How to get into RPG gaming?

The first RPG I played was Pokemon Blue when I was a kid and I loved it. The other two RPGs I have ever played are Guild Wars and Dragon Quest VIII. Both of them were disappointing to say the least. They just felt like running form point A to B and back and the combat was not engaging, all you did was click around.

So now I would like to start with RPGs all over again. I am willing to keep an open mind and not jump to any conclusions straightaway and am willing to try out an RPG again. Which RPG would you recommend I start off with? Witcher 2? Dark Souls?

A coupld of things I would like the game to have are engaging combat not just simple clicks and secondly I am a little impatient with games I dont want a game where the majority of my time is spent running across a continent so I can save some princess I dont give a crap about. I want something that I can get into quickly and will be enjoyable as a game, if that makes sense.

Lastly in order to appreciate RPGs how should I be approaching it as a beginner? What should my expectations be/not be?

Try the Mass Effect games. They are very lite on the RPG part but they have a decent combat.

A good RPG should take some time and effort in understand the level system. The reason for this is that the more complex the system allow for you to have a more control over how you shape the character role.

A warning most WRPG (western style RPG) have very weak combat even currents ones.

JRPG (RPG from Japan) is more complex battle using menus.

The standout RPGs I've played lately are:

Dragon's Dogma: yes, there is a lot of walking, but I found the combat to be amongst the best I've played in a recent RPG. It's a nice blend of western and japanese role playing (the stylistic moves of the combat show the japanese influence, which makes sense since it's a Capcom game and I believe one of the lead designers of Devil May Cry was involved in Dragon's Dogma). However, due to a lack of fast travel (there's some towards the end but not much) there is a lot of walking back and forth, but the monsters are fun to fight and the night cycle actually matters since the game becomes more difficult when stronger enemies come out at night.

Dark Souls: If you have a PS3 I'd say try Demon's Souls first, as I found it to be a better game (I like to use ranged combat and ranged magic, which isn't nearly as user friendly in the Dark Souls). The combat is more strategic in these games, as you will die easily and the weapons and armor have distinct weight to them. Though, as an introduction to RPGs it may not be the best choice.

Mass Effect series: If you like sci-fi then this is an easy choice, just know the actual RPG elements become more limited as the series goes on.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Now, this is disputable, as it has guns rather than swords, but hear me out. It has branching level trees and decisions that have an impact on the game world, so it really has the same amount of RPG that Mass Effect or Skyrim does. Really, I'd highly suggest this game, as trying to get as much XP by using stealth is a fun challenge and if you want the combat is pretty solid.

I've also heard that Persona 4 is a good way to get into RPGs. I've been debating whether or not to get if for my Vita (I believe it is also available via the playstation network store and of course used for PS2), and after making a thread about it people seem to say it is a good JRPG for people who aren't big fans of JRPGs.

An easy one to get into is Fable 2, and it's really cheap so it won't be a big loss if you don't like it.

Kingdoms of Amalur is known for its combat, but honestly, I thought it was boring and felt like a bad version of Fable (probably due to the artstyle).

If you're looking for a Western RPG sort of experience (which is very, very different from JRPGs) I'd start with Knights of the Old Republic. It's very straight forward and the concept and exploration keep it from getting stale like the first Fable game or Amalur.

If you wanna go old school the Might and Magic games are really fantastic but they won't set you up very well for modern RPGs which are far simpler stat-wise. Torchlight I and II are easy RPGs to get into if you want to go for hack n slash instead of tactics and frequent pausing like Mass Effect and KOTOR.

The standout RPGs I've played lately are:

Dragon's Dogma: yes, there is a lot of walking, but I found the combat to be amongst the best I've played in a recent RPG. It's a nice blend of western and japanese role playing (the stylistic moves of the combat show the japanese influence, which makes sense since it's a Capcom game and I believe one of the lead designers of Devil May Cry was involved in Dragon's Dogma). However, due to a lack of fast travel (there's some towards the end but not much) there is a lot of walking back and forth, but the monsters are fun to fight and the night cycle actually matters since the game becomes more difficult when stronger enemies come out at night.

Dark Souls: If you have a PS3 I'd say try Demon's Souls first, as I found it to be a better game (I like to use ranged combat and ranged magic, which isn't nearly as user friendly in the Dark Souls). The combat is more strategic in these games, as you will die easily and the weapons and armor have distinct weight to them. Though, as an introduction to RPGs it may not be the best choice.

Mass Effect series: If you like sci-fi then this is an easy choice, just know the actual RPG elements become more limited as the series goes on.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Now, this is disputable, as it has guns rather than swords, but hear me out. It has branching level trees and decisions that have an impact on the game world, so it really has the same amount of RPG that Mass Effect or Skyrim does. Really, I'd highly suggest this game, as trying to get as much XP by using stealth is a fun challenge and if you want the combat is pretty solid.

I've also heard that Persona 4 is a good way to get into RPGs. I've been debating whether or not to get if for my Vita (I believe it is also available via the playstation network store and of course used for PS2), and after making a thread about it people seem to say it is a good JRPG for people who aren't big fans of JRPGs.

An easy one to get into is Fable 2, and it's really cheap so it won't be a big loss if you don't like it.

Kingdoms of Amalur is known for its combat, but honestly, I thought it was boring and felt like a bad version of Fable (probably due to the artstyle).

blueboxdoctor

I found the combat in Dragon Dogma to be boring.

The thing about Deus Ex: Human Revolution you have a few way to change the character role. Also you may not need to fight all th time.

The Souls' games (Demon's and Dark), are very engaging in combat.

Though they probably aren't the place to start when getting back into RPG genre.

Pokemon is definitely a great place to start. If you have a 3DS/DS, pick up HeartGold/SoulSilver and Chrono Trigger, those are definitely the best RPGs on the system and a bit on the easy side. The Mario and Luigi games are great games to pick up on the DS too, especially Bowser's Inside Story.

Noone mentiones Skyrim?

The Witcher 2 is pretty good the combat is engaging and challenging but not insanely hard like Dark Souls
Diablo 3 is nice too
if you wanna play something a bit old then you can try the 'Neverwinter Nights' series and Dungeon Siege (only the first game was good the sequels were a joke)

The Tales games have real-time battle systems that you may enjoy.

Star Ocean does too.

An important thing to remember about RPG is that preparing for battle is a huge part of any RPG. You need to plan how you will fight with your character while you are leveling up your character(s).

There are three main type of RPG out there.

The first is Quest base commonly known as WRPG - This game where quest are the main focus. The better ones will have skills that are useful outside of combat and able to use these to complete quests. Some quests may not have any combat in them at all. Commonly combat is weak for this type of game since combat is just one of many game play the game has.

The combat focus RPG better known as JRPG This is a RPG about fighting many enemies. There are large number of different enemies so you need to adjust to new enemies commonly. Normally boss battles are not boosted normal enemies. Since combat is its main focus, other game play elements are weaker.

Lastly the action RPG this type of RPG is just about have quick pace combat and about attacking horde of enemies. Sometimes it is a beat them up with a more complex leveling system.

There are some games that try to say way that it is a RPG.

Games with heavy amount of dialog and/or moral pick. These games are about pretending to be character and may offer very little in the way to adjusting the character role within the game.

Some call Zelda a RPG but I do not see how you can say that.

Depends on what kind of RPG you are looking for. If you are more into open-world games I would recommend Skyrim, you can play it at your own pace and do whatever you want. If you want a more traditional RPG I would wait for Ni No Kuni, it's coming out later this year. Also check out Mass Effect and Witcher.

I do not recommend the Souls series because they are pretty challenging for a beginner.