Author Topic: PlayStation 2 Game Recommendations (Read 13199 times)

Mop it up · « **on:** January 28, 2012, 04:41:07 PM »

Hi.

As PS2s have now gotten dirt cheap, I decided to buy one for the handful of games I heard about that interested me. Here are the games I have so far:

Dragon Quest VIII
Final Fantasy XII
Quake III
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

What are your favourite PlayStation 2 games? I mostly got it for RPGs since those seem to be lacking on Nintendo systems, but I'm open to most genres, with the only two I consistently don't like being fighters and simulation sports. I'm also more interested in games that aren't also on GameCube or Wii, though multiplatform suggestions are still welcome, I'd just get them on GameCube/Wii (or might already have them).

I checked back ten pages and didn't see a PlayStation 2 topic, but if I missed one, this can be merged with it.

Stogi · « **Reply #1 on:** January 28, 2012, 05:10:44 PM »

Shadow of Colossus and Ico

Final Fantasy X

Time Splitters

God of War 1 and 2

GTA

NBA Street Vol 2.

Chozo Ghost · « **Reply #2 on:** January 28, 2012, 05:28:08 PM »

Most of the games on the PS2 worth playing have been ported over to the PS3, so you should have got that instead.

Shaymin · « **Reply #3 on:** January 28, 2012, 05:48:17 PM »

Since you're into RPGs, definitely get Persona 3/4 and Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

Also, list needs moar MGS3.

Morari · « **Reply #4 on:** January 28, 2012, 06:10:12 PM »

Quote from: Mop it up on January 28, 2012, 04:41:07 PM

Quake III

Return it and grab the PC version instead. Heck, you could even play it for free in-browser via QuakeLive. The PS2's silly RPG aspects do not make up for a lack of decent controls and piss-poor graphics.

I'd definitely look into getting Metal Gear Solid 3 and Shadow of Colossus. Both are console exclusives and well worth playing. I'd recommend sticking to exclusives. Chances are, if the game is available on multiple platforms, the PS2 version will be the absolute worst. It was not a very powerful machine, after all.

Ymeegod · « **Reply #5 on:** January 28, 2012, 07:02:55 PM »

You have Level 5 games, Dark Cloud series and Rouge Galaxy. Also ditto on Persona (4 being the best) and Shadow Hearts series (the 2nd game was the best and as Shaymin stated that was Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

God the PS2 was goddamn GOLD when it came to JRPGs. Not sure what happened this generation

.

Lithium · « **Reply #6 on:** January 28, 2012, 07:16:34 PM »

Metal Gear solid 3, Shadow of the colossus, Ico (although you might as well buy the ps3 hd port since the original ico on ps2 will cost about $60-80 depending on the condition) psychonauts if you don't own a copy for xbox. I dont have a big ps2 collection (i bought it aftermarket like you did) because i don't like JRPGS but those are the ones i'd recommend.

Stogi · « **Reply #7 on:** January 28, 2012, 07:17:17 PM »

Quote from: Ymeegod on January 28, 2012, 07:02:55 PM

God the PS2 was goddamn GOLD when it came to JRPGs. Not sure what happened this generation .

One word: Tsunami

Too soon?

broodwars · « **Reply #8 on:** January 28, 2012, 07:21:02 PM »

The other folks here have already recommended most of the games I would recommend, but here's my list anyway:

- Sly Cooper 1-3 (Note: If you have a PS3, get the PS3 collection instead).
- Final Fantasy X (Note: An HD version of this game is in the works, so if you have a PS3 just wait for that to come out).
- Kingdom Hearts 1 (I add this reluctantly, because you need the story for KH2).
- Kingdom Hearts 2.
- Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories (easily the preferred version of Chain of Memories).
- Shadow Hearts Covenant and Shadow Hearts: From the New World.
- Wild Arms 4 and especially Wild Arms 5.
- Shin Megami Tensei Personas 3 FES (yes, the "FES" version of 3) and 4.
- Shadow of the Colossus (Note: If you have a PS3, get the PS3 Ico/Shadow Collection instead. The game plays MUCH better on the collection).
- Rogue Galaxy (I have major issues with parts of this game, but it's still a good RPG).

Chozo Ghost · « **Reply #9 on:** January 28, 2012, 07:47:16 PM »

If you have a PS2 you also have access to the PS1's library of games also. So I'm just putting that out there for your consideration, even though I am unfamiliar with it and don't have any specific recommendations.

Halbred · « **Reply #10 on:** January 28, 2012, 08:36:46 PM »

Well, if you have a PS3, the following games are available in HD and are infinately better for it:

MGS2, MGS3 (Peace Walker's a nice bonus)
Ico, Shadow of the Colossus (the latter is straight-up broken on the PS2)
Tomb Raider Legend & Tomb Raider Anniversary
If you have a PS3, you can also get Odin Sphere (one of the PS2's best games) as a PS2 Classic. The PS2 version itself is busted due to horrible, horrible framerate issues. The PS3 emulation seems to get around that issue.

