How should a noob approach blobbers?

[janior]

As far as TB blobbers go, you can start with Wizardry 8, should be friendly enough.

wizardry 8 is not a blobber you retard
also might and magic games are shit, stick to the older wizardries

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Start with Wizardry IV (Apple ][ version).

 

[Daemongar]

World of Xeen is probably the most newbie friendly TB blobber, but like Might&Magic 3 it's a not a typical blobber, with its simplistic combat and rather straightforward dungeon maps.
You may want to consider Wizardry 1, the original blobber and a "true" blobber experience, and one of the easier TB blobbers after MM 3-5.

I agree about World of Xeen, but disagree on Wizardry 1. You can't go home again. Unless someone is a diehard, starting Wizardry pre-Wizardry 6 is just asking for trouble. There are just certain features in blobbers you can't assume folks will be willing to do without. Recommending a blobber without automap is setting someone up for a trial by fire. At least Wiz 6 has that dungeon mapper program.

I'd recommend Lands of Lore before Wiz 1. Not taking anything away from Wizardry 1, but come on.

 

[Jason Liang]

a) Shining in the Darkness

or

b) Wizardry 1

or

c) Rance 6: Fall of Zeth (easiest!)

A good thing about Shining in the Darkness is your characters are premade so you don't have to roll them up- just concentrate on... blobbing? Shining in the Darkness also has an actual plot. And animation.

Some other basic blobbers:

Swords and Serpents (for the NES)
Dragon Wars

 

[mondblut]

World of Xeen is probably the most newbie friendly TB blobber, but like Might&Magic 3 it's a not a typical blobber, with its simplistic combat and rather straightforward dungeon maps.

True.

You may want to consider Wizardry 1, the original blobber and a "true" blobber experience, and one of the easier TB blobbers after MM 3-5.

Not sure if trolling. Besides, he said he already played some of the jap remakes. Elminage Mad Overlord or SMT Proving Grounds or something. Why repeat?

 

[agentorange]

wizardry 8 is not a blobber you retard

wat.

 

[AetherVagrant]

Play other games instead.

That said I can stand some with non-tile movement and turn-based combat. otherwise if feels like playing some sort of flip book that you aren't in control of, while trying to pilot a fighter jet. Also most blobbers are just combat combat combat. they remind me of Final Fantasy with a different POV. Im sure Grimoire will change all that and convert me.

Wiz7 and MM6 weren't tooo terrible but that might just be nostalgia talking because I played them when too young to know better.

 

[agentorange]

SMT: Strange Journey is very noob friendly. Any older blobbers like the early Wizardry games are impenetrable in comparison. I'm not sure what you mean by screwing up your build in SMT: SJ since you can't really screw up your own character since skill points allotment is not vital in the grand scheme of things, and the rest of your party is made of up demons who you can catch, release, mix at any time. It's very, very difficult, or maybe impossible, to get into a situation where you can't complete the game, which is not the case for many older blobbers. You should probably just go back to it and spend some more time looking at the demon alignment, demon fusion system since I can't think of a better game for someone new to blobbers.

I'd also recommend trying some of the Japanese Wizardry games, the remakes and the original stories. Wizardry: Forsaken Lands for the PS2 is very good. They're similar to the American ones but with better UIs, less esoteric puzzles and mechanics, etc. Far easier to get into.

 

[Slimu]

Paper Sorcerer is a good blobber for a beginner. From what other codexers say, it is somewhat similar to Wizardry 4.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Play Etrian Odyssey.
It's leagues better than old blobbers.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Another good choice could be the first Lands of Lore, a game which is ok for beginners but still great.

NO

Lands of Lore is SHIT.


Seconding World of Xeen.

 

[Grauken]

SMT:SJ is one of the most easiest blobbers I played, if he can't get into that, maybe blobbers aren't for him

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

Wiz8, Xulima, M&M10 are good open-world blobbers that are easy to get into. M&M10 on 'hard' is the hardest one, Wiz8 the easiest probably (but fun!).

