Go with FF4. It is the game that introduced the ATB (Active Time Battle System) and is a Fantastic game.
Poll: Is Final Fantasy 6 a Good Intorduction Game?
- Thread starter Varanfan9
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Look, I've never heard of anyone regretting playing FF6. I'm also on board with the suggestion of Chrono Trigger. Either is a great place to start. I wouldn't worry about the complexity of the stories; both can be complex but it is that complexity that is rewarding.
Horrible UI.TheDooD said:
FF6 is one of my all-time favorite games. What I found interesting is that there's plenty of secrets to make you feel awesome if you find 'em, it's pretty hard when you first play it, it's pretty easy once you know how to get godly, it's replay value enables you thinks such as "no shops, shop-items-only, one-character-only play-through, natural-magic only... it's all possible and yet seemingly impossible based on the many deaths you'll occur on (my) first play through.Varanfan9 said:
I highly recommend this game because, to me, all other JRPGs have stemmed from this one perfect game.
Plus it's pretty easy to pick up and play. For it's time, the graphics were superb (and by today's standards, easy to hack, mua ha ha!)
No.
Final Fantasy VI, as an intro to games in general, is bad choice. As an introduction to JRPG's, though? Well, it's also a bad choice.
FFVI is not a very simple or easy game, and the difficulty curve tends to waver a fair bit. This is not really what you want to hand someone to try and get them into gaming, even if they would genuinely enjoy the story and characters otherwise; if that's their deal, and the gameplay runs them off, they really don't have any incentive to not just seek out story- and character-centric media in the forms they're already familiar with.
To name a specific, the main method for making your characters beefier is the esper's magic/stat bonus system. If you understand it, it's very easy to make your characters stupidly powerful. By the same token, though, if you don't understand it- say, if you're a player that's being introduced to RPG's or games in general- you can just as easily make your characters pretty broken, and you'll either end up getting stomped by the more difficult sections and losing interest, grinding for ages (spending fun to buy progress), or perhaps worst of all, realizing what you were doing wrong well after it will make any difference. Not many people have fun with games that teach them how dull they are.
As an introduction to JRPG's, it's a bit better, but not by much. Not that it isn't representative of the genre. If anything, it's the other way around. FFVI wallows in its status as a JRPG. It is as home in the genre as a pig in shit. If someone either doesn't like JRPG's, or if they know nothing about them whatsoever, it's much, much better to find something that will give them a small taste while keeping them feeling mostly at home. You wouldn't really use FFVI as an introduction to JRPG's for the same reasons you wouldn't introduce someone to Chinese cuisine by serving them monkey's brains and beef tripe aged in rice whiskey.
Which segues nicely into the biggest problem with either approach: the game is a fossil. I don't really have a problem with that. I know a lot of people don't... because they already care. If you want to introduce someone to something, make it as accessible as possible, even if it isn't your personal favorite or the be-all, end-all iteration. I wouldn't try to get someone into literature with Bleak House. I wouldn't introduce someone to cinema with Aguirre: The Wrath of God.
Final Fantasy VI, as an intro to games in general, is bad choice. As an introduction to JRPG's, though? Well, it's also a bad choice.
FFVI is not a very simple or easy game, and the difficulty curve tends to waver a fair bit. This is not really what you want to hand someone to try and get them into gaming, even if they would genuinely enjoy the story and characters otherwise; if that's their deal, and the gameplay runs them off, they really don't have any incentive to not just seek out story- and character-centric media in the forms they're already familiar with.
To name a specific, the main method for making your characters beefier is the esper's magic/stat bonus system. If you understand it, it's very easy to make your characters stupidly powerful. By the same token, though, if you don't understand it- say, if you're a player that's being introduced to RPG's or games in general- you can just as easily make your characters pretty broken, and you'll either end up getting stomped by the more difficult sections and losing interest, grinding for ages (spending fun to buy progress), or perhaps worst of all, realizing what you were doing wrong well after it will make any difference. Not many people have fun with games that teach them how dull they are.
As an introduction to JRPG's, it's a bit better, but not by much. Not that it isn't representative of the genre. If anything, it's the other way around. FFVI wallows in its status as a JRPG. It is as home in the genre as a pig in shit. If someone either doesn't like JRPG's, or if they know nothing about them whatsoever, it's much, much better to find something that will give them a small taste while keeping them feeling mostly at home. You wouldn't really use FFVI as an introduction to JRPG's for the same reasons you wouldn't introduce someone to Chinese cuisine by serving them monkey's brains and beef tripe aged in rice whiskey.
Which segues nicely into the biggest problem with either approach: the game is a fossil. I don't really have a problem with that. I know a lot of people don't... because they already care. If you want to introduce someone to something, make it as accessible as possible, even if it isn't your personal favorite or the be-all, end-all iteration. I wouldn't try to get someone into literature with Bleak House. I wouldn't introduce someone to cinema with Aguirre: The Wrath of God.
Luckily, Extra credits just did an episode on this. Skip to 2:20 for the relevant section. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3662-Sharing-Our-Medium] Pretty sure I hit the high points already, but maybe you can take James Portnow at his word.Chibz said:
I never mentioned graphics, by the way.
Firstly, wow. "It's bad to show people at first because it's old. Exclusively because it's old" seems to be your logic... Just wow.TheRocketeer said:
I... Rather disagree with him heavily. Quite frankly, the games managed to make people care back then. The narrative certainly lost no emotional weight behind it. Although I don't know why you'd appeal to authority with James as the end all. He's as prone to fallacy as everyone else. Quite frankly, I go to great ends to prevent MORE graphics whores from entering the hobby.
Also, the first game I have people play is (usually) Super Mario Bros. Why? The game is simple. Very, very simple. It rewards exploration & searching for new power up locations. It's very replayable and the gameplay is timeless. Games with simple gameplay are almost always the best, even when compared to the "Wow-factor" of graphics to use games that are so relatively simple that there's almost no way to "Do it wrong".