While not exactly "for beginners", those two are beginner friendly and have advanced mechanisms:
Mardek RPG
Epic Battle Fantasy 3

If you're about some RPG on GOG, Might & Magic: World of Xeen is pretty good, should be easy enough even on Warrior mode.

I think Lufia 2 also is a nice RPG for beginners, but you'll need to emulate it (in which case you either need to sail the high seas - which obviously can't be recommended here, also some ROMsites have malware and most took the SNES library down - or buy a cartridge and dump it yourself, which is the legal way) or get a TV and an used SNES, as it wasn't re-released in digital form officially, from what I know.. Secret of Mana also is good for beginners, but not worth 40 Euro IMO. Also not worth 20 Euro (sale price) IMO. If you get a SNES and a cheap copy of Secret of Mana, you might also get a PAL adapter and Terranigma.

More are below for SNES.

tl;dr: Apart from the two Flash RPGs (or rather series in case of Mardek) above, some SNES RPGs are great for beginners:
Lufia 2
Terranigma
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore
Mystic Quest Legend (aka Final Fantasy Mystic Quest) was especially designed for beginners, so is easy



Alternatively, get some ARPGs. Torchlight II was recommended above. Diablo II with the Median XL mod is great fun also. The Ys games aren't suited for beginners IMO, but might be worth a try later.

Not sure if Septerra Core or Anachronox are good for beginners, didn't play them beyond the first few minutes (and yes, I know that I missed out).

I recommend Trails in the Sky, which is currently on sale on GOG.

Instead of playing the old classics, I suggest you to look for relatively modern RPGs with little or no party management. Bethesda games are a good start (Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, New Vegas). The Witcher series are good too. Don't be shy to dial the difficulty to easy if you want to focus on the story and roleplaying aspects.

Personally, I think earlier JRPGs (which you unfortnately don't see on this site) tend to be better choices to start, as they tend to be better choices. Here are some suggestions:
* Dragon Quest 1, specifically the remakes of said game. (The original is usually what I'd recommend to get the real experience, but if you're just starting, you probably don't want a game where you're spending hours just fighting enemies for XP and gold.) As for other games in the series, 3 (if you play with a balanced party, like the default one) and 4 are also good choices. (I would stay away from 6 and later as they're more complicated, and also suggest avoiding DQ2 as that game's difficulty gets to the point of being outright unfar toward the end.)
* Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is another good choice. The game is simple and intended for beginners, and if (when) you get wiped, you can just start the battle over.
* Phantasy Star 4 was mentioned earlier, and it's also a good choice (the upcoming Sega Genesis Mini includes this game). I wouldn't recommend the earlier games in this series (though PS1 is better than PS2 and PS3).
* If you want to look at other Final Fantasy games, I would say that 4 (but not the 3d versions; prefer SNES, PSX, or PSP for this one) is a simple enough game. FF5, while considered one of the harder ones, is actually reasonably beginner friendly; you can't make a mistake that ruins your characters in that game. FF1 is also reasonable, provided you stick with a reasonably balanced party with at least one Warrior and (if playing on NES) avoid the non-working spells. FF2 is not a good first RPG (note that the SNES game with that title is really an easier version of Final Fantasy 4).

If you want to try a WRPG, I think that Might and Magic: World of Xeen is a reasonable place to start. It has a decent default party that can get you through the game, and the gameplay is pretty quick and simple. The one complaint from this perspective is that you don't get enough money to level up late in the game, and then the game requires you to spend ridiculous amounts of money in order to avoid massive damage in one area. I would not recommend this game for a beginner; there's too much to keep track of, mage combat can be frustrating when you're unfamiliar with the game, and the game keeps interrupting you with timed sidequests once you recruit some characters. Baldur's Gate 1 isn't a good recommendation either, as low level combat is quite frustrating and RNG dependent.
If you're just starting, simpler games are preferabe, like the SNES Shadowrun game. After you play it, you could then try the Genesis one (remember that they're different games, not different versions of the same game).

PS4 is, indeed, a good first RPG,m as I have mentioned.

I don't recommend those FF games for a beginner, as they do tend to be rather complex (though FF6 at least delays the complexity, but it can be frustrating not having a healer for a chunk of the game). Also, it's really at this point that the games started to get rather cutscene-heavy, to the detriment of the gameplay. I would personally recommend starting with FF4 (perhaps the SNES "FF2") or even FF5 if you don't want to try (or have already played) FFMQ.


One more suggestion: Costume Quest is quite simple (aside from the inclusion of action commands) and relatively easy. Then again, it may be simpler than even FFMQ.

Why not start with the best ones? Get The Witcher 3 (the best modern RPG) and Ultima 7 (my personal favourite and the first RPG I played). Don't worry, you don't have to have played the previous games in the series to enjoy them. Once you got the hang of RPGs, continue with Gothic / Gothic 2. They have a bit harder combat, but a great atmosphere, good story and a convincingly built open world.

