Square Enix, or just Square or SquareSoft during this early period, had an impressive library on the SNES. Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 are still regarded as some of the best RPGs ever made and still hold up well today even on the original hardware. Unfortunately, a lot of the company's library remains trapped in Japan, with many series and one-off games that the West still hasn’t seen.
Square was better about that during the PS1 era. Not every game they made came over to the west, but the company at least made more of an effort to localize the niche along with the automatic hits. Square Enix is doing even better now, but it's still interesting to take a look back at some of the best Square Enix games on the PS1.
For the sake of variety, only one game per series will be selected; with one exception.
8 Bushido Blade 2
Bushido Blade 2 is the final entry in this short-lived series, but Square at least went out with a bang. It improved a lot over the original while keeping the core gameplay gimmick intact. It is a fighting game with weapons, like Soulcalibur, except that players will die in one hit.
This is true for multiplayer and it is true for the campaign. Players can wield katanas, spears, and many other weapons to decimate their opponents in battle. There have been spiritual successors to Bushido Blade 2 outside of Square, but no one has topped it yet.
7 Legend Of Mana
Legend of Mana is one of the most breathtaking games on the PS1. The watercolor art style mixed with the polygonal models worked well on the system. The game looks even better thanks to the remaster that came out in 2021.
The action gameplay is as solid as ever, but the loose structure of the world can turn some people off. Overall, Legend of Mana is not quite as good as Secret of Mana, or even Trials of Mana, but it is still up there as one of the best in the Mana series.
6 Front Mission 3
Front Mission 3 is the final mainline game in the Front Mission series to hit the PS1. It is also the first game in the series to be localized outside of Japan. It is a tactical RPG in which units move on the grid and perform turn-based actions.
The gimmick here is that every character pilots a giant mech called a Wanzer. The customization for these mechs runs deep and if players can only play one game in the series, this, and the fourth one on the PS2, are the best candidates.
5 Vagrant Story
Vagrant Story is technically part of the Final Fantasy series but in a roundabout way. It takes place in the world of Ivalice, which some fans may recognize as the Final Fantasy Tactics universe. This was more like a retcon to try and get it within a timeline that doesn’t really matter though.
What does matter is that this action/turn-based RPG hybrid has some Metroidvania bones in it. Players will start in a castle that opens up its grounds and region over time. It was a late PS1 title, released in 2000, which may be why it is a tad overlooked.
4 Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross is not the sequel to Chrono Trigger that most fans wanted. It barely has anything to do with what made Chrono Trigger so unique and fresh for the genre. It’s a lot like how Final Fantasy differs between each mainline sequel.
Instead of time travel, players will be pulled into a different universe to see how it and the real world are connected. There are still combo arts in combat, but the overall system changed between sequels. It was a weird departure, but that also makes it memorable.
3 Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve falls into the camp of horror RPGs, which is a subgenre that is severely lacking in content. It blended the turn-based tactics of other Square RPGs with the realistic outbreak of a zombie game like Resident Evil. It took place in the real world, New York City, where Detective Aya Brea has to stop a monstrous girl in Parasite Eve from mutating the population of the city into other creatures.
The game is loosely based on a Japanese novel, which is probably why the Square Enix of the future hasn’t made too many direct sequels or even a remaster, unfortunately. Of Square’s many PS1 titles, this deserves some newfound attention the most.
2 Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics helped make the tactical RPG genre popular in the west. Without it, Nintendo may never have had the courage to release the Fire Emblem or Advance Wars franchises overseas, which would have been a huge shame.
Final Fantasy was always good about its Job systems and this game took things to a new level. It was also challenging beyond all reason, giving players a run for their money. Players actually needed to use strategy for this one, making it one of the most difficult and therefore engaging entries in the series to date.
1 Final Fantasy 7
There were simply too many great Final Fantasy games released on the PS1 to just pick one. Final Fantasy Tactics belongs to a different genre and is great, but there is nothing quite like Final Fantasy 7. It is the RPG that helped a new generation of players get into the genre.
The advertisements on TV helped made it look like a mature adventure that pushed the video game industry forward with its graphics and storytelling. The commercials were not wrong either, even though they stretched the truth a little bit. There’s a big reason why fans wanted the remake of Final Fantasy 7 for so long. This is the ultimate Final Fantasy and there will never be another quite as popular.