anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
edited April 2021
Hey PS1 kid here while all my friends went N64 and I don't regret it a bit. I love the system.
Actually currently playing a PS1 game right now (although on the switch). It's FFIX and honestly I almost feel like it could pass as a PS2 game. It looks great and some of the mechanics seem pretty advanced for a PS1 game.
Hey PS1 kid here while all my friends went N64 and I don't regret it a bit. I love the system.
Actually currently playing a PS1 game right now (although on the switch). It's FFIX and honestly I almost feel like it could pass as a PS2 game. It looks great and some of the mechanics seem pretty advanced for a PS1 game.
FFIX is a "very end of the lifespan" PS1 game. Games from that time period can be very advanced... or very corner cutty, depending. The Last of Us is a Ps3 example of the former, with the last Twisted Metal games on Ps1 being the latter.
I'm basic, so Final Fantasy VIII is probably my favorite PS1 game. There's just so much I love about it. It has the best Final Fantasy soundtrack (outside of XIV, but that's basically 4 games smashed together at this point). It has the best minigame with Triple Triad. The art direction with a sci-fi/European aesthetic still holds up as pretty cool. I liked that you had a main character you got to hear the thoughts of. I know a lot of people rag on Squall for being emo or whatever, but I thought he was an interesting protagonist. The spell junctioning/drawing system, while flawed in practice, was still a really neat idea in theory and some of that still shines through when playing the game. It has some of the best set-pieces in any Final Fantasy game, in my opinion. The raid on Dollet, the train job, the assassination stuff, the missile base, saving the Garden from the missiles, the Balamb vs Galbadia battle, the stuff in space and on Ragnarok. Also, gunblades are cool. Also also, I really loved the fixed camera angles in this (and other games like it). It allowed the developers to frame scenes in interesting ways that you don't really get with free cameras in most modern games.
I was somehow more or less oblivious to the PS1 during its lifetime. But when I bought a PS2 (my first console since the NES), I started picking up PS1 games as well. Shortly afterwards, a friend moving back to Britain sold me his collection of PS1 games for $100. It was a really weird selection, with big titles like Parasite Eve 1 and 2 alongside more obscure stuff like Koudelka and Alundra.
Anyway, I can't let people talk about PS1 games without bringing up Gunparade March, perhaps the biggest Japanese game to never make it to the West.
It essentially did the same things the later Persona games would go on to do, dividing gameplay between lifesim sections (in which you went to school, worked, went on dates, etc.) and battles in which you controlled a mech. The lifesim sections were a little more important than in Persona, though, in that you could die in them if you did the wrong thing (like cheating on the wrong girlfriend). The story was heavily influenced by Evangelion and it was incredibly ambitious, allowing you to take on any position in your military unit from infantry scout, mech pilot, to unit commander. It was originally intended to have 23 playable characters and 5 different stories (though this was later axed).
It was a huge hit in Japan, leading to a TRPG, CCG, 8 drama CDs, and a 45-volume light novel series that only wrapped up in 2015:
Somehow, all we got in the West was the thoroughly mediocre anime, which excised anything interesting from the rather grim plot to make it a slice of life comedy.
Sadly, the success of the game seems to have gone to the devs' heads, as they released three sequels on the PS2. Which sounds like a good thing, until you learn that the three games (all full-priced, of course) came out within a span of six months. The first game wasn't well-received and the other two sold very poorly, more or less killing off the series.
And in terms of underrated gems I loved I don't see get enough praise: Einhander and Silent Bomber. Check 'em out. They're great.
There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
+8
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reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
Vagrant Story is by far the most graphically stunning game on the entire platform. Top notch tech combined with amazing art style. It might not be the best game on the platform (the gameplay is honestly kind of bad), but it's one of the most memorable.
Also fun fact, the unique localization style the game's English version went with was inspired by the then-recently released novel, The Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones.
Anyway, I can't let people talk about PS1 games without bringing up Gunparade March, perhaps the biggest Japanese game to never make it to the West.
It essentially did the same things the later Persona games would go on to do, dividing gameplay between lifesim sections (in which you went to school, worked, went on dates, etc.) and battles in which you controlled a mech. The lifesim sections were a little more important than in Persona, though, in that you could die in them if you did the wrong thing (like cheating on the wrong girlfriend). The story was heavily influenced by Evangelion and it was incredibly ambitious, allowing you to take on any position in your military unit from infantry scout, mech pilot, to unit commander. It was originally intended to have 23 playable characters and 5 different stories (though this was later axed).
