The PS2 turns 25 years old today. Crazy, right? Perfect day for revisiting some classics. What are some of your favourite PS2 games?
Metal gear solid 3. Final fantasy 10, 11, 12. Freedom fighters. Kingdom hearts. Xenosaga. Battlefield modern combat. Metal gear solid 2. RAD. NFS underground. NBA street. Shadow of the colossus. Sax on tour. Burnout 3. God of war 1 and 2. Silent Hill the room. Ōkami. Metal arms.
Idk some others I'm sure. It's THE goated console for a reason. I also enjoy RPGs and the PS2 just had banger after banger.
I ❤️ Katamari
KATAMARI DAMACYYYYYY BUM BUM BUM BUM
Game still goes hard in the paint
Do you miss how weird and liminal some of the games on this system were? Maybe it's because of the magical thinking of a child (I was like two when this came out but played mine every day until I was fourteen, loved that thing like a religion lol) but even the startup screen and disc read failed screen were so... Weird? Freaky? I don't know, I know there's plenty of indie games now and plenty of shovel ware on current gen but it feels different, there was a strange magic to some games on the PS2 that seems to be sort of inimical
When watching some videos from retro game youtube channels, they tend to point to how much more daring they were back then, and all new games will just safe it. New aaa games cost so much they cant fail, but then a flop was to a larger extend "meh" and move on for the studio. Guess that made some of these games feel more freaky as you say
oh definitely. Games just felt differently back then. It was rarer for games to hold your hand, too. Not to say that that was always a good thing, sometimes it was quite annoying I guess, but maybe it was part of the reason games felt different. Combined with having to find stuff out on your own, you literally were on your own, yeah.
There are many things though that make this era of gaming special, this one is just something I often think of.
Omg absolutely! With the "not holding your hand" thing, I think a lot of the magic and enigmatic feeling of the PS2 games catalogue is that you'd only hear about Easter eggs, rather than knowing theyre in the game via dlc listings in storefronts or anything. They felt weird and slightly messed with understanding how big games were. Even up to Halo 3 with that weird developer monkey family and Black and White 2 where it would whisper your windows account name if you played after 10pm?
Games were just slightly hostile back then, or at least had the developer's agenda in mind rather than the marketing algorithm's
Wow........I remember the PS2 as the console that you smoked weed when you played. I was 16 when it came out. And it was my first ever dvd player.
Weirdly enough, I am currently smoking weed and playing Airblade on my first PS2 lol
Sly Cooper Jak and Dexter Ratchet and Clank Suikoden III and IV God of War Tony Hawk
I remember renting God of War and my little brother wanting to watch me play. Then scrambling to turn the TV off as the opening cut scene played. Had to explain to my parents why he couldn't watch me play.
At some point I need to get back to Deadlocked. I didn't get super far in, but definitely a fun entry in the series in my opinion.
I don't remember what number it was but soul caliber was good! maybe it was 2? after the glorious dreamcast soul caliber.
I love soulcalibur 2! I played it (and still play sometimes) on gamecube tho, but apart from a different special character (link from zelda in the gc version), its the same game. Tried soulcalibur 3 as well, but didnt really get into it - cant put my finger on why, but it was ages since i tried 3
It may just be nostalgia, but Soul Caliber 2 is still my favorite "traditional" fighting game.
honestly I completely agree with my feed
My unsung hero of the PS2 was World Poker Tour.
I spent a lot of time playing Texas hold em with internet strangers, which doesn't sound like a big deal now, but I think back then, most people didn't even know you COULD connect a PS2 to the Internet.
Gosh where to start..
Shadow of the Colossus, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, God of War, Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2, Okami, Burnout, Metal Gear Solid 2/3, Singstar, Eye Toy, Spider Man 2
And I could go on and on. We had it good back then.
I went to use my old PS2 the other night after many years. The controllers thumpads had turned into this sticky, rubbery, goo. Gross. I couldn't play it
Oh that sucks. I only had this problem with a Dualshock 1 a while ago, my Dualshock 2s thankfully never got into that state. Maybe it has something to do with how they're stored? Anyway, you can always replace the thumbsticks if cleaning doesn't help.
