The original PlayStation ended up cementing a permanent shift in a console industry that had been dominated by one competitor for the longest time. Sony developed the concepts that Nintendo had rejected during a planned partnership and released what is considered by many to be one of the landmark consoles of the fifth generation.
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A big part of what made the PlayStation such a household name was that it essentially became the central hub for what most people consider to be the golden age of JRPGs. Kickstarted by the much-belovedFinal Fantasy VII, the PlayStation was graced by a whole host of excellent titles in this genre that featured excellent stories, characters, and battle systems that innovated upon the established turn-based norms in some truly entertaining ways.
Keeping this in mind, here are some of the best battle systems ever featured in a PS1 JRPG.
10Chrono Cross
Most people expectedChrono Trigger’s sequel to be a world-beater in its own right, butChrono Crossobviously did not meet those lofty — and somewhat unrealistic — expectations. However, that’s not to say thatChrono Crossis a bad game in the slightest. In fact, people who look past the supposed ties the game shares to its legendary prequel will be able to enjoy a solid, entertaining, andjam-packed JRPG.
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A big part of what makesChrono Crosssuch an entertaining experience is the innovations it includes in its battle system. Field Effects either strengthen or weaken certain Elements, and the Stamina meter also governs how effective a player can be in a particular turn. All these elements add a layer of depth to the combat system that makes every battle quite a blast indeed.
9Parasite Eve
Unlike most of the other JRPGs released by Squaresoft (now Square Enix),Parasite Eveis unique in the sense that it’s one of the few games on the PlayStation to receive an M rating due to the graphic images present in this title.
Controlling Aya Brea in combatis nothing short of a blast. The unique combination of real-time and turn-based elements work together to allow for a sustained level of tension in most battles. It makes for an entertaining combat system, at least until the player runs out of ammo and has to go through a cumbersome menu to equip more bullets.
8The Legend Of Dragoon
While the story ofThe Legend of Dragoonis as cliched as can be, the game’s highlight is undoubtedly its highly-involving combat system.
Featuring the use of Additions — basically, quick-time events for most attacks — each battle inThe Legend of Dragoonbecomes a highly involved affair. These battles get even more entertaining when the player unlocks the Dragoon Form for its party members, who can end up devastating the battlefield with their powerful abilities.
7Valkyrie Profile
While seeming extremely simple at first glance, chaining attacks inValkyrie Profile’s combat system never gets old. The combat constantly evolves as the game progresses and the player unlocks new mechanics and party members.
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Of course, it helps that the game has a mysterious and alluring story that will keep fans guessing all the way to the end. However, a sore spot for most players is that the game needs to be played at its highest difficulty to unlock the true ending.
Choosing this difficulty is the least convoluted step in a series of many to unlock this ending, by the way.
6Legend Of Legaia
Legend of Legaiais not the most innovative game from a story standpoint, which is certainly not helped by its cut-and-dry characters. That said, people who are willing to look past this rather egregious negative will be able to enjoy what is easily one of the most innovative combat systems in a JRPG to date.
Featuring an exciting combo system and the innovative use of Arts,Legend of Legaiais an extremely entertaining JRPG whose battle mechanics are more than enough to keep players occupied all the way until the very end.
5Xenogears
Xenogearshad a ton of promise that eventually ended up collapsing in the second disc when the project ran out of money. Consequently, it had to replaceintricate dungeonswith repetitive text scrolls and meaningless story beats.
However, the combat system can definitely make up for this, with both on-foot combat and large-scale mech fights being nothing short of an absolute blast to get through.
4Vagrant Story
It’s a shame thatVagrant Storywas released near the tail-end of the original PlayStation’s run and was promptly forgotten as a result, since the title itself is easilyone of the greatest JRPGs released on the console to date.
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Not only is this gamea crucial part of Ivalice’s story— a series featuring numerous games from theFinal Fantasyseries as well, includingFinal Fantasy XII— but it also featured a challenging combat system. Players could target different parts of an enemy to tactically dish out damage.
3Grandia
While laterGrandiagames improved on the combat quite a bit, the original combat system in the firstGrandiatitle is still a lot of fun.
Each fight — regular or otherwise — was a blast as players tried to optimize the use of their skills and win battles in dominating fashion. This made for a satisfying experience that has been replicated in future games, although some promising mechanics from the first title were slashed in the sequels in favor of a more streamlined combat experience.
2Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasywas a series mostly notable for its turn-based combat. Therefore, whenFinal Fantasy Tacticsreared its head and went in a completely different direction, fans were more than intrigued to see how this SRPG could change things up.
The answer was quite a bit.Final Fantasy Tacticsis a delight to play through. Each encounter is a tactical battle that required the players to think ahead and adapt to any situation on the fly, making for a tight and engaging experience.
1Final Fantasy VIII
While most people considerFinal Fantasy VIIto be the greatest JRPG on the PS1 andFinal Fantasy IXto be nearly as good, the entry released in between those two tends to be disregarded for a whole host of reasons. This is quite a shame sinceFinal Fantasy VIIIfeatures the most involved combat systems out of all three titles.
While the Junction system can take a while to get used to, players who end upmaking the most of whatFinal Fantasy VIIIhas to offerwill find themselves enjoying an incredibly satisfying JRPG. The combat system also highlights some of the most stunning visuals on the console.
