PSX | Alundra | 1998 | Action | Matrix Software | Spiritual successor to Landstalker (GEN), ARPG featuring dreamwalking and platforming |
PSX | Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins | 2000 | Action | Matrix Software | Standalone sequel, more lighthearted than the first, but similar gameplay |
PSX | Arc the Lad Collection | 2002 | Strategy | G-Craft/ARC Entertainment | Collected SRPG series, contains Arc the Lad I, II, III, and Arc Arena |
JP PSX | Asuncia: Matsue no Jubaku | 1997 | Strategy | E.O. Imagination | Randomly generated maps with a score-based objective, sort of an SRPG? |
PSX | Azure Dreams | 1998 | Dungeon Crawler | Konami | Roguelike with town building, romancing, and familiar collecting |
JP PSX | Baroque | 1999 | Dungeon Crawler | Sting | A port of the original Saturn version, with tank controls and a first-person perspective to explore macabre dungeons in roguelike fashion |
PSX | Battle Hunter | 2001 | Strategy | Success | SRPG of sorts with card-based movement and attack |
PSX | Beyond the Beyond | 1996 | Turn-Based | Camelot | 1st turn-based JRPG to be localized, also the lamest |
PSX | Blaze and Blade: Eternal Quest (PAL/JP only) | 1998 | Action | T&E Soft | Multiplayer ARPG- better to find IRL friends than to let the horrible AI act as party members |
JP PSX | Bomberman Wars | 1998 | Strategy | Metro Corporation | SRPG with Bomberman flair, different types of units have different bomb-placing abilities (which can be increased) |
PSX | Brave Fencer Musashi | 1998 | Action | Square | ARPG with day/night cycle, elemental sword attacks |
JP PSX | Brave Prove | 1998 | Action | Data West | Generic ARPG, but anything translated is a plus |
PSX | Breath of Fire III | 1998 | Turn-Based | Capcom | More Ryu, but with more dragon forms! Intoduces the Master System and Faerie Town features |
PSX | Breath of Fire IV | 2000 | Turn-Based | Capcom | Even more Ryu, pretty sprites, and a new combo system |
JP PSX | Brigandine: Grand Edition | 2000 | Strategy | Hearty Robin | An enhanced, expanded version of Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena |
PSX | Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena | 1998 | Strategy | Hearty Robin | SRPG with upkeep and semi-RTS elements |
PSX | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | 1997 | Action-Platform | Konami | THE Metroidvania |
PSX | Chocobo's Dungeon 2 | 1999 | Dungeon Crawler | Square | Mystery Dungeon, but with 100% more Kweh |
JP PSX | Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon | 1997 | Dungeon Crawler | Square | Chocobo's first roguelike experience with some town-building elements; spells are leveled with repeated use |
JP PSX | Choro Q Wonderful! | 1999 | Racing | E-game | A Car-PG in which you upgrade your stats (parts) via exploration and quests |
PSX | Chrono Cross | 2000 | Turn-Based | Square | Masterful soundtrack, confusingly related to Chrono Trigger |
JP PSX | Community Pom | 1997 | Action | Fill in Cafe | The cutest Zelda clone ever, with XP and little fuzzy buddies to raise to help you |
PSX | Deception III: Dark Delusion | 2000 | Strategy | Tecmo | Dark story with trap creation |
PSX | Digimon World | 2000 | Monster Collecting | Flying Tiger Development | Monster-collecting and raising game |
PSX | Digimon World 2 | 2001 | Monster Collecting | BEC | More emphasis on dungeon crawling and monster battling than the first |
PSX | Digimon World 3 | 2002 | Monster Collecting | BEC/Boom Corp | More of the same |
PSX | Dragonseeds | 1998 | Action | Jaleco | Who needs plot when you're combining dragon DNA? |
PSX | Dragon Valor | 2000 | Action | Namco | Remake and sequel to Dragon Buster (FC), arcade-like 2.5D ARPG |
PSX | Dragon Warrior VII | 2001 | Turn-Based | Heart Beat | Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong Dragon Quest game |
PSX | Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring | 1999 | Action | DreamFactory | It's mostly a fighting game with some FFVII characters, but it also has an ARPG quest mode! |
PSX | Elemental Gearbolt | 1998 | Arcade | Alfa System | The only light-gun shooter/RPG hybrid you'll find! |
JP PSX | Escaform | 1999 | Strategy | Emotion/Bandai Visual | Puts a spin on SRPG combat by giving the option to convert unspent action points (used to move/attack) into a sort of health shield, features a wide variety of toilets in a post-apocalyptic setting |
PSX | Eternal Eyes | 2000 | Strategy | TamTam | SRPG with a monster-collecting theme |
PSX | Final Fantasy Anthology | 1999 | Turn-Based | Tose/Square | Contains Final Fantasy V (first localized appearance) and Final Fantasy VI |
PSX | Final Fantasy Chronicles | 2001 | Turn-Based | Tose/Square | Contains inferior versions of Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger |
