The 90s and early 2000s are often considered the golden era of JRPGs, with major releases like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Chrono Trigger making up the forefront of the genre. While these games are undeniable in their impact on the genre as a whole, it's worth going back and recognizing some overlooked games from this time period.

If you're a fan of 90s JRPGs, there's a good chance you've already played all the best ones, like Final Fantasy 7, Suikoden 2, Dragon Quest 5, and Chrono Trigger. Below, we'll take a look at some JRPGs released in the 90s that still haven't quite reached the same level of popularity, but are no less worthy of being included in the conversation.

Koudelka is a turn-based horror JRPG set in the eerie Nemeton Monastery in Wales, where you play as Koudelka Iasant, a young woman trying to uncover its mysteries. Koudelka was the predecessor of the much more popular Shadow Hearts series, and was also in competition with Parasite Eve, another horror RPG that was released the year before.

However, Koudelka shouldn't be overlooked for these reasons, as it's phenomenal not only in its turn-based combat but also in its attention to detail and atmosphere. It perfectly blends exploration, puzzle-solving, and JRPG combat.

Vandal Hearts is a turn-based tactical RPG with a political story that touches on religion, war, and rebellion. If that sounds a little too familiar to Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics, you aren't wrong, and sadly, these two games were the main reason Vandal Hearts was overlooked.

However, the game itself is good, with engaging battles, a story that doesn't get too caught up in its politics, and a strong cast of characters. If you like the more popular tactical RPGs of the time, like Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics, do yourself a favor and play Vandal Hearts, too.

The Persona series is by no means underrated, as the later releases make up some of the most popular JRPGs of all time. However, the series' popularity really only extends to Persona 3, 4, and 5, as well as their related spin-offs, with the first two games in the series going largely overlooked.

While modern Persona games are defined by their calendar system, this mechanic is completely missing from Revelations: Persona. In fact, this spin-off series plays closer to Shin Megami Tensei, its parent series. Every party member has the main character's Wild Card ability, allowing them all to use multiple Personas.

The game is also divided into two story paths, both of which are canon, so there's a high amount of replayability. If you aren't a big fan of modern Persona games' calendar system, definitely try out Revelations: Persona for a more traditional SMT experience.

Similar to the aforementioned Koudelka, Parasite Eve is a horror RPG for the PS1. A sequel to the novel of the same name, you play as Aya Brea, a police officer in New York City, who attempts to stop a woman known only as Eve from destroying the human race through spontaneous combustion.

The game uses an action turn-based hybrid system for combat, and is often cited as a blend between Final Fantasy 7 and Resident Evil. The game is definitely creepy in some parts, as you explore the abandoned streets of Manhattan searching for grotesque creatures.

Wild Arms is a turn-based JRPG that blends several different genres and themes into a final product that is surprisingly cohesive. The setting is Filgaia, a world that features both fantasy and western elements, which is most easily seen in the party's weapons. Rudy uses firearms, Jack is a swordsman, and Ceclia can commune with spirits.

Despite being critically acclaimed at the time of its release, Wild Arms was largely overlooked due to the imminent Final Fantasy 7. Still, this blend of ideas and genres is a lot of fun, and the engaging exploration system reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda series only gets better the more you play.

Legend of Legaia takes the fighting mechanics of a fighting game and tosses them into a JRPG. Rather than typical attack or magic commands, you must enter a series of directional button presses to perform different combos in combat.

The game follows three characters, Vahn, Noa, and Golga, who attempt to reverse the destruction of the world due to a mysterious mist that has transformed the once-friendly creatures, the Seru, into mindless, violent beasts. The story gets surprisingly dark at times for a JRPG, so it's worth playing for that aspect alone.

Digimon World takes the concepts and gameplay of the original Digimon virtual pets, and turns them into a full-fledged video game. Unsurprisingly, it does this extremely well, incorporating all the mechanics that make the original V-pets so fun, like slowly raising them from an egg and taking care of their needs until their eventual death.

While the life cycle of a Digimon may be concerning at first, as it's essentially a permadeath system, it's not as bad as it sounds, and leads to an interesting gameplay loop not found in many other games.