What is your favorite intro/opening of an rpg? Why? Options

[vvalkingman]

So I am making a game and I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to catch someone's attention and keep it...instead of turning them off to the game. As we all know, there is about a 30 second - 2 minute window where we have to spark enough interest in the player so that they don't feel that they've wasted their time downloading your game and just uninstall it. With that in mind, a strong interesting intro/opening is almost as important as the rest of your game...in my opinion, anyway. The first one for me that comes to mind is Final Fantasy 7. You don't get a long winded introduction to the lore of the world, just a giant impressive pane of the city + epic music which leads into a mission where a group of people are trying to bomb a reactor. You actually have a battle within seconds of starting the game and before you know it you are hooked in.

What do you guys n gals think?

[Apricot]

I always liked Final Fantasy 9's introduction. When I originally played, it made me curious about the characters and the setting, and then looking back on it later I felt like it was a good "breather" from a game that is actually pretty complex and heavy. It was light-hearted, fun, and interesting, and I thought that was a great way to pique interest without letting you know how serious the game got later.

To me personally, I generally like to have a ton of character exposition and dialogue, because in a game everything is about the characters. As long as it isn't presented as a hour-long tutorial like KH2...

[Jens of Zanicuud]

I agree with FF7, but I also liked The World Ends With You intro.
Neku Sakuraba finds himself lying on a scramble crossing. Neither other people can see him, nor he can remember anything but his name.
Suddenly, strange monster appear from nothing and attack him.
The intro is almost... strange. It's something which got stuck in my mind.

Jens