10 Best StoryDriven Games On PS1
10 Best Story-Driven Games On PS1
PS1 was a trailblazing video game console in so many ways, but which first-generation PlayStation games had the best story arcs?
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Sony’s PlayStation 1 (or simply known as PlayStation) is a significant remnant of gaming history, boasting a variety of games, anywhere from racing to arcade-style titles. At the same time, the PlayStation had served as a platform for a plethora of story-driven games that were increasingly well-developed when compared to the games of previous consoles.
After all, revolutionary franchises like Resident Evil, Xenogears, and Metal Gear Solid were borne out of PS1 titles. But they’re hardly the only ones. Despite the fact that the PS1 was an earlier console, it was already revolutionizing gaming with its many narrative-driven games.
10 Resident Evil (1996)
The survival horror Resident Evil was directed by Shinji Mikami for Capcom and introduced the characters Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield. Both the protagonists are members of a high-security task force STARS, who are caught up in an ever-growing zombie apocalypse.
Opening with slow-burning terror, the player examines a series of murders on the outskirts of Racoon City. Eventually, the pace quickens as the player then gets trapped in a mansion with mutated specimens of the undead. While Sega’s House of the Dead had a similar backdrop, Resident Evil also benefits greatly from a thrilling storyline that relies on an investigative mystery approach.
9 Vagrant Story (2000)
Vagrant Story is an action RPG that reverse-engineers its plot right from its prologue. From the start, players are made aware of how an elite agent Ashley Riot is held responsible for the murder of a political leader from the kingdom of Valendia. The rest of the game takes place a week before the murder, exploring the events that preceded it.
Dirty politics and cult rituals are touched upon as Riot seems to find a link between the Valendian kingdom and a ruined city. The action aside, Vagrant Story also served as a strategy game with some missions revolving around puzzles. In fact, Riot’s quest to find cryptic clues to a larger mystery has the makings of a neo-noir story within the ambit of the fantasy genre.
8 Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
The eighth entry in the Final Fantasy series was an intense role-playing drama that featured Squall Leonhart and his group of mercenaries, who must stop a sorceress from the future before she compresses the time-space continuum. The game marked a departure from the franchise as it made use of realistic character designs, adding a touch of seriousness to the overall premise.
As the team struggles to achieve its mission, Leonhart’s character is developed through several dimensions. He finds himself failing as a leader and doubts his own skills, while also harboring a romantic interest in one of his peers. These internal conflicts are notable in Final Fantasy VIII’s overall story-building.
7 Xenogears (1998)
Xenogears is set in a dystopian future on another planet as the protagonists explore the world in gargantuan ‘mechas,’ along with fighting the authoritarian rule under Solaris, a so-called floating planet.
While there had been games with players controlling gigantic robot suits, rarely did a game have an introspective look at its premise. Rather than arcade-style action, Xenogears focuses on its characters, their decisions, and personal motivations in a fictional realm. Themes of existentialism are constantly addressed as the players travel all over, incorporating themes from Jungian and Freudian philosophy.
6 Silent Hill (1999)
If Resident Evil focused on zombie jump scares, Silent Hill brimmed with a more mysterious supernatural tone. One thing that’s notable in this Konami game is the protagonist’s nature as an ordinary person, much like the players themselves. Otherwise, other horror classics of the time usually starred heavily-trained military personnel as central characters.
Instead, making the player a common civilian with limited survival skills raised the stakes building up to the chilling tension. The game focuses on a father’s search for his missing daughter that brings him all the way to the sleepy town called Silent Hill. As he discovers a cult, matters get clearer and some fine psychological horror-based gameplay is experienced.
5 Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)
At the time of its release, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver drew some criticism for its monotonous and relatively simple gameplay. But while it might have had gameplay drawbacks, the game excelled in its storytelling weaving an intricate Gothic plot.
Soul Reaver’s predecessor Blood Omen dealt with the metamorphosis of Raziel from a vampire to a wraith. More than a thousand years later, when his master, the vampire Lord Kain, betrays him, he seeks rebirth and revenge. This makes Raizel undergo surreal journeys to reach his goals, resulting in civil wars between monstrous creatures and a constant struggle for power.
4 Metal Gear Solid (1998)
Metal Gear Solid was definitely a game-changer when it comes to stealth games on the PlayStation. The very concept of an armed, gritty hero hiding from his enemies to avoid collateral damage was unique and contrasted against the conventional ‘tough guy’ persona that many video game heroes had back then.
Players get to control Solid Snake as he infiltrates a facility under the control of FOXHOUND, a special forces unit gone rogue. Snake’s mission is to rescue hostages and disable the unit’s nuclear weapons. With effective voice acting and cinematic cut-scenes, Metal Gear Solid is considered a game as well as a film by many fans.
3 Parasite Eve (1998)
Incorporating sci-fi and Japanese horror, Parasite Eve takes place in New York City following a six-day-long cat-and-mouse chase between Aya Brea, an NYPD rookie, and the ominous figure known as Eve. The game opens with one of the most shocking and dramatic cutscenes in retro-gaming history as the audience of an opera hall spontaneously burns in a split second. It turns out to be Eve’s doing as the actress-turned-beast plans to burn the whole world at once.
What follows next is a high-stakes investigative thriller as Brea plans to stop Eve’s sinister plans. The real-time combat goes on to make the gameplay and the premise more engaging.
2 Policenauts (1994)
Astronaut Jonathan Ingram wakes up from his cryosleep only to find a new purpose in life as a police detective in Los Angeles. Eager to go back to his space colony, he begins investigating the murder of his ex-wife that eventually leads him to the underbelly of an organ trafficking operation.
Policenauts might be a lesser-known Hideo Kojima title but it’s one of his most intriguing stories, heavily reminiscent of cyberpunk worldbuilding and a bleak sense of sci-fi satire. The philosophical dystopian themes aside, Kojima also relied on American films from the buddy cop genre along with real-life happenings like Japan’s first manned space mission in the 90s and an illegal organ-trading racket that was prevalent in the country at the time.
1 Suikoden II (1998)
Set years after the events of the first Suikoden game, Suikoden II features an unnamed protagonist who goes on to change the political dynamics of the Highland Kingdom. Even though he’s a part of the Kingdom’s youth brigade, he goes on to switch sides and becomes the leader of the offensive side, the New Alliance Army. This brings him in conflict with Luca Blight, the bloodthirsty and unstable heir to the Highland throne.
During its time, PS1 titles were constantly experimenting with 3D graphics while Suikoden II still had a dated 16-bit visual style. Such reasons led to low sales in the initial period of release but over time, it has gained a high reputation as an iconic PlayStation RPG.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-story-driven-games-on-playstation-ps1/
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