I've always been a Playstation 1 fanboy but I'm looking to expand my library and get some more/different titles. So basically, tell me what games you like, which ones you hate and which ones suck - even if I already have it! Also, feel free to post any title you don't see here; this is what I narrowed down from the roughly 1200 US titles there are:

Currently Own:
Battle Arena Toshinden
Battle Arena Toshinden 3
Brave Fencer Musashi
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Castlevania Chronicles
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Destruction Derby 2
Doom
Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy Tactics
Gex
Hexen: Beyond Heretic
The Legend of Dragoon
Legend of Legaia
MediEvil
Mega Man 8 Anniversary Edition
Mega Man Legends
Mega Man Legends 2
Mega Man X4
Mega Man X5
Mega Man X6
Metal Gear Solid
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Nightmare Creatures
Parasite Eve II
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Rival Schools
Saga Frontier
Saga Frontier 2
Silent Hill
Soul Blade
Star Gladiator Episode I: Final Crusade
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Syphon Filter
Syphon Filter 2
Syphon Filter 3
Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins
Threads of Fate
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider II: Starring Lara Croft
Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Twisted Metal 2
Twisted Metal 4
Wild Arms
Wild Arms 2
X-Men: Mutant Academy
X-Men: Mutant Academy 2

Perviously Owned/Played - Higher
Chrono Cross
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Final Fantasy Origins
Legend of Mana
Parasite Eve
Resident Evil: Director's Cut
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Twisted Metal
Xenogears

Perviously Owned/Played - Lower Level
Area 51
Armored Core
Battle Arena Toshinden 2
Bushido Blade
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Darkstalkers 3
Diablo
Final Doom
The King of Fighters '99
King's Field II
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Marvel Super Heroes
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Tekken 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Twisted Metal III

Stuff I've heard of... some of which probably suck:
Ace Combat 2
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Iron & Blood…
Alundra
Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins
Ape Escape
Apocalypse
Arc the Lad Collection
Arcade Party Pak
Arcade's Greatest Hits: Atari Collection 1
Arcade's Greatest Hits: Atari Collection 2
Arcade's Greatest Hits: Midway Collection 2
Armored Core: Master of Arena
Armored Core: Project Phantasma
Asteroids
Atari Anniversary Edition Redux
Azure Dreams
Batman Forever: The Arcade Game
Beyond the Beyond
Bio F.R.E.A.K.S.
Blasto
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Bloody Roar
Bloody Roar II
Bomberman Fantasy Race
Bomberman Party Edition
Bomberman World
Brain Dead 13
Bravo Air Race
Brigandine: Legend of Forsena
Broken Helix
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
Bubsy 3D
Bushido Blade 2
Buster Bros. Collection
C: The Contra Adventure
Capcom vs SNK Pro
Cardinal Syn
Centipede
Chocobo Racing
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Chronicles of the Sword
Civilization II
Clock Tower
Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within
Codename: Tenka
Colony Wars
Colony Wars III: Red Sun
Colony Wars: Vengeance
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Command & Conquer: Red Alert Retaliation
Contender
Contender 2
Contra: Legacy of War
Cool Boarders
Cool Boarders 2
Cool Boarders 3
Cool Boarders 4
Cool Boarders 2001
Crash Team Racing
Crash Bash
Critical Depth
Criticom
Croc 2
Crusaders of Might & Magic
Cyberia
D
DarkStalkers: The Night Warriors
Darkstone
Dead or Alive
Deathtrap Dungeon
Deception III: Dark Delusion
Descent
Descent Maximum
Destruction Derby
Destruction Derby Raw
Die Hard Trilogy
Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas
Dino Crisis
Dino Crisis 2
Discworld
Discworld II: Mortality Bytes!
Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
Dragon Warrior VII
Driver
Driver 2
Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes
Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
Dune 2000
Dynasty Warriors
Earthworm Jim 2
Ehrgeiz
Einhänder
Elemental Gearbolt
Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
Fear Effect
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Felony 11-79
The Fifth Element
Fighter Maker
Fighting Force
Fighting Force 2
Forsaken
Frogger
Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge
Front Mission 3
G-Darius
Galerians
Gauntlet Legends
Gex: Enter the Gecko
Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko
Ghost in the Shell
Grandia
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto: Mission Pack #1: London 1969
Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo 2
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature
Heart of Darkness
Hellboy: Asylum Seeker
Herc's Adventures
Hydro Thunder
The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga
Independence Day
Intelligent Qube
Intellivision Classic Games
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu
Jersey Devil
Jet Moto
Jet Moto 2
Jet Moto 3
Johnny Bazookatone
Jumping Flash!
Jumping Flash! 2
K-1 The Arena Fighters
K-1 Grand Prix
K-1 Revenge
Kagero: Deception 2
Kartia: World of Fate
The King of Fighters '95
King's Field
Koudelka
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Lemmings & Oh No! More Lemmings
Lethal Enforcers I & II
Loaded
Lode Runner
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
MDK
MediEvil 2
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
Monster Rancher
Monster Rancher 2
Monster Rancher Battle Card: Episode II
Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
Namco Museum Vol. 1
Namco Museum Vol. 2
Namco Museum Vol. 3
Namco Museum Vol. 4
Namco Museum Vol. 5
NBA Jam Extreme
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Need for Speed II
Need for Speed: High Stakes
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
Need for Speed: V-Rally
Need for Speed: V-Rally 2
The Next Tetris
NFL GameDay
NFL GameDay 98
NFL GameDay 99
NFL GameDay 2000
NFL GameDay 2001
NFL GameDay 2002
NFL GameDay 2003
NFL GameDay 2004
NFL GameDay 2005
NHL Open Ice
Nightmare Creatures II
No One Can Stop Mr. Domino!
Norse by Norsewest: The Return of the Lost Vikings
Novastorm
Nuclear Strike
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
Pandemonium!
Pandemonium 2
PaRappa the Rapper
Perfect Weapon
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle
Pocket Fighter
PO'ed
Point Blank
Point Blank 2
Point Blank 3
Pong: The Next Level
Populous: The Beginning
PowerSlave
Primal Rage
Q*Bert
Quake II
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
R-Types
R-Type Delta
The Raiden Project
Rampage World Tour
Rampage 2: Universal Tour
Rampage Through Time
RayCrisis: Series Termination
Rayman
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Rayman Brain Games
Rayman Rush
RayStorm
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
Reloaded
Resident Evil 2: Dual Shock Edition
Resident Evil: Survivor
Revelations: Persona
Revolution X
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer Revolution
Rise 2: Resurrection
Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Road Rash
Road Rash 3D
Road Rash: Jail Break
The Road & Track Presents: Need for Speed
Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI: Awakening….
RPG Maker
Samurai Shodown 3: Blades of Blood
Samurai Shodown: Warrior's Rage
Scrabble
Shadow Madness
Silhouette Mirage
SimCity 2000
Sim Theme Park
The Simpsons Wrestling
Skullmonkeys
Soviet Strike
Space Invaders
Spawn: The Eternal
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro
Spider: The Video Game
Spyro The Dragon
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi
Star Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire
Streak: Hoverboard Racing
Street Fighter Alpha: Warrior's Dreams
Street Fighter Collection
Street Fighter Collection 2
Street Fighter EX plus Alpha
Street Fighter EX2 Plus
Street Fighter: The Movie
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Syndicate Wars
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger
Tactics Ogre
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
Tekken
Tekken 2
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Theme Hospital
Theme Park
Thousand Arms
Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy
Thunder Force V: Perfect System
Time Crisis
Time Crisis: Project Titan
Tobal No. 1
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Tomba!
Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Twisted Metal: Small Brawl
UmJammer Lammy
Vagrant Story
Valkyrie Profile
Vampire Hunter D
Vandal Hearts
Vandal Hearts II
Vigilante 8
Vigilante 8: Second Offense
Vs.
Warcraft 2: The Dark Saga
War Gods
Warhammer: Dark Omen
Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat
Warhawk
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey 98
WCW Backstage Assault
WCW Mayhem
WCW Nitro
WCW/nWo Thunder
WCW vs The World
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom
Wipeout
Wipeout XL
WipEout 3
Worms
Worms Armageddon
Worms World Party
Wreckin' Crew
Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style
X-Men: Children of the Atom
X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Zero Divide

