Hey everyone!
I decided to join you all in your new-fangled technologiness, and got myself a brand-spankin-new, top-of-the-line, cutting edge PS2!
The next step, obviously, is to get games for it, which is where all you fine folk come in! I have a short amount of time to order lots of good games (I'll be travelling soon after, and don't know the intricacies of regions and compatibility, or if PS1 games would work on a slim, regardless of regions and such), so I want to get the best! I realise that I could look up 'Best of' lists and such (and I have), but I figured that this community probably has a better and more personalised feel for what I'd like (not to say I want adventure games, those things suck :P).
So, for example, I've heard good things about Shadow of the Colossus. And Ico. And Jax & Drexter. And Ratchet & Clank. And God of War. These are games I've heard of constantly as a computer gamer, that supposedly added to what games are, and gave games a context that I am fundamentally unaware of, having never experienced them. AND they're supposedly fun/enjoyable.
Can you suggest to me some more such games? Tell me all you can think of that run the gamut of good (or even just FUN) console games! Or even tell me they're not worth it, and recommend totally different stuff. Or even if Tekken 4(5?) is not worth it (with me having fond memories of constantly beating my friend in 3 on his console and later my emulator) and I should get some other fighting game!
Thanks!
Quote from: Babar on Thu 11/04/2013 07:50:28
And Ico.
Have played that, great game and doesn't take too long to complete. It's very atmospheric and not too hard to play.
Other than that I'd recommend Okami. Great gameplay and story if you like japanese mythology.
I would get Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, if you're a fan of GTA. They're not available on any other platform (except newer PlayStations...), so you probably won't have played them yet.
I'm just playing Okami! It's pretty great.
I'd say Shadow of the Colossus is a must, and Ico is pretty high up there too.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of my favourites from that era, and MGS2 is pretty good too if you like that.
Timesplitters 2 is one of the silliest and fun games for the system. It's best in multiplayer, but I realize you have no friends, so single player is good too.
There's a couple of things you may have played on PC (Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, GTA: Vice City), but I don't think you'll have any shortage of stuff.
ALSO: PS1 games should work on it, if you find any that take your fancy.
SSX Tricky can be pretty fun, Silent Hill 2 is raved about, God of war as well, Gran turismo 4, Tony Hawk 3...many legendary games were made for ps2.
Yes PS1 titles will work on the slimline PS2, it's the slimline PS3 that has backwards compatibility for PS2 taken out that you're probably thinking of. Note that you need a PS1 memory card to save PS1 games, though, you can't save to a PS2 card so you need to switch out memory cards when playing different generations of game.
The PS2 titles I've loved and kept are the Splinter Cell series (4 games), the Tomb Raider series (3 games), Freedom Fighters, XIII, and Silent Hill 2. Personally I found Ico to be tedious and Shadow of the Colossus to be frustratingly difficult to the point of quitting but they are beautiful, visionary games.
Quote from: Anian on Thu 11/04/2013 09:09:50
SSX Tricky
Oh yeah, I had an unbelievable amount of fun with SSX Tricky on the PS2. If you're into these kinds of games at all (check youtube videos if unsure), that's a must-own.
Tekken Tag Tournament is all tekken you need as it has all the characters from tekken 3 (and 2 and 1) and us fun. Though I miss Tekken Ball, but Bowling is okay.
SotC and Ico are really great, can't go wrong with jak and daxter and ratchet + clank. Metal Gear Solid 2+3 is also great, and if you like big stories and leveling up get Final Fantasy X and XII.
Silent Hill 2 is the best and most atmospheric in the series, SH3 is also good.
All the GTAs have their moments though Vice City is really the best, the 80ies vibe is soo on spot and they put so many funny things in. Just driving around listening top the 80s music and the 2 talkradios is great, who cares if you run over pedestrians and cops while doing so :D
Timesplitters 2 is also in my collection, as is 3, but 2 is better. a lot. And from the same developer comes Second Sight, a really cool and not so well known action game.
If you like electronic music, get REZ! <3 this game.
Rumble Racing is the Mario Kart of the PS2. There is also a Micro Machines game, it's fun but could have been better. And also gran tourismo, burnout, need for speed for racing games if you're into that.
Tony Hawks 3+4 and ssx tricky are fun sports games.
Monkey Island 4 is also playable on PS2, though the game sucks in general and the controls on PS2 are strange. Syberia is another adventure on PS2.
I enjoy GTA, it gives me a certain adrenaline rush when I'm being chased by police cars. God of War 2 is also another interesting game to try.
My personal favorite game of all time is Gitaroo Man, which is on PS2 (also PSP but the controller isn't as nice). It's however a music game which isn't everyone's cup of tea. Though I still recomend checking out a video of it. It is amazing ^^
Okami, ICO and shadow of the colossus, as previously stated, are a must.
A game I didn't see mentioned here is Viewtiful Joe which is a platformer with some really cool mechanics.
Since this is an Adventure game forum i'd recommend Shadow of Memories. sort of adventure game, very unique.
Edit: Just read that it was called Shadow of Destiny in other territories.
VIDEOGAMES! My favourite subject!
