I'll stick to the PS1 as my thoughts on the PS2 and 3 are still a bit up in the air.

I didn't exactly like going into the PS1 era but it wasn't really the systems fault as much as it was the fact I was drawn into the 2D vs. 3D debate at the time and all the gaming publishers were shying away from 2D in favor of 3D cause it was supposedly the next best thing as opposed to a design choice... I bought the system for the sole sake of playing FFVII cause I was still much in love with the series at this time and was hearing nothing but great praises about this title. Regretfully, it was not the magical experience people told me it would be and I was a bit annoyed at the time...

Still I rebounded with two titles that have become two of my favorite titles of all time which was FFTactics and Xenogears. For me, the PS1 was the era where I grew away from FF and actually started to explore other RPG genres and companies.

Breath of Fire III and IV as well as the introduction of the Suikoden series were some of the best gaming highlights for me. I also loved titles like Wild ARMS and Persona series. I was introduced to Metal Gear Solid and was even able to solidify my love of 16-Bit RPGs with the several re-releases of old SNES and Sega CD fare like the Lunar series and FFV and the true version of FFIV.

Creatively, I think it was the middle and end of the Golden Era for Square as I was never able to really ever go back to FF but was so pleasantly surprised with all its non-FF fare like Chrono Cross, Dew Prism, Brave Fencer Musashi, and Vagrant Story. Other companies seem to gain a new Renaissance like Capcom who struggled in the beginning but eventually rose to be a defining company for the PS1 not to mention that Konami itself rose to great heights finally distinguishing itself with its own slew of triple A titles. It was also the Golden Era for one of my favorite companies that recently passed on which was Working Design who kept filling up my need for quirky titles. I also was introduced to Rhythm games like Um Jammer Lammy and DDR.

Overall, I loved the system for being horribly experimental but at the same time, I can't say much has aged well from that era. It was an influential era though probably not the most significant for me. Of anything, this era simply raised the bar for what I expect from titles. Though lately some of the lessons learned from thisera needs to be reigned back in a bit...

EDIT: To clear a few things up, the 2D vs. 3D debate has more to do with fighting games nd Capcom titles than other genres.