Gateway games

[Rozalia1]

This is a great thread to have for people, we've all had experiences I'm sure with a genre where one great game in the genre made us get others in it. 

 

Visual Novel Adventure

 

999 - Virtue's Last Reward the sequel to 999 is a superior game but 999 is no slouch and you spoil yourself a bit if you go through VLR first. Both 999 and VLR can be gotten in a bundle for the PS4. The third game, Zero Time Dilemma can also be gotten on the Vita/PS4 and is considered the worst one by most but is still a great game. Has an anime OVA to promote VLR which you can skip with no issue (it's in game scenes animated). It breaks up the reading with "escape the room" puzzles. Mystery focused.

 

Dangenronpa - Very highly rated in the genre. Has two sequels, a side game, and two animes one of which can be skipped as it is 1's story, but the other is an original story that ties up the plot of 1, 2, and the side game. Reading is broken up by investigation and then court case gameplay. Mystery focused.

 

Spirit Hunter NG - For those worried about too much reading this one is more limited in that respect. NG is the second game in the Spirit Hunter series so if you enjoy this one then you can look up Death Mark that came before it which I'd say is worse than NG, but it is good too and unlike 999 and VLR you don't have to worry about playing the second game first. There is a third game in the works. It's reading is broken up by investigation sections. Horror focused.

 

426 Shibuya Scramble - Unlike the above it ain't part of a series of games but it does have an anime which you shouldn't watch until you beat the game. Has no gameplay but has a fun timeline mechanic where what one character does can cause another character to die/fail to do something/so forth, so you have to make decisions with characters to the point that all of them make it to the next hour. Unlike the norm 426 uses photos taken of real life people to tell it's story and it works. Unsure I'd call it mystery focused though there is one... very much an... adventure, yeah lets go with that. Closest game to a pure visual novel listed here as an Adventure game.

 

Side note. Visual Novels themselves without the added "Adventure" are their own thing and it could be said that Visual Novel Adventure games are themselves gateways to the "purer" visual novels because if find adventure games have too much text for you then you'll drawn in a Visual novel with no gameplay. Out of those Stein's Gate is one that gets a lot of praise. The House in Fata Morgana gets a lot of praise also though I can't comment as I have yet to experience it. 

[LancashireLad87]

Just a quick update, I have added a basic fighting game terminology section which I plan to expand at some point. I'm slowly adding the suggestions. Feel free to advise on layout and if you think of anything that's missing or you have anymore recommendations please submit them and I'll add them as and when I get round to it.

[LancashireLad87]

9 hours ago, ladynadiad said:

I'd actually highly disagree with putting down Dark Cloud as a gateway to RPGs.  Played it last year and hated it so much that if that had been my first RPG, I'd probably never have played another.  It's got too many strange mechanics that are not typical of RPGs to really be a good gateway game and the gameplay gets very tedious and boring and made a roughly 20 hour plat feel more like it took over 40 hours because of how much it just dragged.

 

I'd suggest something more like Trials of Mana or Cat Quest for action RPGs at least.  Both are pretty short and not too difficult to get the plat in while being reflective enough of the typical style of action RPGs.

 

I'd also highly recommend splitting RPG up into at minimum action RPG and turn based RPG because both are very different styles of gameplay.  Western and Japanese also wouldn't be a bad idea to split as well since western devs do make RPGs in a different style than Japanese devs and it's not just a difference in graphics style.  Western RPGs tend to be more open world and Japanese RPGs tend to be more linear.  Both have their pros and cons and the styles will suit some and not others.  Definitely know many who hate JRPGs but love western RPGs and many who love JRPGs and hate western RPGs and then there are people who like both.  The styles are different enough that one gateway for all RPGs doesn't quite reflect the various styles when one style might turn some people away from the genre when they could potentially enjoy other styles in the genre.

 

Good point, I have split the RPG's into the categories as requested however since I'm not very familiar with the genre how would you classify games like Cat Quest, Transistor and the like are they Western Action RPG's?

[DrBloodmoney]

9 minutes ago, LancashireLad87 said:

 

Good point, I have split the RPG's into the categories as requested however since I'm not very familiar with the genre how would you classify games like Cat Quest, Transistor and the like are they Western Action RPG's?

 

Cat Quest would be closer to Western than JRPG IMO - based on the structure of the missions etc.

 

Transistor... i don't know...

 

...I don't think that I would consider it a gateway game for either genre...

 

...not because I don't think it is great - I absolutely love it (it's currently my no.6 game of all time on my rankings list!) - but because it is so unique and specific, that really, I don't think playing it is a particular gateway to anything, other than 'other Supergiant games'.

 

If someone plays Transistor, and then declares "I loved it, what should my next RPG be?" I wouldn't know what to tell them, other than that they might like Bastion - given that it is also a unique, interesting game from Supergiant.

 

 

[LancashireLad87]

2 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

Cat Quest would be closer to Western than JRPG IMO - based on the structure of the missions etc.

 

Transistor... i don't know...

 

...I don't think that I would consider it a gateway game for either genre...

 

...not because I don't think it is great - I absolutely love it (it's currently my no.6 game of all time on my rankings list!) - but because it is so unique and specific, that really, I don't think playing it is a particular gateway to anything, other than 'other Supergiant games'.

