Every fan may have a different answer when it comes to the best RPG on the PS1, but the majority will probably say Final Fantasy 7. It’s hard to deny the power that game had not on just RPG fans, but video game players all over. The slick visuals and TV ads attracted non-RPG fans to the scene in waves.
Now, while that game and the rest of the Final Fantasy series are fantastic RPGs on PS1, there are a lot of great PS1 RPG games that get overlooked. Most of them are hard to play nowadays without hard copies or emulation involved.
8 Arc The Lad Collection
Arc the Lad Collection was the only way that players in the West could play the first three games in the series. It began in 1995 via ARC Entertainment and every single game leading up to this collection was exclusive to Japan.
This series, overall now, is widely forgotten from these games to the sequels on PS2. They are turn-based RPGs, but characters can move on a grid, so it’s like a tactical RPG hybrid. The first game is fairly basic but the second and third games are worth checking out.
7 Beyond The Beyond
Beyond the Beyond was one of the PS1’s first big RPGs that was released although it did not fair well in reviews. Part of the issue reviewers had was that it felt too generic for a story and the graphics weren’t that much of an upgrade on PS1. Some of those criticisms still ring true today.
However, this is an underrated mid-tier RPG from Camelot for sure. If that name sounds familiar, they are the developers of Golden Sun as well as a bunch of sports games like Mario Golf. Nintendo fans could think of this game as a spiritual predecessor to Golden Sun.
6 Kartia: The Word Of Fate
Kartia: The Word of Fate was an Atlus game and was made during a time when they used to experiment more instead of pumping Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games. It’s a tactical RPG wherein players could control a group of stronger heroes. These hero units could also summon minions to fight for them.
It’s almost like a Pokemon tactics game except there wasn’t any catching involved. It’s not the best tactical RPG on PS1, but it should scratch that itch for players. Also of note, Yoshitaka Amano, the Final Fantasy artist, worked on this game’s art.
5 Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is one of the wildest RPG concepts of all time. At its core, the gameplay is similar to the Arc the Lad games. Players will transition into turn-based battles but they can move around the battlefield via tiles.
The strange thing about Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure was that it was a full-blown musical in the vein of a Disney production. Some of the tunes are still pretty catchy too. This was an early NIS game and for those interested, it did get ported to Switch and PC recently as of 2022.
4 Star Ocean: The Second Story
Many fans could argue that Star Ocean: The Second Story, which is only the second game in the Star Ocean series, was the peak. Things went downhill from here which could be blamed on Square Enix taking over publishing while tri-Ace stayed on as the developers. It’s a long road to go down, but as for this game goes, it rules.
Star Ocean: The Second Story should rank up there as not a forgotten RPG, but one of the best on PS1. The action gameplay, the simple but colorful visuals, and the concept of the story all hold up.
3 Tales Of Destiny
Tales of Destiny is another underrated action RPG from this generation. It’s the second in the series as well and the visuals are even simpler compared to Star Ocean: The Second Story. It looks like a more polished SNES game which isn’t bad, but it wasn’t what a lot of people were looking for in the 90s which might be one reason it got passed up.
The game did get a remake on PS2 which upgraded the visuals as well as the gameplay significantly. Unfortunately, it, like many games in this series, never left Japan.
2 Tear Ring Saga
There are too many great Japan-only PS1 RPGs to go through which could be a whole other list. For now, let’s cover Tear Ring Saga which is one of the more interesting lost gems on the platform. It was designed by Shouzou Kaga, the creator of Fire Emblem. He left Intelligent Systems and Nintendo to form his own company to continue making tactical RPGs his way.
If players picked this up today and didn’t know the title, they would think it was a missing Fire Emblem game without question. Sony could have competed with Nintendo if they helped publish this game before Fire Emblem ever graced the West.
1 Wild Arms 2
There are two games in this series on the PS1 and both are worth looking into. However, Wild Arms 2 is the better game in every way as it helped evolve the original’s ideas. Players could choose to start as one of three characters but eventually, they would all meet up. Dungeons were puzzle-heavy, like The Legend of Zelda, and each character had a special trait to aid in exploration.
The world was inspired by Westerns which would be perfected in Wild Arms 3. It is deeply tragic that this series started on PS1 and then died on PS2.