PS1 was largely the RPG machine for me, especially later in the system's life. The occasional action game came along that I liked and I eventually bought a Saturn for the superior ports of the PS1 fighters (moot point nowadays with arcade emulation, but having arcade-perfect X-Men vs Street Fighter and Marvel vs Street Fighter back in the day was something that made the system really worthwhile).

I still remember the first six games I got with my PS1 in late '97: FFVII (natch...the reason I wanted the system), Frogger (still have a soft spot for this one), Magic the Gathering" Battlemage (pure junk), Triple Play 98 (junk, but the shiny new graphics hid that for a couple weeks. I still dig the menu screen musics though.), Megaman X4 (disappointed at the time because I had wanted MM8, but it worked out well) and Die Hard Trilogy (overrated...the driving part was horrible and the shooting and 3rd person parts were average at best. I got rid of this early on). I got Parappa and Suikoden 1 a couple of weeks later, both deserved classics and added on Final Fantasy Tactics (a game I have a mixed response to even today, but has its' moments), Crash Bandicoot 1 (never finished any of the Crash games, but they are deserved classics) and Megaman 8 for my birthday a couple months later. The combination of me having my first job and the relative cheapness of PS1 games (compared to new SNES games) made it a really good match for me at the time. That first year I also added:

Klonoa - my favorite action game on the system. Really wish they would have done more with this series.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - very nice to play at the time, but I never quite got to the point of being hooked on it.
Megaman Legends - took awhile for it to hook me, but I ended up loving this game
Spyro the Dragon - like Crash, I never finished any of the Spyros, but I loved how they played for the most part. I actually remember getting this with Megaman Legends on the same day, as they came out very close to each other (along with NFL Blitz, which a couple of my friends got).
Ridge Racer 1 - the most fun I've had with a racing game. They managed to get this one perfect.
Xenogears - I didn't finish it until the next year, but it was definitely a kick-ass follow-up to FFVII and Suikoden 1 and part of the reason (IMO) PS1 became such an RPG juggernaut.
Street Fighter Alpha 2 - later got it on Saturn as well, but the last SF game I had played was Champion Edition, so there was a lot to take in! Supers, new art style, awesome new characters, custom combos
Brave Fencer Musashi - wanted to like this one, but it never did anything for me.

