Games to get into gaming?

[starwarsgeek]

Chrono Trigger. Practically no grind, one of my favorite combat systems in any RPG, and a surprisingly varied world and cast (gotta love time travel). And it was just added to the virtual console.

I don't mean to be a dick, but how is Chrono Trigger's combat system any different from, say, classic Final Fantasy? It's been quite a few years since I played it, am I forgetting something huge that makes it special?

Edit: Just realized some of this would be a little bit spoilery for someone who hadn't played it...

I doubt it's something you actually forgot; I'm talking about the double and triple techs. Compared to Final Fantasy 2/4, Chrono Trigger gives you a lot more freedom when choosing your party and the different techs give you an incentive to really to think about who you want to bring and how to use them.

Spoiler

For example, my third character in Magus's Keep is always Marle. This gives me her Haste spell and the Arc Impulse/Frost Arc Triple Tech.

Someone else may prefer Lucca, so they'd have access to all four elemental types (the Crono-Frog-Lucca triple tech is one of the few shadow damage attacks available for this dungeon). Others may prefer Robo, who brings shadow damage, can heal, and has some nice combos with Crono. Even though the game is very easy most of the time, the early freedom in forming your party and the different techs put a lot of strategy into the game.

 

[Dom Scarff]

theres only really one game to get into gaming and that my friends is starwars battlefront 2

 

[Togs]

start with something big and classic- recent ones are like RDR or ME2 come to mind.

Old classics might be good as well, for example Diablo 2 was the game that turned me from casual fan to hardcore gaming nut.

 

[UNHchabo]

Of course, Portal 2 is an excellent place to go if you enjoyed the first.

If you like puzzles, then Braid is a good game to play. It's not perfect, and some of the puzzles can be frustrating to figure out, but it's one of those games where you might be stuck on a puzzle for half an hour, take a break, and the solution will come into your head while you're eating dinner.

It happened for me, anyway.

Katamari Damacy is also sort of like a puzzle game; it's a very strange game, but simple to pick up.



If you want to try a shooter, but still want some thoughtful puzzle elements, the Half-Life franchise is excellent for that. Some people can't seem to get into the original Half-Life, but if you like Portal, Half-Life 2 is almost guaranteed to be up your alley.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest Grand Theft Auto 3, and Vice City. They're both games you can get into very easily, and varied enough in gameplay that they have something for everyone. If you just feel like driving around the city really fast, you can do that, or you can play through the story missions and get a narrative.

Also on the "driving" note, there are many good racing series out there; Gran Turismo for its realism, or Burnout and Need For Speed for their pure fun.

There are two older console games that come to mind for accessibility: Super Metroid (if you enjoy exploration in an action setting), and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (fantasy dungeon exploration)

 

[Impswitch]

I have a Wii, GameCube, and an old DreamCast in my household, and I am expecting to get a PS3 sometime this summer. I haven't really played enough to know what types of games I would enjoy, but I don't really care about where it's set as long as it is interesting. Also, I do really enjoy adventure games, I have definitely finished a number of PC adventure games like Grim Fandango.

EDIT: I also have an NES that works, but not a lot of games for it.