I'm a huge Western-RPG guy, and I've seen absolutley ZERO mentions of Western-RPGs here. You guys realize that RPG doesn't mean just random encounters and turn-based battles, right? Anyways, here's my recommendations:
Brave Fencer Musashi - An excellent action-RPG that mixes the gameplay of The Legend of Zelda and the RPG sensibilities of SquareSoft, with just the right amount of cartoony humor thrown in.
Dark Stone - If you like Diablo, you'll like this game. Nuff said.
Diablo - It's Diablo. If you play RPGs, and you don't know what Diablo is, you need to go play the game, immeadiatly. And if that's not an option, at least look it up on YouTube. This game created an entire sub-genre of RPGs, that many games have since emulated. Games such as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Dungeon Siege, Neverwinter Nights, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and others. In the game, you are a lone adventurer, tasked to stop the Lord of Terror himself, Diablo. You venture further and further underground, until you arrive in Hell itself. Along the way you will grab tons of loot, level-up your character, gain spells and equipment, battle tons of enemies, and fight some pretty interesting bosses. Might be a bit dated by today's standards, but I doubt you care much about that if you're looking for PS1 games.
King's Field 1 & 2 - Any chance I can get, I praise this truly unique RPG series. It is far too unique, and far too well made of games to just be forgotten. At the same time, it's one of those games you either absolutely adore, or grudgingly despise; there is no middle-ground when it comes to King's Field. It's an action-RPG played from the first-person perspective, in a fully 3-D, open-world environment. The game has a high-emphasis on exploration, and doesn't explain a dang thing to you or help you out and has a high learning-curve. This is a big reason why many people dislike it, for me it's exactly why I like it.
Legend of Legaia - So this one is traditional JRPG in it's gameplay and sensibilities. Sue me, I can like a few JRPGs in addition to my love for Western-RPGS. What sets this game apart from other JRPGs, IMO, is the battle-system. There is this command line (which will get longer as you level-up) where you can place different combinations of buttons. If you do the right combinations, you will be able to unlock special moves and magical attack. You also earn some along the way, or will find people and/or scrolls that tell some of them, so it's not completely guesswork. But this make the random-encounters seem a lot less tedious, because you are CONSTANTLY experimenting with the system in hopes of unlocking a new move.
Parasite Eve - Great mixute of RPG and survival-horror. The story in this game is the main-draw, and it's a doozy of one. I can't explain it all here. But basically you're a cop, investigating a bizarre series events at an opera house where people suddenly burst into flames, and animals morph into monstrous creatures. The gameplay is pretty unique, as it combines random encounters with real-time battle one the random enounter begins. And the graphics are stunning for the PS1.
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