While Resident Evil 2 is my favorite game of all time, I do sincerely believe Koudelka is the best horror game to grace the PS1. It's of course not without it's faults, with obtuse mechanics and combat that can become banal pretty quickly. But it's well realized Gothic Welsh setting is phenomenal, it's characters actually feel real and tangible (thanks to the fact that all the actors were seemingly all stage performers prior, and the impressive mocaping that required all the actors to actually be in the same room as one another. It's something uncommon now, but for the PS1, it was unheard of), an incredibly mature story that tackles some heavy topics that most horror games prior to Silent Hill 2 shyed away from, and some truly fantastic monster design that gives Ito a run for his money.

It is a game that really isn't for everyone, alienating a lot of fans from both the Survival Horror and JRPG crowd, but if you can stomach some admittedly wonky gameplay (which let's be real, neither FF7 or the classic Resident Evil games actually all that fun to "play"), you'll find a true diamond in the rough.