5 underrated PlayStation RPGs to revisit in 2022

While the SNES era of RPGs was phenomenal, there’s a lot to say about the PlayStation era as well. It was home to many games that are still heralded today as all-time classics, and need to be played and appreciated.

However, some of these amazing games simply get overshadowed by the other titans of the console. For every Final Fantasy game, there was a Wild Arms title. For every game like Xenogears and Star Ocean, there was a game like Alundra. It’s the home to many of the best RPGs of all time, but here are some that may have been overlooked and deserve another chance.

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The PlayStation era of RPGs is one of the greatest of all time

Some RPGs almost made this list, but have been remade repeatedly, or will be having a remake on their way in the near future. One example of such a game is Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. It was ported to several systems and has a remake coming this year.

Another game that has been remade at least once was Star Ocean: The Second Story, which didn’t have the same impact as its predecessor did. The PlayStation Portable remake was an incredible experience, and while it hasn’t been ported to the PS4/PS5, it could happen sometime in the future.

RPGs to revisit

• Wild ARMs
• Vandal Hearts
• Legend of Legaia
• The Legend of Dragoon
• Suikoden

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5) Wild ARMs

Final Fantasy wasn’t the only RPG series that made a huge impact on the PlayStation. Wild ARMs had a trilogy of games on the platform, and the first two were excellent. The Wild West thematics and music were a huge change in pace from the game, which also felt like a fantasy title.

The game revolves around a group of characters who come upon an ancient and violent technology known as ARMs. The game has a major focus on environmentalism.

Their world, Filgaia has been devastated in the past by technology and natural causes. Many of the threats that the heroes face are technological in nature as well. It’s a classic franchise, and it deserves more love than it gets.

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4) Vandal Hearts

Vandal Hearts is a gorgeous little RPG that really shows off what the PlayStation can do in terms of 3D environments. The battlegrounds are beautiful isometric scenes with nice 2D character sprites. It has a combat system similar to Fire Emblem, in which it uses a rock-paper-scissors system to determine a class’ strengths and weaknesses.

It features an epic story of a world torn by war, featuring government conspiracy and civil unrest. It’s a story that many can identify with, not being satisfied with the ruling powers and the various decisions they make.

Vandal Hearts, in particular, has the distinction of being the first 32bit RPG released. It is also one of North America’s first major tactical RPGs.

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3) Legend of Legaia

Legend of Legaia is fondly remembered by many role-playing fans, but at that time, it was not critically well-received. It was kind of a downer story but it delivered on every front. Excellent music? Check. Engaging story? Check. It also had a memorable combat system.

The “Tactical Arts System” was an awesome combo system that felt very much like being a martial artist. Players would pick specific orders of attacks to create combos and deliver devastating special attacks. It was a challenging system since players also had to hit the right area with the right attacks to really be effective.

It was a beautiful game, and it’s one of the best RPGs that many remember to this day. Maybe it’s time to go back and play it again.

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2) The Legend of Dragoon

Not everyone may agree that The Legend of Dragoon is really all that underrated. Fans love the classic RPG, but it has yet to be remade, or get a sequel that it richly deserves. There are rumors that Bluepoint is going to offer up a remake, but unfortunately, there’s nothing concrete.

Sadly, being released late in the console’s lifetime hurt it a great deal. However, its beautiful visuals and fun active combat system were a blast. On top of that, the Dragoon transformations were awe-inspiring at the time. The story was compelling and captured fans all over the world.

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1) Suikoden

Suikoden, the classic PlayStation-era RPG, inspired by one of the Chinese classics (Water Margin), is without a doubt, one of the best RPGs on the entire platform. The story of the 108 heroes dealing with a corrupt government is beautiful, ambitious, and challenging. It also has 107 characters that the protagonist can recruit to his team.

Admittedly, not all of these characters were playable, and there were only six people that could join the protagonist in battle at a time This offered lots of replayability and options for how the player would approach the game.

Though the series has had several remakes, very few of them match the impact the original game had. It wasn’t about saving the world but just dealing with corrupt government officials and politicians. While not every recruitable character wasn’t fully fleshed out, that’s more indicative of hardware limitations than anything else.

There is hope that Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, a spiritual successor to the franchise, will be a major success, and shine a light on this franchise. However, only time will tell.

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PlayStation simply had so many amazing role-playing games on it, and this is just one writer’s opinion on what games on the platform are underrated and deserve a replay in 2022.