PSX Recommendations

[Senbei]

So, after years of tyranny under the iron fist of my mother, I finally got the chance to get a console other than my Dreamcast and GBA. Considering that we’re on the verge of a new generation of consoles and it probably wouldn’t be worth bothering to buy a PS2, Gamecube, or Xbox, I decided to go old school with the PSOne. This decision was backed up by a rumor I happened to hear about the PS3 not being able to play PSX games. Additionally, the original Playstation has a heap of great, sometimes legendary, games that also serve as the prequels to many future games.

However, that heap of games is a little foreboding in its enormity. Here I turn to you, my seniors. Does anyone have any specific recommendations – PSX games that are of historical significance, are personal or public favorites, or are just plain fun?

[Green Gibbon!]

What sort of games do you like?

A general list of what I'd cite as the defining games of the console would be Metal Gear Solid, PaRappa the Rapper and its first sequel UmJammer Lammy, Klonoa, the two Suikoden games, Ape Escape, the first Tenchu (don't bother with the second, or any of the subsequent), and maybe Xenogears. Final Fantasy VII is also important, though it hasn't aged especially well. Out of that list I guess Ape Escape and/or Metal Gear would be my top recommendations.

Other games I'd recommend (though not all would agree with some of these suggestions): the two Megaman Legends games, the original Wild Arms (don't bother with any of the sequels), Fear Effect (only the first one), Breath of Fire 3, Front Mission 3, Alundra, Ridge Racer 4, all three Arc the Lad games, and maybe Tomba.

[Cuckooguy]

The original Metal Gear Solid is great.

[Senbei]

I'm already playing MGS and lovin' it. As for games that I like... generally anything that's fun and provides a lasting experience, although I tend to stay away from First Person Shooters and puzzlers. I've always preffered the quirkier games, which is one of the reasons I became interested in Sonic Team in the first place.

Much of what Gibbon suggested is material I was eyeing already, although I'd completely forgotten about PaRappa and Tomba! However...I didn't enjoy the first two Breath of Fire games (on GBA) because of the boring battle system and story. Is BoF3 any better? Also, how are the other Mega Man games?

[Cuckooguy]

I really didn't like BoF3 that much. I preferred BoF4; BoF4 is the only BoF game I actually like.

The second Suikoden is wonderful; I got it a month or two ago and don't regret purchasing it; the original Suikoden is extremely average though, but you should check that one out out anyway if you're willing to shell over $100 for Suikoden 2 (if you live in the US).

I loved Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. My impressions for the first Lunar aren't as high, though, but if you're playing Lunar 2, you should play the first one anyway. I've never sat down to seriously play the Sega CD iterations, though.

I also second Klonoa.

I liked Final Fantasy Tactics. It was also my first strategy RPG, but if you don't like micro-managing, then don't play it. The story must've not been all that, because I can't remember a thing about it.

[Green Gibbon!]

I, contrarily, didn't care much for BoF4, though I can see where its appeal lies. I would give both 3 and 4 a shot, but keep in mind that the US version of BoF4 is slightly censored. I never played the first two.

Also, there are people who will swear by Final Fantasy Tactics, and I guess it's good, but it's the most ridiculously in-depth strat RPG this side of Disgaea. You have to looove micro managing.

The first Suikoden isn't nearly as good as the two subsequent sequels, but it's still a solid game and easy to pick up. Since the Suikoden series has an ongoing story arc (at least with the first 3), I would strongly advise playing through the original before you tackle the second one.

You definitely need PaRappa, though. Also, I never had the opportunity to play any of them, but there were 3 Jumping Flash games released early in the system's life, and they look really cool.


Speaking of Suikoden, I found out why the quality plummeted as of the fourth iteration. Apparently, the original writer/director left Konami toward the end of Suikoden 3's development. I wonder why he left and where he ended up?

[Senbei]

FFT was actually the first game I bought, but it's also the one I've played the least. I enjoyed the Advance version, but the original, so far, lacks a compelling story, so I don't feel obligated to work through the currently boring battles. It also seems to be full of grammatical errors, and those always bug me.

I'm definately going to look into PaRappa and Suikoden now. Wild Arms and Klonoa have always intrigued me, and I want to know what the craze over Arc the Lad's about. Ape Escape's going to have to wait till I bother getting an analog controller.
So...what exactly is the difference between BoF3 and 4?

[Double-S-]

I can't see why you wouldn't've gotten a PS2. Unless money was some kind of incredible issue.

[Cuckooguy]

I also forgot to mention Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. If you liked Super Metroid or the The Legend of Zelda, you'll probably like Castlevania: SOTN. The reason I compare it to Zelda is because I feel Castlevania: SOTN is a labyrinth game like Zelda, but with platforming elements instead of an overhead view.

