Jason DittonIt’s September 9, 1995. It’s been… a year, all things considered. I was going to do your typical lead-in introduction to set the stage for topic of the article, but, uh… upon review, not the time or place for any of that. So let’s skip that bit entirely, and get to the positive part! The launch of the Sony PlayStation, which would by necessity become known as the PS1 for clarification purposes, on this day 30 years ago! It was December 3 1994 in Japan, and September 29 in Europe, but today was NA’s day. And it’s been quite the run that Sony’s had, eh? Sure, it’s had it’s ups and downs, and the admittedly more than occasional blemish, but the PlayStation series has been quite a ride.
Considering this all started after a deal with Nintendo to create a stand-alone CD-ROM peripheral for the SNES fell though? I can only imagine what Ken Kutaragi, who’s still alive and currently the CEO of an AI and Robotics start-up Ascent Robotics as of 2018, thinks about what his and Sony Computer Entertainment’s project has turned into over the last three decades. I’ve not got the self-confidence to reach out and ask myself, so I’m going to do something considerably more foolhardy, and a bit less ambitious for this 30 year anniversary: one game from each year that I consider my favorite out of everything that released that year, for the relevant Sony console.
Let’s be clear, these very obviously are not the best of each year, I’m not arrogant enough say most of these are the best of a given year, or that some of these are actually any good, just my favorite! Besides, that’s what the comment section is for, aye? I will not be limiting myself to one game per franchise, I will be using the North American PlayStation release year for each title, and there will be a singular honorable mention for each year. So, without further ado, let’s start with…
1995: Primal Rage
And this is precisely what I meant by ‘I cannot say that some of these are actually good’. Primal Rage is/was a Mortal Kombat-like, where you controlled one of seven ‘destructive beasts’, ranging from the evil ape Chaos, to Vertigo, a cross between a Tanystropheus and a cobra. It’s… fine, I’d say, but you did not play Primal Rage for the game, you played it because you were a stupid child and thought it looked cool, which I was, and, in my defense, it did. Objectively, it was probably a 4/10, if that? But… I liked dinosaurs at that age and thought Vertigo and Sauron looked cool. Nothing more than that.
Honorable Mention: Jumping Flash!
Interesting platformer, genuinely kinda ridiculous difficulty spikes later on? But it’s ’95, not a whole lot of competition that I’d actually played. That’ll be a running theme for this list as a whole, incidentally. If a game is not on here, presume I have not played it. 6/10.
1996: Puzzle Bobble 2/Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition
*Crosses arms and stares back at you.* Yeah, I know Crash 1 was this year. Mega Man X3. Policenauts. The original Resident Evil. Street Fighter Alpha 2. Tekken 2, King of Fighters ’95 and the original Tomb Raider. I’m missing a lot of the titans that came out this year, and I pick… Bust-A-Move 2, a tile-matching game by Taito? YES. Why? Because I enjoyed it more than the rest of those. 7/10.
Honorable Mention: Resident Evil
More of a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ awards more than fondness for the game itself? Know what I mean? 7/10, strong distaste for Chris Redfield and the REMake’s existence drives the score down a bit.
1997: Saga Frontier
I cannot reasonably comment on Saga Frontier without excessive gushing, which isn’t really my style? Fantastic game, story, characters, gameplay, all around. Yeah, yeah it’s above the HM, for personal reasons I will not get into here. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: Final Fantasy VII (Original)
I imagine I don’t need to go too deep into detail here if you’ve played it, and it you haven’t you have the more recent… not remakes, not sure how to describe them, but… you have those. You also still have access to the original, it’s never left PSN since that first came into service and it was put on it, and there are- surprisingly- a good number of physical copies still around, although most would likely be loath to let them go at this point. 9.2/10, moving on without explaining that rating.
