"The Japanese role-playing game is a surprisingly important genre for developers to study - both in terms of gameplay and storytelling, and Gamasutra presents an 'Essential 20' explaining and chronicling the top JRPGs of all-time.

Valkyrie Profile: In most RPGs, it's your job to stop the end of the world. In Valkyrie Profile, it's your job to start it.
The battle system is a strange beast, with actions for each of the four party members assigned to a face button. Each character has a numbe..."

"Ridge Racer
One of the first racing games released for the PlayStation, Ridge Racer ushered in an era of next-gen racing. Sure, it only has one track, but it's a great track. On top of that, several unlockable cars and the "mirror" options make it worth playing, especially since you can remove the disc from your PSOne and play your own CD soundtrack.

Final Fantasy VII
Square's decision to leave Nintendo in favor of the PlayStation shook the gaming world, but not nearly as much as the arr..."