Summary
The PS1 had a slow start but eventually, it got a lot of great RPGs on the system and from different companies too. Squaresoft hadFinal Fantasy 7along with other sequels and more experimental games likeParasite Eve. Konami came out with Suikoden which looked dated graphically but it had one of the most enthralling party systems in RPGs.
The list can go on but then some RPGs weren’t as lucky to go on and become a successful franchise. Many of these haven’t even left the console let alone get a sequel. Here’s a look at what they did for the PS1 and whether they deserve a second chance or not.
Xenogearswas one of the many one-off games that Square Enix, then Squaresoft, designed for the PS1. Players were split between two types of turn-based battles in this futuristic RPG. On the ground, characters could input button combos to perform moves similar toSabin’s specials inFinal Fantasy 6.
Eventually, the party gets mechs for similar turn-based battles. While this never got a sequel, a few of the key members, like Tetsuya Takahashi who was the game’s director, went on to form Monolith Soft which led to the creation of two spiritual successors:XenosagaandXenoblade Chronicles. Except for the “Xeno” prefix, none of these three franchises are officially connected.
6Beyond The Beyond
Should Be Named Golden Sun Origins
Beyond the Beyondwas one of the first turn-based RPGs to hit the PS1. It was a tough market to crack untilFinal Fantasy 7blew up the PS1 and the genre. It was developed by Camelot and Nintendo fans may know them from theGolden Sunseries and various Mario sports titles. The sprites in towns and dungeons are very basic and chibi-like but in battle, characters are rendered in wonderfully drawn sprites as are the animations.
Plus combat usedSuper Mario RPG-like active commands, so it was ahead of other turn-based RPGs of the era. There are many reasons why this game never took off as a series, discounting Nintendo usurping Camelot, but the high difficulty and large amount of random battles could have contributed to some gripes.
5Guardian’s Crusade
How To Train Your Dragon
Guardian’s Crusadewas the North American name for the title but the original Japanese title is cuter and more descriptive:Knight & Baby. As a young knight, players will be given a pink hippo-like dragon that they need to return to their mother.
Through the course of the adventure, players will engage in turn-based battles with enemies that they can see in the field before beginning. Players can feed and show their creature affection to help it evolve. It’s sort of like a moremedievalDigimongameas trainers in that universe get one monster to develop instead ofPokemonwherein players can catch hundreds.
The Legend of Dragoonwas made internally at Sony as sort of a last-ditch effort for the PS1. While beloved by many, Sony never green-lit a sequel although it did get a nice enhanced port to the PS5 featuring upgrades like save states. The game itself stars Dart on a quest to retaliate against an invading empire.
In combat, players can time their attacks like in Mario’s RPG games and the aforementionedBeyond the Beyondwhich was forward thinking ofThe Legend of Dragoon. What wasn’t revolutionary was the random and quite frequent enemy encounters but even thebest PS1 RPGs, likeFinal Fantasy 7, had those.
3London Seirei Tanteidan
If Professor Layton Was An RPG
London Seirei Tanteidanis a game that’s hard to track information down online because it was only released in Japan. Also, there hasn’t been a widely released English fan patch for it, so fewer RPG fans have checked it out via emulation.
It does come from a high pedigree though withinBandai before they merged with Namco. It’s a typical turn-based RPG set in a not-so-typical RPG era: Victorian London. It looks like aProfessor Laytongame if it were mixed with Oliver Twist thematically and that’s a pretty cool idea for an RPG on any system.
Thousand Armsis probably a PS1 RPG that not many have checked out. This was during the era when Atlus was a relatively small publisher and developer who helped bring niche games to the West.Thousand Armsstars a blacksmith named Meis and the secret to their family strength is relationships.
Forming bonds with female party memberswill help Meis grow as a blacksmith thus allowing players to upgrade and craft better gear. Battles were traditional turn-based affairs but they looked stunning thanks to the 2D presentation and big sprite models.
Vagrant Storybegan as a single game from Squaresoft that was later sort of retconned intoFinal Fantasyby stating ittakes place in Ivalicewhich is the same location asFinal Fantasy TacticsandFinal Fantasy 12. Beyond that, there are no real connections so let’s count as it was originally intended, a strong one-off, because even that notion is flimsy at best. The game stars Ashley, a young knight trying to pursue a heretic into some castle ruins.
The presentation style and gameplay are likeParasite EveandDungeons & Dragonshad a baby. Players will traverse a sprawling castle map akin to a Metroidvania and fight turn-based combat in real-time with players able to move out of range using a spherical grid. The gameplay is challenging but well thought-out but fans came away from this experience high on the political intrigue of the story the most.