1998: Kartia: The Word of Fate
How do I explain Kartia in a way where it does not sound like I’m intentionally baiting a decent number of people, despite the fate I’m being completely sincere. Kartia is essentially a fantasy medieval turn based strategy RPG, where the titular Kartia are cards that basically use runes to determine what they do. Kartia effectiveness varies on where the runes are on the card, and they can essentially do anything. The two leads, Toxa and Lacryma are interesting main characters, and while the writing isn’t quite up to Final Fantasy Tactic‘s or Ogre Battle‘s, that not’s really a knock against Kartia itself, and more a statement of how good the former two games’ stories are. Personally I like Kartia more than Tactics, but that’s pretty much entirely because the gameplay is actually good. 9.5/10.
Honorable Mention: Tekken 3
It introduced King 2, Hwaorang and Julia Chang. I do not need further reasons, I’m farily certain. Hasn’t aged the best, although definitely better than the original and Tekken 2, and is in fact still playable should you have a good way to do so. 9/10, curse you Gon.
1999: Chrono Cross
I like Cross more than I like Chrono Trigger, even though the latter is the better game. I will not expound on that, you just have to deal with it. 7.5/10. Kid’s top two best Square Enix female leads.
Honorable Mention: King of Fighters ’99
The introduction of K’ and Whip to the series, and the start of Brian Battler never being allowed back in unless it’s a Dream Match edition. I have nothing against Lucky Glauber or Heavy D!, but Brian Battler is my Eric Sparrow, and, as such, any KOF game that he is not involved is a happy one for me. …Other than KOF XII, but let’s not get into that.
2000: Final Fantasy IX
2000 is a much, much harder year to pick a single favorite of the year for. Breath of Fire IV, Dino Crisis 2 (never liked DC1), Koudelka, Medal of Honor: Underground, and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, all came out in 2000, and that’s just the PS1 and newly released PS2. Why 9? …Zidane, Garnet, Freya and Vivi. The entire cast, other than Amarant, we don’t talk about him- is an ensemble of one of my favorite game casts all around, and ‘You don’t need a reason to help people’ being one of those phrases that just stuck with me my entire life. 9/10. This’ll be downgraded to an 8.9 if that FFIX remake people have been hoping for all year is announced in the vicinity of this list going up out of annoyance.
Honorable Mention: Breath of Fire IV
Best of the BoF franchise, Fou-lu’s probably one of the best anti-villains in fiction? Don’t need more than that, but it’s got a lot on its side, and see my rule about gushing about things I like. 8.5/10.
2001: Shadow of Destiny/Shadow of Memories
Now this one does actually require an explanation, but it’s also not one that lends itself to that concept particularly well? It’s essentially a time-loop and time travel story where the main character, Eike Kusch, has to repeatedly prevent himself from being murdered. Huh, that was easier than I’d thought it’d be. Anyhow, it’s not super long, honestly not the best written, but it brings back fond memories of better times, and I do remember this being one of the few games I’ve ever bothered completing 100 percent. Can’t reasonably give it more than a 7.7/10 due to some odd parts, but I do adore SoD, and this was my introduction to Konami as a company.
Honorable Mention: Final Fantasy X
See the ’97 entry, I cannot reasonably defend it only being the HM otherwise and will not attempt to. 9.8/10.
2002: Guilty Gear X2
My first Guilty Gear. We’re not going to get into the rereleases and update to make this simpler for everyone involved, however. To this day I miss the flowchart story modes with oddly specific conditions to move to certain paths but not a huge loss. With Strive 2.0 coming next year, and ranked added in the last patch, however, more single player additions along those lines might be on the table now? Anyhow, 8.5/10.
Honorable Mention: Wild ARMs 3
Overall probably the best of the franchise? Is that a difficult take to make? I say this as what seems to be maybe 70 people that’s played the entire series other than the handheld title and genuinely adores the lot of them? Battle system’s great, Virginia is a wonderful lead, Janus Cascade has a great battle theme and I adore the Schrodinger family as a whole. It drags for a little later on but not a deal breaker by any means? The original dev’s successor, Armed Fantasia, is still accepting Backerkit purchases should you be interested and have not known about either the Kickstarter or Backerkit’s existences, as a note. 9/10.
