Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is an action-adventure game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics, with distribution involvement from Activision and BMG Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation in 1996, and a Microsoft Windows port was developed by Semi Logic Entertainments and released jointly by Crystal Dynamics and Activision in 1997. The game is the first title in the Legacy of Kain series.In Blood Omen, the player follows Kain, a slain nobleman newly resurrected as a vampire. Seeking revenge against his murderers and a cure to his vampiric curse, Kain is tasked with traversing the fictional land of Nosgoth and slaughtering the Circle of Nine, a corrupt oligarchy of godlike sorcerers, but slowly begins to forsake humanity and view his transformation as a blessing.Silicon Knights designed Blood Omen as "a game which adults would want to play", intending to evolve the action role-playing genre and bring artistic cinema to video game consoles. Reviewers praised its scope and storytelling, but criticized its lengthy loading times. After its release, a dispute arose concerning ownership of its intellectual property rights, after which Crystal Dynamics retained permission to continue the series with their 1999 sequel, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

Brigandine is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation video game console, created by developer Hearty Robin and released in 1998. An American port, called Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena, was released in the same year by Atlus. In 2000, Hearty Robin released a remake of the game called Brigandine: Grand Edition, which included multiplayer support, along other new features. In the game, the player chooses one of the nations of the fictional continent of Forsena, and has the goal of conquering the other nations by taking their castles, using troops composed by human commanders and fictional creatures. Although primarily a turn-based strategy game, the game includes some characteristics of tactical role-playing games.

Cabela's Big Game Hunter Ultimate Challenge, released on December 4, 2001 was the first Cabela's game to be released on the PlayStation console. The game was published by Activision, in conjunction with hunting supply company Cabela's.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a platform-adventure action role-playing game developed and published by Konami in 1997 for the PlayStation. It was directed and produced by Toru Hagihara, with Koji Igarashi acting as assistant director. It is the direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood taking place four years later. It features Dracula's dhampir son Alucard as the protagonist rising from his slumber to explore the Dracula's castle which has re-appeared after Richter Belmont has vanished. It marks a break from previous games in the series, introducing exploration, non-linear level design and role-playing elements.Initially, the game was unsuccessful – particularly in the United States where it was meagerly publicized – but thanks to praise by critics, it gained sales through word-of-mouth and became a hit. It has been re-released on several consoles and is considered a sleeper hit, a cult classic, and one of the best video games ever made.

Chronicles of the Sword is an adventure game developed by Synthetic Dimensions and released by Psygnosis in 1996 for MS-DOS and Sony PlayStation platforms. The game, originally titled as King Arthur: The Quest of The Fair Unknown, is based on Arthurian legends and uses a point-and-click interface. Chronicles of the Sword tells the story of the young knight Gawain on a quest to save Camelot from the scheming witch queen Morgana. It has received largely negative reviews.

Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within, released in Japan as Clock Tower: Ghost Head, is a survival horror point-and-click adventure game developed by Human Entertainment and released for the PlayStation in 1998. It is the third game in the Clock Tower series, and is considered a spin-off in its home country of Japan where it was not a numbered release. The story follows 17-year-old Alyssa Hale who suffers from multiple personality disorderwith an alter ego named Mr. Bates. The player must guide Alyssa through various environments, altering between her normal and twisted personality, to uncover the secrets of her and her family's past.Clock Tower II was met with negative reviews. Journalists heavily criticized the gameplay which they found to be poor due to its slow and dated point-and-click interface, as well its reliance on trial-and-error mechanics. The story was criticized by some but found to be mature and creepy by others. Critics ultimately did not recommend the game except to those looking for an experience similar to Clock Tower (1996) and those looking for a game that, like a cult film, is flawed conventionally but redeemed by its willingness to stray from the mainstream.

College Slam is a college basketball video game published by Acclaim. It was released for the Super NES, Genesis, Game Boy, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and PC. It includes most major Division I colleges, but some, such as the University of Tennessee, the University of Notre Dame, and Mississippi State University (who had just made a run to the Final Four that year), are not included. The player can play tournaments, a season, or a single game. Many gaming critics accused it of being a thinly veiled repackaging of NBA Jam.