a whole. That being said i haven't beaten it, LOL

 

[Northeastmonk]

I’m surprised at how many first timers were with Lufia. I had Lufia after I fell in love with JRPGs. I did rent Donkey Kong and someone swapped the board out with Lufia. I should have played that. My first experience was with Phantasy Star 2.

 

[fart town usa]

Final Fantasy on the NES. I still remember it too, was at my buddy Erik's house with my older brother and when he greeted us at the door, he started to excitedly describe this game he got that allows you to fight goblins, buy armor/weapons, gain experience and level up. It was wild seeing it in action, seemed so incredibly epic. I never got a copy myself but my Grandma did buy me Dragon Warrior, I mostly just grinded in that game cause I didn't truly understand how to play it. I was probably 5 or 6, lol.