1. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain ; To this date, no other game has had such a perfect mix of excellent writing and voice acting, engrossing lore and mature storytelling (not in the "gore and tits" sense either, but
actually mature!) and amazing dark gothic atmosphere. Kain is still the best-written and best-voiced protagonist I've ever played and my all-time favourite, and the 2D Zelda-like gameplay holds up perfectly well. I loved playing with the vampiric abilities, exploring the world of Nosgoth for secrets, and even listening to the (audio only, this game has almost no written text) item descriptions. The soundtrack is also phenomenal. It's a shame this game was plagued by technical issues (loading times and framerate drops) and that it's often overshadowed by its sequel, because other than that it's truly a masterpiece and was insanely ahead of its time. Vae victis!
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; Coincidentally, the other game topping my list also features a vampire protagonist with cool vampiric powers. I'm definitely drawn to the dark fantasy aesthetic and gothic castles, but it's not all there is to it. The unforgettable level design (including the genius of the inverted castle, which is even hidden by an in-game secret!), amazing art direction and music just contributed to a solid package. Some later Metroidvanias might have iterated and improved over the formula, but honestly, none of those have ever been as purely fun as SotN. It's always such a joy to replay even if it's rather lacking in challenge. Also, it has the greatest video game soundtrack of all time. It is known.
3. Final Fantasy Tactics ; The greatest Final Fantasy game ever made, this game had the whole package: art, soundtrack, compelling and intelligent story, deep gameplay with tons of customization options. My only experience with SRPGs before it was the Shining Force series and Vandal Hearts, so this game was daunting at first, but once I really started grasping its intricacies, I could not help but admire the brilliance of its mechanics. That this game never got a proper sequel beyond the childish and dumbed down GBA spin-offs is a travesty.
4. Panzer Dragoon Saga ; That game is a work of art. There was a time where "cinematic, story-driven, cut-scene heavy game" was NOT a red flag but a strong selling point for me, and that's because of Panzer Dragoon Saga. It is very cut scene heavy, and the Saturn CG looks a bit dated now, yet somehow the quality of those scenes remain timeless due to the excellent direction, voice acting and writing. But it's not just the story and lore and world-building that makes this game so good; the battle system and dragon customization and exploration were tons of fun. I would love to see a proper HD remake so I could explore towns like Zoah or other areas and fight the bizarre tech monstrosities in fully detailed high-res 3D one day. Not to mention, the rarity of this game means so few people actually played it, and that's a criminal shame.
5. Shining Force III ; The whole trilogy was brilliant, it's a shame the last two scenarios had to be imported. Keeping the fun, classic Shining Force gameplay but adding a few cool tweaks (such as weapon specializations, exploring side-tombs during battles, and a bit of rock-paper-scissors like in Fire Emblem but without centering the core gameplay around it) and adding in a more nuanced story with different and ultimately converging points of views was an ambitious project, and it paid off awesomely. Also, save transfers between games before it was cool! What I wouldn't give for an HD remake, fully localized, of the whole trilogy...
6. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver ; A sequel to my all-time favourite? Yes please. I was disappointed that Kain was not the returning protagonist, or that Silicon Knights was not involved, at first. But the game itself ended up being quite amazing. Fully gone were the loading times, the game engine using streaming technology that was quite ahead of its time. The 3D architecture was gorgeous and Raziel's animation were fluid (he even had cloth physics on his cape!), making this one of the best-looking 3D games of that generation and one of the rare ones that still look pretty good today. Gameplay-wise, this also took inspirations from Zelda but the 3D ones, with semi-linear world structure and progress and tons of puzzles, and zero hand-holding. Quality writing and voice acting also returned from Blood Omen, thanks to Amy Hennig's talent and many of the original cast.
7. Wild ARMs ; Western fantasy sci-fi hybrid turn-based JRPG? Hell yes. I remember getting this for my 15th birthday, before FFVII came out, and I ended up enjoying it far more than I did FFVII later down the line. Great pacing the whole time, a really cool cast of heroes and villains, a fun (if a bit cliché) story that both follows
and subverts many JRPG tropes, and a brilliant soundtrack inspired by Ennio Morricone's style made for a really fun and memorable game. And some of those puzzles were maddening (in a good way for the most part)!
8. Silent Hill ; I enjoyed the old-school Resident Evil games, but I never loved them the way I loved Silent Hill. It relied on its thick and oppressing atmosphere over jump scares for its horror, and something about the fucked up, rusty-chained, blood-stained, fog-shrouded nightmarish townscapes filled with grotesque almost-human-but-not-quite monstrosities will always define the "Silent Hill feel" to me. And damn those puzzles were good too. Possibly the first game I've ever decided to replay on Hard mode, and I replayed it so often I got all the endings (including the secret funny alien one!). I know SH2 is generally considered the better game, and it probably is objectively speaking, but my personal favourite was always the first one. And holy shit, that sewer sequence. Scariest sequence in gaming EVER? Fuuuuuck.
9. Suikoden II ; I rented Suikoden one day and didn't really care for it. But I decided to revisit it a few years later, and found myself appreciating it a lot more. When Suikoden II came out, I headed to the store and bought it immediately, not knowing it'd become a priceless rarity years later. And boy did it deliver. It was like the first game, but better in just about every single way. The first game might have had a more consistently solid OST, but that's about it, and even Suikoden II had a ridiculously good soundtrack too. I got immediately drawn into the story, the world and its myriad of colourful characters and secrets. When I think of the state of Konami today, it just depresses the hell out of me, considering how bloody strong they were during gen 5. We'll never see the likes of Suikoden II again and that makes me sad.
10. Guardian Heroes ; A beat-em-up with fighting game mechanics
and RPG elements
and multiple paths? Could such a thing really be true? Treasure was at their peak with this game. Fortunately this one DID get a HD port, on XBLA, unlike many other deserving Saturn classics. But I'd love to see a proper console sequel from Treasure one day.
Honourable mentions (some of which break my heart to list there instead of the top list, but 10 is so limiting...):
x. NiGHTS into Dreams...
x. Alundra
x. Breath of Fire III
x. Panzer Dragoon Zwei
x. Panzer Dragoon
x. Legend of Oasis
x. Shining the Holy Ark
x. Xenogears
x. Night Warriors
x. Resident Evil 2
x. Crash Bandicoot 2
x. Crash Bandicoot 3
x. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
x. Vandal Hearts
x. Skullmonkeys
x. Metal Gear Solid
x. Suikoden
x. Earthworm Jim 2
x. Wild ARMs 2
x. Final Fantasy VII
x. Rayman
x. Soul Blade
x. Powerslave/Exhumed
Still on my backlog so they didn't make the cut
: Breath of Fire IV and Vagrant Story