 

If someone plays Transistor, and then declares "I loved it, what should my next RPG be?" I wouldn't know what to tell them, other than that they might like Bastion - given that it is also a unique, interesting game from Supergiant.

 

 

 

Cool thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of giving some of these games a try in the future since I'm no different to anyone else! I was thinking of adding maybe Skyrim and Fallout to the Western RPG's since they're more mainstream. You can just mess around in both games and make solid progress and I'm sure you can break the shit out of your character and the game without too much trouble.

 

An honourable mention should probably go to Oblivion which lacks trophy support but I feel it would be a great introduction to the world of RPG's and it's critically acclaimed as well, killing 2 birds with 1 stone! 

[DrBloodmoney]

16 minutes ago, LancashireLad87 said:

 

Cool thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of giving some of these games a try in the future since I'm no different to anyone else! I was thinking of adding maybe Skyrim and Fallout to the Western RPG's since they're more mainstream. You can just mess around in both games and make solid progress and I'm sure you can break the shit out of your character and the game without too much trouble.

 

An honourable mention should probably go to Oblivion which lacks trophy support but I feel it would be a great introduction to the world of RPG's and it's critically acclaimed as well, killing 2 birds with 1 stone! 

 

That's true - the one downside to something like Skyrim and Oblivion though, is the volume of lore.

Those games are - by design - steeped in a wealth of history and lore, and are designed to make the player feel like they are in a world that has gone on long before them and will continue long after them.

While most RPG fans understand that that is not a detriment, when you couple that idea with the fact that those games are the 4th and 5th games in a long series, it may give the false impression, to a neophyte, that they just 'aren't up to speed' and have missed too much in the preceding games.

 

In terms of gateway games, I would always try to err on the side of brand new IP - as that stuff any player going in will feel like, at the very least, they are starting on the ground floor, and know as much of the lore of the specific game as anyone else, even if they are missing the broader genre knowledge.

 

That's why I would recommend something like The Outer Worlds, as opposed to Fallout games, for example - and on that front, maybe something like Kingdom of Amalur over Oblivion or Fallout.

 

they are not necessarily better games, but they may be more approachable from a lore point of view - and would lead someone into the mindset where they might be better equipped to explore the other games.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by DrBloodmoney

[LancashireLad87]

1 minute ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

That's true - the one downside to something like Skyrim and Oblivion though, is the volume of lore.

Those games are - by design - steeped in a wealth of history and lore, and are designed to make the player feel like they are in a world that has gone on long before them and will continue long after them. While most RPG fans understand that that is not a detriment, when you couple that idea with the fact that those games are the 4th and 5th games in a long series, it may give the impression to a neophyte that they just 'aren't up to speed' and have missed too much in the preceding games.

 

In terms of gateway games, I would always try to err on the side of brand new IP - as that stuff any player going in will feel like, at the very least, they are starting on the ground floor, and know as much of the lore of the specific game as anyone else, even if they are missing the broader genre knowledge.

 

That's why I would recommend something like The Outer Worlds, as opposed to Fallout games, for example - and on that front, maybe something like Kingdom of Amalur over Oblivion or Fallout.

 

they are not necessarily better games, but they may be more approachable from a lore point of view - and would lead someone into the mindset where they might be better equipped to explore the other games.

 

 

 

I remember playing Oblivion years ago, perhaps I'm in the minority but I wasn't really interested in the lore per se, I was more concerned about how many guards I can smash into the ground with my axe or breaking into a house in search of good loot trying not to get caught! They can be a good time sink for sure, you can spend many an hour without even realizing it. I found Oblivion a pretty chill game, you can just sit back, relax and do whatever you want but I'm far from an authority figure with RPG's as I rarely play them.

 

I think that's one of the reasons I created this topic in the first place to get me and others to try new games outside of your comfort zone. As I'd consider myself more of a specialist of a few genres rather than an all-rounder. If you put me on some games even little kids can destroy me haha.

[ladynadiad]

10 hours ago, LancashireLad87 said:

 

Good point, I have split the RPG's into the categories as requested however since I'm not very familiar with the genre how would you classify games like Cat Quest, Transistor and the like are they Western Action RPG's?

 

I think Cat Quest could be a gateway to any action RPGs in general.  It has plenty in common with both western and Japanese styles though it is a western dev.  It's definitely a rare game I've seen appeal to both sides.  When I think of western action RPGs, I think of stuff more like God of War (and the 2018 version could potentially be a good gateway pick). 

 

I think Trials of Mana is a more solid for sure Japanese action RPG pick and a solid gateway choice because it's not a hard game, it's plot is easy to understand even if one has never played another game in the series, it's definitely anime style and has the typical JRPG tropes.

 

Turn based RPGs is where I'm having a hard time thinking of a solid gateway choice because the majority of them are so lengthy and complex.  Cosmic Star Heroine does work even if it's a western dev, it still is the right sort of style.  The only thing that bothers me about picking it is that most turn based RPGs tend to have a fantasy setting and Cosmic Star Heroine is more sci-fi.  If I were to pick a gateway for turn based JRPGs, I'd probably go for a Kemco game, maybe something like Dragon Sinker or Fernz Gate which are both short and easy while being pretty reflective of how turn based RPGs tend to work.