PSX | Final Fantasy IX | 2000 | Turn-Based | Square | Takes the series back to its fantasy roots, lots of callbacks to older entries |
PSX | Final Fantasy Origins | 2003 | Turn-Based | Tose/Square | Contains Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II (first localized appearance) |
PSX | Final Fantasy Tactics | 1998 | Strategy | Square | Often imitated, never duplicated |
PSX | Final Fantasy VII | 1997 | Turn-Based | Square | Took the FF series into 3D and made a huge mark on the genre as a whole |
PSX | Final Fantasy VIII | 1999 | Turn-Based | Square | Best card game, not-best stat/leveling system |
JP PSX | Front Mission 2 | 1997 | Strategy | Square | More mechs, more drama! |
PSX | Front Mission 3 | 2000 | Strategy | Square | First localized title in the series, greater focus on learning abilities from mech parts |
JP PSX | Ganbare Goemon: Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu | 1996 | Action | Konami | More Goemon ARPG action, XP serves to level weapons |
JP PSX | Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Yuna: Final Edition | 1998 | Strategy | Will/Red Company | An enhanced port of the third Yuna game, features magical girls in tacitcal combat, with visual novel segments in-between (not unlike Sakura Wars) |
PSX | Grandia | 1999 | Turn-Based | Game Arts | Traditional JRPG with an emphasis on attack interruption in combat |
PSX | Guardian's Crusade | 1999 | Turn-Based | Tamsoft | Another candidate for baby's first JRPG |
PSX | Harvest Moon: Back to Nature | 2000 | Simulation | Victor Interactive Software | Do ALL the farming! |
PSX | Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth | 2001 | Strategy | Max Five | SRPG with interesting battle mechanics but unforgiving difficulty |
PSX | Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu | 1999 | Turn-Based | Genki | It's like Persona, but all the demons are bugs! |
PSX | Kagero: Deception II | 1998 | Strategy | Tecmo | String together traps to make your own Rube Goldberg of death! |
PSX | Kartia: The Word of Fate | 1998 | Strategy | Atlus | SRPG initially localized as a Blockbuster Video rental exclusive, uses cards to manipulate battle |
PSX | King's Field | 1996 | Dungeon Crawler | FromSoftware | 1st-person dungeon crawler, FromSoftware's second game (this is actually King's Field II) |
JP PSX | King's Field | 1994 | Action | FromSoftware | The actual King's Field I - still in first-person |
PSX | King's Field II | 1996 | Dungeon Crawler | FromSoftware | Actually King's Field III, a good look into where Dark Souls eventually came from |
PSX | Koudelka | 2000 | Turn-Based/Horror | Sacnoth | Horror-themed JRPG, the precursor to the Shadow hearts series |
JP PSX | Langrisser IV | 1999 | Strategy | NCS | Mostly similar to the others, features an uneven turn system; remake of the Saturn version |
PSX | Legend of Legaia | 1999 | Turn-Based | Prokion/Contrail | Turn-based JRPG with a battle system focusing on combos and directional striking |
PSX | Legend of Mana | 2000 | Action | Square | Gorgeously 2D, beautiful soundtrack, disjointed story with an offbeat structure |
PSX | Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete | 2000 | Turn-Based | Game Arts | If you loved the first one, you'll love this- and how could you not? |
PSX | Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete | 1999 | Turn-Based | Game Arts | Arguably the most charming cast of characters you'll ever meet, good OST, standard combat |
PSX | Master Of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia | 1998 | Strategy | SystemSoft | Slow-paced SRPG, remake of Master of Monsters (GEN), critically panned |
JP PSX | Medarot R | 1999 | Fighting | Natsume | It's a Medabots game! Destroy the enemy's parts to make them useless! |
PSX | Monster Rancher | 1997 | Monster Collecting | Tecmo | Use CDs to unlock monsters that you train and fight! |
PSX | Monster Rancher 2 | 1999 | Monster Collecting | Tecmo | Use CDs to unlock more monsters that you train and fight! |
PSX | Monster Seed | 1999 | Strategy | NK System | Monster-raising and battling SRPG, where the monsters have a limited lifespan |
PSX | Ogre Battle: Limited Edition | 1997 | Strategy | Quest | Enhanced port of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (SNES) |
PSX | Parasite Eve | 1998 | Action/Horror | Square | Horror JRPG based on a novel, positioning-based combat system |
PSX | Parasite Eve II | 2000 | Action/Horror | Square | More of a survival-horror slant than the first game, including tank controls! |
PSX | Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | 2000 | Turn-Based | Atlus | Half of the Persona 2 story- the other half wasn't officially localized until years later |
