First Town: Difference between revisions

Relatively central location for most of the start of an RPG. This can be a city or, less specifically, a small island or continent. Once the characters [[Get Onon the Boat]], other areas may seem unusually less extensive regardless of their implied size, and the party may not spend as much time in any other location as the first, or [[Talk to Everyone|talk to as many people]]. Particularly in older [[RPG|RPGs]]s, the '''First Town''' is prone to being a [[Ghibli Hills|sleepy pastoral village with cute background music and lots of trees and flowers]].

Often fulfils a similar role to the [[Hub Level]] in [[Platformer|Platformers]]s.

* Midgar in ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]''. Also notable for also being the ''largest'' city, in both literal and gameplay terms.

** ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' could be seen to play with this a little, as it also has Nibelheim which fits the classic form of the trope much better (it's the sleepy hometown of [[The Hero]]), but is only seen in flashbacks, and thus has fully lived up to its [[Doomed Hometown]] status before the start of the game. {{spoiler|What is left of Nibelheim is [[Truman Show Plot|inhabited by actors]] placed there by Shinra.}}

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'', Balamb Garden is simultaneously the first town, the [[Doomed Hometown]], two dungeons, a sidequest initiator, and your [[Global Airship]] for the first half of the game.

* Rabanastre in ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]''. Not the [[Capital City|largest town in the game]] (though when you get there, you only get to travel through part of the town). However, you get to know Rabanastre quite well inside and out, including the sewer system and [[Urban Segregation|lower-class area]].

* Narshe in ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]''. Its proximity to the mines and the cliff where the frozen Esper is found make it a key location throughout the game.

* Traverse Town in ''[[Kingdom Hearts (Videovideo Gamegame)|Kingdom Hearts]]'' (with Destiny Islands as the [[Doomed Hometown]]).

* Twilight Town in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts II]]''.

* Werites Beacon in ''[[Tales of Legendia (Video Game)|Tales of Legendia]]'', which in fact serves as the sole city, and most important location, on the Legacy itself. The player can return directly to Werites Beacon from nearly any point on the Legacy by using 'ducts' located throughout the island/ship.

* Mother's Day/Podunk in ''[[MOTHER 1 (Video Game)|MOTHER 1]]''.

* The aptly named Onett in ''[[Earthbound (Video Game)|EarthboundEarthBound]]''. The name is even lampshaded: the first four cities are called Onett, Twoson, Threed and Fourside. A sign in Twoson even says "we got that name because we weren't first".

* ''[[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]]'''s Tazmily is an interesting example as it is essentially the ''only'' town in the game, save for a location in the final chapter of the game.

* Caldor Isle in ''[[Lunar: theThe Silver Star]]'' is the first continent, and Alex and Luna's hometown of Burg is the first town. Being that [[Lunar]] plays tropes straight, Burg comes complete with rustic charm and cute background music.

* ''[[Pokémon (Franchise)|Pokémon]]'' has [[Pokémon Red and Blue (Video Game)|Pallet Town]], [[Pokémon Gold and Silver (Video Game)|New Bark Town]], [[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (Video Game)|Littleroot Town]], [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)|Twinleaf Town]], and [[Pokémon Black and White (Video Game)|Nuvema Town]].<br /><br />The general design for the ''Pokémon'' variant of the First Town is Hero's home, Rival's home, Pokémon Lab, and Professor's home (sometimes the same as the Rival's). Typically, the other towns will have at least five buildings. Also, for some reason, the First Towns each have a resident fat guy who raves about [[Technology Marches On|technology]].

* The planet Taris in the videogame ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Videovideo Gamegame)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' is essentially a [[Planetville|big version]] of this trope.

* The Citadel in ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]'' is used as a First Town right after the initial mission to Eden Prime. It remains relevant throughout the game, right up to {{spoiler|the final battle to stop Sovereign from using it to wipe out all life in the galaxy}}.

* Vale in the first ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'' game.

* ''[[Wizardry (Video Game)|Wizardry]] 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant'' features several First Towns, depending on whether the player starts a new game or imports from the previous game, including Nyctalinth, Ukpyr, and Dionyceus. However, New City arguably fits this trope best, as it contains more stationary friendly NPC's than the rest of the world combined.

* Ordon Village in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]''.

** Clock Town in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: MajorasMajora's Mask (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]''.

** Skyloft in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]''. It also acts as a sort of [[Hub Level]], because it is right in the center of the map and can be teleported back to anytime you need.