I slowed down a bit after the first year, but more RPG's started coming out and I mostly played those on it. Star Ocean 2, Valkyrie Profile and Suikoden 2 ended up being my favorites on the system overall, with Wild Arms 2, Legend of Legaia and FFVIII being more along the lines of sleeper hits (I hated a lot of the ideas in FFVIII and the storyline degenerated into a total mess near the end, but it turned out to be better than I gave it credit for). Never quite got into the Lunars...the first one got pushed back so many times, I stopped following it and it ended up coming out the same time as Star Ocean 2, so I never bothered with it and Eternal Blue came out in the glut of RPG's in 2000, so it got overlooked too. Guilty Gear made its' debut on the PS1 and while it's horribly dated nowadays, it set things up nicely for the rest of the series and was a lot of fun.

My biggest disappointments on the system were:

Chrono Cross - horribly conceived followup to the SNES classic.

FFIX - never got into this one at all and it looked like it was more than the PS1 could really handle.

Saga Frontier - um, okay...nonlinear, randomly kills me for no reason...AWESOME game! Really, um...awesome.

Ride Racer 4 - played like a gimped RR1...the sense of speed was gone and I hated the new music direction.

Gran Turismo 2 - I was a victim of the hype machine on this one. Driving sims just aren't much fun to play, but "OMFG, it's got like 600 cars and you do all kinds of adjustments to them blah blah blah" made me chance this one. Oops.

Wipeout XL - again, lots of good press, but I was bored by this one. I didn't have much luck with PS1 racing games.

X-Men vs Streetfighter - "Oh it can't be THAT bad"...Oh the PS1 version IS that bad!

Darkstalkers 3 - Remember my post before about how great Vampire Savior is? I remember Darkstalkers 3 on PS1 being dreadfully average.

Street Fighter Collection (Super/Super Turbo) - Anyone used to the SNES or arcade versions would immediately notice 3 sets of loading times between a single match. Alpha 2 Gold was nice, but the old school section was annoying because of the frequent load times.

Colony Wars - hmm, not a bad game, but I never quite into this series. Bought it and didn't really play it all that much. Think I couldn't save after missions or something. *shrug*

Street Fighter Alpha 3 - Fine game, but IMO a huge step down from Alpha 2. The juggle system is awful and separating supers and custom combos takes away depth (as opposed to adding it, which the ISM-system supposedly did). The storyline's "let's kill Bison" mentality was a huge step down from the individual storylines from Alpha 2.

Tekken 2 - Hated it. Just...completely hated it. Was glad to trade this game in, just so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore.

Resident Evil - Tank controls = end of my interest in this series. Go figure...During this era, it becomes Capcom's signature series. Ugh...

Oh yeah, totally. Too bad I'm kind of burned out on them anymore.

You aren't kidding, it was always funny reading reviews for these games because they always played out go with the Saturn or don't bother.

Funny thing about that, can you believe Mega Man 8 actually outsold Mega Man X4? WoW!

I've always been interested in this game, but it came out so early in the system's life cycle that I never got a chance to try it. Thanks for the opinion.

Indeed, same here.

What did you think of the sequel? I've had prequel The Misadventures of Tron Bonne for five years and still haven't played it, lol!

Ditto, but I know some people (I think Zane is one) that will totally back up the PS1 triliogy. After that, well...

You know, I really like the second one as well, even the gimped SNES port. Alpha 3 is ok, but this renders the first game mostly obsolete.

Ever play the PS2 sequel...? Don't.

Yeah, I'm on the same boat. Love the combat system though. The game may have made more sense if we got the Radical Dreamers game.

Hahaha... yeah, SaGa Frontier isn't very newbie friendly, is it? It's either win or die, emphasis on die if you have no clue what you're doing and when you're doing it.

Rented this, have to be blind not to agree.

I like the second one a lot more, but you got to start somewhere.

And a damn good thing, too! By the late SNES/early PS1 era, the only thing Capcom seemed capable of producing was a diarrhea-torrent of Mega Man and Street Fighter upgrades and half-sequels... Resident Evil came out right in time to redeem them from eternal condemnation in my eyes. That RE1 was itself the beginning of a seemingly endless diarrhea-torrent of RE upgrades and half-sequels is another matter... Such are ever the ways of our dear beloved Capcom.

Also, you discuss at length how the PS1 is the RPG platform extraordinaire, and don't even mention Persona 2? Biggest lulz evar, right there!!!

Anyway, my list of recommended must-plays on the PS1:

Silent Hill
Persona*
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania Chronicles
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Hellnight
Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare
Clock Tower (this one, NOT that one!)
Resident Evil 1
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Gradius Gaiden
Threads of Fate (Last great game Square ever did, in my opinion. Its all downhill from 2000 on with them... )
Einhänder
Final Fantasy Tactics
Parasite Eve 2 (A lot better than the first one - and contrary to common opinion, that also includes the soundtrack)
Metal Gear Solid

*A note about Persona 1: If you're gonna play this one, go for the PSP remake, its vastly superior. The English PS1 version, while a good enough game on it's own, suffered from a completely butchered localization and translation, and has a huge part of the game removed (the "Snow Queen quest"). So, the PSP version is definitely the way to go.

Not even Final Fantasy X? I pretty much draw the line there... Star Ocean 3 wasn't bad, but I consider that more of an Enix property since it was probably done before the merger.