2003: Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
I do have a good reason for this one, however. FF2, along with CC and FFIX, are three games that really rather cemented my taste in games as a whole, and genre-wide. It’s actually not my favorite in the series anymore, that’s coming up later on the list, although it probably is the best overall. Tense, horrifying, the story it tells is, and I hate this choice of words as much as you will, haunting, and the canon ending to the genuinely made me cry when I first played and saw it. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: Silent Hill 3
Honestly, FF2 and SH3 can switch places on any given day. It’s just easier to find the former. 10/10.
2004: Shadow Hearts: Covenant
The third of a series of four, phrased that way because I can’t remember the proper word at this time, Covenant is a curious beast. Alternate history Earth in the middle of World War 1, controlling the returning male main character from the original Shadow Hearts after the good ending to this game makes the entire thing a bit confusing. This is a game where actual Grigori Rasputin is the arc villain at the mid-point, and Anastasia Romanov is a party member, and that’s probably one of the less baffling parts of the game. The devs of Shadow Hearts are still accepting Backerkit orders for Penny Blood, their spiritual successor to the SH series, come to think of it. 8/10.
Honorable Mention: Kuon
I really thought that when Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was teased that it was going to be a sequel to this. Although upon further reflection, I’m not sure how they’d actually do that with Kuon. Anyhow, FromSoftware’s horror title, where you go through a manor that’s been through, better times, let’s just say, with two different characters with two immensely different reasons to be there. Genuinely disconcerting monsters, moments, and that accursed song in the attract screen will never leave my soul.
2005: Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
This is a deeply personal game for me, and I will not be going into why here. I will simply say that this is the best Fatal Frame in the series, and it helped me through some things at a rough point in my life. It also amplified some personal demons and traumatized me for life, but that’s what survival horror is for, baybeeeee! 10/10.
Honorable Mention: King of Fighters XI
This is the oddest of the King of Fighters series, it tried some different things. Calling people on their nonsense for example. What do I mean by that, exactly? I mean you had to unlock Mai by beating every female in the game in one go. Because clearly, the reason people liked here is because she was fun to play. Clearly. I will leave it to the reader to determine the exact level of sarcasm intended with that statement. Otherwise, the most varied cast of the series, and while it does lack one or two names that I do miss from this title, it introduces some of the cooler new characters for the series in turn. Also goes for some curious picks for SNK’s typical crossover options, bringing back characters from two of SNK’s other fighting game series. 9/10.
2006: Raw Danger!
Raw Danger! is a fantastic adventure/survival horror title without any “proper” monsters, with more than a hint of goofiness at times. More than a little nostalgia is being applied here due to lack of proper, I suppose is the polite way to say it, ways to play in in modern days. I will not explain further. 8/10.
Honorable Mention: Suikoden V
I love Persona 3 to my core but I cannot play the original again, which is why that’s not here. I still own my copy of Suikoden V on physical, although there’s no good way to play it in this household anymore. I adore the characters, like the story, Childerich is a bargain bin Luca Blight without the intimidation factor Blight had, but I’d buy and play it again in a heartbeat. 9/10.
2007: Soul Nomad & the World Eaters
An as typical, for Nippon Ichi‘s definition of “typical,” as you can get strategy turn-based RPG. Interesting characters, not the best story but enough twists and turns to make interesting, yadda yadda. You might of heard this of this one specifically because of the Evil Route that you can only go through after you beat the game once. I’ve never done the route myself, never been my kind of thing, but I’m told it goes places. 9/10.
Honorable Mention: Folklore
Folklore is a genuinely intriguing early PS3 JRPG that I don’t think I’ve seen anything like since. Not wholly sure how to explain it without greatly diminishing the game’s concept and writing. I’ll just note that it starts with the classic ‘two characters arrive at a location, only to find that the person that called them there is dead’, in the Irish Land of the Dead. I adore this game, and desperately wish it was easily available on modern consoles without having to deal with the modern used game market. 7/10.
