Good introductory RPG for an 8 year old?

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Man, it's really too bad that he doesn't have a DS, because Pokemon is /the/ gateway RPG for that age group. Since it's not an option, though, what about the Virtual Console? There's plenty of SNES era RPGs on there, including Super Mario RPG and, if I'm not mistaken, Chrono Trigger. Super Mario RPG in particular is pretty kid friendly while still being a good game.

 

[hermes]

Yeah... Costume Quest is your best option.

Charming, extremely appropriate for kids of that age, without being pandering; and the difficulty is pretty appropriate too. It will give him a fairly good grasp of the basics of JRPG.

 

[Windcaler]

This may be sacrilege but have you considered introducing him to some old 8 or 16 bit ones? I recall the Dragon warrior series being pretty easy to wrap ones mind around but it also had enough complexity to keep it interesting. The stories of the last 3 games (especially 4) were particularily interesting for my young mind and being introduced to the fantasy genre. Plus since its 8 and 16 bit there is little to no blood or watchable violence to be concerned with

 

[jetpickering]

Ummm...Pokemon? Seems like the obvious choice for an eight year old kid.

 

[scorptatious]

Ummm...Pokemon? Seems like the obvious choice for an eight year old kid.

As I said in the OP, I would get him Pokemon, but he no longer has his DS.

 

[RatRace123]

Try Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, it's a Gamecube game but it can be played on the Wii. It's a really good starting point for getting a kid interested in RPGs, the first one did the same for me.

If you have access to the Wii shop channel, the first Paper Mario game is also available for download.

 

[AmzRigh]

To throw my two cents behind what's already been said, Costume Quest and Bastion are probably your best bets for new games, and Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger and Paper Mario for the Virtual Console.

If you don't mind soft-modding his Wii (which is a quite simple task; hard to screw up, but easy to fix if you somehow manage to anyway), drop some emulators on there and go for EarthBound, Final Fantasy III (6j), Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana...there's lots of good choices from that era.

Secret of Mana was my first RPG (well, closer to RPG than Zelda, anyway), and I got it in...I think 3rd grade, maybe 2nd. I'd tried playing Final Fantasy when I was four or five, but I couldn't understand what was going on at all. It wasn't until III/6j came out that I started understanding how "pure" JRPGs worked.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

If you're able to get a hold of a PS3, I'd highly recommend Grandia or Wild ARMs. Both great and fantastic RPGs with astounding quality, the likes of which not seen since Secret of Mana.

 

[SanguineScale]

Shin Megami Tensei.....

*shot*

 

[GloatingSwine]

Well if you have a DS and don't have Chrono Trigger for it you're basically doing it wrong...

 

[twaddle]

How come everyone that keeps recommending these games seems to keep forgetting the fact that this is supposed to be a game
FOR AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD?

 

[BarbaricGoose]

Ninja Gaiden 2 on Path of the Master Ninja difficulty is considered, by many scholars, to be the best RPG of all time. Give 'im that.

Spoiler: This is a $6,000 suit! COME ON!

But seriously, Dragon Age: Origins.

Unrelated:​

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[Risingblade]

Paper Mario, it should be in the wii shop.

 

[Hemlet]

For an Xbox RPG to start with: Costume Quest. It was brought up earlier and for good reason. Costume Quest is awesome, and simple as all hell while still keeping up with a turn-based RPG formula.

For the Wii...well if it's on the Wii Virtual Console look for Super Mario RPG. If SMRPG isn't on the Wii Virtual Console... why the fuck not Nintendo?!

 

[WillieDaKid3]

Get him Fallout: New Vegas, put it on hardcore mode and blow his freakin' mind.

In seriousness, though, any Zelda game (although not technically an RPG) would be great.
Also, if he has any interest at all in superheroes either of the Ultimate Alliance games would be ideal.

 

[Baralak]

If it's on Wii, I'd recommend:

Paper Mario
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III

Those are all on the Virtual Console, btw. Are the Phantasy Star games up there? If not, grab Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on 360, as it has Phantasy Star 1-4, and the Shining games. You know, Shining in the Dark, Shining Force, etc.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

How come everyone that keeps recommending these games seems to keep forgetting the fact that this is supposed to be a game
FOR AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD?

Well, when I was eight I was playing GTA 3 and Baldur's Gate.

OT: Well, you could try Skyrim. It's not exactly PG-13 but if he can handle stuff like Halo and CoD he certainly should be able to handle Skyrim.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Most things are fine short of old Computer RPGs. For example, even though this is hard to do you could end up with a fucked up character in KoTOR which coould ruin the game. I'd stay away from old rogue likes and rogues in general as well. JRPGs are a good place to start as ones like FF 7(was kinda designed to be easy for new comers to RPGs) & FF 9(if you have access) have a bit more rigid character development. Although as I said most WRPGs in the last two console gens have kinda removed the fail factor as far as making a character goes. So just pick ones you know are good.

Anyway my list would be FF 7, FF 9, Oblivion, Skyrim(if ok with the violence for these 2), Kingdom Hearts and Golden Sun. A lot of JRPGs but not many WRPGs that I would/could recommend for an 8 year old.

 

[Overusedname]

Kingdom Hearts. Enough Said

Excellent choice, really. One of the best to start out with and it's not that hard. But the mechanics might be a little complex if he's new to action games. If not, do it. KH is one of the best choices and it's pretty darn fun and well put-together.

If not, Super Mario RPG, it's available on the Wii's download service. It's just a nice, mildly strategic turn-based RPG with Timing-based puzzles that make moves heal/hurt more. And it's VERY funny and has some cool music.