It's hard to really nail down a favorite era for RPGs. It’s not the NES that is for sure. Yes, it started big franchises like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, but they, and the others, are very basic. No, the SNES and PS1 were really like the golden era for a lot of classic games. And yes, Squaresoft made a lot of these highlights, but there were a lot of other treats too.
These ten games are among them. They may not have the name recognition like Final Fantasy, but they are all certainly worth one’s time if RPGs are a preferred source of entertainment. Look past the low budgets because these games are all hidden gems.
10 Alundra 2
The first Alundra was like a clone of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. While Nintendo was taking their series into the third dimension, this one decided to keep things simple and it worked out great. The sequel was more ambitious, but not as successful.
It was still over the top, but slightly slanted, as everything was more in 3D. It’s not breathtaking by any means especially in 2000, but it deserves some kudos for trying to innovate.
9 Breath of Fire IV
There are a lot of 2000 releases on this list, but Breath of Fire IV has to be the most tragic. It launched in November, which was just a month after the PS2 arrived on store shelves.
Who has time for a PS1 game at that point? That was probably the mentality on everyone’s minds. Here is the thing though. This is the best game in the series, or at the very least, if one can’t agree on that, it is the most gorgeous.
8 Arc the Lad Collection
Why highlight the collection and not just a single game in this series? Simple. Arc the Lad launched in 1995 in Japan only. In fact, all three games in this box set were only released in Japan between then and 1999. All three of these games were then finally localized and released in 2002, which just as a reminder, was two years after the PS2 launched!
If one was able to find this in a store they were lucky. Even though these games were dated, all three are fantastic takes on tactical RPGs.
7 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Tactics Ogre, all of them, never really caught on in the West compared to Final Fantasy Tactics. It makes sense for some of the earlier titles as the gameplay isn’t exactly like that, but Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is literally the predecessor to Final Fantasy Tactics.
They both have the same director, Yasumi Matsuno, and look pretty much the same. Tactics Ogre just lacks the notoriety of Final Fantasy in the West. Even though this entry should focus on the PS1 version, it would be a disservice to not recommend the remake on PSP as well.
6 Suikoden II
How can no one have played this when this was ranked as one of the best PS1 games of all time? That’s a matter of opinion of course, but it is true. It’s also just a top notch RPG that puts even the big dogs at Squaresoft and Enix, separate companies at the time, to shame.
What it lacked in high production values it more than made up for with gameplay. No one was doing something as grandeur at the time. That is, of course, except for the previous entry.
5 The Legend of Dragoon
Here is an entry that is absolutely baffling. This was internally developed and distributed by Sony. Despite it getting good reviews at the time, this property was abandoned before it could even begin. How has Sony not gone back to the well with this?
While it is turned based, it added quick time like actions during battles akin to Super Mario RPG, which made it stand out above typical RPGs. It’s not as fluid as Mario, but what is? It had mistakes, sure, but again, this deserves some more love.
4 Legend of Legaia
It's time for another legend. While they didn’t develop this next one, Sony Computer Entertainment did publish it. Like Xenogears, it added fighting game like button combos into turn-based actions.
That’s all it really had going for it. Other than that it has pretty middle of the road plot points involving the end of the world and all that. It’s not bad by any means. It’s just more average than other games on this list.
3 Vandal Hearts
Know what the craziest part about Vandal Hearts is? It released before Final Fantasy Tactics popularized tactical RPGs in the West. It’s not like the genre didn’t exist before this on PS1, or platforms before, but it is funny to know that there was another mature RPG similar to it.
Like Tactics Ogre, the thing that did it a disservice, even though Konami made it, was the name recognition. It also didn’t help that it is less polished. Still good, which is why it made it on this list, but it has issues.
2 Thousand Arms
What if they made an RPG where the hero’s strengths depended on the bond with his girl companions? That’s exactly what Thousand Arms is about. For whatever reason blacksmithing requires love and if that love is not high, not only will the smithy suck, but also the weapons in turn will make battles a lot harder.
It’s sort of like Persona meets Minecraft, but that admittedly is a strange comparison. It’s hard to find now, but worth a look even if it does have some questionable content. Let’s leave it at that.
1 Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Before Nippon Ichi made it big with Disgaea: Hour of Darkness on PS2, they made this quirky little RPG musical. Yes, this is legitimately a musical. Don’t let the turn-based tactical battles fool one.
There is a lot of the story that is told through characters singing. It’s very janky since everything is sprite based and low budget so don’t imagine cutting edge 2000 graphics with fluid choreography. It’s very unconventional, but hey, that is how a company like Nippon Ichi rolls.