2008: Tales of Vesperia
Yeah, I know, a single Tales game on the list and it’s the one that’s been on almost as many systems as Doom’s been. You will notice a pattern on this list, and it’s that if I like the main cast, I am more than happy to sing it’s praises, despite noticeable severe flaws, and if I don’t like a cast then there’s nothing that can be done to save that for me. Vesperia‘s back final part of the story is needlessly dull and a massive slog to get through on multiple playthroughs, yes. Yuri Lowell is the best JRPG lead known to man, and I will die on this hill even if no one wishes to come and kill me for it. The main party, as a whole, rules, and it’s genuinely just a lot of fun to see them interact with each other. Tales gameplay is Tales gameplay. 8/10.
Honorable Mention: Way of the Samurai 3
The Way of the Samurai series are creative masterpieces, each in a different way. Wildly open-ended, interesting combat system, occasionally a tad frustrating. I cannot reasonably explain further, it’s one of those you need to look into for yourself. 7/10.
2009: Tekken 6
I freely admit this is because I adored Scenario Campaign, playing each stage with different characters, and this being the game that introduced Leo Kliesen to the series. I’m uncertain as to the game’s balance, having not really paid much attention to the competitive side of fighting games on the personal level, but I had a good deal of fun and- well I don’t much like the Mishimas or Nina Williams much anymore, but not to the extent that they bring down the quality of the game. Those issues come later in the series, amongst other problems. 8/10.
Honorable Mention: Street Fighter IV
Rufus and El Fuerte’s mere existences bring it down to the HM. Excited for C. Viper finally making a comeback in 6, shame about Abel being the Necalli of of good guy’s side. The game itself is absolutely what the series needed after, uh… an extremely rough period of time for Capcom, and still is immense fun to play but, uh… when one loathes two fifths of a fighting game’s cast, even when you still like to go back to it, one cannot reasonably place it above the HM slot. 7/10, Additionally, Akuma is a fraud, as the picture above is ample proof of.
2010: Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
The only one of the Sengoku Basara games to come to the west under the proper title, and one of my favorite Musous to date. Stylish as heck, characters are charming- or the opposite of charming, but the latter in pretty much all cases intentionally so. It can be a bit infuriating at times, but not to an unreasonable extent? Not quite as infuriating as the original decision to call the PS1 version Devil Kings in the US, mind you, but still. 8/10.
Honorable Mention: Nier
Yeah, yeah, the original. No, no, I would not recommend going back to play it, a considerable amount of the side-story and actual gameplay was and is difficult to defend in terms of actually being fun to play? That’s not what Nier, in it’s first iteration, was about, however. It was about Papa/Brother Nier (depending on the region), Yonah, Emil, Kaine and Grimoire Weiss, and where their story went, in all of it’s possibilities. Do not go back to the original, the updated version is absolutely better and more readily available, but still, play Nier. 6/10 in the best way.
2011: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
So, this is probably going to be a fairly unorthodox statement, but I will hold that Peace Walker is the best of the Konami developed Metal Gear Solid series. This is in addition to being my favorite of the lot, and I will stand by that statement. I fully admit there are personal reasons that I’m not particularly interested with sharing with the internet at large that plays into that statement, however. 9/10.
Honorable Mention: Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
In the nature of full disclosure, I have yet to play Disgaea 7 for relatively recent financial issues reasons, so I can’t say this definitively, however. D4‘s main cast is probably the best a Nippon Ichi title’s ever had, and Valvatorez is probably one of the most charming main characters in gaming history? The gameplay’s Disgaea as ever, so take that as you will. 8/10.
2012: Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
The first in the Dusk trilogy of the increasingly popular Atelier series from Gust Corp. Potentially my favorite of the long running series, although Meruru and the other entry that made it onto the list can all reasonably vie for that title depending on my mood. The titular Ayesha is a genuine sweetheart and lovely to follow around on her quest, even though there are some concerning parts to the poor girl’s personality, but that’s why she has her friends to look out after her. 9/10.
Honorable Mention: Tokyo Jungle
This is an animal-based rogue-like where you unlock various creatures in future Tokyo, and try to survive an evolving, let’s just say, ecosystem as you progress along the unlock tree. There’s a Survival (the rogue-like in question) and a Story mode, and yes, the story is actually pretty interesting, if a tad disheartening all around. I’ll leave it at that, and continue to be upset that Crispy’s! no longer exists, so it’s unlikely that this or Ranko Tsukigime’s Longest Day will ever be playable again in a reasonable form. 8.4/10.
