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Looking for Some Good PS1-era JRPGs


CodeCass

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So shortly, I'm going to try and start going back and playing some of the older PS1 JRPGs that I missed out on, or didn't finish in my childhood/teenage years because I was too obsessed with Final Fantasy. The three I've currently tracked down hard copies for are Legend of Legaia, Jade Cocoon, and Legend of Dragoon.

 

I'm really excited to try these three as they seem like collectively they sort of run a gamut of different JRPG styles. Legaia has intriguing combat, Dragoon has it's transformations, and Jade Cocoon has awesome monster fusing/collecting.

 

I'd be curious if any of you folks knew of any other highly recommended, but maybe lesser known JRPGs from the PS1 era that I might look into? My only stipulation would be that I'd like them to be "different" from maybe the standard Final Fantasy games of the day, or have some sort of gameplay mechanic that helps it stand out.

 

To date, the only PS1 JRPGS I've ever really played are:

  • Any Final Fantasy released on PS1 except VIII, I've just never tried it.
  • Dragon Seeds
  • Monster Rancher
  • Digimon World 1, 2, 3

I honestly never really hit my JRPG stride and obsession until the PS2.

 

Thanks for any and all help folks! I very much appreciate it!

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18 minutes ago, Lightp said:

Breath of Fire 3 and 4, Tales of Eternia (also known as Tales of Destiny 2 in NA), Star Ocean 2, Grandia, Valkyrie Profile, Parasite Eve.

I've gotten Breath of Fire 3 recommended to me a couple times! Guess I really need to check it out! 

 

3 minutes ago, Neml said:

Suikoden 1 & 2, Wild Arms series, Alundra (kinda more zelda lttp styled but still an rpg I guess? 😉 ) 

Highly recommend legaia, played it through so many times

I'm really interested to try Suikoden. I've always heard such good things! 

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5 minutes ago, Trufa said:

Final Fantasy VII ❤️ sorry, best game ever made xD

That's a weird way to spell Final Fantasy X, lol. But in all seriousness though, VII is still one of my favorites. I even have an FFVII tattoo. I just spent soo much time with that and IX and other FF's on the PS1 that they really were my only JRPG experience until the PS2. Just need to spice things up a bit! 

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32 minutes ago, Wolfox said:

does it have to be a Jrpg? cuz iirc Castlevania Symphony of the Night is, technically, an RPG and it's for the ps1

I'd prefer it be a JRPG, but I'm not beyond taking suggestions for other good PS1 games. I missed out on a lot. 

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On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 3:34 PM, Youmu9 said:

Vagrant Story and Xenogears are nice ones. They both tell very unique stories with equally unique gameplay experiences.

 

1 hour ago, Hentacle Loli said:

Seems I've been beaten to the punch (pun absolutely intended). Throwing in another reccomendation for Xenogears

 

See these two suggestions really make me interested in checking out Xenogears. The only "Xeno" games I've played to date are Xenosaga 2, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. 

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Xenogears got gimped on the second disc by time and budget issues, so the second half of the game is more of a movie than a game, but the story is good and the game play up to that point is pretty good. 

 

It's nowhere near as great as xc1, which you should definitely play if you like the series at all, is but it's still solid and it's where it all started so the other games refence back to it often

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I missed out on everything ps1, and most of ps2... but what keeps me from looking over the old stuff is how poorly many seem to have aged. As well as not having a ps1 or having access to my old ps2.

 

what do you have as far as contemporary consoles? can make plenty of recommendations there...

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Dungeon crawling: Azure Dreams, Chocobo Dungeon.

Strategy: FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre.

Turn based battle: FF VII, FF VIII, FF IX is a must. Suikoden, Suikoden II, Grandia

Raising: Monster Rancher 2 is better than the first one IMO.

Not sure which genre: Metal Slug 2, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Destiny II (Tales of Eternia)

 

I think all of them are JRPG.

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12 hours ago, Arys said:

Dungeon crawling: Azure Dreams, Chocobo Dungeon.