I didn't play many PS1 games, but my favorites were:

Symphony of the Night (reason why I bought the system)
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider 2
Resident Evil 2
Soul Reaver
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
Final Fantasy VIII
G-Darius

Not even FFX. Love the soundtrack, freaking hated the game. I could strangle every single character from that game with my bare hands, that's how much they annoyed me.

The PS1 games I played the crap out of are:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Driver
Mega Man Legends
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (by the time the Innocent Sin translation was completed, my PS1 no longer played burned games...or much else)
Star Ocean 2
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Devil Dice was also fun, and I'm pretty sure Valkyrie Profile is awesome, but I got stuck early on and never went any further. I lacked the attention span to play Gran Turismo, but I could appreciate what they did with it. And I got a good deal on Xenogears by watching a friend play rather than actually having to play myself. I understand it's more enjoyable that way

The PSOne was home to some of the most memorable music-rhythm action titles ever released: Parappa The Rapper, Umjammer Lammy, Bust A Move/Groove, Vib Ribbon, Dance Dance Revolution 1st to 5th Mix (as well as Extra Mix and Disney Rave), Beatmania pre-IIDX, Guitar Freaks, Pop 'n Music..... My best gaming days during that era were spent playing on  peripheral music accessories of all shapes, sizes, and color.  Awesome times that the likes of today's Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and DJ Hero have not been able to replicate.

And just because I'm feeling so nostalgic:

-Parappa's Toilet Rap stage
-Lammy's Got To Move! stage
-Bust A Groove - Kitty N's stage
-Bust A Groove 2 - Strike's stage
-Bust A Move 2 - Shorty's stage

Ah yes, Puzzle Fighter! Good times. I remember for a short period of time, that game was rare and going for about $60 on ebay. Then Capcom reprinted another batch of them at a nice $20 price tag. I've since bought it both on GBA and Xbox Live as well. Excellent non-Tetris, non-Panel de Pon, non-Puyo puzzle game.

I'm inclined to agree on Threads of Fate. I had a much better time with it than I was anticipating, even though I didn't quite stick it out until the end. It had some pretty intense boss battles. I didn't anticipate this being the best of the "Summer of Adventure" games, up against Mana and Chrono sequels (Legend of Mana was no fun to play, even though it looked and sounded good).

The Personas didn't really catch my eye until late in the game (I think Persona 2 came out in said RPG glut in 2000).

One RPG I forgot to mention was the first Grandia. I really liked a lot about this one aesthetically (easily Iwadare's best score, tossing out the junk tracks mostly on the second OST), the characters were awesome and it was fun...until about the last 10 hours of gameplay, which dragged on and on and on and on...Got to the point that finishing it felt more like a chore than something I was looking forward to.

Excellent thread, Ash. Was gonna make a similar one. While my collection of PS1 titles was once massive, I’ve since unloaded many titles, keeping only ones that I view as either essential to my collection, or games I missed that I need to play. My current library looks something like this:

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Iron and Blood – Every bit as bad as your imagination will allow it to be.  It is horrible in every sense of the word, but to nail down the specifics, It suffers from absolutely incomprehensible controls and abysmal graphic and sound quality in every category that the context can be applied.  It’s not even really fun to laugh at any more. If not the worst game of all time, it’s at least the worst fighting game ever.

Baroque (Japanese) – As if it were released in any other language. From what I’ve seen in the manual, the art direction looks wonderfully dark, like the twisted love child between Tim Burton and whoever did Silent Hill. I do own the soundtrack, which has been in constant rotation in my player ever since I got it. Can anyone vouch for the actual game?

Breath of Fire III – I remember seeing BoFIII in motion for the first time and falling in love with the animation. I had always had a soft spot for cartoons, but the movement in this game felt so alive, fresh and invigorating at the time that I couldn’t help but keep my eyes glued to it. Gameplay was pretty standard RPG fare, but set ups like the Master system and Dragon Gene splicing kept things very interesting and added a layer of flair that otherwise would’ve been sorely needed. All told, a very nice game.

Chrono Cross – This one gets a lot of hate and I don’t entirely understand why. The change of character design from Akira Toriyama to Yuki Nobuteru was jarring at first, I admit, and the game had way, way, way too many characters for my liking, sure, but the gameplay itself was fresh and unique and it packed an amazing soundtrack and great story. I also enjoyed the several throwbacks to Chrono Trigger.

Final Fantasy VII – Easily my favorite FF title from the post SNES days. I remember seeing previews for this game in Gamefan magazine and thinking it looked really exotic and enticing. When the hype balloon swelled, I was in disbelief, thinking the game probably wasn’t going to match everyone’s expectations, but then I played it and was wowed. I love the characters, setting, music and storyline very much.

Final Fantasy VIII – The one title solely responsible for polarizing Square’s dominant fanbase, you either loved this one or hated it. I found the world design to be pleasantly consistent within itself and the music very nuanced and appropriate for the scenery rather than the events depicted therein. I think the story is pretty shitty, to be honest, but the gameplay is really nice.

Final Fantasy IX – A lot has been said about this game recently, but it bears repeating; IX is a grand return to form for the Final Fantasy series, not just in spirit, but function as well. Some may deride the game for it’s comparatively simple gameplay mechanics, but I think it adds a layer of authenticity that hasn’t been seen since the SNES days. All told, the game just feels like a very sincere and successful effort to capture the FF spirit of old.

