27 replies to this topic

[hotel security]

Trust me guys...for someone who was there, it was Dragon Warrior. I can't say for sure if it was the ultimate FIRST RPG for the NES, but it was the first that got any major attention. I remember Nintendo Power even gave you a free copy of the game if you got a two-year subscription to them. I think DWII came out before FF did as well and that was an even better version. In fact, DWIII and DWIV were also quite good.The funny thing is while DW started it, FF1 blew it out of the water. As innovative as DW was, I felt that FF1 took everything that DW did and did it better. Just an absolute gem of a game.Stevo

[hotel security]

Dragon Warrior was one of the originals, but also Zelda helped make game developers realize just how popular RPGs were. Additionally there was some knights of the realm game that was pretty fun for its day.

That may be right except that Zelda is NOT an RPG. That's the problem nowadays, people seem to call every game that has even the slightest bit of RPG elements an RPG. I know there are a number of games (like Star Ocean) that blend the genres but back in the day you had clear-cut classifications. They went like this:RPG - You use a menu for everything. To fight. To talk to people. To interact with stuff. Often involved you going to dungeons, fighting battles and getting treasures. You never directly control the character and always use a menu to tell your character to do things. Think Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy.Adventure - This genre had elements of RPGs where you find items and use them to unlock puzzles and often involved dungeon crawling as well. The difference was while RPGs used menus, almost everything in adventure games were controlled directly by the player. Movement and fighting in particular. Obviously Zelda is a perfect example.Action - This is pure action. No RPG elements. You directly control the character and go through stage after stage until you beat the final boss and beat him. Pretty straightforward. The original Mario games fit this bill.So, for the last time, Zelda is an ADVENTURE game, not an RPG. It never was one and it isn't one now. Stevo

[Obitus666]

In the original final fantasy there is a grave in the elven town that when you check it you get a message "here lies Erdrick". Erdrick was the name of the legendary hero in dragon warrior. Dragon warrior came first, But final fantasy definitely made rpgs more enjoyable.

[KHRS]

Yeah Dragon Warrior. I think because of that promotional thing that nintendo Power did where they sent out copies of Dragon Warrior to people who subscribed to the magazine which boosted its fan base.

[booo95]

NES RPGs, I'd have to say Dragon Warrior as it kicked off the RPGs on the NES. Final Fantasy just came and made it a whole lot better.

[Purugstrahl]

I'd say Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy, at least for the American audience. Dragon Warrior/Quest was never all that popular until half the American gaming generation started becoming weeaboos and discovering it was Japan's best thing since crushed ice.