✩࿐࿔ PSX/PS1 GAMES OF THE MONTH✩࿐࿔

After seeing all the love you guys gave my section on PS2 games of the month, I decided to switch it up and do a PSX games of the month list. These are all games I've either played or am currently playing and just wanna recommend. My taste in gaming is very all over the place but I have a soft spot for RPG'S, horror, strategy, sim, visual novel, and survival horror.

*game summaries taken from launchbox games database*

PLAYING NOW 

Linda Cubed

Linda Cubed is an esoteric horror RPG released for the Playstation in Japan. It is based around the adventures of a man and woman who attempt to capture creatures while an asteroid hurdles towards Earth. Linda Cubed Again is an esoteric RPG from the past that combines horror with monster collection in a new and unique way. Neo Kenya is the name of a world that is endanger of being completely annihilated by an asteroid. The armies of Neo Kenya have searched for every conceivably way to prevent the coming catastrophe. When the inhabitants of the world turn to a dark god, their prayers and nightmares come true. Linda Cubed Again is a game which combines monster collection and traditional role playing. Originally realeased for the PC-Engine back in 1995 under the title of Linda Cubed, this game attempted to mix two genres. You start the game off with two characters, Linda and Ken. Ken is an army soldier tasked with the job of catching monsters; and his girlfriend Linda, who is used by the military as a surrogate for the god's plans The inhabitants of the Neo Kenya called upon a god by the name of Anubis (obvious reference to lord of the underworld) in order to protect them from imminent destruction. Apparently answering their calls, the dark god sent an Ark similar to Noah's Ark. He demanded that a man and a woman gather two of every animal on the planet. The army nominated Ken and Linda in order to achieve this task. over the course of the game you run into a number of odd characters such as a twin who has a fondness for Linda and there are many other crazy characters. After a brief introduction to the plot, you set out to capture monsters. Capturing monsters is the deviced used to advanced the plot, as you're given a set number of missions that you're supposed to complete. Voice actress Minami Takayama supplies the voice of the heroine Linda. Minami also provides the voice for the half-pint sleuth Conan Edogawa, Pit in Dairantou Smash Bros, Mitos in Tales of Symphonia, and many other roles in assorted anime and video games.

Galerians

A young man named Rion wakes up in a hospital. He does not know who he is; he can hear a girl's voice in his mind, imploring him to save her. While trying to escape from the hospital, Rion is detained by guards, and discovers that he possesses devastating psychic powers. Trying to understand what has been done to him, Rion gradually uncovers the mystery behind the "G Project", a human experiment that involves unlocking the hidden potential of the human mind. Galerians is a survival horror game in which the player navigates a 3D character model over pre-rendered backgrounds, using character-related controls similar to those implemented in Alone in the Dark. Items must be collected to unlock new areas and advance the story. Unlike in most other games of the type, the protagonist is unable to use weapons. Rion fully relies on his psychic powers to combat enemies. These powers must be replenished by regularly taking drugs. In addition, Rion has a special meter that throws him into uncontrollable rage when full.

Final Fantasy VIII

A world at war. The Republic of Galbadia, under the influence of the sorceress Edea, mobilizes its great armies against the other nations of the world. Squall and other members of SeeD, an elite mercenary force, join hands with Rinoa, a resistance fighter, to fight against Galbadia's tyrannical rule and to prevent Edea from fulfilling her ultimate goal. Will Squall and his party succeed in defeating this maniacal sorceress and saving their world? Only you can decide what happens next, as one of the greatest RPGs of all time is here to absorb you into a world full of conspiracies, magical realism, and an unforgettable love story. Get ready for the journey of a lifetime...

Serial Experiments Lain

The Serial Experiments Lain video game was released for PlayStation on November 26, 1998 by Pioneer LDC, and was never classified into a particular genre. It is speech-intensive, and entirely in Japanese (it was never released outside Japan). Throughout the game, with the assistance of Lain, the player unlocks pieces of multimedia information (Lain's therapy sessions, her diary, notes of her therapist, video segments) to discover what happened to her. The game shares the themes and protagonist, but not the plot, with the anime series with the same name. Gameplay: The game was made to be a "network simulator" in which the player would navigate to explore Lain's story. The creators themselves did not call it a game, but "Psycho-Stretch-Ware", and it has been described as being a kind of graphic novel: the gameplay is limited to unlocking pieces of information, and then reading/viewing/listening to them, with little or no puzzle needed to unlock. Lain distances itself even more from classical games by the random order in which information is collected. The aim of the authors was to let the player get the feeling that there are myriads of informations that he would have to sort through, and that he would have to do with less than what exists to understand. As with the anime, the creative team's main goal was to let the player "feel" Lain, and "to understand her problems, and to love her" Plot: The series of events differs slightly from that of the animated series. In the video game, Lain talks to a therapist, a character that doesn't appear in the anime, while most characters from the anime (like Alice) are absent from the game. Lain herself is basically the only common element between the two, and even the ending is different: while she erases everyone's memories and becomes an entity of the Wired in the anime, and kills Eiri Masami, in the video game she commits suicide to escape to the Wired, where she is finally joined by her psychiatrist. There has been speculation that the plot of the anime follows on chronologically from the game.

Parasite Eve

Parasite Eve is a Japanese science fiction novel by Hideaki Sena, first published in Kadokawa Horror Bunko in 1996. The book was published in North America by Vertical, Inc. in 2005. Parasite Eve has been adapted into a 1997 film and a 1998 video game for the Sony PlayStation by Square (now Square Enix). Two sequels to the game were released. Parasite Eve is a horror action role-playing game developed by SquareSoft (now Square Enix). The game is a sequel to the novel Parasite Eve, written by Hideaki Sena. It is the first game in the Parasite Eve series. The game takes place over a six day span in New York City in 1997. The incident starts on December 24 and ends on December 29. The game begins with Aya Brea, an NYPD rookie, attending an opera with an unnamed date. During the opera, everyone in the building spontaneously combusts, except for Aya, her date, and an actress on stage named Melissa Pearce. Aya confronts Melissa backstage, and Melissa says that Aya’s mitochondria need more time to develop. Melissa then mutates into a beast and flees into the sewers, declaring that her name is now Eve. There has to be some connection between the two of you, as that seems the only rational explanation. What if mitochondria are a species on its own, more advanced then humankind, and using them only to create environments and civilization for themselves? What if humankind are just hosts? What if mitochondria are the natural enemy of humankind? That would make Aya their natural enemy, so the battle for survival and uncovering the truth has already started. Mitochondria have taken on a new life of their own and begun to infest the city of Manhattan. It's up to NYPD detective Aya Brea to unearth the mystery behind this infestation. Journey through the dark streets of Manhattan as you battle mutated rats and other hideous creatures on your way to Eve, the central figure of the mitochondria attacks. Developed by Square, the same people who brought us the epic Final Fantasy RPG series, Parasite Eve is a three-disc RPG in a third-person perspective with 3D rendered backgrounds. You are allowed to roam around in real-time, polygonal battle sequences. A unique option lets you customize weapons, armor and character abilities. The game is compatible with analog controllers and takes up only one block of memory for saves. The game package also contains a bonus CD, Square Soft's 1998 Collector's CD Vol.1. This collection of demos and previews includes an interactive playable demo for Xenogears, the opening movie sequence for Bushido Blade, a preview movie for Brave Fencer Musashi, and a special preview movie for Final Fantasy VIII.