Grand Theft Auto – If ever asked to define progress for someone as it applies to video games, I’d point them in the direction of the GTA series. The original is in my opinion, unbearably shitty. It boggles my mind that this once incredibly humble series paved the way for GTA3, which pioneered open world, sandbox gameplay to the point where many games even now draw inspiration from it. How did Rockstar make the required amount of money for something as ambitious as GTA3 from something as humble as GTA and its sequel?

Koudelka – This game is mediocrity redefined. How did a game as ambitious as this turn out to be such a goddamned mess? The man responsible for Secret of Mana’s music on board for directing and composing duties backed by former members of the team behind FF7 should’ve resulted in something legendary, but instead a compromised product was foisted upon us. Investigation reveals that Kikuta wanted something closer to Resident Evil, but the team wanted to do a traditional RPG. I place the blame on the stubborn team Kikuta had to direct; this game would’ve worked wonderfully as a survival horror title in my opinion.  It’s too bad the game is only barely good enough to see through to completion. I beat it in 15 hours, and that was WITH grinding. Sad, tragic even.

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete – For the longest time, my holy grail, still seeking a mint copy, as my outer box is in worse shape than an abused spouse. Working Designs’ presentation actually impressed me more than the game itself, with its cloth map, hardbound imitation leather manual, soundtrack CD full of unused tracks, “making of” disc, and beautiful artwork adorning nearly every facet of the package. Oh yeah, the game was great, too.

Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete – Less enthusiastic about the game this time than I was before with SSSC, Working Designs’ presentation was just as crisp as it ever was. I’m proud to have it as a display piece, but I never cottoned much to the characters or story as I did with the first game. 

Megaman Legends – It’s hard to find titles with as much innocent charm and addicting gameplay as Megaman Legends. I initially balked at the concept that weapons had to be made from materials procured from excavating ruins, something I derided as being “un-Megaman like”. When I finally played the title, I was hooked for weeks.  I played the game so much that I maxed all weapons, did all the sidequests and uncovered every secret (including playing the game a third time on Easy to get the Max Buster, making Easy Mode more like Ultimate f---ing p---y mode).

Metal Gear Solid – Quite possibly the most prolific title the PSX gave to us, and as far as I’m concerned, a nearly flawless title. Everything was perfect; gameplay was a finely tuned balance of stealth and action with incredible attention to detail (remember when the soldiers first noticed your footprints in the snow areas?), and the dialogue, though suffering from a few hiccups (instances of “action button” and Snake’s jarring use of the word “butt”) was wonderfully written and acted. The soundtrack, sometimes placid, sometimes tense was incredible, too. When I think of video game masterpieces, this game springs to mind immediately. Easily the best game on the PSX.

Parasite Eve – One of Square’s hidden gems, advertised as a “Cinematic RPG” and billed by some magazines as a sci-fi counterpart to Resident Evil, this game had me intrigued right from the very beginning. It wasn’t until years after it came out that I played it, but when I did, I loved every second of it. Shimomura’s score was like a cocktail of silky jazz/lounge fusion, inky darkness, and primal composition, proving to me once and for all that she is just as canny at handling darker compositions as she is lighter-hearted, soulful tunes. PE was a great game and I cannot wait to go through it again.

Parasite Eve II –I have no idea what happened here or if the writing and directing were handled by a different team entirely, but it's the only reason I can think of to explain why PE2 is such a drastically different, and in my opinion inferior product. Writing was pretty bad; between Aya acting out of character for most of the game and Kyle's last minute complete 360 in allegiance everything felt horribly conceived. The elements that defined Parasite Eve are there, to be sure, such as customizable weapons and armor and cool parasite abilities, but that’s where the similarities tragically end. Everything else came off to me as poor, lackluster and lazy. The soundtrack was perhaps the biggest disappointment, as it eschewed much of the masterful compositions and melodies of the original in favor of a completely generic, droning, ambient soundscape.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment –I initially balked at P2’s slow pace in story and gameplay, but much like a good novel, it needs to be given the chance to pick up the pace. The storyline is dark and mature, even coming off as a little bit creepy at times and I really love the music. Honestly, I’m not crazy about the gameplay; negotiating with demons for tarot cards is boring to me, but everything else is getting really good. Speaking as someone who played P3 and 4 first,  no S Links is both good and bad; I no longer have to deal with losers like Kaz and Kenji (Persona 3), but I will miss the teammate interaction that the system afforded us in Persona 4.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4– To this day, my favorite arcade-style racing game of all time.  There is nothing quite as satisfying as mastering the courses in R4 to the point where the car feels like an extension of your own body. The graphics are immensely slick, with the cars and courses just oozing style and mood. The music only heightens the experience. Aurally, R4 happens to be my favorite in the entire series. Not even RR5 and 6, with their incredible sense of speed, can match the feeling I get from this title.

Racing Lagoon (Japan) – I remember reading about this in PSM, where it had said it probably wouldn’t ever come stateside, which made me sad. An RPG made by Square about highway racing in Japan, and I wouldn’t get to play it? Surely the shenanigans of some dark god. As with Baroque, I own the accompanying soundtrack and think it’s wonderful. I hope the game is too, when I eventually get around to playing it.