2013: Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn
Please, allow me to be clear this, for the sake of this list not being an iterative mess that has a different expansion in a given year, is FFXIV as a whole. I cannot adore it as a whole, and have nothing but the utmost respect for Yoshi-P and his team for everything they’ve done since the miracle that was FFXIV 2.0 started. 10/10. Although if it was just ARR it’d have the same issue that Persona 3 original has, that- the opening area and certain dungeons were paaaaaaaaaainful.
Honorable Mention: Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
No, I will not elaborate. Iris Heart sends her regards. 7/10.
2014: Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky
The second of the Dusk trilogy, and the biggest change from the former is- well, two main characters. Escha and Logix, or Logy, are both charming characters, although their respective story’s tones vary somewhat. Both sides are worth playing through, and not just because you obviously need to go through both to get the True ending. It’s not an Atelier game if the cast isn’t at the minimum fun to hang out with, and Escha & Logy delivers on that front as always. 9/10.
Honorable Mention: Transistor
This one makes the list and both Bastion and Hades don’t? Yes, but let’s be clear, Supergiant Games has never made a bad game. This is probably their weakest title to date, and it’s still an fascinating title, with a strong story and strong lead duo, even with Red, the lady you actually play as for the game, being mute for reasons I’m not privy to discuss without massive spoilers for the game in question. 9.5/10.
2015: Bloodborne
This probably goes without saying? I will not comment further, because mercy know we don’t need me to rant about how good Bloodborne is. Plenty of people have done that already, would just be beating a dead Living Failure. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: Hatoful Boyfriend
Yes. Hatoful Boyfriend released on PSVita and PS4 in 2015. This counts. Anghel alone ensures it deserves this spot, and you can’t stop me. 9/10.
2016: Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Not necessarily Vanillaware’s best game, but absolutely gorgeous and definitely an improvement on the original Odin Sphere, as much as I loved that one as well. That’s largely because Vanillaware and Supergiant share the same ‘issue’ of never really making a bad game. Also a personal feeling that each of their most accessible and best-selling titles are among their weakest but that’s a baitier statement than my shot at Tactics earlier. 9/10.
Honorable Mention: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
It’s essentially a Shin Megami Tensei title with Digimon. Specifically Devil Survivor, but that was obvious from the art style, I have to imagine. Hacker’s Memories is, strictly speaking, an improvement on the original, but I didn’t spend three years hunting down a physical copy to not put the original on the list, now did I? 8/10.
2017: NieR: Automata
It’s Nier: Automata. Do I need to say more? 10/10, will never play again after my having gotten the final ending.
Honorable Mention: Pyre
Supergiant Games’ best work. It’s also the most unconventional of it’s titles, being a story-based sports game where you’re actively trying to get your party off of your team. I realize that’s profoundly reductive, and that might be difficult to explain as to why everyone on your team mutually wants to leave, and it not being an acrimonious or mean-spirited thing. So I’m not going to, Pyre should’ve sold better than it did. 10/10.
2018: Valkyria Chronicles 4
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is the best game in the series. Mind you, two of those are stuck on handhelds that functionally no longer exist, and there’s a very good case for the first title be the best in series, it’s just a matter of which cast and story you prefer. And your tolerance for how difficult a given mission can be.
Honorable Mention: 428: Shibuya Scramble
This is a live-action FMV mystery title that finally made it to the PlayStation this year. I still do not understand how those made a comeback, and it’s years after the fact but I still cannot figure out how this is as engrossing as it is. It’s an odd game, but never to an overwhelming extent, and the characters rule. 10/10.