I don't know about The Witcher 3 (haven't played it), but I would have to anti-recommend Ultima 7, as it's not that good of a game. If you want to play an Ultima game, I would suggest 6, which still has an interface that isn't too hard to learn, yet has decent combat, unlike 7. (There's also the fact that Ultima 7 requires you to feed your characters manually, forcing you to routinely interact with the game's horrible inventory system.) Alternatively, the NES version of Ultima 4 is actually pretty good if you're looking for an Ultima game that isn't too complex (though it's still more complex than the JRPGs of its time). (Stay away from Ultima 5 NES; that game is garbage.)

With that said, I wouldn't really recommend Ultima at all for a new RPG player., as they tend to get quite complex, and in many cases (like with food) the complexity can't be avoided.

Edit: Why the low rating?

It is interesting how when such questions arise, so many people automatically go for their favourite RPG, rather than cater recommendations to the question. Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, for example, are probably not good suggestions for someone new to the genre.

As someone new to RPGs who's been playing adventure games, the obvious gateway RPG would be the Quest for Glory series. 1 VGA and 4 specifically.

Driftmoon is another good option if you want something to ease you into RPGs.

If you enjoy a bit of reflex-based gameplay, Fallout 3 or NV is a good choice.

... or use the F hotkey for feeding and the K hotkey for using the right key. (after installing Exult)

But I see what you mean. The inventory management in Ultima 7 wasn't good. Ultima 6 was better in that regard and it is a great game too. But I disagree on Ultima 7 not being suitable for new RPG players. 'New' doesn't necessarily mean 'bad' or 'stupid' or 'not able to grasp complex games'. I had only played adventure games, like the OP, when I first played Ultima 7 and it is what got me stuck on the RPG genre (and led to playing Pen&Paper RPGs later). The combat in Ultima 7 was chaotic, true, which many people complained about. But it wasn't too difficult and I think it is more realistic that combat is chaotic then that everyone takes nice, orderly turns swinging his weapon.

But you really should play The Witcher 3! Everyone should.

At that point, in a sense you're not really playing the game anymore, as you are no longer playing with the original engine and mechanics. (Case in point: As of when I last checked, the natural regeneration of HP and MP works differently; the original gave you 1 HP and half your used MP (rounded up) back each hour, while Exult, I believe, gives you a random amount up to 1/3 of the maximum of each parameter each hour.)

Even then, Ultima 6's inventory management is worse than that of Ultima 4 and 5, where you don't need to worry about not having any room to pick up more items, and don't need to worry about who's carrying what.

It seems that every Ultima game, except for the first (for obvious reasons), has one major annoyance that isn't in its predecessor.

For an adventure player, I'd advise against ARPGs or any others that require speed and coordination, since that's not an adventure skillset.
And yes, I'll second babark's suggestion of the QfG series as the obvious gateway.
But also, though I find it somewhat oddly to say (er, write) this myself, the quite frequent suggestion so far of Driftmoon. It is a pretty light game in many ways, and struck me as for inexperienced players, even children. The Christian proselytism did rub me the wrong way though...
Was also thinking of Anachronox to some extent, maybe in part in the sense that there's a lot of pixel hunting for those secrets and an adventure player may be used to it.

On the other hand, quite baffled at the recommendations for Gothic, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, NWN, TES, M&Ms or even The Witcher for a beginner... Though I do find myself wondering whether Planescape: Torment (the classic, no idea about the Enhanced and don't care to know) might fit. Or VtM: Bloodlines, with its multiple solutions and experience not gained from combat and ways around it much of the time. The Knights of the Old Republic games may not be such a bad idea either.

I don't think I have a computer who can run that game acceptably at this point.

Also, for this type of game I would prefer not to play one with a forced male protagonist when there's other games of the genre that allow you to make the main character female. (At least Geralt isn't young like most fixed main characters tend to be, however.)

(It's worth noting that, based on my understanding, that I don't really regard that game and games like Oblivion to be RPGs; the combat is too actiony and based off collisions and player skill rather than dice rolls.)

Anachronox would be good pick - more adventure like and easy combat.
Baldur's Gates 1/2 EE have Story Modes that let you focus on adventures. that's some great choice, more people should give a try to Spiderweb's games, they're pretty good and enjoyable.

I actually recommend against the Baldur's Gate games, as good as they are. They take their gameplay straight from a complex pen & paper game (with unintuitive systems like THAC0) and have you managing an entire team at all times. It's one of the worst options I can think of, actually.

The Witcher, first game in the series or Dragon Age. Both very good.
Gothic was the first RPG I played and it was amazing, but the graphics are a bit dated now.
Previously only played adventure games.
Then you must play Oblivion.:)

A few good beginner RPGs:

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1

Divine Divinity

Diablo 3

Neverwinter Nights 1

Alpha Protocol

Sacred 2

Skyrim