I have a good PS1 emulator on my phone and I need suggestions on games to try

[𝐍𝐲𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥]

About 4 or 5 months ago I downloaded a PS1 emulator called ePSXe so I could play Metal Gear Solid, as of now I've played and completed a multitude of other games like Final Fantasy Origins, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 7, MGS, and some NCAA sports games I used to play when I was younger. For the past couple of weeks I've been trying to find more games to play but nothing comes to mind. I'm willing to try almost anything as long as it's not too difficult or confusing, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thank you. 🙂 

[Jotari]

Well if you're on this site then chances are you'll have some passing interesting Tear Ring Saga, the rip off Fire Emblem game FIre Emblem's creator made and released on Play Station. Aside from that, every Final Fantasy game on the PS1 is absolutely solid, you say you've got 7, but definitely go for 8 and 9 too. FOr a more obscure choice, SIlent Bomber is an underrated gem of the PS1 (though the last few levels might violate your not too difficult clause). The first Digimon World is also just pure fun.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

My PS1 days were a lot of Spryo, Crash, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Those games all have great remasters on modern systems, but the PS1 originals are still as good now as they were then. Ditto for Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Klonoa Door to Phantomille. 

As for games that don't have remasters and emulation is your only option, Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 is really good. I love the Resident Evil trilogy. Most people suggest skipping the first one (I wouldn't), but if you do, make sure you know what tank controls are before starting. 2 and 3 start you off in rooms with enemies, and every new player to Resident Evil I've seen stream those games have died right there because they don't know how to move their character. Parasite Eve is a very neat survival horror/JRPG hybrid that isn't as long as your average JRPG. My only issue recommending that game is that it's got a lot of body horror FMV cutscenes that are not recommended for the Squeamish. 

And when it comes to JRPGs, Suikoden 1 and 2 still hold up big time. Final Fantasy 9 is an easy pick. Wild Arms 1 and 2 have Zelda-style item puzzles in their dungeons (though the latter game is plagued with an awful translation). The Legend of Dragoon is another favorite of mine. 

[Yexin]

Xenosaga, Valkyrie Profile, FFVII, VIII, IX, FF Tactics, Brigandine

Edited March 3, 2022 by Yexin

[SoulWeaver]

4 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

The Legend of Dragoon is another favorite of mine. 

Seconding this one, lovely game with a hit system style I've never encountered in any other RPG I've played personally, though I'm sure somebody's tried it.

[Eltosian Kadath]

 

4 hours ago, SoulWeaver said:

Seconding this one, lovely game with a hit system style I've never encountered in any other RPG I've played personally, though I'm sure somebody's tried it.

It kinda reminds me of the system that the first two Paper Mario games, and their spiritual successors the Mario & Luigi RPGs use. I have a soft spot for this game as well, although I always found the game's official English translation kinda bad, not funny bad, just boring bad...

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Ape Escape
Blast Chamber
Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters
Bushido Blade
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Crash Team Racing
Crash Bash
Dino Crisis
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Frogger
Jet Moto
Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor: Underground
Namco Museum Vol. 1
Namco Museum Vol. 3
Pac-Man World
PaRappa the Rapper
Rayman
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Ridge Racer Revolution
Silent Hill
Spider-Man
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles
Syphon Filter
Tekken
Tekken 2
Tekken 3
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
The Legend of Dragoon
Tomb Raider
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
Twisted Metal
Twisted Metal 2
Wild Arms

[Reality]

Let me look

 

Alundra - Basically Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on PS1

MDK - One of the only good 3rd person shooters ever made. A Lot of fierce debates over where MDK or MDK2 (Shiny vs Bioware) is the better game

Mr Driller - Not filled with all the variants and sidemodes that Drill:Land has, but the core-gameplay loop of one of the greatest arcade-puzzle games is already in place. The final challenge of getting to 2000M is pretty tough.

Devil Dice - Brilliant Puzzle Game. I've only played the PS2 sequel Bombastastic though

Colony Wars + Colony Wars: Vengeance - These are somewhat lightweight but fast paced 6 Degree of Freedom space games. The genre namesake (Descent) is based on flying through caves instead of open space so they feel very diferent in that regard. Recomendation is mostly because of atmosphere. The 2nd game's story tries to convince you that the 1st game's story was propaganda all along.

Crash Team Racing - Stages are better than essentially any Mario Kart... but the in-depth drifting mecahnics means that this is almost Mario Party 1 levels of hurting your real-life hands

Ape Escape 1&2 -  The best 3D platformer of PS1. Can feel short if you don't have a completetionist attitude because you don't NEED all monkeys in a level (but mario doesn't need all stars in a level either tbh). I think the 1st game is mostly better, but 2 does have a wrestler that suplexes dinosaurs in it.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarding 1&2 - some of the greatest game's of all time. 

RPGs - Grandia 1, Final Fantasy 7, Front Mission 3, Vagrant Story. ---- ALL 4 of these games have some annoying qualities that prevent me from using them as general recomendations - Also any of them are 4 times the time investment of other genres, this being PS1.

Grandia 1 has 2 appeals = the unique timeline battle system, and the "childhood wonder" story theme it has for disc 1. Technically Granida 2 and espeically the recent indie Child of Light can showcase the timeline battle system with a ton less playtime, but I just really didn't like the charathers/world in them.

Final Fantasy 7 - I like this game because it has themes of vulnerability and false idenities. This game also breaks up tension with humor which I feel like is really rare for PS1 even though SNES RPGs did it all the time.  I feel like it has much better pacing than most FF games, although it doesn't quite get into Chrono Trigger / Dragon Quest (Hustle you along) territory. 

Front Mission 3 - I consider it the best PS1 SRPG > FFT and Tactics:Ogre. This is mostly due to problems with bloat in the latter two games. Although FM3's mecha theme and superior music certinaly help.

Vagrant Story - A single charather RPG that is kind of a 3rd person action game but has you use a psuedo turn based thing for individal sword swings (without leaving the overworld). After the 2nd~ area equipment and level up skill choice can become extremely important and many players quit in frustation from doing single digit damage. I feel like it's a great game but I don't recomend it much because of this.