Resident Evil – I was so fascinated by this game when I had first read about it in Gamepro magazine. I had read that it was a game that emphasized survival over everything else, and had horror elements. Being that I had never ever seen a horror video game, I wanted so badly to play it. The early previews depicted a much gorier build of the game than what was eventually released, but it didn’t matter. Resident Evil was a fantastic, atmospheric title back in the day, but understandably, it’s a bit primitive, even when compared to it’s three immediate sequels.

Silent Hill – A clunky, flimsy gameplay experience made up for by the fact that there seems to be good story telling at work. From what I heard, it isn’t as good as Silent Hill 2, but also is a completely different flavour; I’m about an hour in and don’t really know what to expect. I really love the dark imagery, though.

Suikoden II – About 5 hours in and loving it. Nobody say anything about the game!! The soundtrack is amazing stuff. I hope to get the complete box as soon as I can.

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins – When I first heard about this, I was told it was “Metal Gear Solid with ninjas”. A really interesting concept, ziplining around Feudal Japan righting wrongs as a soldier of the night sounds great, but the execution seems a little off. For some reason, the animation in this game seems really bad, and it destroys any sense of immersion I have when my main dude runs like he just shit his pants. This is not even mentioning that the game is f---ing impossible, even with my insta-kill shurikens and Batman-style grappling hook. At least the price was right; I snagged it for ten bucks at a convention.

Vagrant Story – It isn’t difficult to articulate why I love this title; It had perhaps the best localization to ever grace a video game from overseas, an earthy, dark aesthetic that has yet to be matched in terms of mood by any video game since, a compelling narrative and sported one of Sakimoto’s finest scores. It was the rich tapestry of rustic ambience that drew me in completely and refused to let go, even after getting nuked so many times by enemies. Gameplay may have been hit or miss depending on your tastes, but everything else was nailed with the precision and care that Squaresoft was once known for.

Xenogears – Definitely a controversial choice, I know some people here love it to death (your favorite game, innit, Ryu? ) and some would give their only child to have it erased from existence. I followed this game from early development to release, taking in many details from different magazines. PSM gave it a perfect score, but Gamepro gave it an abysmally low ranking, causing me to be pretty confused.  I’m glad I eventually played the game for myself, as it has since become one of my all-time favorite RPGs, despite its many flaws. Mitsuda’s finest hour, to boot.

All I'll say is it gets MUCH better after just 5 hours.

A long reply for a long post... Some agreement and some disagreement.

Agreed. Koudelka had some good ideas and a lot of promise, but the end result turned out more painful than fun. Still, it did have it's moments, and its one of those games I put in the category "I'm glad I slogged through this even if it was kinda disappointing, because the curiosity would've killed me otherwise".

Well, at least we can be thankful to Koudelka for one thing: there wouldn't have been a Shadow Hearts trilogy without it (Koudelka being the prequel to Shadow Hearts 1)!

Now this, I don't agree with, at all. PE1 to me was one of those awkward games that couldn't make up it's damn mind if it wanted to be RPG or survival horror (many of the objections you had about Koudelka I consider applicable to PE1 as well). PE2 gets a lot of a crap since it's a straight-up horror game that had the deep un-fortune to land smack in the middle of Square's hysterical RPG-fanboy masses. Since almost everyone who tried it was much more a traditional RPG fan than a horror fan, it was deemed by the majority to be "not as good as the first". Well, poo on that, I say. It's only fault is that its a bit slow, otherwise its a damn fine game with great atmosphere. Dryfield, that small town out in the desert? Loved it. Felt so much more authentic than most survival horror settings usually do. Also, I'm not sure we could say that Aya acted "out of character" in PE2, she didn't have that much of an established character in PE1 to begin with. Its more appropriate to say we got to see more shades to her character here (I love all the small comments she offers when you investigate stuff in PE2).

And as for the soundtrack, sorry bro, but you're just plain wrong. You might say "I don't like dark ambient music, that's why I dislike this", and I'd be fine with that. But generic for being ambient...? Talk to the hand! *holds up hand a looks the other way* Hook it up to a great sound-system and play tracks like "Dark Field", "Abandoned Mine", or "Hold Your Breath", then you'll see. That the score fits the game like a glove to a degree that few other games/soundtracks can dream of is also a major plus. Apart from the ambient tracks, the tracks done in other genres are great and full of personality (how come no one with a negative opinion of this soundtrack ever brings them up when discussing it?). The country piece "Ghost Town" (the main Dryfield theme) is so annoyingly addicting that every time I hear it, it doesn't leave my brain for like a week afterward. The alt. rock piece "Vagrants" that plays on the jukebox in the game is damn cool, the boss theme "Crawling Waste Emperor" is pure industrial-techno mayhem, and the ending theme "Gentle Rays" blows most of the stuff from PE1 out of the water. Yes, unless you noticed by now, I'll defend this OST to death against anything and anyone!

As for PE1's OST, I loved it when it first came out, but its aged badly, IMO. Whereas PE2 OST has gone up in my esteem with time, the trend is the reverse for PE1 OST. I used to place it above Legend of Mana OST as Shimomura's best, but that has since changed.

I'm glad you're warming up to it. P2 is my favourite in the series. I forgot to tell you (I think you're already aware), but Eternal Punishment is actually only half of the game, the second half. You're essentially jumping into the action midway through the story. If your PS1 can handle burned CDs, I STRONGLY suggest you either track down a copy of the Japanese Innocent Sin or download it, and then patch the ISO with the English translation patch that's available. The translation is top-notch and IS is every bit as great as EP. Playing the first part will enrich your experience of the second, and together they form the best RPG ever made, in my opinion.