2019: 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Right… see Pyre? See how incredibly unhelpful that description is for trying to talk someone into playing that title, even when I fully want people to and am encouraging that? This write-up would be this but dozens of times worse if I were to try explaining why I love this game, and I cannot say anything without spoiling part of it. If you’ve heard of 13 Sentinels, you’ve heard this before from people that’re more talented and smarter than I am, so listen to those folk. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: AI: The Somnium Files
This, in turn, is slightly less complicated than 13 Sentinels but I recommend as wholeheartedly. This starts, and ends, as a murder mystery where you have to dive into various folks minds to try to make sense of matters, with interactions between compelling characters throughout. Still can’t comment further without spoiling pretty much anything, however. 10/10, Kaname Date is the worst, as much as I like the guy.
2020: Final Fantasy VII: Remake
I fully admit this is kinda cheating, but include Reborn with this. I don’t feel super comfortable having multiple versions of a single game on the list, even with the complications that this specific entry has. However… I can’t leave it off. The character writing is fantastic, I’ve not loved these characters more in any of the various spinoffs or addendums to the series, Aerith especially is the best, and the gameplay is phenomenal. 9/10.
Honorable Mention: Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi
Survival horror dungeon crawler developed by Experience Inc.’s Team Muramasa, of the Spirit Hunter series of titles. You’ll notice a theme with this team, and when they go into the horror genre they always knock it out of the park. I cannot comment on anything they released before the original Death Mark, or on Saviors of Sapphire Wings. Undernauts is a solid 7/10, however.
2021: Guilty Gear Strive
Strive‘s the only fighting game I’ve ever really wanted to try my hand at Ranked in. While it does lose a full point for being able to make me act against my better judgement in that regard, it more than makes up for it with Daisuke Ishiwatari and his team’s impeccable as always character writing, consistent story telling and ability to make characters interesting and mostly competitive with each other. It also loses a point for making a “grappler” with more projectiles than command grabs, which is objectively wrong. 8/10.
Honorable Mention: The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Probably the best Ace Attorney game in the franchise, and it doesn’t have Nick or Edgeworth in it. Let’s be clear, that’s not a shot at those two, that’s a mark of how good the writing, story and characters are that they’re not need to make this as good as this is. 10/10
2022: Signalis
Signalis is what I would show people if they ask if horror can be art. I will not comment further, there are a lot of pieces that discuss this title’s beauty better than I ever could if you’re interested, from people that’re better spoken than yours truly. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: No More Heroes III
NMHIII is just SUDA51 and Grasshopper Studios continuing to do what they do best, and that’s whatever they want to do. Probably one of the weaker cast of opponents for Mr. Touchdown, but Travis’ continued story continues to be a joy to play through, as is his continued growth as a person. 8.7/10.
2023: Alan Wake II
Remedy’s best game to date, where both Saga Anderson and Alan Wake are fantastic characters with equally as fantastic performances from their voice actors. Further discussion would be gushing about the game and would inevitably lead to my heavily spoiling a game that I want you to play for yourself. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: Octopath Traveler II
Octopath Traveler-which is still a stupid name as much as it does actually make sense for the game’s concept- was an amazing title character-wise, and plenty enjoyable altogether. OTII does what the original does but better. It’s a not particularly complicated path to being a really, really good game. Overall I think I like this game’s playable cast more, although that’s a very rough split to figure out. Maybe I need to make a “ranking the Travelers from “worst’ to best” article at some point for a slow news week. Anyhow… 10/10.
2024: Persona 3: Reload
Persona 3 was going to be on this list no matter what, but now there’s a way to play it where it’s not difficult to go back to after Persona 5 and Persona 4‘s improvements to the series as a whole. My favorite cast of the series, for, once again, strong personal reasons I will not comment on here. 10/10.
Honorable Mention: SaGa: Emerald Beyond
This one is just prime experimentation from a series where that’s the entire idea for each game. It’s an extremely odd, all over the place title, and there are some fairly severe difficulty walls. However, this is not a game where you have to grind, you just have to think a bit differently when a battle goes badly. 8/10.
2025: To be Determined….
The year is not finished yet, and there’ve been a good number of fantastic games this year already. It’d be foolish to decide three months before the year is over, or even to decide the nominations for the possible winner. Thankfully that’s not my livelihood just yet, either.
What do you think? What’re your favorite games of the Playstation line’s 30 year existence? Please, feel free to let us know below!