I would consider the first a clone. Second, more of a prototype. Still, both are good accomplishments.

Either way though, I would suggest for your first full RPG, first making a basic story line, nothing extraordinary (save that for your eventual masterpiece). Maybe on an island with two or three towns and a couple caves/dungeons. Maybe a dragon or some sort of end-game boss in one of the caves. Like 2 main quests, 4 or 5 side-quests. 10 basic items, 5 weapons, 5 armors, 3 accessories. 10-15 enemies. Completely linear storyline. This would be a couple hours of game-play, feasible for one person and still a hell of an accomplishment.

In this game, rip two or three of your personal favorite features from FFVI, put it in this game.



When you've finished this, use and build upon this for a separate, more in-depth RPG.

I recommend you check out this thread for my latest idea: http://www.gamedev.net/topic/649107-incredibly-niche-games/

I posted it in Game Design because the question seemed to be more of a Game Design subject. Whereas For Beginners tends to focus on programming and getting started.

What I basically said was that I was thinking about just making battles, and that's it. Cutting out towns, walking, buying, etc. Which removes a lot of art and programming.

At this point, I would like to listen to you guys that a whole Final Fantasy VI style game is just too large of a job to do. So I'm looking for alternatives.