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Spiderweb The best beginning in an RPG

Sneaky Seal

Aurum Dust
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Sep 14, 2016
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346
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It would have been so much easier to pick the worst ones.

I liked the Blackguards 2 - it shows you a betrayal and a dawnfall of a powerfull woman that sets out to avenge herself, which establishes the narrative arch and character motivation for the whole game, and does a pretty good job in doing so and keeping it together.
 

Sherry

Arcane
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Jan 17, 2017
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404
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Shrine of Compassion
Hi.

gosh this is a good idea for a thread so thank-you for making it Lhynn I hope you are doing okay. It has been a busy day with Mother's Day and having some drinks and good food and good family fun but is also so nice to wind down and do some forum browsing and then I came across this one and read through it. I see there are some Ultima fans here too! :hug: Many good ones in the series but my favorite of them all for having the best beginning is Ultima 5 Warriors of Destiny! :salute:

okay so I am sure there is a yt vid out there showing it all off but U5 begins with the logo and the flames around the font and then you see the beginning intro made with what the whole world of Britannia is made from. So you see the avatar and the mirrors and the doors and the walls, the trees and moongate just like you will experience it in-game when you start to play the game after arriving in Britannia right? It then ends to the menu system where you can then get some nice drawn pictures with written detail on what it is you just saw and it is a number of pages to go through before the game starts and I think this was a real awesome way to show how the story is told using the game engine and also a story like reading a book. I will be right back and see if I can find a yt vid okay. hang on!!

okay I am back I put the video in a spoiler but it shows exactly what I am talking about and adding to that is the box content of the log of what Lord British and his crew experienced in the Underworld and it gives direct instructions on how to find this location in-game so you can follow in the footsteps I think U5 did everything so nice in creating that dark experience right from the very beginning of watching your best friend shot by a Shadowlord bolt to the story they tell you that you can read all before making or importing your character!!! So because of this it is my choice for the best beginning.

showing in-game story with engine



book introduction with drawn detail of in-game story



got a book and a glass of wine waiting to read before bed so signing off with pjs already on lol!! :lol: :hug:

Thanks,
Sherry
 

Alex

Arcane
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Jun 14, 2007
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São Paulo - Brasil
Damnit, keep the weeaboo stuff in the weeaboo forum...
that's very mild compared to this gay thing that shows on my recommended videos thumbnail on that ff7 intro video


It wouldn't matter if it was Ogre Battle, which is a game I actually enjoy. The Codex is, or at least used to be, one of the few places where people understood that JRPGs aren't the same thing as CRPGs. You might as well post Doom in this thread if the forum division doesn't mean anything.

By the way, Doom does have a pretty good intro; the first map is a bit on the easy side and can get old later on, but it has everything that a good level in Doom needs and starts with a pretty rocking music right off the bat.
 
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Jimmious

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Agree with a lot of suggestions already, mainly for VTMB.
But to make things a bit more spicy in here, I would say that the beginning of PoE was actually pretty good. It got the atmosphere right, made you wonder about a lot of things, had a nice little ambush and a starter dungeon. And some necessary deaths.
I liked it.
 

Ranselknulf

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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
ruabadenoughdude.jpg
 

boot

Prophet
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Bartow, FL
It wouldn't matter if it was Ogre Battle, which is a game I actually enjoy. The Codex is, or at least used to be, one of the few places where people understood that JRPGs aren't the same thing as CRPGs. You might as well post Doom in this thread if the forum division doesn't mean anything.

I forget about the differences most of the time, but the title says RPG- not CRPG or JRPG.

Best beginning I've had is Wizardry, probably most blobbers have good starts. When even poking your head into a dungeon is daunting, every one of your first steps feels like an achievement.
 
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Joined
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Vostroya
For me, in chronological order, the best beginnings were:
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands. Gladiatorial beginnings are quite rare even these days, back then it was both rare and awesome. In the beginning they introduced you to setting via few memorable NPCs, you had quite a few C&C moments in the barracks and in choosing your escape, also I really liked the engine and level design. Wake of Ravager had more cold-open beginning, and while I like it more, bugs and all, DS:SL was better in the terms of beginning and overal story and C&C.
Daggerfall. I still remember that sample of closing and opening door, also ebony dagger and the imp. It wasn't very interesting in itself, but when you got out of the Privateer's Hold, you were struck by how enormous the world was, and how insignificant you were. I still remember that feeling.
Albion. Both the ship and the planet parts of the beginning were superb, they contrasted nicely with each other, highlighting the otherness of that planet. Graphics were nice for the time too.
Planescape: Torment. The best opening ever. The Mortuary itself, Morte, Dhall, Deionarra, Mark Morgan's music, MCA's writing, beautiful environments and design - it was just perfect.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. The only criticism I have it's that the could've made different short Embrace stories for each clan, I especially laughed when your Sire, being a Nosferatu, seduced you. But other than that - it was perfect. Both the trial, the Sabbat incursion, Smiling Jack and all. And Santa-Monica. Ahhh.
Witcher 1. I was a fan of Ведьмак novels long before CDPR managed to make a game, the series were hugely popular in Russia among fantasy fans. The most pleasant surorise for me was that they managed t stay true to most characters, other than Triss, for whom a plunging neckline was uncharacteristic (and who was kinda badly voiced in RU version). But other than that, Kaer Morhen was great, and I liked the outskirts of Wyzima. Witcher 2 also had a good beginning, but lacked in novelty. Still good though.