You can clean that with some isopropyl alcohol
Some of my favourite slow-burn adventures that no one's mentioned yet:
And some action-adventure-RPGs that have a place in my heart but aren't generally considered to be anything special:
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Too many to even mention.
Even more than the games, I cherish the memories made with friends.
Driving around different towns to finally find FFX, four people sitting around a 15 inch TV to marvel at MGS2, drag racing our ugly custom cars in NFS Underground, spending a whole summer rocking out and breaking highscores in Guitar Hero...
To me, it was the golden age of video gaming.
After setting up emulators for both the PS2 and PS1, I'm amazed at how little I actually turn on my xbox one S anymore.
Games from that generation just hit differently for me. Especially my favourites like Final Fantasy X and XII. It took me a while to get why I felt that way, but it's the combat systems in modern games have become to frenetic and button-mashy. How am I supposed to strategize what my team mates are doing at the speed that the combat now wants to take place at.
And that's not just with the Final Fantasy series. God of War both went down that "let's make combat as fast and frenetic as possible" route after the PS2 generation.
I'm also going to give an honourable mention on PS2 to the last Stalwart alternative to the EA NHL series; that being NHL 2K10. I really enjoyed the things that it did differently to EA Sports, like the ability to set two of your team-mates to hassle an opposing player. I wish 2K had kept it up. But it seems they gave up the NHL and EA gave up the NBA. Fair trade I guess.
MGS2 and 3, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, GTA... There's so many great games specifically from that era, and even exclusive to the PS2.
Metal gear Solid 3, Kingdom hearts 2 and Ape Escape 3
Twisted metal
Metal gear
Toiny hawk
Resident evil
Final Fantasy X is tied as my favorite game of all time. Funny enough, the game it's tied with came out on Xbox.
Worth mentioning:
Final Fantasy XII
Kingdom Hearts I & II
Ratchet & Clank (all)
Tony Hawk's Underground
Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Burnout 3: Takedown
Rock Band
NFL Street
Amplitude
X-Men Legends
Destroy All Humans!
Lost many hours of my life to Gran Turismo 3 and 4!
Just for some of the quality of life features included, Sonic Mega Collection Plus. The gamecube version may have been my first foray into classic Sonic, but eh PS2 is in my opinion the better version if you're a more casual player like me because savestates.
Also, I need to get onto actually playing them, but I recently got all 3 of the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger games on PS2. I played enough on Dolphin that I knew I had to pick it up on PS2 (since I don't have a gamecube). From the couple levels I played in the first game, definitely a fun game and one I personally have enjoyed.
Also, big shout-out to the only Star Wars Battlefront games I acknowledge existing.
Hitman 2! First game I 100%’d the trophy’s
Cars, NFS Hot Pursuit 2 (and Underground 2), Test Drive Unlimited, and The Simpsons Game (and Hit & Run). Mostly racing games lol.
I really loved the "Anchor Man" DVD menu. Solid graphics, great playthrough, simple controls.
I just completed bully on the ps2 (emulated on pcsx2)! Had a lot of fun, planning on going for jak & daxter series next i think. I never owned the console myself, so there are many gems ive never tried, and many i only played at friends houses sporadically.
This thread is a gold mine for suggestions!
I never owned a PS2 when they were still being manufactured and sold. I still do not own a PS2. However, there are some games I actually liked that released on PS2 (I did not list games that were better on other platforms, for example, Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition on PC is still the best way to play SH2):
Metal Gear Solid 3
Kuon
King's Field 4
CyGirls (I liked Disk 1 more than Disk 2)
Drakengard 1 and 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex
Extermination
Lifeline
Ico
A few titles that I never really hear anyone mention:
Mister Mosquito
Wetrix
Steambot Chronicles
Auto Modellista
XIII
And then some of my favourites that everyone knows about:
Burnout 3: Takedown
Smugglers Run
State of Emergency
NFS: Underground
Manhunt
Shadow of the Colossus
SOCOM, specifically the online MP
To name but a few, I don't want to write an absurdly long list which is just too easy to do.