It was a huge hit in Japan, leading to a TRPG, CCG, 8 drama CDs, and a 45-volume light novel series that only wrapped up in 2015:
Somehow, all we got in the West was the thoroughly mediocre anime, which excised anything interesting from the rather grim plot to make it a slice of life comedy.
Sadly, the success of the game seems to have gone to the devs' heads, as they released three sequels on the PS2. Which sounds like a good thing, until you learn that the three games (all full-priced, of course) came out within a span of six months. The first game wasn't well-received and the other two sold very poorly, more or less killing off the series.
Worth noting the same devs also made the excellent Castle Shkiigami series, and Alfa System, lunatics that they are, somehow have the crazy idea of a shared universe between GPM, Shikigami, and Elemental Gearbolt.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I will always revere the original Wild Arms on PS1 as the game that really got me into JRPGs. Would play it again in an instant if the chance came up
This was the game that introduced me to the late title card. You get about four hours in and then credits roll while stuff is going on (I think a funeral?) and then back to the game. That was a cool moment.
PlayStation 1 games look 10x better when you increase the internal resolution on an emulator. I wish they had that option on the PS3.
Here is the same game in HD. https://youtu.be/JcfNd11R4uE
Dreamcast games actually look great at their default resolution in an emulator. It is just a pain to dump the game to run in the emulator because the disc format does not work on a PC.
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
Some of the other games I remember playing a lot of.
- Rugrats
- Spyro
- Sled Storm
- Jet Moto? Something moto? It was dirtbikes and I remember a track on the great wall of china
- Vigilante 8
- Pizza hut demo discs
- A ton of rentals I'm trying to remember like dino crisis. (although when the t rex smashed through that window young me noped out of that one.)
The PS1 will always hold a special place for me. It was when I started reading gaming magazines, and then gaming forums, looking at all the Japanese games that were coming out.
I genuinely think it was a great for the industry too. . So many weird and niche games being released that normally wouldn't. Square was killing it with their RPGs, but then they came out with fighters (Eirgheiz!) and shooters and what not.
Some of the other games I remember playing a lot of.
- Rugrats
- Spyro
- Sled Storm
- Jet Moto? Something moto? It was dirtbikes and I remember a track on the great wall of china
- Vigilante 8
- Pizza hut demo discs
- A ton of rentals I'm trying to remember like dino crisis. (although when the t rex smashed through that window young me noped out of that one.)
I had Jet Moto 2. It was not a very good game. It did have hoverbikes and a Mountain Dew sponsored racer, though, which was cool enough for me as a kid.
I need to find a lot of PS1 demo discs. I never had those. I had PC Gamer demo discs.
Was there ever an English Saturn version of Grandia? It looks like the only English version is the PS1 version.
Krathoon on
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
Demo discs in general are just super nostalgic for me. Demo discs as a kid were amazing since we obviously didn't have disposable income for games.
This thread has me ebaying PS1 games now and I'm kind of surprised that a lot of them aren't super expensive. Of course you have your heavy hitters, but a lot of the games I'm looking up are reasonable. Maybe it's time to work on the PS1 collection bit.
Anyone have any hidden gems they've enjoyed in the past that won't break the bank?
Some of the other games I remember playing a lot of.
- Rugrats
- Spyro
- Sled Storm
- Jet Moto? Something moto? It was dirtbikes and I remember a track on the great wall of china
- Vigilante 8
- Pizza hut demo discs
- A ton of rentals I'm trying to remember like dino crisis. (although when the t rex smashed through that window young me noped out of that one.)
I had Jet Moto 2. It was not a very good game. It did have hoverbikes and a Mountain Dew sponsored racer, though, which was cool enough for me as a kid.
The PS1 for me was Jet Moto 2 and Tekken and Crash. I got Jet Moto 2 on PSN a couple years back, and it's pretty difficult to go back to. I remembered it was challenging, but I didn't remember that it runs at like 20 FPS.
I remember playing a ton of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge in high school. I do not know if it is actually a good game. Also remember being amazed at Toy Story 2, my first experience with sandbox level design.
After playing BallisticNG on PC, I kinda want to check out Wipeout 1/XL/3.
The PS3 store is shutting down in July; last call for legal digital acquisition of many of these titles.
Some of the other games I remember playing a lot of.