The writer for Suikoden 4 was the same as it's artist: Junko Kawano (who also did the art for the original Suikoden). The original director, Murayama, left under unknown circumstances to create his own studio, most likely because he was unhappy for some reason while at Konami.

Murayama created a studio called "Blue Moon Studio", and they already have a title under their belt called "Tsukiyo ni Saraba", though it seems the game isn't very well-received by the general populace.

I found some info at <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/72938.html" target="_blank">GameFAQs</a> about Blue Moon.

So, speaking of Suikoden, I bought Rhapsodia (Suikoden Tactics) two days ago. It's pretty cool so far because it fills in a lot of gaps left from Suikoden IV, such as how Brandeau got the Rune of Punishment, his relation to Kika, Sigurd and Hervey's backstory (and how they ended up as Kika's henchmen), the significance behind the giant tree boss (which seemed out of the blue in Suiko 4), and some more. I'm only about five hours in, though, and have only recruited one character (Rita). It's pretty solid so far, except I hate how the chance for death is too high (Rita died at least 5 times). When they die, they permanently die, so some times I'd purposely lose a battle just to redo a battle and keep the experience from selecting continue instead of giving up (because you keep experience when you lose a battle). Then all dead characters are revived again from selecting continue. That's really the only negative thing I have to say so far. I'll give more thoughts if anyone cares.

As for Mega Man games, Mega Man 8 is too easy, but if you've struggled with Mega Man 1-7, Mega Man 8 might just be for you. The X games are good up until 4, and then it starts dropping in quality with 5 or 6.

[WhoopA]

If you can find it, Silhouette Mirage. It's Treasure. I think that's all you need to know.

And Silent Hill. Creepy as all hell, but still awesome. Great if you like a psychological game, but it is a bit puzzle heavy at times.

[Green Gibbon!]

So that's where the old Suikoden guy is at now? Tsukiyo ni Saraba looked like a load of horseshit. What else are they doing? Didn't they have something in development for the 360 or something? Like every other small-time Japanese developer that Microsoft shit yen at?

Anyway, if you want to include Saturn games that were ported to the PSX, Silhouette Mirage is definitely a good one to get, and I highly recommend Grandia, despite the fact that it doesn't look as good as the Saturn version and the translation is really crummy.

The Mega Man games were decent up to X5, but the series plummeted beyond all recovery after that. X6 and X7 are among the absolute worst games I've ever played.

[Ngangbius]

Screw the PS1 Final Fantasies and look into getting the first Grandia. Great story, characters, and awesome battle system. Though, the English voice acting is a bit off(though not as bad as some games like Star Ocean 2). If you do ever decide on getting a PS2 in the future you may still want to keep the PS1 since this game have issues running on the PS2.

You may want to check out(if you can find them) Tales of Destiny I and/or II(though the later game is also known as Tales of Eternia). There more of an action-y RPG kind of an affair that spans several games and I guess it is worth trying it out once. I personally prefer Tales of Destiny II/Tales of Eternia to Tales of Destiny.

Also Senbei did you get the PS1+LCD combo? I'm just curious.

I can't see why you wouldn't've gotten a PS2. Unless money was some kind of incredible issue.

Well some PS1 games do have trouble running 100% properly on the PS2 like Grandia as I mentioned before.

[G.Silver]

Einhander and Ghost in the Shell, and to a lesser extent Jumping Flash! 2.

[Senbei]

Also Senbei did you get the PS1+LCD combo? I'm just curious.

No, I just found a simple PS1 at Gamestop for $30 and bought it on a kind of spur-of-the-moment.
I utterly loved the gameplay of Grandia II, so I'm excited about playing the original. Subsequently, I'm looking forward to Grandia III.

[James McGeachie]

As no one else has mentioned them, I'll recommend the 2 Oddworld games, Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus, as those are 2 of the most unique, atmospheric and well designed 2d "platformers" I've ever played and definitely a couple of my favourite games on the system. If you're interested in a 2d Zelda style experience I'd almost recommend Alundra (although not the sequel) as a really good title too.

[Cub]

Go find Irritating Stick. You owe it to yourself.

[Brazillian Cara]

The Mega Man games were decent up to X5, but the series plummeted beyond all recovery after that. X6 and X7 are among the absolute worst games I've ever played.

X6 is good, it just have an unfair learning curve. X7 isn't so bad, as long as you play the japanese version.
And anyone who says X8 and Command Mission are bad are just sick of the series.

[smiths32]

Well some PS1 games do have trouble running 100% properly on the PS2 like Grandia as I mentioned before.

And here was me thinking that my disc was screwy. While I'm talking about Grandia, are there any notable differences between the PSX and Saturn versions (apart from the voice acting between the English and Japanese version)?

And anyone who says X8 and Command Mission are bad are just sick of the series.

6 NES games, 6 SNES games, 7 PSX games, more than 10 GBA games, 4 PS2 games currently in circulation and many other games on many other systems. Can you really blame them?

[Green Gibbon!]