JP PSX | Persona 2: Innocent Sin | 1999 | Turn-Based | Atlus | The missing half of Persona 2 in the Americas |
JP PSX | PoPoLoCrois Monogatari | 1996 | Turn-Based | Sugar & Rockets | Based off an anime adaptation of a manga with super cute characters and semi-SRPG grid based combat |
JP PSX | Racing Lagoon | 1999 | Sports | Squaresoft | THE street racing/JRPG hybrid, stylish and jazzy |
PSX | Revelations: Persona | 1996 | Turn-Based | Atlus | A questionably localized game/spinoff of the SMT series; Mark danced crazy! |
PSX | Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure | 2000 | Strategy | Nippon Ichi | SRPG with painfully easy battles and a musical theme |
PSX | RPG Maker | 2000 | Turn-Based | Kuusou Kagaku | Included due to presence of sample RPG Gobli's Quest, a short romp with notable difficulty spikes |
PSX | SaGa Frontier | 1998 | Turn-Based | Square | 7 scenarios with complicated leveling mechanics, woefully left unfinished |
PSX | SaGa Frontier 2 | 2000 | Turn-Based | Square | Watercolored, hand-drawn backgrounds and complex leveling with only 2 scenarios |
PSX | Saiyuki: Journey West | 2001 | Strategy | Koei | SRPG based on the Journey to the West novel |
PSX | Shadow Tower | 1999 | Action | FromSoftware | Plays similarly to King's Field, but killing particular enemies determines stat growth |
JP PSX | Shin Megami Tensei | 2001 | Turn-Based | Atlus | Visually overhauls the SFC version, but is otherwise no different than the original |
PSX | Star Ocean: The Second Story | 1999 | Action | Tri-Ace | First localized Star Ocean game with two different scenarios |
PSX | Suikoden | 1996 | Turn-Based | Konami | Amazing NTSC cover art, loads of different playable characters, and a highly political story |
PSX | Suikoden II | 1999 | Turn-Based | Konami | Sweeping political epic- |
PSX | Tactics Ogre | 1998 | Strategy | Quest | SRPG with an alignment system and turn-based gameplay (in contrast to Ogre Battle) |
PSX | Tail of the Sun | 1997 | Simulation | Artdink | Be caveman. Go hunting. Build tower of mammoth bone. More of a life-sim really |
PSX | Tales of Destiny | 1998 | Action | Wolf Team | First localized Tales title with a similar 2D real-time combat system to its predecessor |
PSX | Tales of Destiny II | 2001 | Action | Wolf Team/Namco | Actually Tales of Eternia - the real Tales of Destiny 2 is a Japanese exclusive |
JP PSX | Tales of Phantasia | 1998 | Action | Namco | Arguably the best way to play the game, despite lack of official translation |
JP PSX | Tear Ring Saga: Yutona Eiyuu Senki | 2001 | Strategy | ASCII Entertainment | It's pretty much Fire Emblem, down to the creator of the series |
PSX | Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness | 1996 | Strategy | Tecmo | Make deals with the devil and use traps to kill your enemies! |
PSX | The Granstream Saga | 1998 | Action | Shade | ARPG, Successor to the Quintet trilogy, unsettling faceless 3D models |
PSX | The Legend of Dragoon | 2000 | Timed Turn-Based | Sony Computer Entertainment Japan | Timing-based combat, some funny voice acting, neat concept |
PSX | Thousand Arms | 1999 | Turn-Based | RED Entertainment/Atlus | JRPG with heavy dating sim elements |
PSX | Threads of Fate | 2000 | Action | Square | Two-scenario ARPG with unconventional stat-increasing mechanics |
PSX | Tobal No. 1 | 1996 | Dungeon Crawler | DreamFactory | A fighting game with an additional quest mode with roguelike dungeon crawling |
PSX | Torneko: The Last Hope | 2000 | Dungeon Crawler | Chunsoft/Matrix Software | Roguelike sequel to Torneko no Daibouken (SFC), second localized Mystery Dungeon game |
PSX | Vagrant Story | 2000 | Dungeon Crawler | Square | Darker-themed ARPG with the same setting as Final Fantasy XII and Tactics, heavy crafting focus |
PSX | Valkyrie Profile | 2000 | Turn-Based | Tri-Ace | 2D dungeon exploration, grim themes, and a combo-based battle system |
PSX | Vandal Hearts | 1997 | Strategy | KCET | Standard SRPG gameplay with non-set classes |
PSX | Vandal Hearts II | 1999 | Strategy | KCET | SRPG with non-set classes and turns in which the player and enemy move simultaneously |
PSX | Vanguard Bandits | 2000 | Strategy | Human Entertainment | Fantasy/mech hybrid SRPG with a system balancing actions and resting |
PSX | Wild Arms | 1997 | Turn-Based | Media.Vision | Amazing theme song, standard turn-based combat, tool-focused dungeon exploration |
PSX | Wild Arms 2 | 2000 | Turn-Based | Media.Vision | Old Western setting, plays similarly to the first |
PSX | Xenogears | 1998 | Turn-Based | Square | Almost unlocalized due to heavy religious/philosophical themes, action point-based combat |