Now then. I heartily recommend the Fatal Frame games (especially #2) and Ratchet & Clank 3.

oohhboy · « **Reply #11 on:** January 29, 2012, 06:56:00 AM »

Warship Gunner 2: For when you want to blow up a lot of **** in a customised pimped out ship. Don't play the first one, it's godawful aka Naval Ops Commander.

God Hand: Hardcore beat'em up that doesn't give a ****.

Ace combat series: in particular Zero is good stuff.

Front Mission 5 is amazing, a must play if you like tactical rpgs. Japanese only unless you go get the fan patch.

Gundam Rengou vs ZAFT 2 Plus: Japan only if you like Gundam SEED.

Gundam Federation vs Zeon DX: If you like old school Gundam. English.

Dasmos · « **Reply #12 on:** January 29, 2012, 02:03:17 PM »

Gitaroo Man is the best game on the PS2 by a significant margin.

Lithium · « **Reply #13 on:** January 29, 2012, 04:39:24 PM »

Quote from: Dasmos on January 29, 2012, 02:03:17 PM

Gitaroo Man is the best game on the PS2 by a significant margin.

it's also pretty tough to find which is why i didn't recommend it (never trusted e-bay) I have it in my ps2 collection and its really good but super hard, I could never finish it. There's a psp version thats cheaper and easy to get a hold of but i never played it so i cant vouch for it's quality.

Mop it up · « **Reply #14 on:** January 30, 2012, 06:26:18 PM »

What type of game is Shadow of the Colossus? I've heard it mentioned several times before, but I don't really know what it's about. I imagine it's some sort of action game, but I don't know anything specific about the gameplay. The same question goes for God of War as well.

Kingdom Hearts games are action-RPGs, right? I usually like those. Are the games still worth it for someone who isn't into Disney?

Are Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, and Jak games platformers?

I played Metal Gear on NES and didn't like it. My brother had Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation and it didn't look much better. I don't think that series is for me.

I'm not looking for games that are expensive or foreign. Just the cheap 'n good stuff for me.

I actually had to return Final Fantasy XII because it didn't work, and they didn't have another copy so I exchanged it for God of War and Stuntman. This is a problem with buying old disc games, though it would appear that some games are still available new. I might pay a little more just to avoid some hassle.

As for other PlayStations, I don't have or want a PS3. For the price of just a PS3 system, I could probably buy a PS2 and most or all its worthwhile games. For PS1, I have five of those (1 PSOne and 4 PSX to be exact), and have already played and sold about all the games on it that interested me.

broodwars · « **Reply #15 on:** January 30, 2012, 06:49:38 PM »

Quote from: Mop it up on January 30, 2012, 06:26:18 PM

What type of game is Shadow of the Colossus? I've heard it mentioned several times before, but I don't really know what it's about. I imagine it's some sort of action game, but I don't know anything specific about the gameplay. The same question goes for God of War as well.

Kingdom Hearts games are action-RPGs, right? I usually like those. Are the games still worth it for someone who isn't into Disney?

Are Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, and Jak games platformers?

Shadow of the Colossus is an Adventure game of sorts (there really isn't another game quite like it), based entirely around boss fights. You play as a swordsman trying to save the life of a mysterious comatose woman, using your magic sword and horse to track down the 16 giant Colossi (seriously, most of these guys are around several stories tall in real-time) and kill them in increasingly elaborate ways. The controls are very odd and the game takes a lot of getting used to, but the experience is very unique and memorable. Unfortunately, on PS2 the game has severe framerate issues, as the game's trying to do more than the PS2 could actually do.

I wouldn't recommend Kingdom Hearts to a person who isn't into Disney. Nearly all the worlds and most of the characters are from Disney stories (with some Final Fantasy characters), and the stories retold in the game are Disney ones. It's pure Disney fanservice, mixed with Square-Enix pretentiousness. I like the series, but the storytelling has gotten absurdly convoluted with each passing game.

Sly, Ratchet, and Jak are all platformers, but in different ways. Sly Cooper went in a stealth direction, Ratchet & Clank in an arcade shooter direction, and Jak & Daxter in a more GTA Open World-style direction. I haven't played the PS2 Ratchet games, but the PS3 ones are excellent. I haven't played the Jak & Daxter games, but they're generally well-thought of. I love the Sly Cooper games, though, with their emphasis on cartoon violence; mild thievery (very much inspired by Ocean's Eleven-esque thievery stories) ; and very light stealth elements.

Oblivion · « **Reply #16 on:** January 30, 2012, 07:57:44 PM »

Actually, if you can look past the Disney goofiness of the Kingdom Hearts games (and only play KH1, KH2, CoM, BBS, and DDD) it has a pretty decent story. Ignore the others though. Coded and Days stunk.

broodwars · « **Reply #17 on:** January 30, 2012, 08:05:51 PM »

Quote from: Oblivion on January 30, 2012, 07:57:44 PM

Actually, if you can look past the Disney goofiness of the Kingdom Hearts games (and only play KH1, KH2, CoM, BBS, and DDD) it has a pretty decent story. Ignore the others though. Coded and Days stunk.