I utterly loved the gameplay of Grandia II, so I'm excited about playing the original.

If you liked Grandia 2, you'll love the first one. It captured a really great sense of swashbuckling adventure, a mark that the second one missed, I think.

While I'm talking about Grandia, are there any notable differences between the PSX and Saturn versions (apart from the voice acting between the English and Japanese version)?

There's some graphical differences. The Saturn version has better textures, and is the superior of the two all-round. (I remember some people in the day arguing that it would've been impossible to port the game to PSX at all, due to it having been developed so closely to the Saturn's unusual architecture.)

The translation sucks and the voice dubbing is even worse (especially Sue, goddammit). It's a very kid-friendly translation - there's no profanity of any kind and all references to alcohol were changed to coffee. Curiously, though, all the sexual innuendo and dialogue was left in place.

I was moderately interested in Grandia 3 until I downloaded an awful clip with some horrible J-pop song playing over it. I am of the opinion that Game Arts' golden age is over, and Grandia 1 was their finest hour.

Go find Irritating Stick. You owe it to yourself.

Tell me about Irritating Stick. I've never played it.

[Double-S-]

Game Arts is part of Squaresoft now I thought? Or was it just some temporary deal just for Grandia III?

[Green Gibbon!]

Game Arts was devoured by Enix a couple of years before Enix devoured Square. I don't know how autonomous the Game Arts group is within the resulting corporate blob, or how much of the original creative staff remain. Their website is still up (http://www.gamearts.co.jp) and they're still using the Game Arts name as of Grandia 3, but as you can see from their software history, they haven't produced anything of note since the Saturn days.

[Senbei]

If you liked Grandia 2, you'll love the first one. It captured a really great sense of swashbuckling adventure, a mark that the second one missed, I think.

But, what Grandia II lacked in swashbuckling (I will always think of Orlando Bloom whenever I hear that word), it made up for with Ryudo's cynicism, something that made Grandia II truely interesting.

Their website is still up (http://www.gamearts.co.jp) and they're still using the Game Arts name as of Grandia 3, but as you can see from their software history, they haven't produced anything of note since the Saturn days.

Yeah, it doesn't look like it. Although that Silpheed game looks very pretty.

[Cuckooguy]

I don't think Grandia II was ever intended to be a "swashbuckling adventure" in the first place... at least, it didn't seem to be the note the writers were trying to hit anyway. I also played Grandia II before the original Grandia, but there are a couple of things that kept me from liking the original, such as the shitty ass poor localization job. One thing that always annoyed me in Grandia 1 was the experience points allocation screen, which took too damn long, plus the game having to load whatever dungeon you're in once you're done fighting, so that's like 30 seconds between finishing a battle to loading the dungeon.

If you loved Grandia II's battle system, you might have a harder time liking Grandia I's battle system... it's pretty similar, except criticals only have a chance to cancel enemy attacks. I hated how I'd critical an enemy just so I wouldn't cancel their attack, so then I'd combo all the time instead of criticalling just because it deals more damage. I feel Grandia II's battle system is much more refined when compared to Grandia 1, but since Grandia 1 came first I'll forgive the battle system. I just found it hard to play after playing Grandia II's superior battle system first. The Attack Time Bar on the bottom right corner has also been refined.

I'm pretty sure if the localization was much more refined, I probably would've liked it more. I didn't hate Sue's voice that much, but there were a lot of times when the VAs overacted their parts.

Also, my interest in Parappa the Rapper has piqued. What is it about? I hear it's a music game, right? Is it anything like Space Channel 5? I've been itching for a musical game now, and am currently on the lookout for Gitaroo Man, but what kind of a game is Parappa?

[Green Gibbon!]

Grandia 2 was more refined in certain technical aspects (as you would well expect it to be), and the character design was still a cut above most of everything else that's out there (characterization has always been a Game Arts specialty), but the scenario flow was very rough and alot of plot elements felt really contrived. It lacked the sense of scope and high adventure that the original possessed. It's still a solid game, but I consider the original to be superior by a long shot. (Arcadia was released at around the same time as Grandia 2, and I think it captured the spirit of the original Grandia much better than the actual sequel.)


PaRappa's like, the original music game. It'll probably seem really primitive if you've played stuff like Space Channel or Gitaroo Man, but it created the mold, and is still fun and really important. UmJammer Lammy is also really good, but play PaRappa first. I would hold off on Gitaroo Man until you've had the chance to sample the earlier releases, only because Gitaroo Man is (I think) the pinnacle of the genre and you probably won't enjoy anything else after it. (Except for that stupid 'Nuff Respect stage. That's a load of bullshit.)

[Ritz]

I third Silhouette Mirage. Skullmonkeys is somewhat entertaining, but you'll probably have a hard time finding that. Tomb Raider 2 was rather fun back in the day. Oh, and yeah, Ape Escape.