Top 10 RPGs for Genre Newcomers

2. Persona 4 Golden

Shin Megami Tensei titles are known to be very difficult games. Bosses and normal enemies alike are able to completely decimate your party, and each title has its own unique quirks you quickly need to master if you want any hope of survival. They're unforgiving and are more than willing to set you back, losing plenty of progress with a quick Game Over.

How, then, did a game from the Shin Megami Tensei series make it onto a recommendation list for RPG newbies, and ranking so high on top of it? Persona 4, unlike many of the other titles in the Shin Megami Tensei series, or even the Persona subseries, offers a few mechanics to make the journey a bit less rough for new players, as well as an overall package that makes the game more appealing to non-RPG fans.

Persona 4 takes place in a high-school setting, where students with unusual powers begin investigating a series of bizarre murders in their sleepy hometown, and work to prevent more deaths from happening. Despite the somewhat dark plot, though, Persona 4 tends to be far more on the light-hearted side. As the characters interact at school and live a normal life outside the murder investigations, you learn more about your teammates and other students, and their unique personalities. These aren't just neat little story bits, either; becoming friends with and making bonds with these characters help you out in battle as well, giving you and your teammates bonuses to help turn the tide of battles to your advantage.

While Persona 4 does have an Easy Mode to really lighten the difficulty, it can still be a challenging game, and is a long one at that, with an average playthrough being anywhere from 60 to 70 hours. However, the engaging story is worth experiencing, and at some points it feel less like an RPG and more like a simulator, as you live a… well, somewhat average high school life as you wait for the next dungeon to open up. The Vita version, Persona 4 Golden, even has the advantage of being a portable title, allowing you to enjoy it in short bursts, and makes grinding sessions (which really aren't needed unless you want to make sure you're ready for the boss ahead) much more tolerable, freeing up the TV for something more interesting than beating up foes.