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Serial Experiments Lain (Pioneer, 1998).
Ecsaform (Emotion, Bandai, 1999).
Oasis Road (Idea Factory, 1999).
Addie no Okurimono: To Moze from Addie (Sony, 2000).
Kyuin (Media Entertainment, 1996), a horizontal scrolling shooter about 2 siblings visiting a charming fairy tale world while cleaning the house. Your ship is a vacuum cleaner, so you can absorb some of the enemies and their bullets! It's basically a family-friendly Parodius.
Gaball Screen (System Sacom, Antinos Records, 1996), a fascinating ego trip by Tetsuya Komuro, the most successful music producer in Japan. Travel through worlds as a flying shoe, meet dolpins, scratch with aliens, find hidden CDs and listen to some music. 100% kitsch, 200% cool.
Pixygarden (Escot, Imageworks, 1999), a fairy-raising simulator. In this complex system, you'll have to transform the environment and make it spiritually harmonious, so that different types of fairies can grow from it. It's based on the 2D PC-98 game of the same name.
Purumui Purumui (F2 Company, Culture Publishers, 1999), a "morphing" action-RPG. The mascot (Mui) can transform if you prepare different dishes for them, and the main character (Madoka) can change her persona by collecting medals. Charming environments and fine music!
Shinkai Densetsu Meremanoid (Xing Entertainment, 1999), an underwater RPG based on a little-known anime series. One of its distinctive features is the character's ability to actually move through all 3 dimensions in order to explore its large fantasy environment.
And let's not forget this cool bunch of dekotora sims! The Bakusou Dekotora series (Human, 1998 / Spike, 1999), and the Art Camion series (TYO, 1999 / Affect, 2000), truck racing games with heavy customization and story modes, except for the 2nd Art Camion which is a board game!
Tokyo Insect Zoo (General Entertainment, 1996), the intriguing adventure of a boy changed into a beetle. He will meet many insects along his way through the soon-to-be demolished zoo. A wholesome game about death. It features numerous FMVs animated by the renowned Studio Pierrot.
Aconcagua (Sony, 2000), a diplomatic survival adventure in the Andes. Control the 5 survivors of a plane crash, including the revolutionary woman the government is trying to murder. Unique, radical & smart in every aspect. Its worldwide release was abandoned for unknown reasons.
A thread of Japan-exclusive PS1 gems! A few years ago, I browsed the entire list of the console's releases, found an incredible lot of secret masterpieces or oddities, and listed my favorites. I will present roughly 100 of them, posting each day through the month of March! =>