PS1 JRPGs that Have the Best Soundtracks

There may not have been a more important time for video game music than the 1990s. Next-generation hardware like the SNES and Genesis were equipped with powerful, highly competent sound chips that made actual, legitimate compositions possible.

Fast-forward to the sixth-generation of game consoles, and you have even more advanced CD-based machines. The expanded storage space meant that composers could go absolutely nuts, and go nuts they did. Especially on the original PlayStation, where industry legends like Nobuo Uematsu and Yoko Shimomura took full advantage of what the CD medium could do for their music.

That was most certainly true of JRPGs on the system. Ask anyone about the best music from this era of video games, and chances are they will mention a JRPG eventually.

Years later, this music still resonates. The JRPGs on the PS1 featured some of the most beautiful, expertly composed soundtracks of all time, and have influenced countless composers for decades.

8 Wild Arms

Big Soundtrack with Big Feelings

The space western themes of Wild Arms weren't just relegated to its visuals and focus on ranged firearm combat. Its music also leaned heavily into the Wild West style, as composer Michiko Naruke captured the sweeping, panoramic sound of classic western films while fusing it with more contemporary sensibilities.

With her focus on larger than life themes, lush string and brass sections, as well as a gentle mix of modern scifi elements, the soundtrack for Wild Arms is simply outstanding. This is one of those games where the music will stick with you, and you may find yourself humming the main theme to yourself from time to time.

Wild Arms would continue this trend in future sequels, but the unique blend of traditional Wild West music with action-heavy JRPG-style composition is still an absolute winner.

7 Dragon Quest VII: Fragments Of The Forgotten Past

The Theme of Adventure

The familiar opening fanfare of Dragon Quest has powered numerous JRPG soundtracks, and the lone appearance of the franchise on the PS1 is no exception. Thanks to the massive hardware improvements the PS1 made over previous generations, Dragon Quest's music never sounded better.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past includes all the franchise's classic, traditional motifs. Composer Koichi Sugiyama was able to squeeze out every bit of power he could from the machine, as the music sounds far less like MIDI than other games on the console.

There's a big, bold sound to the music in Dragon Quest VII. It's able to seamlessly transition from high-stakes adventure to the small, plucky incidental music that has defined this franchise for years, all thanks to the cutting-edge sound hardware of the PS1.

6 Valkyrie Profile

One of the Most Innovative Soundtracks Ever Produced

It's fair to say that some of the games from this generation may not hold up as well as others, but it isn't just the outstanding gameplay from Valkyrie Profile that holds up. The soundtrack is still one of the best I've ever heard, even over two decades later.

There are so many unique sound profiles in the game's score. It doesn't rely on traditional fantasy tropes, instead creating a soundscape that feels incredibly fresh today.

Classic instruments of the genre meld together with pulsing rhythms and the occasional gnashing electric guitar. Valkyrie Profile's lightning-quick pace is matched by its driving, intense soundtrack that sounds so unlike anything released during this generation.

5 Vagrant Story

Proof that the Old-School Methods Still Work

Of all the games on this list, Vagrant Story perhaps feels the most traditional with its music. A lot of games during this era were focused on what kind of unique, contemporary sounds you could create, but Vagrant Story leans into something a bit more classic.

Longtime Square-Enix collaborator Hitoshi Sakimoto relies on classic orchestral foundations, evoking sounds that feel like they came from a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. The strings, brass and woodwinds do a lot of heavy lifting here, carrying the game's epic scale and broad vistas.

The soundtrack also brings that scale way down when it needs to. As you enter each part of Lea Monde's crumbling depths, the music drops into more ominous, synth-like drones. It's a soundtrack with remarkable poise and identity.

4 The Legend Of Dragoon

Tradition Meets EDM Nightclub

It was fairly common for JRPGs on the PS1 to find a way to mash up classic, SNES-era orchestration with more modern sounds. It wasn't entirely uncommon to have a soundtrack on the PS1 that sounded like a full symphony orchestra spent a weekend inside a nightclub.

That's especially true of The Legend of Dragoon. It certainly makes great use of more familiar sounds, evoking classic fantasy and adventure films with its big, brassy sounds.

Other times, though, The Legend of Dragoon is a sharp, laser-focused mix of electronic beats and orchestral foundations. It's the type of soundtrack that defines a childhood, with standout tracks like Dart's Theme and Hokes Village being burned into my brain all these years later.

3 Chrono Cross

Continuing a Strong Legacy of Great Music

The Chrono series already had a pretty strong musical legacy by the time the PS1 came around. Chrono Trigger on the SNES features one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time, so any sequels had quite a hill to climb.

Thankfully, composer Yasunori Mitsuda was more than up to the task with Chrono Cross. In terms of PS1 soundtracks, Chrono Cross is one of the console's most refined, magnificent works.

It opens with an absolute masterpiece in the form of Time's Scar, then just continues to improve with each and every track. Tracks like Prisoners of Fate and Lost in Time showcase just how much control and precise expertise that composers of this era had on the PS1 hardware by the year 2000.

2 Parasite Eve

Orchestral Horror Meets the Opera

Composer Yoko Shimomura isn't just an industry legend. She's an easy lock for one of the greatest video game composers of all time.

One of the key reasons for that is her work on Parasite Eve. It remains one of my favorite games of all time, and a major part of that is Shimomura's music. It's not just a good bit of work, it's integral to the game's core identity.

While it would have been perfectly valid to go for a stock survival horror sound, Yoko Shimomura deftly combines traditional orchestra, electronic EDM-style music and opera. It sounds like it would be an absolute mess, but she pulls it off perfectly.

Wailing, operatic voices work fiercely alongside pulsing beats and classic movie instruments. You'd be hard-pressed to find a soundtrack more unique or innovative on the system than Parasite Eve.

1 Final Fantasy 7

Nobuo Uematsu's Finest Work

Nobuo Uematsu is pretty much the consensus for greatest video game composer of all time. His body of work more than speaks for itself, as he's done everything from Final Fantasy to Lost Odyssey, but there's one particular game of his that towers above the rest.

Final Fantasy 7's soundtrack is eclipsed in its massive scope only by the level of artistry on display. Each track has some sort of unique, memorable element to it.

No genre is left unturned in this huge, wonderfully constructed soundtrack. It covers traditional orchestral music, jazz, swing, it's all over the shop in the most outstanding way.

One-Winged Angel, the dramatic music that represents the character of Sephiroth, is one of the greatest video game tracks ever produced. It has become synonymous with the franchise ever since, and is just one of the reasons this important JRPG soundtrack has stood the rest of time for almost three decades.