First RPG you clearly remember playing

[flecktarn]

Per the subject. The first I clearly remember playing as a kid is Faery Tale Adventure 2: Halls of the Dead. Never did beat it, but it left an impression on me, especially the open world.

[mynameismortis]

Gothic 2 i was around 8-9 and didn't understand what i was doing , still got myself into the port city. Went around, explored, fought and got myself into the valley full with orks and quit.

[Algol]

Albion. The demo from the PC Gamer disc specifically.

[Irenaeus]

Gauntlet for the arcade and Zelda for the NES. For computer RPGs, I played in friends' house Ultima 5 and Pool of Radiance and other Gold Box games in the late 80s. In my own computer, I remember getting Eye of the Beholder in the early 90s, and Wizardry 6 not long after that one.

[sheet]

Dragon Warrior, Zelda, The Bard's Tale on NES. Pool of Radiance and other Gold Box games on DOS.

[Vaako]

the only I still remember is Ocarina of Time on the N64, but I also played on an amiga and a 365 a few games before that but I cant really remember any games and most of games were pirated copies anyway. Family wasnt rich enough to afford anything before that. Had to visit plenty of gaming shops where people could "test" games to get my fix there.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Depending on how you count it: The Phantom Menace PC game, Pokemon Stadium on the N64, and Pokemon Sapphire on the GBA.

[Oyster Sauce]

Legend of Legaia at my uncle's house while eating white bread pizzas. I didn't really understand how to play it properly and never got past the first dungeon. Had nightmares about the funeral and invasion in the town.

[methoxetamine]

Pokemon Blue

[DrSneed]

kotor on xbox

[Acrux]

Dragon Warrior

[asf]

test drive

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

Pirates of the Caribbean (aka Sea Dogs II).

Couldn't get past the very beginning of the game because it would crash immediately upon leaving the starting area, but I enjoyed playing the combat tutorial over and over with the first mate.

[DemoGraph]

BG1 or Fallout 2.

[J1M]

Eventually, as the definition of RPG continues to expand, for me it will be Tetris.

[rusty_shackleford]

I don't remember.

[anvi]

Eye of the Beholder 2, I really loved it. But I preferred the first half.

[GhostCow]

For me it was Castle of the Winds. I was like 6 and had no idea what the hell I was doing or what any of the stats meant. I also vaguely remember some RPG where you play as a female super hero kind of like superman and you could put points in laser eyes and stuff. I think it was kind of like a Japanese visual novel but definitely a western game

edit: I figured out what game it was. It was called The Adventures of Superher. https://www.mobygames.com/game/93149/superher/

[OnTilt]

It's barely an RPG, but Lagoon for SNES. I remember running home from my friend's house next door to tell my mom I finally beat the boss I'd been stuck on. I was like 6 or 7.

I also played Drakkhen around that age, but that game is cryptic to me now, 6 year old me had no idea what was going on.

[aweigh]

oh this one's easy for me to answer: DQ1 on NES. Followed later by Ultima 3 NES port, and then (at least that I remember) Final Fantasy 1. I was pretty much hooked for life by then.

First WESTERN rpg that I really legitimately played was Baldur's Gate when I was a young teenager... however, I didn't really get into it much because I didn't understand anything about point and click interfaces or D&D. A little bit later, same time frame, I got into Fallout 1 and I was able to get into this one a lot easier because it was turn-based, and turn-based is what I was accustomed to; and this was the true start for me, I got super hooked on Fallout 1, and then I went back and finished Baldur's Gate and also got into all the other Infinity Engine crap, etc, etc.

(I also played Diablo 1 and technically before I played Baldur's Gate, but I don't know if that one would count, and I also didn't really get into Diablo either).

And then a bit later, by this time I was in first semester of University, I got my hands on Temple of Elemental Evil and I actually learned D&D rules by using its instruction manual. That came in handy because almost by destiny I fell in with the local group of PNP nerds that very semester (and the only time frame I ever actively played PNP).