I still can't believe Socom was real. A game released in like 2003.......where you can fight as the "terrorists", and if you win the game says "terrorists win".
This something like 18 months after 9/11.
I cannot believe this game was real. I mean I know it was. I played it. It's just......what?
Shadow of the Colossus. Even if the world is largely empty, it’s still more fun to explore than most games. It was unlike anything I played before, and unlike anything I’ve played to this day.
I remember when I first reached the southern plains. I stood on the cliff and looked over the massive area. I couldn’t believe PS2 was capable of this. This must be some kind of backdrop and this cliff is the edge of the playable world. Jumping down the cliff would certainly lead to an auto game over.
So I jumped down the cliff just to try, and to my surprise I survived. What I saw wasn’t a backdrop - it was part of the playable world.
What’s even more amazing is how there’s barely any reason to visit this area. They added this massive area that really pushes the limits of PS2, and it’s just there mostly unused.
Red Faction was so cool. Destructible environments were way ahead of their time.
Currently playing through Grand Turismo 3 A-Spec again (working through the rally stages, my favorite) and occasionally swapping out for GTA San Andreas. Love the PS2
ill try to name things most people havent played.
I heavily recommend people to try Downhill Domination. think like snowboard kids or mario kart(specifically mount wario or dk mountain tracks) but on mountain bikes. Silly bike combat with soo many side paths for players to try to forge their own way on winning a race.
Twisted metal, vice city, predator
So many great games on the PS2, I think of it as the best console and best gaming period of my life, these 3 are on the top of my mind of that time.
Edit - ofcourse, not a game, but the modchip was the best thing :)
My birthday today too, although I'm unfortunately not 25...
I didn't have a PS2 (Dreamcast and Xbox in my household), but I do remember frequently staying at my cousin's house and playing NFS, GTA, Simpsons hit and run, and SpongeBob battle for bikini bottom on his
Happy birthday!
Seeing this late, but thank you very much, that's very kind ☺️
I'm not old. Lalalala. I can't hear you. But I'm not old, or anything.
GTA Vice City. I’m still playing it now on my iPhone. I love that game. San Andreas is pretty good too.
I just replayed VC all the way through on my phone a month ago, what a nostalgia kick
I got GTA Vice City in GTA San Andreas. Download it on my phone. I connect a PlayStation controller, and then I airplay it to my TV. It’s just like playing it originally, except the cheat codes don’t work! Lol.
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Persona 3 FES
State of emergency rocked
The Jak and Daxter series is still in my top 10
STOP MAKING ME FEEL OLD, SIR!!!!
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven was the shit growing up. I didn't have a PS2 myself but would regularly be over at a friend's house to play. I remember taking turns in the campaign and unlocking the secret level/secret character. Even as years went by and his PS2 got replaced by a PS3 we kept coming back to Tenchu, playing late night multiplayer sessions or doing co-op and trying to set up the various two-player combo stealth kills. Such good times.
My brother and I almost exclusively used our PS2 to play God of war or Gran Turismo.
Midnight club dub edition was also played to the point that the disk stopped working.
Kind of sounds like you missed a lot of amazing games.
I mean we played a ton of different games, but we also lived in the middle of nowhere and we were lucky to buy a new game once every 6 months. Those games got a lot of replays simply because we didn't have access to a big library of games. We would trade disks with kids at school occasionally, but for the most part we only had like 10-15 games for our PS2 at any given time. Had to sell games we didn't play much anymore to afford new ones. Such is the life of poor people living an hour away from the nearest game store at the time lol
Weird for some reason I thought it released closer to xmas. That might have just been when it started selling in NZ.
Found my copy of Wipeout 2097 and 3 over the weekend so might be an excuse to grab it out for old times sake.
Dbz, played it for hours with friends, still holds up imho.
Ōkami was ported to so many platforms now (rightfully so, since it's a must-have for anyone who's a real gamer) that I no longer see it as a PS2 title. I truly miss the awesome Castlevania titles and Gradius V. It's a crime that they haven't been ported to the Switch.
Shadow of the Colossus.
The scale of the game was just massive for a PS2 title. Amazing hard hitting ending and challenging battles.