- Rugrats
- Spyro
- Sled Storm
- Jet Moto? Something moto? It was dirtbikes and I remember a track on the great wall of china
- Vigilante 8
- Pizza hut demo discs
- A ton of rentals I'm trying to remember like dino crisis. (although when the t rex smashed through that window young me noped out of that one.)
I had Jet Moto 2. It was not a very good game. It did have hoverbikes and a Mountain Dew sponsored racer, though, which was cool enough for me as a kid.
The PS1 for me was Jet Moto 2 and Tekken and Crash. I got Jet Moto 2 on PSN a couple years back, and it's pretty difficult to go back to. I remembered it was challenging, but I didn't remember that it runs at like 20 FPS.
I remember playing a ton of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge in high school. I do not know if it is actually a good game. Also remember being amazed at Toy Story 2, my first experience with sandbox level design.
After playing BallisticNG on PC, I kinda want to check out Wipeout 1/XL/3.
The PS3 store is shutting down in July; last call for legal digital acquisition of many of these titles.
Ah. Crap. It is shutting down in July? We need a list of must have PS3 games and PSOne classics.
+1
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
Some of the other games I remember playing a lot of.
- Rugrats
- Spyro
- Sled Storm
- Jet Moto? Something moto? It was dirtbikes and I remember a track on the great wall of china
- Vigilante 8
- Pizza hut demo discs
- A ton of rentals I'm trying to remember like dino crisis. (although when the t rex smashed through that window young me noped out of that one.)
I had Jet Moto 2. It was not a very good game. It did have hoverbikes and a Mountain Dew sponsored racer, though, which was cool enough for me as a kid.
The PS1 for me was Jet Moto 2 and Tekken and Crash. I got Jet Moto 2 on PSN a couple years back, and it's pretty difficult to go back to. I remembered it was challenging, but I didn't remember that it runs at like 20 FPS.
I remember playing a ton of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge in high school. I do not know if it is actually a good game. Also remember being amazed at Toy Story 2, my first experience with sandbox level design.
After playing BallisticNG on PC, I kinda want to check out Wipeout 1/XL/3.
The PS3 store is shutting down in July; last call for legal digital acquisition of many of these titles.
Ah. Crap. It is shutting down in July? We need a list of must have PS3 games and PSOne classics.
Honestly saw this thread the other day and thought that's what it was for, but I agree. Whether it's in here or a brand new thread, I'd love to see everyone's recommendations on what to grab for the ps3 and vita before the stores go away.
Demo discs in general are just super nostalgic for me. Demo discs as a kid were amazing since we obviously didn't have disposable income for games.
This thread has me ebaying PS1 games now and I'm kind of surprised that a lot of them aren't super expensive. Of course you have your heavy hitters, but a lot of the games I'm looking up are reasonable. Maybe it's time to work on the PS1 collection bit.
Anyone have any hidden gems they've enjoyed in the past that won't break the bank?
I wonder if I have enough hard drive space for some new stuff on my PS3. Can you add an external drive?
They're only turning off new purchases. You'll still be able to download anything you've bought prior to the store shutdown.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Oh man Jet Moto? That reminds me of another great on the PSX, Wipeout XL! Future hovercar racing with some super tight controls, I loved that game. And that lets me dig out a picture of my favorite controller.
Demo discs in general are just super nostalgic for me. Demo discs as a kid were amazing since we obviously didn't have disposable income for games.
This thread has me ebaying PS1 games now and I'm kind of surprised that a lot of them aren't super expensive. Of course you have your heavy hitters, but a lot of the games I'm looking up are reasonable. Maybe it's time to work on the PS1 collection bit.
Anyone have any hidden gems they've enjoyed in the past that won't break the bank?
Pretty helpful resource for milking the JPSN before it goes down.
I'd say the shmups alone are a goldmine(Raycrisis! Einhander! CAVE! Thunderforce!), but there's also a ton of classic RPGs if you don't mind the language barrier, like Langrisser, the PS1 SMTs, and Rhapsody's unlocalized sequel, Puppet Princess.
Man, ok, so breath of fire 4. I know I brought the damn game up already, but I think I should talk about it specifically since it's so damn expensive and is also disappearing from the psn store.
It is a turn based JRPG, but it is also such a damn good JRPG. It came out 2000, so at the tail end of the ps1 life, and at a time when A: the system already had a ton of jrpgs, and B: people were starting to get some jrpg fatigue. They made an interesting decision of making the game environments 3d, but the sprites were all 2d hand drawn art. It is a destinctive style that might not have been very appealing at the time, but one that has aged surprisingly well. I don't think the game performed very well sales wise, which led to them steering the series away from JRPG with the sequel.
