by Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer & filmmaker

Holiday season of 1998 was when I discovered a few things: that my mother could make a seriously good eggnog, PlayStation Magazine was becoming my all-time favorite publication to read, and there were some damn good RPGs to enjoy. I was just settling into my newly-purchased PSone at the time and only had a few games to play: Tekken 2 and 3, Metal Gear Solid, and Reloaded. Though not the greatest lineup, these were played so many times over.

The “epic” moment for me was when I read in the review section of the magazine to discover a little gem called “Xenogears”. Though JRPGs were new to me at the time, it was quite an interesting treat to read about something that passed off as a great anime and played like a dream. Immediately, when I saw that title, I knew what I wanted for Christmas. So, my family had a trip over to Target to grab a copy.

Waking up at 3am to some delicious eggnog, cookies, A Christmas Story marathon, and my mother allowing me to at least open one present before everyone else woke up, I went on to ravage open my copy of the game and plopped it into my PlayStation. I didn’t stop playing through the game until the next morning. I was that hooked!

Something like this is truly the reason why I love gaming and the holiday season to this day. Moreso, remembering the era where RPGs were taking over the gaming industry is a very fond remembrance. As gears have obviously shifted over the years, where games like Call of Duty have been babysitting the adolescents, I’ve compiled a list of interesting RPGs that were an integral part of my gaming history and something that most of you out there should look into. Some are obtainable through the PlayStation Store, while the rest you may have to shell out quite a penny to own, but I guarantee you: it’s worth the money.

Suikoden series

Suikoden was one of the first RPG games to ever hit the PSone, and it was an interesting game coming from Konami, who were known later for releasing the legendary Castlevania: Symphony of the Night title for the same console.

This was a memorable game for several reasons: a unique battle system where you could have up to six characters in a party, team-up attacks with compatible party members, a great soundtrack, and a solid storyline that wasn’t about saving the world. It was enriched with politics, betrayals, and romance that you couldn’t find in any RPG at that time, especially Suikoden 2, which grew into being one of the rarest titles to ever find for the console.

Luckily, you can snag a digital copy of Suikoden in the PS Store right now for $4.99.

Chrono Series

You’ll laugh when I say that I was one of the very few that never played Chrono Trigger first, but instead was introduced to its sequel, Chrono Cross. Many would recommend that I would try Trigger first, but I was headstrong on obtaining this copy on the release date, which I successfully did. The game featured so much opulence in graphics, story, game play, and settings that it became one of my more memorable games I played in the year 2000.

But once I’ve finally had a chance to grab a copy of Trigger for the PSone (in a dual-disc package with Final Fantasy Chronicles) I found so much appreciation for the storytelling, solid gameplay mechanics, and the soundtrack. The experience came when the game first opens up towards recruiting characters to join your party and you’re beginning to unravel Crono’s adventure and meeting with the final boss. If you haven’t touched this gem yet, it’s in the PS Store for only $5.99 (as well as for Chrono Cross). I urge that you see for yourself on what made this game earned the title “legendary”.

Legend of Dragoon

Meanwhile, over at Sony, a team comprised of former employees at Squaresoft went on a venture to create an RPG of their own that was actually solid for its time. Well, to this day, even.

Legend of Dragoon was one of those games that had you hooked from start to finish, and from what I remembered many talked about how this would possibly be a “Final Fantasy killer”. While I tend to disagree in all aspects, it isn’t to say LoD is a bad game at all. Whereas most of the FF games featured stories about the protagonist and how he/she is the chosen one to save the world from turmoil, leaving the secondary characters in the story to help propel the game along with little to no personality, LoD was…different.

Legend of Dragoon introduced a riveting tale of Dart, Shana, and Lavitz as they were thrust into the middle of a war and the events leading to the discovery of the legendary Dragoons. Each character had an arc of their own, and their own purpose that meshed so well together. It wasn’t just about the main character, but about everyone.

Combined with a unique combat system, a memorable cast, and good sound quality (minus the horrid voice overs, which is something you’ll just get used to over the course of the game), LoD is definitely something worthy of your collection. It should be available in the PS Store right now.

Final Fantasy series

To this day there is so much argument over which Final Fantasy game is better than others, which perhaps is a testament to this series’ enduring ability to continually reinvent itself. Many that I’ve spoke to have thought the older FF titles were completely better than the newer releases, while some have felt the end of the “Squaresoft Generation” era came after Final Fantasy XII. While I’ve never jumped into those arguments, I have this to say: Final Fantasy VII was the entry that started the era of RPGs for the PSone, as far as I’m concerned.

The success has led to them to create other great RPG titles, but no one can deny how good FFVII was. The soundtrack was enriched, the visuals were captivating, and the combat system was dynamic, which had you plugging in over eighty-plus hours of gameplay to collect everything, saving it onto your Memory Card, and showing off to your friends how easy it was to beat the game’s side quest “Emerald Weapon”.

While I laud the sequels after VII (VIII was a compelling tale, IX had great game play, X was visually appetizing), it was this game that had me hooked more than the ones before it. This was the one that will remain cemented in history and left quite a legendary impact among us all.

Xeno series (Xenogears)

I want to say so badly that Xenogears is my favorite RPG game of all time, but Suikoden II precedes it by a slight margin (the story and overall charm). I personally logged in over 120+ hours into this game to nearly max out my characters and to make the protagonist of the game, Fei Fong Wong, exploitable to broken mechanics.

Xenogears is the first “Xeno” title release and was the fifth installment to the series. The game had a lot of plotlines and so much psychological warfare, worse than Neon Genesis: Evangelion, but considering that the main character isn’t an adolescent child and could beat down mechas with his bare hands, it’s considered a good thing. Okay? Okay! Moving along.

The world of Xenogears was heavily influenced by the principles and philosophies of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and  Friedrich Nietzsche, that comprised the world, plot, and even down to the character designs of the game (the game’s character “ID” will be a dead giveaway to those that studied Freud’s work). I’ve never played a game that had this much philosophical influence in my life, especially how the characters made that much of an impact to the story, which is the main draw of this game. The sequels (Xenosaga) were a treat but weren’t the behemoth as what Gears made it to be. I don’t wish to spoil the whole details of the game but I advise that you snag a copy of Xenogears from the PS Store right now.

Though my list is much larger, these are some of the games that captivated the essence of holiday gaming for me. Happy Holidays, and here’s to the impending 2014.

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One Response to “Holiday Gaming: JRPGs to Remember”

1. Burbie52 says:

   December 30, 2013 at 1:47 pm

   I have played all of these games over the course of my PS1 and PS2 use. I loved Legend of Dragoon, still have a copy I think somewhere, and I have FF7-13 as well, without 11 which was online. I also have played Suikoden 1 and 2 and wish I had the copies still but they were borrowed, not bought. I may have to look at the store and download a copy of that one.
   Thanks for the overall view Jun.

   Reply