While I love Fallouts, neither the first one's, nor the second's beginning have left an "AWESOME" impression. Great games, decent beginnings, but not great ones. The beginnings of both BG1 and BG2 were serviceable, the second one elevated by the performance of Irenicus' VA. The only interesting idea Bioware had for the beginnings was DA:O, and look how that turned out.
 

ilitarist

Learned
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Final Fantasy 7 looked great at the time. It was relatively simple and graphically impressive. Promised cyberpunk world which was unexpected for a JRPG. After that they've started making intros longer and longer and longer secretly wishing to make movies. Another one would be Deus Ex 1. It bombards you with X-files stuff and jumps all over the world.

Neither of my suggestions are RPG. The thing is, RPG isn't supposed to be visually spectacular, I think. So I'd call Wizardry 8 the best intro. It sets the stage for a galactic conflict... And then gives you tons of stats to tinker with. Tons.

Sometimes I just dream of the game with an infinite grind and slow progression, and W8 would be close if not for all the obscure stuff and level scaling.
 

Elwro

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Krakow, Poland
Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2
You guys mentioned many of the great ones, but I have to mention one which shows hat sometimes a 'barebones' approach can be the way to go: Avernum. You immediately get the sense of a huge open world you're plunged into. Not a second of boredom in that game for me.


And AoD vignettes are some of the best beginnings I've seen in a game!
 
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
5,103
Anachronox has a pretty cool beginning. Instead of the usual "you are the chosen farmer!" bs, the game starts with your beaten down character being beaten down.

Gothic 1 of course, with the entry into Old Camp. Ultima Underworld, being accused of a crime you didn't commit and thrown into a massive dungeon.

KotOR 2 has a really cool "mysterious" beginning. You are floating in a spaceship, everyone is dead, something strange is going on. Unfortunately, much of the game is not as good.

Oblivion has a pretty good beginning, actually, with the prison escape, the attack on the emperor and Captain Picard. Getting out of the prison and seeing the Imperial City and the entire world before you is a pretty cool experience. It is only later that one learns about all the bad stuff.
 
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Norfolk
Fallout: Both the player and the character are thrust into a new world at the same time and have to figure it out together.

Torment: Because it's as good as the rest of the game

Dark Souls: Better get used to this shit
 

Elwro

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Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2
I really liked reading the 'RUN' developer message in the Dark Souls 'tutorial' a second before the huge demon butt landed next to me :)

and that Taurus Demon felt like an amazing achievement, while technically you can easily beat it 20 minutes into the game ;)
 

Galthaar

Novice
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Nov 25, 2015
Messages
4
What about Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader? Barcelona is certainly one of the best games I have ever played, it's a pity the game stops there and turns into a poor diablo clone...
 

Alkarl

Learned
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Oct 9, 2016
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472
Most games that just drop you into their world with little story/background/lore fapping as possible. Games that let you dig in to most of their content immediately without having to go faff about talking to boring npcs or completing some drawn out and ultimately irrelevant prologue/tutorial chapter. Even if a game lets you get into a lot of trouble really fast, underestimating enemies, overestimating your odds. Most classic games started like this.
 

HeatEXTEND

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Nedderlent
Most games that just drop you into their world with little story/background/lore fapping as possible. Games that let you dig in to most of their content immediately without having to go faff about talking to boring npcs or completing some drawn out and ultimately irrelevant prologue/tutorial chapter. Even if a game lets you get into a lot of trouble really fast, underestimating enemies, overestimating your odds. Most classic games started like this.

Now, pick one :P
 

octavius

Arcane
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Bjørgvin
Wizardry 6 is an excellent example of a a game that lets you get into a lot of trouble really fast.
The level design of the starting area - the castle - is also very good.
 

lukaszek

the determinator
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deterministic system > RNG
 
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