This guy gets it

Too many remakes lately, most major gaming news in the past couple of years seem to have been remakes or re-releases of major games on new platforms. It's getting more than a little stale at this point and I'd much rather have some riskier and fresh IP's and concepts presented.

More than 1 on this list. Way to many great games on this system to pick just one!

You're free to call it whatever but it doesn't make it so. It came on on PS1 which is one of if not the best era for the genre (including Saturn) and with so much amazing stuff. LoD did nothing to really stand out. It was clear Sony aimed for something big. Few bought in as much better stuff was out there and they have not touched it since.

I salute you Brad. You are the definition of a true loyal fan. Perhaps LoD is classic by your definition and the definition of its followers. The thing is, I am glad Leynos brought PZD Saga to the conversation because that is a universally regarded a very great game, just like many of the other games I listed. Xenogears for example very well received during its time, incredible game even till this day, there is a near universal agreement on that. Vagrant Story received as a masterpiece during its time, is still considered as such. Let me add another one: Valkyrie Profile.

The Legend of Dragoon was  received as an average title during its heyday Gamepro was the only respectable magazine that I can recall at the time that gave it a perfect score....But Gamepro was known for handing down perfect scores to many undeserving games. EGM had three reviewers, and at that time the only games that had received a perfect scores were OoT, and Metal Gear Solid (meaning their reviews were level headed and strict). The legend of Dragon Received a 7, 5.5 and I am not sure if the other score was in the 6s range. It was an accurate representation of the game's quality in an era flooded with quality JRPGs. 

I question calling it a classic, because I lived through that era, and played ( and finished) many RPGs including LoD and I never thought decades later some people would regard the game as such. I consider LoD to be in the same stratosphere as Legend of Legaia, save for the its massive production values that in truth were on Par with the FFs of the time.

Whether it has been by word of mouth, or just the fact that people these days gamers havent been exposed to many JRPGs, LoD seems to have garnered a very vocal following. I would be hard pressed to find anyone who played (during the 90's early 00s) the list that I mentioned of top sellers to say LoD was better than any of those games. That said compared to JRPGs in the last decade, I can see how a new player can see LoD as an 8-8.5/10 game.

LoD sold well, it rode the wave of popularity that the genre garnered after FFVII and its large marketing budget (God knows there were commercials in every single magazine at the time) and I was one of those sales. That said, I dont think it is a classic. The game has more in common with Shadow Madness in the attempt to emulate the PS1 FFs than it has with the FF titles. 

LoD wasn't a terrible JRPG, but for the most part it wasn't a very good one either. The game was heavily flawed. I loved the Granstream Saga, I still keep my copy of it, and I think it is a cult classic for the 3 or 4 of us who actually played and enjoyed the game lol. But, in all honesty I would never really argue about that game being great ( or a universal classic within the genre) because I know that it really isn't. I do have to admire your love for LoD, and truly I hope someday you get a remaster of it at the least. 

The real answer is Breath of Fire IV.

Ok, but really, Parasite Eve is the one which seems to be the most interesting choice by far.

Not being sarcastic, but I wonder why Dino Crisis is so popular in the West.

Everything in this post. Dead on. More accurate than Robin Hoods arrows. I love Blue Dragon on 360. I think it's just a little underrated but I'd never call that game great or amazing or a classic. I just really enjoyed it but honestly was a game that aimed high and fell somewhat short on its ambitions. I'd put LoD in there as well.

Jurassic Park made dinosaurs cool in the 90s. So we had a million movies/TV shows/ and games with dinosaurs for years. Dinosaur snack foods. Chicken Nuggets in the shape of dinos in kids frozen dinners. Even Zoos had animatronic dinosaur exhibits. Dino Crisis combined 2 popular things. Resident Evil and Dinosaurs. What's not to love esp during that time period.

I don't know anything about America, so thank you.