So it's a JRPG, but it does a ton of cool shit.
Party system: you have your entire (large) party in each combat, but only 3 members are 'active' and in the front row. Back row characters restore some HP and SP (aka MP) each round. Each character also has a unique back-row-only skill that will trigger when certain conditions are met (such as counterattacks when the front line is attacked, healing status effects, etc). You can move people between the front and back rows as actions in combat, so you can switch to fresh fighters mid fight, switch up the front line to get access to different skills, or just change the order that your team acts in.
Combo system: Skills that cost SP that are cast back-to-back by different party members combo into each other. For example, if you cast a fire spell immediately followed by a wind spell, the wind spell will go off as normal, but the wind spell will be replaced with a combo-only 'explosion' element spell that is much more powerful (and also hits all enemies, even if the fire spell is single target). You can combo status effect spells with melee abilities, which will add the status effect to the melee attack. The same spell combo'd into itself will cause the second spell to hit multiple times and do significantly more damage. There are all kinds of possibilities for combos. This leads me into the third thing...
Ability system: There are lots of abilities and the ability system is very flexible. Every character has a built in list of abilities that they learn as they level up. Nina, for example, learns all kinds of healing and wind magic. Scias, who is some sort of samurai dog, learns lots of melee abilities and some healing magic as well. In addition to these built in skills, everyone has an entire 'blank' second page of abilities where they can 'learn' whatever the hell you want. All kinds of enemy attacks can be learned. As you fight enemies, you will notice that there are blue exclamation marks that show up when enemies use certain skills. That means that the ability can be learned. If you have a character defend before one of those memorizable attacks goes off, that character has a chance to learn the skill permanently. Skills learned this way can easily be transferred to other characters or banked to your library of skills. Pretty much every skill a character learns naturally will have an 'enemy skill' equivalent, and then there are a TON of enemy only skills that can also be learned. This system blows the barn doors off of the above combo system and opens it up to all kinds of shenanigans.
Dragons: you can turn into a dragon!
Hidden stuff: The game has all kinds of missable or optional stuff you find by exploring the world. For example, Ryu starts with one dragon transformation but can learn others. Almost all of those are found by discovering dragon eggs tucked away in optional corners of the world.
Side stuff: There is a bunch of side content in the game, such as what might be the most in depth and fun fishing minigame ever, and an entire town building sim that progresses as you go through the game.
Shit guys, Breath of Fire 4 is really good.
You want to know of another good dragon themed JRPG for the PS1? Oh, you don't? Well too bad: Go play The Legend of Dragoon. It is also pretty good.
+6
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
You want to know of another good dragon themed JRPG for the PS1? Oh, you don't? Well too bad: Go play The Legend of Dragoon. It is also pretty good.
Breath of Fire III had the Dragon Gene system too. I know it was more limited than it seemed in retrospect, but at the time mixing different genes together and seeing what cool dragon you would turn into was cool as hell.
You want to know of another good dragon themed JRPG for the PS1? Oh, you don't? Well too bad: Go play The Legend of Dragoon. It is also pretty good.
Breath of Fire III had the Dragon Gene system too. I know it was more limited than it seemed in retrospect, but at the time mixing different genes together and seeing what cool dragon you would turn into was cool as hell.
Going Super Saiyan was the best part of those games.
You want to know of another good dragon themed JRPG for the PS1? Oh, you don't? Well too bad: Go play The Legend of Dragoon. It is also pretty good.
Breath of Fire III had the Dragon Gene system too. I know it was more limited than it seemed in retrospect, but at the time mixing different genes together and seeing what cool dragon you would turn into was cool as hell.
Going Super Saiyan was the best part of those games.
Going super saiyan and using dragon magic in spell combos to boost the spells into the stratosphere was the best.
+2
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
I remember my friends going in together and buying me a PS1 for my graduation with Tomb Raider 2 as the game they got me. I have a lot of fond memories of the system. Most of the classic games of that era are very difficult to go back to though. The 3D at the time has aged horribly. But the RPGs of that era were amazing. Rivaling only the SNES in the quantity and quality of RPGs. Most of the RPGs of that time are just as fun to play now as they were back then.