* ''[[Animal Crossing (Video Game)|Animal Crossing]]'' and ''[[Harvest Moon (Video Game)|Harvest Moon]]'' games take place almost entirely in the first town.

* Toad Town in ''[[Paper Mario (Video Gamefranchise)|Paper Mario]]''. Sure, you don't get to explore it much the first time you're there, as you automatically go right to the castle, but after you return, it's pretty much the hub to all other locations.

** Rogueport in ''[[Paper Mario: theThe Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand -Year Door]]''.

** Flipside {{spoiler|and Flopside}} in ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]].''

** ''[[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy]]'' has the return of Toad Town (although it's not explicitly called that) as its very first area that you explore.

* Megaton in [[Fallout]] 3 - not the ''first'' settlement, but the first major one after you [[Get Onon the Boat]]. In a twist, you can nuke the place twenty minutes into the game, [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|taking many major quest NPCs with it,]] in which case its "central hub" status is delegated to Rivet City and/or Tenpenny Tower.

* Goodsprings in ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout: New Vegas]]''. The town is based off a real town with the same name.

* Athlum is this in ''[[The Last Remnant (Video Game)|The Last Remnant]]'' and it's also the base of operations as the ruler of Athlum, David is one of the main characters, as well as his four generals.

* This happens in about half the Infinity Engine games. In ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', Sigil is not just the First Town but also where you find the portal to the [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon]], despite traipsing all over the planes since starting, and is easily the largest area in the game. ''[[Icewind Dale]] II'' features the walled city of Targos, which you defend from an attack, and then venture from, and then return to; it makes up at least the first third of the game. ''[[Baldur's Gate (Video Game)|Baldurs Gate]] II'' has Athkatla, a big city that for as much as half the game will serve as your base of operations.

* Played with in ''[[My World, My Way]]''. The big castle the princess lives in is actually ''named'' "First Town", but you don't get to do any sort of interaction there (other than traveling between lands and the occasional cutscene wherein the princess ''doesn't'' get her way). The actual First Town that fits the trope is called "Grass Town".

* Averted in ''[[Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (Video Game)|Arcanum ofOf Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]''. Shrouded Hills is the first settlement you come across, but it's tiny compared to virtually every other town in the game.

* In ''[[The Witcher (Video Game)|The Witcher]]'' the "First Town" is a village on the outskirts of the character's destination city; it's cursed, corrupt, fraught with more danger than the city, and it's left in ruins by the player character. The sleepy pastoral village comes later halfway through the game.

* The village of Tenuto in ''[[Eternal Sonata]]''. Talk about sleepy pastoral villages! The narrator in one of the opening [[Cutscene|cutscenescutscene]]s informs us that it's also called "The Village of Flowers". Although gameplay doesn't start there, it ''does'' start on the path to Tenuto. You leave it fairly early and don't return for a while, though.

* Mimiga Village in ''[[Cave Story (Video Game)|Cave Story]]''.

* ''[[Fable I (Videovideo Gamegame)|Fable I]]'' has the Hero's Guild, ''[[Fable II (Video Game)|Fable II]]'' has Bowerstone and ''[[Fable III (Video Game)|Fable III]]'' foregoes this trope and instead chooses to have the Sanctuary serve this purpose, though it's actually meant to be the pause screen.

* In certain games in the ''[[SaGa]]'' series, such as ''[[Romancing Sa GaSaGa]]'' and ''[[Saga Frontier (Video Game)|SagaSaGa Frontier]]'', the first town often depends on [[And Now for Someone Completely Different|which hero or heroine you choose to play as]].

* In ''[[World of Warcraft (Video Game)|World of Warcraft]]'', there's the First Town for each race (some quests, class trainers, an inn, etc.) and then there's the [[Capital City]] for each race, which is meant to be the hub.

* The First Town in ''[[Diablo (Video Gameseries)|Diablo]]'' was in fact the only town in the game. ''[[Diablo II]]'' had a more conventional starting town, with many other towns later after you [[Get Onon the Boat]].

* Lampshaded in ''[[Kid Icarus: Uprising (Video Game)|Kid Icarus Uprising]]'', where the first town you visit is actually called "That First Town."

* The ''[[Ys (Video Game)|Ys]]'' series has Minea (''Ys I'' and ''Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys''), Lance Village (''Ys II''), Redmont (''Ys III''/''The Oath in Felghana''), Promarock (''Ys IV: Mask of the Sun''), Xandria Port (''Ys V''), Rehdan Village (''Ys VI''), Altago City (''Ys Seven'').

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