This was one of my favorite games as a kid. It's such a unique game, even to this day. Sure, there have been several Deception sequels (even as recently as on the PS4), but none of them were first person and quite had the atmosphere that this one had. The general gist of the game is you've been wrongly convicted of murder and are sent to the gallows. Awaiting your execution, something happens and you're given a chance to seek your revenge....with a catch: you now have to help resurrect the devil.

The gameplay consists of you wandering around a castle, setting traps, raising monsters, building additions, and generally creating chaos for any poor intruder that thinks they can take your head.

The Deception series has never quite broken into the mainstream and likely never will, but for some reason this one never seems to get much love, including from Tecmo as they would change up the formula quite a bit starting with the next game in the series, Kagero: Deception II.

It's such a shame that this game never really took off. There were a couple of sequels or something in Japan, but this is all North America has received (to my knowledge). It's a puzzle game, but it's very unique in that you control your character on screen, so it requires some dexterity as well as brain flexing.

This is another game I sunk a lot of time into as a kid. It has 10 different endings and I was hooked on it until I managed to unlock all of them. It's a point-and-click adventure game and would've probably been easier on a PC (or with a PS1 mouse, which I didn't have), but still very playable with a controller.

The main draw to the game is that you're trying to outwit / escape (take your pick) the evil Scissorman. When he enters the game, you're given an opportunity to hide, but the places he would check and how thorough he would be was kinda random, which means you're on the edge of your seat the whole time.

I never got around to playing any of the sequels, but this one is a true gem.

What's with Tecmo putting their name on their PS1 games!?! Nevertheless, this is a fantastic Puyo Puyo-esque puzzle game. In fact, it's almost identical to Puyo Puyo, except when you make a match, these tentacle things stretch out and try to create even more matches. Needless to say, the multiplayer mode is utterly insane. You can go from a nearly full screen of blocks to an empty board and a vanquished opponent.

Thousand Arms was released in North America in 1999 and back then, we weren't nearly as lucky as we are now in regards to getting niche anime-style games. This was the very definition of niche in those days, but it continues to be an overlooked gem. The gameplay is pretty standard JRPG fare, but it has gorgeous graphics, a comical story, and some light dating sim elements.

Well, I wrote an entire article on how overlooked this game is, so it makes sense that it would be on this list. I won't say much here and would encourage you to just read the article if you want more information about it. But let's just say it's a very fun old school collect-a-thon platformer that's definitely worth a look for fans of the genre.

This tactical RPG was released fairly late in the PS1's lifecycle and thus was overlooked pretty much altogether. It's loosely based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West, but the developers took some liberties to make it fit nicely in a tactical RPG mold.

The gameplay is very similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, but it has a much tighter character roster and less character development. On the flip-side, each of the characters can go into "Were Mode", which turns them into a highly powerful creature with some devastating attacks. Utilizing the Were system effectively can turn the tide in pretty much any battle the game throws at you.

Overall, it's a highly enjoyable (and much more forgiving) tactical experience.

It seems like Tekken is the go-to fighting game for PS1 fans. While Tekken is a great game / series, Bloody Roar was actually my favorite growing up. Much like Saiyuki, each character could transform into a creature, complete with a different set of attacks for pummeling their opponent. It's fast, furious, and well worth tracking down.

This might be a somewhat controversial entry since the Arc the Lad series is fairly well known among RPG fans. But it seems like it's overlooked far too often when talking about the best PS1 RPGs. To be fair, I've only played through the first game, but I'm looking forward to getting into the sequels.

I was hesitant to include this one since it's not a particularly great game. But there's just something about it. It reminded me a lot of The King of Dragons, which is one of my favorite beat 'em up games of all time. It's sort of like a 3D version of that, but it has a few annoying issues that drag it down. In the end though, it's still an enjoyable beat 'em up with some light role-playing elements and a pinch of replayability due to the branching storyline.