Most Expensive and Rarest PS1 Games to Buy Before PlayStation Store Shuts Down

Sony recently announced that the online storefronts for the PS3 and PS Vita will be shutting down over the course of the next year. As a result, PlayStation users will be losing digital access to a variety of classic PS1 games that are very expensive to purchase physically. In anticipation of this shutdown, there are around 20 games that are worth picking up now to avoid having to pay ludicrous prices for an original PlayStation copy.

The shutdown of the PS3 and PS Vita stores will begin in August 2026 in Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua, while additional Latin America and Middle Eastern countries will see the storefronts shut down in late 2026 before closing worldwide in July 2027. Players wanting to purchase any of these titles should do so sooner rather than later, before all the storefronts are shut down for good next year.

Rare and Expensive PlayStation 1 Games on the PS3 and PS Vita Digital Stores

• Alundra
• Arc the Lad
• Arc the Lad 2
• Arc the Lad 3
• Arc Arena: Monster Tournament
• Bloody Roar
• Castlevania Chronicles
• Echo Night
• Mega Man Legends 2
• Parasite Eve
• Parasite Eve 2
• Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
• Saiyuki: Journey West
• Shadow Tower
• The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
• Threads of Fate
• Um Jammer Lammy
• Vagrant Story
• Vanguard Bandits
• Xenogears

Alundra

• Physical game price — $69.99

Alundra is a top-down action-adventure game in the same vein as the classic Legend of Zelda games. As the PlayStation 1’s answer to Nintendo’s popular action-adventure franchise, Alundra features a mix of puzzle-solving, real-time combat, and some platforming. The main gameplay gimmick of Alundra is its dreamwalking mechanic, allowing players to enter the dreams of NPCs and explore them like dungeons.

• Physical game price — $82.75 (Arc the Lad Collection)

Arc the Lad is a tactical RPG series similar to games like Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem. The series was originally exclusive to Japan, but saw an Arc the Lad Collection release outside of Japan in 2002. However, the franchise never attained the same level of popularity among Western audiences as it did in Japan.

Bloody Roar

• Physical game price — $30.39

3D fighting games like Tekken were a staple of the PlayStation 1, but Bloody Roar is an entry in the genre that is often overlooked. In addition to 3D fighting mechanics, Bloody Roar allowed players to shapeshift into animals through a transformation mechanic. Despite its solid fighting game framework, Bloody Roar was criticized for its limited roster size.

Castlevania Chronicles

• Physical game price — $108.79

Despite dozens of Castlevania games being re-released via collections like the Castlevania Dominus Collection, Castlevania Advance Collection, and Castlevania Anniversary Collection, Castlevania Chronicles remains a hard game to find outside the PSN. The game is essentially a remake of the original Castlevania game, with two modes offered: Original Mode, which is a port of the 1993 Castlevania remake Akumajo Dracula, and Arrange Mode, which includes enhanced features and new cutscenes.

Echo Night

• Physical game price — $79.99

A classic FromSoftware game that often gets overlooked in favor of series like King’s Field and Armored Core is Echo Night. Unlike FromSoftware’s most popular games, Echo Night is a first-person narrative adventure game that requires players to look for clues and solve puzzles to progress the story. FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki has cited Echo Night as part of the inspiration behind the PSVR game Deracine.

Mega Man Legends 2

• Physical game price — $73.64

Mega Man Legends 2 is the sequel to the 3D action-adventure game Mega Man Legends. Breaking from Mega Man‘s traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer roots, the Mega Man Legends games put players in the shoes of Mega Man Vollnut as he explores ancient ruins for Quantum Reactors. While Mega Man Legends 2 features a surprisingly complex story, it infamously ends on a cliffhanger that is never resolved, as the series never received a third game.

Parasite Eve Games

• Physical game price — $59.99 (Paradise Eve)

Two classic games of the horror and JRPG genres are Parasite Eve and its sequel. Parasite Eve is another legendary JRPG from SquareSoft, developer of the Final Fantasy franchise, but never received the same mainstream popularity as that series. However, this Resident Evil meets Final Fantasy series has attained cult classic status in recent years, leading to Parasite Eve-inspired successors to fill the void the series has left since it ended.

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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.