Pretty easy top 5. Quoting myself on a lot of these from several years back.
1) Valkyrie Profile
There was a moment when I was playing Valkyrie Profile that I realized that all the planets had to have aligned to make this game. Maybe it was a happy accident, maybe it's true brilliance. Tri-ace has a penchant for experimenting on new IPs and they have a... spotty track record, but nearly everything in this game works.
As a representative of Odin, lord of the gods and Valhalla, you are set to task collecting worthy heroic souls from Midgard for Ragnarok and purifying the land of disruptive forces up to no good on it. The first thing this game does right is, after the tutorial stage, letting you do everything at your own pace. Want to go collect a soul now? Go ahead. Want to dungeon dive? Have at it. And it does all of these things well.
The very first vignette I read was told with a sad beauty and subtlety rarely found in the genre (often told to a wonderful track literally titled "Epic Poem to Sacred Death"), and I loved it. The dungeons and combat are on the opposite end of the tonal spectrum, with balls to the walls rock blaring as you dash and leap through levels and fight enemies in a turn-based but fast-paced timed button press-combination battle system (that I'm sure only tri-ace would come up with), and somehow the game suffers from no tonal whiplash.
Did I mention that this game is beautiful? It is. The character portrait work is absolutely without peer for any game I've ever played (2025 update: The
newest remake of Star Ocean 2, the Second Story R, gives VP a run for its money but still is a little weaker), and the sprite work is no slouch either. Every image of the protagonist Lenneth is simple beauty in motion. Motoi Sakuraba, more commonly known for mixedly received Tales of games soundtrack contributions, operates fully in his element here and at the peak of his ability. Sakuraba generally does a couple things really well: Anything with an ominous undertone, and heart-thomping action, and he's a perfect match with what tri-ace produced here. I can think of a handful of a scant tracks that aren't great.
There are a few flaws to the game, or at least things that might turn some off. The game practically requires a strategy guide from the beginning to get the true ending although oddly I didn't mind using one even a bit here - Likely because of how the chapters in the game are divided up. One dungeon in hard mode of the final chapter has an obnoxious gimmick of expelling you back to the world map if you miss a platform or are knocked into the void by an exploding chest. The dubbing, although largely very good (particularly for Lenneth), is also performed by the same cast that acted in Slayers and the old Pokemon anime, which if you've seen those shows sometimes results in their performances here feeling a bit... disorienting. Finally I'd note that while the main story progression (just the short stories, in other words) are 10/10 material for me, the actual main plot and the conclusion of in particular is just 'good'. Feint criticism but I judge this game by the highest standards because it really is this damn fantastic so I feel obliged to mention everything I can.
2) Xenogears
The one and only. I think it's impossible to discuss Xenogears with anyone who's heard the name and doesn't know it's famous for its story. Xenogears is a massive undertaking (for the player and the developers), an ambitious title I often believe that for its scope we'll never quite see the likes of again. Yes, Xenogears is famous for its story. It's long, it's demanding. And it's good.
Other details are largely superfluous but worth mention. The combat is generally just serviceable but at least is visually interesting. Platforming in certain sections has bothered people but I think in general the amount of freedom in movement the games gives you in exploring is net positive. Disc 2's style is very contentious but without spoiling, after thinking on this for a while, I think the game is better for it. Also the Mitsuda soundtrack is really good although you'll probably notice is a little... limited. For the time, Xenogears has a very low track count, but almost all of them being great largely makes up for it. I also think people sell the cinematography short in this game - It really helps sell the story.
3) Grandia
In my mind, Game Arts as a company is most memorable for making light-hearted adventure games focused on telling coming of age stories where inevitably the hero must conquer some evil. And with some romance elements in there for good measure. Very basic stuff, but they are very, *very* good at it. Better than anyone else I'd argue, and this point may be contentious among Game Arts fans (I legit don't know - how many of you are out there?) but I think Grandia is where they peaked, where their form and technique they'd nurtured from developing Lunar for years had matured the most and technology allowed them to do as much as they wanted but before they either lost talent, technology left them behind, or costs became prohibitively expensive (Grandia II is their last good title imo).
Grandia is a title that earns its name, and I think the spirit of the game is best captured in its
theme song, one of my favorites of all time: From excitement for the adventure ahead, to apprehension, to wonder, to somber appreciation, to sadness, to tears, to getting up and journeying on. Grandia wears its tone on its sleeve.
Plenty of others have talked about the game's really fun and cool combat system. Everything about that from its implementation to character skill development is really fantastic and not really replicated anywhere. ... Unfortunately it's also let down by the game being kinda easy. It's still a big draw for the game but generally light difficulty is a notable asterisk.
4) Final Fantasy VII
The one and only. A fantastic, exciting adventure through and through filled with twists and turns that's rightfully captured the hearts of millions. Some elements of the game, like the blocky character sprites, don't stand up well today but others like the matte painting artwork for backgrounds are timeless (as I explained in my
Shadow Hearts LTTP recently) and the artists at Squaresoft don't disappoint. Combat is brisk and engaging, with goals of better limit break attacks and stronger gear (leveled materia) ahead of the player, and customization of said materia is neat too (even if a lot of the better stuff isn't available until late and the game doesn't incentivize much experimentation because of how easy the game is). Cast is a fun enough group. Uematsu delivers on the soundtrack when it counts. It's just a solid video game.
5) Breath of Fire III
Personal favorite of mine. This game is bright, colorful, and animated, and most of the game systems are adequate enough, with the twist of master-apprentice character customization that can create wildly different builds for the cast, but the real draw is its particular iteration of the series' staple dragon transformation for the main character. The dragon gene system lets you mix and match traits and forms to best fit whatever situation you're encountering, and between the steady drip feed of new genes and the allure of hidden, unique forms from specific combinations, the game keeps you excited for what's ahead and keeps the experience fresh... most of the time. Some genes are overwhelmingly powerful, but I think first-timers would need enough time to identify the most busted stuff that they're already far enough along for the bustedness to not negatively impact the experience too much.
As has been brought up before, this is Capcom's sprite work approaching its peak. In many ways, this game's a big step up from Breath of Fire II, and thought and detail put into the sprite work is probably the biggest improvement. Everything from the expressive idle animations to changes in Ryu's basic attack movement as you leave the prologue, it's clear Capcom put a lot of thought and work into making the character sprites as bright as the world they inhabit.
