8 JRPG Franchises That Started on PS1

The JRPG genre has been around for over four decades. Its earliest days produced franchises that are still around today, as the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest came early in the genre's infancy. As JRPGs entered the 1990s, however, it became quite clear that they were entering something of a golden age.

Thanks to the PlayStation, JRPGs were able to excel far beyond their original ambitions. The hardware that powered established JRPG franchises also meant that newcomers were able to enter the fray. The PS1's JRPG library was full of established franchises making the leap, but new IPs were just as big on the console.

A lot of JRPG franchises that we celebrate and love today got started on the PS1. This entire console generation was founded on exciting original IPs, and JRPGs were taking full advantage of what the hardware could to in order to create fascinating new mythologies to explore and uncover.

8 Vandal Hearts

Stealing Hearts, Taking Turns

Though Konami is mostly known for PS1 classics like Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill, they also produced some spectacular JRPGs for the console. Vandal Hearts is a strong contender for one of the console's best games, as it expertly combines turn-based tactical combat with some delightful-looking sprites and environments.

Some of Konami's best games came during this era, but Vandal Hearts is one of those titles that often gets lost in the shuffle. It's an amazingly well-designed strategy JRPG, and one that would spawn quite a lovely little franchise.

The sequel, Vandal Hearts II, would launch near the end of the console's life, while a third game would hit PSN and Xbox Live Arcade in 2010. Future games in the franchise would sadly fail to reach the heights of the original, but it was still a fun little series to put some time into back in the day.

7 Xenogears

The Most Ambitious PS1 Game of All Time

Much in the same way that musicians and filmmakers inspire others, video games quite often have the same impact. Though they do not share storyline continuity, the creation of Xenogears was directly responsible for the creation of Monolith Soft, as well as their larger Xeno meta series.

Much like the rest of the franchise, Xenogears often feels like a game that is being slowly crushed under the weight of its enormous ambition. It's a game with its own unique world and universe, a sprawling scifi epic that explores philosophy, religion and political posturing within the confines of a Star Wars-esque universe.

The likes of Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles are direct descendants of Xenogears, as Monolith would use this game as a jumping off point to create a supremely unique style of JRPG that they continue to refine decades later. Xenogears is an excellent game on its own, but its most endearing legacy is the creation of a long-running JRPG franchise that is still in operation today.

6 Parasite Eve

Christmas Horror

It didn't take long for me to absolutely fall in love with Parasite Eve when I first played it back in the late 1990s. Looking back at it as often as I do, I'm often baffled at how there wasn't a rush of Parasite Eve-likes. It's genuinely one of the most brilliant JRPGs I've ever played.

The combination of traditional JRPG systems with survival horror mechanics is brilliant, and it's one of the most innovative games that the PS1 has to offer. It also makes use of some delightfully creepy pre-rendered backgrounds, a common tactic that JRPGs and survival horror games used effectively back then.

Parasite Eve is made up of two titles on the PS1 and one on the PSP, as well as a book, of which all the video games are based upon. It's a shame that it hasn't been revisited lately, but frustrating licensing issues and a Square-Enix team that's focused on other things have left Aya's story disappointingly cut short.

5 Wild Arms

Wild West JRPG

What's always been so cool about the JRPG genre to me is how malleable it is. You can always fall back on knights and the European fantasy tropes, but it's the JRPGs that graft the systems onto a more interesting setting that often get me quite excited.

Case in point, the Wild Arms franchise. It was one of the earliest PS1 games, launching just one year after the console's launch in December 1996. Instead of wizards and dragons, Wild Arms is a JRPG built around the Wild West, utilizing a fabulous combination of guns and swords.

Wild Arms would go on to spawn five mainline games, multiple spin-offs and an anime, as well as some pretty cool manga. Sadly, Wild Arms hasn't been heard from in a while, with its last release being a Japan-only mobile game. It's far past time for Rudy Roughknight and the gang to return.

4 Persona

How to Create a Franchise and Influence People

Although the series that spawned it, Shin Megami Tensei, first launched on the Famicom back in 1987, Persona would debut on the PS1 in 1996 as Revelations: Persona. SMT certainly has its fans, and I count myself among them, but Persona was very clearly its own, unique brand of JRPG.

Since then, it's fair to say that the Persona franchise has dwarfed anything related to SMT. As a JRPG, it's a fairly decent time, but the world it created would go on to become one of the biggest multimedia franchises in the world.

Five mainline games later, with a sixth on the way, Persona is a household name when it comes to JRPGs. It's sometimes hard to believe, as looking back at the original game feels like a lifetime ago now. I've always preferred SMT personally, but Persona is still one of the most important JRPGs on the console.

3 Suikoden

Turn-Based Tactical Mastery

Konami was really having the time of its life on the PS1. If you think about their biggest, most profitable franchises, many of them either started or found a core audience on the PS1.

Suikoden is one of the most beloved JRPG franchises of all time, and it all started way back in 1996. There wasn't an enormous number of turn-based tactical JRPGs on the console compared to the other styles, but Suikoden is certainly one of the best on the console.

In the year since, Suikoden would produce multiple sequels, spin-offs, anime and manga. It has evolved from a beloved PS1 JRPG into a sprawling multimedia franchise of its own, and despite having some troubles, Konami has recently done a wonderful job at getting the series back on track.

2 Arc the Lad

He's a Good Lad

While the original Arc the Lad game is a lovely experience, and easily one of my favorite PS1 games of all time, I've always been thankful that the franchise it created far exceeded the bounds of that first title. It's one of the most oft-overlooked JRPG franchises, and has some of the most enjoyable combat I've ever experienced in the genre.

Arc the Lad's run on the PS1 was nothing short of legendary. The trilogy of games that started in 1995 are some of the best JRPGs on the console, and its deeply satisfying tactical combat is so much fun.

Future Arc the Lad games built on this beautifully, especially during the PS2 generation. Arc the Lad got off to a great start on the PS1, but the series of games and anime that would be produced as a result are second to none.

1 Valkyrie Profile

An Apocalyptic JRPG

If there's one JRPG that I would encourage everyone to play, it's Valkyrie Profile. At this point, everyone has played the console's biggest heavy hitters, but very few people seem to be aware of just how breathtakingly brilliant Valkyrie Profile is.

The pace of its combat system and controls are just so alluring, and it gradually built on that with each new release. Valkyrie Profile is an absolute gem on the PS1, but the sequels are no slouch. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is a PS2 classic, and it also saw a few compelling spin-offs.

Valkyrie Elysium, the franchise's newest entry, came out in 2022. It wasn't exactly what the franchise needed at the time, but it still proved that it had something of a pulse inside Square-Enix. The original game remains the gold standard, however, and a new game in that style could be exactly what the doctor ordered.