Posts
Actually currently playing a PS1 game right now (although on the switch). It's FFIX and honestly I almost feel like it could pass as a PS2 game. It looks great and some of the mechanics seem pretty advanced for a PS1 game.
FFIX is a "very end of the lifespan" PS1 game. Games from that time period can be very advanced... or very corner cutty, depending. The Last of Us is a Ps3 example of the former, with the last Twisted Metal games on Ps1 being the latter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d8iDVBMxTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al-XKWY9xpQ
Anyway, I can't let people talk about PS1 games without bringing up Gunparade March, perhaps the biggest Japanese game to never make it to the West.
It essentially did the same things the later Persona games would go on to do, dividing gameplay between lifesim sections (in which you went to school, worked, went on dates, etc.) and battles in which you controlled a mech. The lifesim sections were a little more important than in Persona, though, in that you could die in them if you did the wrong thing (like cheating on the wrong girlfriend). The story was heavily influenced by Evangelion and it was incredibly ambitious, allowing you to take on any position in your military unit from infantry scout, mech pilot, to unit commander. It was originally intended to have 23 playable characters and 5 different stories (though this was later axed).
It was a huge hit in Japan, leading to a TRPG, CCG, 8 drama CDs, and a 45-volume light novel series that only wrapped up in 2015:
Somehow, all we got in the West was the thoroughly mediocre anime, which excised anything interesting from the rather grim plot to make it a slice of life comedy.
Sadly, the success of the game seems to have gone to the devs' heads, as they released three sequels on the PS2. Which sounds like a good thing, until you learn that the three games (all full-priced, of course) came out within a span of six months. The first game wasn't well-received and the other two sold very poorly, more or less killing off the series.
https://gfycat.com/deargracefulasp
And in terms of underrated gems I loved I don't see get enough praise: Einhander and Silent Bomber. Check 'em out. They're great.
Also fun fact, the unique localization style the game's English version went with was inspired by the then-recently released novel, The Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones.
Steam | XBL
Worth noting the same devs also made the excellent Castle Shkiigami series, and Alfa System, lunatics that they are, somehow have the crazy idea of a shared universe between GPM, Shikigami, and Elemental Gearbolt.
This was the game that introduced me to the late title card. You get about four hours in and then credits roll while stuff is going on (I think a funeral?) and then back to the game. That was a cool moment.
https://youtu.be/xxHyg5JEgSw
PlayStation 1 games look 10x better when you increase the internal resolution on an emulator. I wish they had that option on the PS3.
Here is the same game in HD.
https://youtu.be/JcfNd11R4uE
- Rugrats
- Spyro
- Sled Storm
- Jet Moto? Something moto? It was dirtbikes and I remember a track on the great wall of china
- Vigilante 8
- Pizza hut demo discs
- A ton of rentals I'm trying to remember like dino crisis. (although when the t rex smashed through that window young me noped out of that one.)
I genuinely think it was a great for the industry too. . So many weird and niche games being released that normally wouldn't. Square was killing it with their RPGs, but then they came out with fighters (Eirgheiz!) and shooters and what not.
I had Jet Moto 2. It was not a very good game. It did have hoverbikes and a Mountain Dew sponsored racer, though, which was cool enough for me as a kid.
Was there ever an English Saturn version of Grandia? It looks like the only English version is the PS1 version.
This thread has me ebaying PS1 games now and I'm kind of surprised that a lot of them aren't super expensive. Of course you have your heavy hitters, but a lot of the games I'm looking up are reasonable. Maybe it's time to work on the PS1 collection bit.
Anyone have any hidden gems they've enjoyed in the past that won't break the bank?
The PS1 for me was Jet Moto 2 and Tekken and Crash. I got Jet Moto 2 on PSN a couple years back, and it's pretty difficult to go back to. I remembered it was challenging, but I didn't remember that it runs at like 20 FPS.
I remember playing a ton of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge in high school. I do not know if it is actually a good game. Also remember being amazed at Toy Story 2, my first experience with sandbox level design.
After playing BallisticNG on PC, I kinda want to check out Wipeout 1/XL/3.
The PS3 store is shutting down in July; last call for legal digital acquisition of many of these titles.
Ah. Crap. It is shutting down in July? We need a list of must have PS3 games and PSOne classics.
Honestly saw this thread the other day and thought that's what it was for, but I agree. Whether it's in here or a brand new thread, I'd love to see everyone's recommendations on what to grab for the ps3 and vita before the stores go away.
