Your first cRPG

[TSBasilisk]

I imagine many, if not most, people were brought to these forums by their interest in Obsidian's cRPGs, and that got me to wondering what everyone's first cRPG experiences were like.

 

For me, my first cRPG experience was thanks to a computer virus. The virus messed with the BIOS, and even after we got it running again, it never performed the same. This cut me off from my favored game, Wing Commander: Privateer. So looking for a game that could play without game-breaking lag, I found a collection disc my dad had bought containing Might and Magic II.

 

I had played the game in the past, but never got fully into it. Without any other game to reliably play, I fell fully into the game and explored every nook and cranny without a guide or walkthrough to tell me what to do. My main complaint about it remains, to this day, the fact that winning the game requires you to abuse game mechanics.

[Tale]

Drakkhen. Played it like crazy as a kid. I had no clue what was going on, though. I mostly just wandered around until I ran into something that killed me, then I would restart the game.

 

First cRPG I understood and enjoyed was Baldur's Gate II. Had a friend who was into it at the time, but I refused to try it out because it looked like Diablo. And I hated Diablo. Eventually I did try it and found myself rather enamored.

[cyberarmy]

Wasteland. I was so clueless then (1993 if i remember right) little to none English, new to computers. Still remember well my first Scorpitron defeat and then avenging myself with Proton Axe's. Those were the days...

[HoonDing]

Quest for glory.

[Hurlshort]

Quest for glory.

 

That's mine too, but I still think it was closer to an adventure game so it didn't fully convert me to an RPG gamer.  

 

I believe Might & Magic 3 was my first full scale RPG, which I played a couple years after I started in on all the Sierra adventure games.  I was in 8th grade and a friend gave me his copy, and I fell in love with RPG's after that.

[Malekith]

Baldur's Gate 2

[rjshae]

Pools of Radiance. On the Mac. Man I waited forever for games to come out on the Mac back then.

[pmp10]

Essentially it would be the trio of Magic Candle / Blade of Destiny / Betrayal at Krondor.

No wonder I have issues with party systems and lack of traveling in modern RPG games.

[LadyCrimson]

Myst/Doom started me on PC gaming as a hobby and after that I spent my time on other action, strategy, and simulation initially. It took a while for gaming to become a consistent hobby and I didn't  buy many games early on.

 

The first cRPG I remember playing that I actually got into was BG1, a fair bit later, which is what had me looking for others.

[GhostofAnakin]

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was the first ever cRPG I played.  Shortly after that, Obsidian was developing KOTOR II, so I signed up for the forums to follow the development.  Then I started to learn more about the developers behind the two games, and checked out some older games various individuals from those developers had worked on, such as the IE games.

[Zoraptor]

My first RPG was either Wizardry or a less known game called Dragon's Eye which doesn't even show up on google(!) though I have the box on my bookshelf. No idea on the year, but I was a very little fellow when I played them since we sold our Apple ][ when I was like six or something. Next RPG I can remember playing was probably Fallout, or one of the mid 90s D&D games (Stone Prophet/ Menzoberranzan) which would have been played in the late 90s.

[Raithe]

I can remember all the Eye of the Beholder games..and have some vague memories of a couple of those Dragonlance ones as well. Hm, I'm trying to remember what might have been before those....

 

Heh, although technically.. wasn't there that educational crpg that used to be ..western settlers? During the mid-late 80's? 

[Majek]

I don't really know. I've probably managed to run one of the Ultimas or Bard's tale on C64 and i do know i had Darklands on diskettes. But i guess i must name Diablo as the first one i actually knew as an RPG. Or was it Albion. 

[Nonek]

It was an old text adventure called "Warlord" that cast you as a Pict fighting to prevent a roman opponent from winning a challenge, that would decide the fate of Pictland.

[Mamoulian War]

My first cRPG was TES: Arena.

[Humanoid]

In the 80s, as a little kid, I used to watch my cousin (who is about 10 years older than me) play the Gold Box games, which I guess counts as my first experience with CRPGs. The only real thing I remember was the Stinking Cloud spell, which given its level I guess means it was one of the early games in the series. The mechanics were far too complex for me of course: I would have been maybe 5-6 years old, and it looked a little scary too.

 

Didn't really play any RPGs myself until quite a few years later, when we upgraded from a decrepit old 286 to a (relatively) new DX4/100, including a Sound Blaster 16 with an amazing bundle of some dozen-plus games, including of the best games ever. Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, SimCity2000, F-117A, Wing Commander 2, Syndicate, Strike Commander, Silent Service 2, Return to Zork, Iron Helix and er, Rebel Assault. But the pertinent one for the purposes of this thread was of course Ultima 8: Pagan.

[Gorth]

My first crpg was Temple of Apshai (c64 version)

 

My favourite was Rogue though, because of the randomly generated dungeons.

[ShadySands]

Mechwarrior and Civ2 got me hooked on PC gaming but it was an old AOL MUD called Terris followed by BG2 that got me into RPGs

[Big Bottom]

Ultima VII Part 2 : The Serpent Isle.

 

It took me several years to figure out how to beat the knight's test (and with a walkthrough).

[Raithe]

I did actually get a copy of the Bard's Tale. But I could  never get the tape to run properly.   Yes, that joyful age of games on casette tapes....

[Katphood]

Fallout demo, the one with Scrapheap and all that stuff. That was first time I truly felt what it means to roleplay, even if it was only a demo of a game that completely changed my life later on. 

 

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121124211451/fallout/images/7/76/FoD_Scrapheap.png

 

Ahhhhh...the memories!

Edited February 9, 2013 by Astiaks

[Leferd]

Swords and Serpents on the NES, so not technically a cRPG, but in the same vein. Had to friggin' draw maps! Later on, I found out it was developed by Interplay. This was circa 1990. Mostly played platformers and sports games until 1998.

 

First real cRPG I played on PC was BG.

[Agiel]

Betrayal at Krondor, which my uncle had managed to beat and gave to me during one of the times I visited him. I also have him to thank for introducing me to TIE Fighter, Jane's F-15, and Fallout 2 (the first one I played).

[Tasaio]

My first CRPG was Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. I played the two sequels, but it's the first game I remember. (Maybe it's nostalgia, but it' still one of my favourite games!)

 

However, with Wizardry IV: Return of Werdna, I met my match.

 

I couldn't do it. I couldn't get past the third and fourth levels (the one with the mine field). I gave up. I...used someone else's maps. One of the first games I need outside help to complete. To this day, I remain ashamed.

[AGX-17]

Might & Magic III or IV. I moved on to HoMM and never really looked back.