I have no idea how someone who begun with the newer Personas would experience the older ones, but when I went back to the P2s last summer, I found they still trumped P3 and P4. The story, characters, and music is just sharper and more hardcore and mature, its obvious when you compare them that Atlus went for more of a casual-gamer mass audience with the later games (and they did after all succeed, considering how popular the series has now become). About the gameplay, I don't think its that much slower than the new ones, I suspect you had to deal with a beginner's learning curve and adjustment. I like how P2 holds your hands a lot less than the new ones, no dumb and pointless Social Link scenarios to suffer through, full control in battle (compared to P3), fully customizable personas on all characters, not just the main character (one thing I HATED about P3 and P4 is how only the main character gets to change personas, while the other guys are stuck with their boring old ones throughout most of the game... what's up with that?), etc....

As for negotiating with demons, you do know that this is more the norm than not in Megaten games? P3 and P4 are more like exceptions in this regard. And demon negotiations are pretty light in P2 compared to the earlier games. I'm currently slogging through Shin Megami Tensei 1, and those £@£$@#%&!!! bastards are just constantly cock-blocking, taking my money then running way.

As for the comparison to Silent Hill 2, that depends on who you ask. Most would say SH2 is better, I prefer SH1 (we've had this discussion many times). SH2 is beautiful, but SH1's darkness is something that will never leave me. Actually, the difference reminds me of what I wrote about old Persona vs. new Persona above: SH1 is not as technically advanced or prettily "presentable" as the later titles, but damn if it isn't more hardcore and true to what it sets out to achieve!

This discussion seems to come up every other full moon as well, and I believe it's just you and me on this entire planet who love PE2, Daniel.

I love it more than PE1 in every single aspect. It looks better, it sounds better and it's more fun.
I love Mrs. Shimomura, but PE is her weakest work by far if you ask me.
All the heavy piano-banging and reusing the main theme over and over and over just make it a very dull experience to listen to, apart from a handful of stand-out tracks.

I loved the setting of PE2, and the atmosphere was great.
Although, yes, Aya is painfully slow, but that goes for PE1 as well.

I hope they fix that for 3rd birthday.

The last time I played through PE1 it didn't live up to memories. It's still good, but time has shown me - much like Legend of Mana - it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Having the ability to dodge in some manner would have made the game so much better.

The constant use of the main theme was one of the reasons I let the soundtrack go.

But speaking of the 3rd Birthday, I'm actually so interested in this (and the fact it's not SE cranking out a FF remake/port) I may buy it on the day of release and new. I know it seems rather odd to make a big deal out of that, but I hardly buy any games new or on the day of release. Last time I did - FFXIII - I regretted it.

I also bought VP2 the day it came out and while I liked it I didn't think it was worth the $50 I spent on it.

I remember I bought it the day of release...I think the last time I played it was also the day of release. It wasn't bad, but it didn't quite grab me enough to want to play farther and the battle theme really got on my nerves.

IMO, Tri-Ace struck gold on the PS1 and they've REALLY struggled on the PS2 (Star Ocean 3 was one massive letdown...It was amazing how much they got wrong after getting so much right in SO2). I can't count the number of times I've picked up Star Ocean: The Last Hope in a store and just ended up putting it down...The blind faith just isn't there anymore.

Really aren't any games nowadays I'm looking forward to on Day 1, MvC 3 aside (I remember the day I had the import for MvC 2 on day 1 and this one looks like a doozy, making it a VERY rare no-brainer). The bitter relevance to this thread is most of my favorite PS1 games were ones I bought on day 1 (MM Legends, Spyro 1, Klonoa, Suikoden 2, Star Ocean 2, Xenogears) or bought the first chance possible after learning about them (the PS1 had amassed quite a library by the time I got one).

Haha, yeah, I bought VP2 (and FFXIII!) on day one as well, and ended up disliking both of them.
I could still drag myself through FFXIII (I refuse to let a post-NES FF game get the better of me), but VP2 was a huge disappointment, mainly because the original was so damn awesome.

LOL, if we're talking Legend of Mana, I have to say that "time" wasn't really needed in my case - I thought it sucked right away, and every time I picked it up since just confirmed it further. I love the soundtrack and the art style, but beyond those, the game itself is just so much pointless, aimless, meandering fluff. I was deeply disappointed by it, especially as Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 were some of my all-time favs on the SNES. Sometimes great series just die off like that in an instant, and for my money, there hasn't been a single good Seiken/Mana game since Seiken 3.

Similar to PE2, I must be one of the very very few people on this planet who LOVED Legend of Mana.
Granted, it's nowhere near as good as Seiken 2 or 3, but I have a blast with it every time I play it.

Admittedly though, it's mostly because of the visuals and music.

