Your first CRPG

bpstrat

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I wanted to start a discussion to see what everyone's first CRPG was, computer or console, and some of the circumstances that surrounded it. For example, what system was it for, when did you play it, how old were you, and why did you play it? Since we all love CRPGs, I thought it'd be interesting to see how everyone else got started.

I'll go first. For me it was Ultima III: Exodus on an Atari 800XL. It was 1984 and I was around 8 years old and in 3rd grade at the time. My older brother was always getting pirated games from his friends, and one of them happened to be Ultima III. Even though it was hacked and couldn't be finished, I knew if was different than the other games I'd played before. Something with it just clicked for me, and I've been playing CRPGs ever since. Sort of like the game that launched a thousand adventures... (sorry for the bad allusion)
 
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Ultima I on c64. I did not get much out of it but it teached me some english (at age of 8) and I maxed out everything that could be bought/earned. Next was Pools of Radiance that I understood even less. I never understood why I loved Wonderboy III as much as I did, only several years later I understood it was due to it's RPG elements.
It was not until Eye of the Beholder though I really started to learn the concept behind computer roleplaying games and actually finishing them. Still, it was with Diablo I understood that it was my favorite genré.
 
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Adventure on the original Atari console back in the late 70's. I didn't own it. A friend had it. It captured my imagination in a way none of the other video games I played did.

The ealry one that really sucked me in and sort of set my personal standard for cRPG's was Tunnels of Doom for the TI-99/4A from the early 80's. A fantastic party-based game that is still a great play even today, IMHO.
 
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the bard's tale on apple2e in fifth grade. i used graph paper to map out the dungeons long before i used it for math and science. ultima iv follow a year or two later i believe. that game had far more impact on me and it wasn't 'til years later that i learned nightshade was a real plant and that it grew at other times than midnight.
 
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'Hillsfar' for the... um... Atari ST, back in '89. Before that I had only played chess and trivia games for computer-like things, and Pong, and about everything for the Atari 2600.
Hey.
Hillsfar was a Westwood game! No wonder I'm addicted to Westwood games... even though I didn't like Hillsfar too much back then. The first CPG I actually finished was LoL 1.
 
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Lands of Lore 1... I never beat it, but I still own it, and will finish it one day ;)

Same here. I came very far within it during 2006 when I finally decided to replay it all ... with a game solution, of course, especially for the castle. ;) :D

I just had horrible memories about the riddles when I played the game years ago and never finished it ... so I just wanted to play the game with just having fun, no hazzles anymore ... ;)

My second one was Albion, my third was "Blade of Destiny" from the "Realms of Arcania" series.
 
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Found an interesting review from last month of Tunnels of Doom. Seems it influenced the vaunted Gold Box series quite a bit...

http://armchairarcade.com/neo/node/1024

P.S. I find it pretty funny he complains about the clunkiness of the user interface of a game from 1982 built on a proprietary platform. Geeez... what does he expect!?!?
 
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At the age of 14 (1983)

Temple of Apshai - on a C64

T_3110_1159565712_toa_1.png
 
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I got 3 games when I bought my C64 and played them all at the same time: Phantasie 2, Bards Tale 3 and Ultima 5!! Loved them all and went on from there.
 
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My debut was also on the C64.... Bards tale. As a very young person the game I put the most time in was probably swords and serpants for the NES though. Because you could play it co-op with a friend and we'd mash the controllers togheter in order to get awarded the best weapon by "fatal the blue" wow those were the days :D
 
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My story goes back to my very early childhood. Most of my toys when I was little was LEGO and my favorites were of the medieval type, so before I got too old for LEGO I had amassed 5 or 6 castles and other stuff. In 3rd grade I started reading fantasy novels (Terry Brooks, Tolkien, Katharine Kerr etc) and around the same time I started dabbling in pen'n'paper RPGs with some friends. Until 6th grade I had mostly played Warcraft 2,HoMM2, Civ2, Myst and Riven, but by then I had found out that there were RPGs for the computer (I had played Diablo but didn't count it as an RPG), and I decided I wanted to try a good one. After some searching on Gamespot to see what was hot at the time I found Baldur's Gate II. I got in it January and played it constantly until April at least - it was love at first play. That's when I knew I was a CRPG:er.
 
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Must have been Eye Of The Beholder, but it doesn't really count, because I didn't make it too far. So my first real RPG, I loved and finished, was Fallout.
Coming from playing exclusivly Lucas Arts adventures, I was like: " That's a lot of combat ". Compared to some today's RPGs I have been playing like Suikoden IV,V, Shin Megai Tensei, Shadow Hearts II...pretty much every RPG has turned into a slaughterfest.
 
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Like the OP, my CRPG addiction started waay back in the eightes, with an Atari 800XL, and with an Ultima loaded ;). But for me, it was the fourth episode.

Mono-chromatic looked so cool ;)
 
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Might & Magic 4, followed by 5 and 4 & 5 combined ( = Worlds of Xeen).
After that I played Betrayal at Krondor. I had The Bard´s Tale, Ultima 3 + 4 and a few other RPGs on the C64 but I was too young to play them in English.
 
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I played Wizardry (yep, first) on Apple ][+ in college in early 80's ... but never got too hooked - was spawning my budding FPS love with Castle Wolfenstein ...
 
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Might & Magic 4, followed by 5 and 4 & 5 combined ( = Worlds of Xeen).After that I played Betrayal at Krondor.

Same with me: the group of classic RPGs released in the early 90s, though I cant remember which one was actually my first.
 
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Wizardry 8..., well probably Diablo but I don't count that. I was mostly FPSs player with occasional trips to hack & slash lands. However Wizardry really got me. And because it was not really an easy RPG to start with, I was looking for help & tips and that's how I came to RPGDot from which the core staff then came here.

I still believe Wizardry 8 was one of the best if not the best RPG I've ever played. I just wonder if it is because it was the first one.
 
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I still believe Wizardry 8 was one of the best if not the best RPG I've ever played. I just wonder if it is because it was the first one.

I doubt it was because of being the first one :D Anyway how come you started with this game? it must be a very unusual way to start... most people I know played it because they already knew about the greatness of the wizardry brand...
 
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