G Ziets
Digimancy Entertainment
My experience was very similar to JasonNH, but for my first RPG, I’d have to give credit to a game called Dragonstomper on the Atari 2600.
The player took the role of a dragon hunter, and the game played out in three parts, Part 1 was a wilderness adventure in which you gathered gold and equipment to improve your combat abilities. In order to leave the wilderness, you had to get past a powerful guard at the village gate, and there were multiple ways to do it... but it was up to you to decide when you were ready to move on. Part 2 was the village – a peaceful interlude in which you used your assembled wealth to purchase weapons, armor, and potions - and hire companions - to face the dragon. You had to make strategic decisions about what you’d take with you, as you’d never have enough money to buy everything. Part 3 was the harrowing assault on the dragon’s lair.
I must have put hundreds of hours into that game. Highly underrated, and it was my first real exposure to the genre.
The player took the role of a dragon hunter, and the game played out in three parts, Part 1 was a wilderness adventure in which you gathered gold and equipment to improve your combat abilities. In order to leave the wilderness, you had to get past a powerful guard at the village gate, and there were multiple ways to do it... but it was up to you to decide when you were ready to move on. Part 2 was the village – a peaceful interlude in which you used your assembled wealth to purchase weapons, armor, and potions - and hire companions - to face the dragon. You had to make strategic decisions about what you’d take with you, as you’d never have enough money to buy everything. Part 3 was the harrowing assault on the dragon’s lair.
I must have put hundreds of hours into that game. Highly underrated, and it was my first real exposure to the genre.