I've met a bunch of people, even a couple IRL, who love Legend of Mana (myself included).

count me #3 as a PE2 lover. Until i played SH2 (my first SH), PE2 was the scariest game i had ever played. just so many areas where the SOBs would just pop out of nowhere to engage you and your heart would start racing. also knowing that ammo was really scarce, and you had to map out the entire area as you went along, kept you constantly on the edge of your seat. there was always that sense of dread "oh crap i hafta go back into that room again"

I do not think the ost is something that can be listened to on headphones though.
you need to have it in your home system as there is a lot of deep bass and atmospheric sounds that would be missing without full range speakers and a hi-wattage system with a subwoofer.

i still have not finished legend of mana (last touched 5 years ago),,, i think i have maybe 12 hours on it,, but i never felt like it was developing any story. it felt like just a bunch of mini quests

I remember when I was playing this game years ago (5 to be exact) and posted about it here, you and Ryu were the ones that replied; one for each camp;)

I'm still thinking of someday starting the whole XenoSaga. Heck, I even refrained from listening to the soundtrack for all these years (and I'm very fond of Mitsuda).

That's all Legend of Mana is... a bunch of side quests that very loosely fit together. The combat/techinique system is what originally held the game together for me but that's no longer the case. Beyond that it's really the music anymore.

Xenogears has a wonderful soundtrack although I think it’s stretched kind of thin in the game. The two discs of music don’t feel that way outside of it however.

You should, pt.I was good and I still yet to play my copy of III (everyone tells me it's great) but II will corrode your very soul.

Oh, and I'll say it, Xenosaga has perhaps one of the most overrated scores evar. Still, "Fighting KOS-MOS" and "Last Battle" are where it's at on that one.

Daniel K: I played PE2 twice now, still don't care for it much. But if you were right about P2, then I'll get PE2 OST hooked up to decent sound system to give  it a better shot. If I still dislike it, I shall take your first born son (and we'll agree to disagree too).

Also, gonna put P2 on hold until I get Innocent Sin going. Need to review my options for doing that. It never got the PAL treatment, did it? I wanna learn how Tetsuya became such a badass.

The above is the heart of my main gripe with LoM. I really wanted to like it because of it's legacy, and it's awesome music and art. But, in the end... It just felt completely unfocused and meandering, much more like a Romancing SaGa game than a Mana game.

It was only released in Japan. If you're not squeamish about emulation, your best option would probably be to download the ISO, patch it with the translation patch, and play it on an emulator. It runs perfectly on pSX and ePSXe. Seriously, even if you're only playing a single game on emulator in your whole life, this should be it. And if my crappy, 4-year-old laptop can handle it flawlessly, I don't think you should have any problem with it. The patch and all you need to know is here.

It is indeed quite a story...

Grr, learn to use "anymore" properly or don't use it at all.

Back on topic, is anybody else really fond of the first Wild Arms?  It features one of my absolute favorite game soundtracks ever, I found the simple battle system to be quite enjoyable, the spritework was excellent, and the dungeons were designed so well, with some great puzzles and clever use of the characters' unique items.

I was liking it plenty until BoF3 and FF7 completely hijacked my playstation. One day I shall make a pilgrimage back to the world of Filgaia.

I consider Wild Arms 1, Suikoden 1 and FFVII basically the beginning of the great PS1 RPG run. My problem with Wild Arms 1 was it got to the point in the last 5-6 hours or so that I just wanted to get the game over with, so it is kind of a blur. On the other hand, I took my time with Wild Arms 2, and it turned out to be surprisingly rewarding from start to finish (aside from that HORRIBLE puzzle at the end). It's the only game in the series that really won me over and I think a lot of it was due to the characters. I'd definitely spring for a remake.

How was Alter Code F, by the way?

Never played it. Like I said, I wasn't enthralled enough with the original to go for the remake and it came as I was losing interest in RPG's. Also factor in I thought Wild Arms 3 was the most tedious turn-based RPG I've ever played (complete with card-board cut outs for characters and the blandest scenery for a game ever) and WA4 lasted about 4 hours before I got tired of it, so...lol, I wasn't exactly jumping into this one. Soundtrack is good though. Does justice to the original, I thought. Pretty well-balanced for a 4-disc OST too (although granted a lot of it is upgraded music from the original).

My RPG career for the PS2 wasn't as robust as the PS1 by any stretch: FFX (worth the experience, not worth revisiting), Growlanser 2 (go figure...a PS1 game released as a PS2 game), Suikoden V (a VERY worthy sequel to the first and second Suikodens if you let it get started), Ys VI (BOOYAH!) and La Pucelle (my favorite SRPG of all time). Throw in another handful I either bought or played and didn't care to finish (WA3 and 4, Atelier Iris 1, every other PS2 Suikoden, VP2, Stella Deus, SO3...I mess around with Disgaea and Phantom Brave, but they don't draw me in like La Pucelle did). If they'd have brought Sakura Wars V out about 4 years ago, I'd probably have about 3 playthroughs of it, but...Yeah, my RPG gaming time is practically nonexistant right now. I like what I've played, but I'm just never in the mood to sit down with it. And I've been meaning to play through Growlanser III for awhile now.

Forget Xenogears and XenoSaga.
Xenoblade is where it's AT, baby!

Seriously, in the span of 4 months or so that it's been out, this has grown into one of the best games I've ever played in my entire life. I seriously cannot put it down.

Make me, this ain't a gammer board, now is it?

The first Wild Arms is great (didn't have a real problem with end like GF) and Wild Arms 2 was solid as well despite being behind the times in some respects. Alter code:F was extremely dissapointing; nothing like talking a classic game and dumbing it down for a new generation; it didn't get much right.

Actually, I'm pretty sure this IS a Gamer Board.

What did you think it was!?

I don't understand what an effeminate DJ has to do with anything.

the things that come out of the woodwork when you forget an "r", lol