Other good open-world ones are M&M6 and 7 though their interface has aged a quite a bit and graphics take a while to get used too. If you can get past that they're great.

Demise and its "sequels" (I played Ascension, though I've heard praise for other versions too) are the best as far as "depth" goes. There's an insane amount of detail that can take hundred/s of hours learning. It's still easy to pick up and play for fun without overthinking stuff.

 

[V_K]

The problem is, as it happens with classic roguelikes, the blobbers I've tried so far (Elminage Original and SMT: Strange Journey) don't seem very "noob-friendly", so after about 10 hours into each one I gave up because I realized that the problem wasn't the difficulty, but the fact that I had a shitty/non balanced party.

Frayed Knights. It gives you a pre-generated (but customizable so you can respec them as you level up) party, which it's harder to fuck up. It's also quite decent mechanically and level design-wise, if you can stomach the humor and ugly visuals (but since you played Elminage, you probably can).
7 Mages could work too, although its character system is a bit too simplistic.

 

[tindrli]

MM6
MM7
MM8

should be enough for start.
dont forget to patch it.


also try
Demise ascension

 

[an Administrator]

Wizardry V (SNES port)

 

[agentorange]

Demise ascension

oh yeah. perfect game for beginners

 

[octavius]

disagree on Wizardry 1. You can't go home again. Unless someone is a diehard, starting Wizardry pre-Wizardry 6 is just asking for trouble. There are just certain features in blobbers you can't assume folks will be willing to do without. Recommending a blobber without automap is setting someone up for a trial by fire. At least Wiz 6 has that dungeon mapper program.

But half the fun of a blobber is mapping diabolically designed dungeons.

You may want to consider Wizardry 1, the original blobber and a "true" blobber experience, and one of the easier TB blobbers after MM 3-5.

Not sure if trolling. Besides, he said he already played some of the jap remakes. Elminage Mad Overlord or SMT Proving Grounds or something. Why repeat?

He said he was a noob. Anyway I played Wizardry 1 as an experienced blobberer myself and enjoyed it very much.

 

[Kitchen Utensil]

Wait for Grimoire.

Ah, nevermind..

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Oh come on, how can you people say Strange Journey is good for noobs?

-Instadeath galore.

-Party has elemental weakness enemies can exploit for free turns (No wizardry game has such a hardcore feature)

-Weak leveling and equipment (hope you like shitty guns and knives for 30 hours)

-Trick bosses and trial-and-error combat (bring the right demons or you're screwed)

-Good luck figuring out the alignment system without a guide

Just grinding enough to the point the shop sells any items is a massive chore. I would NOT recommend this game for beginners, ever.

Wizardry Tale of the Forsaken land is solid if you want an oldschool-ish game without some of the bullshit features. Has an automap and no random stats/HP on level up, so your characters can't get gimped, and the difficulty is fairly forgiving. Slow animations drag it down though. The recent Starcrawlers is also a fun blobber-lite and friendly to beginners.

I've also recommended the nes Story of Llylgamyn port of Wizardry 1-3. It's still the classic wizardry experience but with better graphics and music. Save states also take the edge off the difficulty.

 

[Jimmious]

?BLOBBERS?

 

[Grauken]

!Blobbers!

 

[CptMace]

Might and Magic is mandatory as a newcomer to blobbers.
Any of them. I suggest M&M3 or 4-5 for proper grid-based epicness.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

* B L O B B E R S *

 

[DraQ]

Another good choice could be the first Lands of Lore, a game which is ok for beginners but still great.

NO

Lands of Lore is SHIT.

That's a bit of an overstatement. It has really good music, graphics and charming atmosphere (it does that whimsical thing Divinity: Original Sin did not quite succeed at - properly).
Admittedly it is horribly simplistic, lacks any sort of character building, lacks any usable sort of inventory item information and uses the hideous abomination that is the RT blobber combat.