My problem with the overall Kingdom Hearts story isn't that it's "bad", but that starting with Kingdom Hearts 2 the story got needless convoluted. That only got worse as the games released after KH2 added backstory upon sidestory upon International edition-exclusive cutscenes (which, it turns out, are absolutely canon to the overall story). It's like Square-Enix deliberately set out to make the KH series as obtuse and cryptic as possible, especially if you live outside Japan (where those "International editions" with the bonus cutscenes aren't released). You pretty much have to have a comprehensive KH wiki handy to follow the story these days, and it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier to understand anytime soon.

Despite all that, Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth By Sleep are my favorite games in the series, but the overall story is one big cluster****.

Ymeegod · « **Reply #18 on:** January 30, 2012, 11:02:33 PM »

"What type of game is Shadow of the Colossus" Adventure, think playing Zelda and only dealing with bosses, no little enemies and no item collecting, just big bosses who are puzzle like. Mostly you have to climb these damn giants and find the weak spot and stick your sword in them.

I loved Kingdom hearts myself, yeah the story is "japanese" crazy but still seeing your beloved final fantasy/disney characters come to life in a spinoff game that is actually GOOD--it's to bad the developer never included co-op play though. They might be making an "remake of the orginal" but that's just rumors.

"Are Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, and Jak games platformers?" Yes and no. Ratchet and Clack orginal was a platformer but the sequels went with more 3rd person action IMO same with the Jak series--more action than platformer but in Jak they went with a GTA type of open gameplay that just suxed imo--just alot of wasted time going between missions. As for Sly Cooper I loved the series but you should start at one since that's the best IMO. Sly 2 and 3 still head on to it's platformer core but the series lost a bit of it's charm IMO.

Mop it up · « **Reply #19 on:** January 07, 2013, 08:20:15 PM »

All right, about a year later and now I have 24 PS2 games. I've only played... three of them I think, but someday, hopefully soon, I'll be able to get into some more of them. In the mean time, I'm still looking to pick up any more worthwhile games whilst they're easy to find, so are there any more good ones not already mentioned, preferably RPGs and not also on GameCube?

These are what I own:
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XII
God of War
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
Mercury Meltdown Remix
MTV Music Generator 2
NBA Hoopz
Odin Sphere
Phantasy Star Universe
Quake III Revolution
Red Faction
Rogue Galaxy
Romance of the Three Kingdoms X
Sega Genesis Collection
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Stuntman
Tales of the Abyss
Unreal Tournament

These are what I still plan to buy, some only if cheap:
Dark Cloud
some Jak game
Persona 3 or 4
Ratchet and Clank something
Shadow Hearts something or other
Shadow of the Colossus
TimeSplitters
Wild Arms number

These are what have been mentioned that don't interest me:
Gitaroo Man
GTA games
Ico
Metal Gear Solid 3
Psychonauts

Sequels or prequils to games I already own may be decided after I try out the ones I have.

Do_What · « **Reply #20 on:** January 08, 2013, 11:31:40 AM »

If you're kind of patient Breath of Fire V is awesome.
There's also a real good MegaTen game that I can't remember the name of that isn't persona or nocturne. It wasn't nearly as hard and I think it took place in the 1930s? I just remember being totally enamored of it. I feel like it's the first PS2 Devil Summoner game, but I really can't remember right now.

MisterE13 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 08, 2013, 03:06:15 PM »

Radiata Stories is a great RPG!

Ceric · « **Reply #22 on:** January 08, 2013, 06:00:18 PM »

Odin Sphere
Monster Rancher 3 if you want to do a Single Monster at a time
Monster Rancher 4 if you want to do a group of Monsters at a time
Fantavision Its a little weird but you can probably get it for $2 bucks and its amusing

I have a lot of DDR as well...
I'll check more when I'm home.

noname2200 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 08, 2013, 07:42:16 PM »

Grandia II should definitely be on your list. Fights in that game are just fun, and the main character is just fun for the first half of the game. I played the Dreamcast version, but I don't think the PS2 version suffered from any technical flaws.

Adrock · « **Reply #24 on:** January 08, 2013, 11:58:11 PM »

Catsylvania: Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness were good back in the day. I tried Lament of Innocence again a few years ago and it aged terribly. You may want to check them out if you can get them cheap. They both pale in conparison to Lords of Shadow on PS3.

Maximo: Ghosts to Glory is good, but difficult because the checkpoint system is blah. Maximo Vs. Army of Zin was the shizzle back when I played it maybe like 5 or 6 years ago.

God of War II is so much better than the original. It's not even close. II is the best game in the series in pretty much every respect while the original is probably the worst or tied with Ghost of Sparta.

Even if you have Okami on the Wii, it's apparently leagues better on PS2. I got the PS2 version for free, but never played it and I didn't get far in the Wii version. Just passing on what I heard.

I heard good things about Xenosaga. I barely played it, not sure I would even count it as such, but I knew some people who loved the series. I just really like KOS-MOS.

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Author Topic: PlayStation 2 Game Recommendations (Read 13199 times)