Strategy: FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre.

Turn based battle: FF VII, FF VIII, FF IX is a must. Suikoden, Suikoden II, Grandia

Raising: Monster Rancher 2 is better than the first one IMO.

Not sure which genre: Metal Slug 2, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Destiny II (Tales of Eternia)

 

I think all of them are JRPG.

I've heard Azure Dreams is good, and it's on my "Look For" list, haha.

 

I've got the PSP version of FF Tactics. As for the VII, VIII, and IX, I own them all already actually! ….I actually own FFVII on PS1, PS4, and PC... I've never tried Suikoden though, so I'll add them to the list. 

 

Never played MR 2, but MR4 is one of my all time favorite PS2 games! 

 

Thanks for all the tips! 

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1 hour ago, CodeCass said:

I've heard Azure Dreams is good, and it's on my "Look For" list, haha.

 

I've got the PSP version of FF Tactics. As for the VII, VIII, and IX, I own them all already actually! ….I actually own FFVII on PS1, PS4, and PC... I've never tried Suikoden though, so I'll add them to the list. 

 

Never played MR 2, but MR4 is one of my all time favorite PS2 games! 

 

Thanks for all the tips! 

Yeah, it's pretty good. Azure Dreams and Chocobo Dungeon is pretty much the same. Except in Azure Dreams you can build your village and gifting your girl with your spoils of war. But Chocobo Dungeon is so cute and I recommend both of them.

 

If you like FFT, you would like Tactics Ogre.

 

And additional recommendation since I just remember it: Brave Fencer Musashi. Kinda like Zelda but a bit 3D and have nice music. It's your typical "save the princess" game but you are a samurai who helps people, gossips with them, and collecting toys, and gathering multiple sword technique, absorb your enemy skill, and save the world, I mean the princess.

 

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On ‎7‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 6:49 PM, Maelstrom said:

I missed out on everything ps1, and most of ps2... but what keeps me from looking over the old stuff is how poorly many seem to have aged. As well as not having a ps1 or having access to my old ps2.

 

what do you have as far as contemporary consoles? can make plenty of recommendations there...

I'm pretty well set on the newer side of things. I hit my JRPG stride in the PS2, then PS3 and PS4 and haven't looked back! All Disgaea, Final Fantasy, Xenosaga, Digimon, Shadow Hearts, and everything in between. I think I've tried to pick up every real JRPG that's come out in the past 10 years and have really enjoyed them. I've just been on an older-games kick at the moment. I just know there are a ton on the PS1 that I missed out on! 

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On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 1:47 PM, Damashi The Kaotic said:

Kinda cheating since FF 6 is snes era, but its easily my favorite jrpg. You can give Brave New World if you are looking for a more challenging, and balanced experience.

I'm ashamed to say I've never played FFVI. I have it on a GBA emulator and I have no excuse for not having played it. I just recently finished my first ever playthrough of FFV. So maybe soon will be a good time to jump into VI as well. 

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On 7/17/2018 at 2:02 PM, CodeCass said:

I'm ashamed to say I've never played FFVI. I have it on a GBA emulator and I have no excuse for not having played it. I just recently finished my first ever playthrough of FFV. So maybe soon will be a good time to jump into VI as well. 

Id recommend playing the snes version if you can for the better sound quality, and ambiance. Dancing Mad on the snes will knock your socks off.

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I can't believe it took me until this day to recommend @CodeCass Legend of Mana.

 

Everybody should play it. The OST in this game is superb. Even better than most game nowadays. (Edit: Actually the compositor is actually really famous with music, I heard she makes music in Kingdom Hearts too. But this game and its previous is her debut). This game lets you choose your weapon and learning skills according your weapon. You can catch and raising pets too. You can even catch elemental spirit too make instrument that let you use magic. The side quest in this game is so many and I'll give thumbs up in the story.

 

Recommending people to play it makes me want to play it again. Maybe I should.

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