There is Critical Depth. It is pretty cheap. It is Twisted Metal with submarines.
https://youtu.be/cRN47159rO0
They're only turning off new purchases. You'll still be able to download anything you've bought prior to the store shutdown.
Oh wow, never heard of this. I'm a fan of bloodwake on the original Xbox as well. So we've got twisted metal on land, sea, and even under sea.
Pretty helpful resource for milking the JPSN before it goes down.
I'd say the shmups alone are a goldmine(Raycrisis! Einhander! CAVE! Thunderforce!), but there's also a ton of classic RPGs if you don't mind the language barrier, like Langrisser, the PS1 SMTs, and Rhapsody's unlocalized sequel, Puppet Princess.
Also, the Tomba games and Klonoa. Those are expensive on eBay.
It is a turn based JRPG, but it is also such a damn good JRPG. It came out 2000, so at the tail end of the ps1 life, and at a time when A: the system already had a ton of jrpgs, and B: people were starting to get some jrpg fatigue. They made an interesting decision of making the game environments 3d, but the sprites were all 2d hand drawn art. It is a destinctive style that might not have been very appealing at the time, but one that has aged surprisingly well. I don't think the game performed very well sales wise, which led to them steering the series away from JRPG with the sequel.
So it's a JRPG, but it does a ton of cool shit.
Party system: you have your entire (large) party in each combat, but only 3 members are 'active' and in the front row. Back row characters restore some HP and SP (aka MP) each round. Each character also has a unique back-row-only skill that will trigger when certain conditions are met (such as counterattacks when the front line is attacked, healing status effects, etc). You can move people between the front and back rows as actions in combat, so you can switch to fresh fighters mid fight, switch up the front line to get access to different skills, or just change the order that your team acts in.
Combo system: Skills that cost SP that are cast back-to-back by different party members combo into each other. For example, if you cast a fire spell immediately followed by a wind spell, the wind spell will go off as normal, but the wind spell will be replaced with a combo-only 'explosion' element spell that is much more powerful (and also hits all enemies, even if the fire spell is single target). You can combo status effect spells with melee abilities, which will add the status effect to the melee attack. The same spell combo'd into itself will cause the second spell to hit multiple times and do significantly more damage. There are all kinds of possibilities for combos. This leads me into the third thing...
Ability system: There are lots of abilities and the ability system is very flexible. Every character has a built in list of abilities that they learn as they level up. Nina, for example, learns all kinds of healing and wind magic. Scias, who is some sort of samurai dog, learns lots of melee abilities and some healing magic as well. In addition to these built in skills, everyone has an entire 'blank' second page of abilities where they can 'learn' whatever the hell you want. All kinds of enemy attacks can be learned. As you fight enemies, you will notice that there are blue exclamation marks that show up when enemies use certain skills. That means that the ability can be learned. If you have a character defend before one of those memorizable attacks goes off, that character has a chance to learn the skill permanently. Skills learned this way can easily be transferred to other characters or banked to your library of skills. Pretty much every skill a character learns naturally will have an 'enemy skill' equivalent, and then there are a TON of enemy only skills that can also be learned. This system blows the barn doors off of the above combo system and opens it up to all kinds of shenanigans.
Dragons: you can turn into a dragon!
Hidden stuff: The game has all kinds of missable or optional stuff you find by exploring the world. For example, Ryu starts with one dragon transformation but can learn others. Almost all of those are found by discovering dragon eggs tucked away in optional corners of the world.
Side stuff: There is a bunch of side content in the game, such as what might be the most in depth and fun fishing minigame ever, and an entire town building sim that progresses as you go through the game.
Shit guys, Breath of Fire 4 is really good.
You want to know of another good dragon themed JRPG for the PS1? Oh, you don't? Well too bad: Go play The Legend of Dragoon. It is also pretty good.
Breath of Fire III had the Dragon Gene system too. I know it was more limited than it seemed in retrospect, but at the time mixing different genes together and seeing what cool dragon you would turn into was cool as hell.
Wasn't Vigilante 8 a spin-off of Interstate 76?
Interstate 76 wasn't a PS1 game, granted, but holy crap it was awesome.
Steam | XBL
It turns out that it is a PSP game.
Going Super Saiyan was the best part of those games.
Going super saiyan and using dragon magic in spell combos to boost the spells into the stratosphere was the best.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
...specifically the noise of my Playstation's disc-drive shifting exactly a few seconds before a random battle starts.