There is no denying the appeal of an epic RPG story. The tale of adventurers on a quest that become fantastically powerful and save the world has been told over and over. While many share the same structure, ending up using various genre cliches, each of these stories is different. Using the same character archetypes each hero is slightly different while being similar to others. In that regard video game heroes are a lot like us, all variations on the same thing with occasional examples of true uniqueness popping up now and then. For myself I've found that my favorite part of most RPGs isn't the epic endgame, it's the humble beginnings. When your getting to know the game world and your not expected to be the savior of all life as everybody knows it. That time when things start to happen, when the adventure doesn't necessarily have the world hanging in the balance.
All games start somewhere and I'm going to talk about the three main starting points for RPGs. Most games can fall somewhere into one of these three categories.
1) The country lumpkin: You start your adventure in your home town which is often in the middle of nowhere. Your character grew up in a peaceful area which certainly helps explain why you can defeat the local wildlife in your early quests. Chances are at least one of your supporting characters will be introduced in the opening scene or shortly after. Maybe your the top guy in the village whom everybody looks up to, maybe your the shrimp everybody takes for granted. Maybe your family moved there to get away from some terrible past or secret. Maybe the adults in the village know some secret magic source or technique. Often your character dreams of going out into the world and away from their boring little hamlet. Either way the lumpkin approach is an easy place to start a story since you usually have a peaceful start while you get to know the game mechanics. Also you get to see a whole story from the beginning you are as clueless about what's going as your character. The opposite of this would usually be the story for just about any FPS as they almost always start off with a conflict that is well underway and your left to figure the backstory for the universe as well as that of your main and supporting characters as your play the game. The lumpkin also has something special in his setup as if (or when) his village is destroyed it's a truly traumatizing event for the player who has spent all those hours in their peaceful village.
Some notable examples of the country lumpkin starting point include: Tales of Destiny II, Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate, Chrono Cross, Kingdom Hearts, and Wild ARMs 4.
2) The school student: Another familiar starting point for a lot of games is that of a school. Like the country lumpkin it's a good place to start a game as the school setting is a great place to hide an in-game tutorial. Sometimes you start off somewhere mid way through your education but often your story opens near your graduation. Maybe your a top student, maybe your a not so good student getting by thanks to your smarter, frailer friend. Either way there is a good chance your starting off with at least one friend, probably a rival, and maybe even an enemy or two. Maybe one of your teachers has a secret past, or maybe your school has some books or artifacts of great power from ancient times gone by. From a story telling point it's a great way to start and epic adventure as you have the backdrop of a place your familiar with that still likely has mysteries and secrets that the small town you've spent your whole life in doesn't necessarily have. Starting relationships are easier to believe since they aren't necessarily as strong as those the lumpkin may have with their childhood friends and family.
Notable examples of the Studen starting point include: Neverwinter Nights, Fable, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Final Fantasy VIII
3) The wandering professional/merc: OK the wandering part is completely optional but one of the most common starting point is that of the pro. The pro is more commonly seen in games outside the JRPG genre where story isn't the main focus of the single player experience. Games starting off using a character that is already a pro often let you do crazy things right from the get go. Things might start off slow and if there is an in game tutorial then your character might whip off some dry lines about things being dull or too easy. From a story telling angle it's probably harder to successfully pull off while having the potential to be more interesting then the lumpkin or the student. Games that start with the wandering pro often don't have as much a focus on characters or story as they are secondary to the awesome things your hero can do. These games lend themselves well to replay as after beating the game you know what your character can do which usually makes the early portion of the game more fun since your not figuring out how to do things. If your not the kind of character that wanders from place to place they are are a mercenary or a soldier. Maybe your already on a mission, or maybe your currently working with the city guard. Maybe you have a past your running from or maybe your just a top grunt in a war. Chances are your a thrill seeker and your a bit too cocky. If you enter into a party your main character doesn't necessarily mesh well at first and needs to learn to let others help them.
Good examples of the wandering pro/merc include: KOTOR, Prince of Persia, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy VII, Wild ARMs, Resident Evil 4, Splinter Cell, Assassins Creed, or just about any shooter.
Sometimes games will combine two of these to put a twist on the story. Like Fable, which starts out with the country lumpkin before quickly moving to the student. Or Breath of Fire II which combines the character of the pro merc with that of a lumpkin. From these humble beginnings each story takes flight. While as a general rule of thumb things almost always escalate to the point where your saving the planet. That said the individual plot twists, the relationships your main character develops with those alongside them on their quest. These things are open to any number of developments and cannot be so easily broken down. But each world saving super hero has a beginning of some kind, and that starting point is often my favorite part.