Way of the Samurai and it's sequel are two of my favourite PS2 games. Very adventurey, with non-linear gameplay. I'm a big fan of Acquire's catalog of games though, such as the Tenchu and Shinobido titles, so I may be a little biased.
Glass Rose is a good adventure game that nobody seems to have heard of, as is Gregory Horror Show. The Project Zero/Fatal Frame games are also fantastic. As are...oh, heck, here's a short "no-particular-order" list, based on what I can see without standing up and going over to the shelf they're on:
Haunting Ground
Clock Tower 3
Spy Fiction
Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4.
Gungrave
Gungrave Overdose
Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3
Way of the Samurai
Way of the Samurai 2
Shinobido: Way of the Ninja
Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Shadow of Memories
SOS: The Final Escape
Glass Rose
Gregory Horror Show
Project Zero/Fatal Frame 1, 2, and 3.
...
All very Japan-centric, but that was mostly what I was into during my PS2 days. The Slimline PS2 model is nice and quiet, and not as prone to failures (in my experience) as the older, heavier, noisier, original.
As for regions, all Playstation software is region-locked. PAL PS2 and PS1 games will only play on a PAL PS2, and the same is true of NTSC US and NTSC JAPAN. Unless it's a modded PS2 (with a chip), in which case anything will play on it.
All the games I've mentioned had PAL releases, and at least 75% of them had NTSC US releases. Unfortunately, a lot of them won't be that easy to find, and some of them might go for (relatively) high prices. If condition isn't an issue, some disc-only or ex-rental copies might prove a lot cheaper.
Have fun! ;-D
...
VIDEOGAMES!
Multiple recommendations for
Ico
Shadow of Colossus
Okami
GTA Liberty City Stories & Vice City Stories (I already have played the other GTA games)
Metal Gear Solid 2 (3 seemed to be less well received...both?)
Silent Hill 2
Time Splitters 2
SSX Tricky (or should I get Tony Hawks 3 or 4 or 5 instead...it is a similar sort of game?)
I am checking out the other games mentioned one by one. Thanks! And do keep the suggestions coming!
Pity about the region locking, that means I really should get as many as soon as possible, not sure if anyone would still even be modding for PS2s..
Sounds like everyone's already recommended some amazing ones, so my list is more of the same:
*Shadow of the Colossus (One of my all time favs)
*Silent Hill 2 (Beautiful and scary)
*SSX Tricky (Don't usually like sports games, but this one had me hooked)
*Okami (All around awesome)
*Fatal Frame 1 (Scared the crap out of me in college. Didn't care for the second one though)
*KATAMARI DAMACY and WE ââ,,¢Â¥ KATAMARI! (For some reason, these haven't been mentioned in the thread yet, but they are flipping great! I still play them to this day.)
Ahhh, look at me getting all nostalgic. Sigh...
They do region unlocking disks for PS2, Babar. They unlock the region on a boot by boot basis. Could use one of those if you couldn't find a way of getting a hardware chip. I'd expect you'd still find them on specialist sites, or even eBay.
PS2 was my favourite system as a kid.
Get Sly 2, best game on the system. Silent Hill 2, MGS2/3. Dem games be good.
katamari games are really fun. I totally second this.
total overdose is fun gta clone.
Quote from: Babar on Thu 11/04/2013 23:44:46
not sure if anyone would still even be modding for PS2s..
People still mod way older consoles Babar....
Why haven't anyone mentioned Persona 3 and 4 yet? Those are absolutely delightful and very likeable games about going to school, making friends, hearing their sad life stories, shooting yourself in the face , fighting weird demons that may or may not be twisted reflections of the characters' inner selves and collecting Pokemons cards. I wholeheartedly recommend both of them, with Persona 4 being the slightly better one, although playing it first might make it harder to enjoy Persona 3 because of the small interface and gameplay improvements in the 4th game.
Quote from: Ilyich on Fri 12/04/2013 16:21:41
Why haven't anyone mentioned Persona 3 and 4 yet? Those are absolutely delightful and very likeable games about going to school, making friends, hearing their sad life stories, shooting yourself in the face , fighting weird demons that may or may not be twisted reflections of the characters' inner selves and collecting Pokemons cards. I wholeheartedly recommend both of them, with Persona 4 being the slightly better one, although playing it first might make it harder to enjoy Persona 3 because of the small interface and gameplay improvements in the 4th game.
No one mentioned it because it's exactly that - going to school. I do not want to play a game where I go to school, those are called memories and nightmares. Not to mention it's a bunch of kids with the whole manga world stereotypes. So it's not for everybody.
And while Pokemons do battle gameplay, in Persona games you get battles plus going to school, arranging your time table to go to the gym etc.
I have only few things to add to the already respectable collection people have posted.
- Killer7 (certainly not everyone's cup of tea. I mentioned it because it tells a story in a very unconventional mindfuck-y way and you don't often get that in gaming. It certainly stands out.)
- Psychonauts (legendary for its bad sales and great reviews, it's Tim Schafer storytelling at its best. The game is a 3D platformer)
- Devil May Cry 3 (after a disappointing 2nd part, the third impresses with good action and some of the most ridiculously over the top cutscenes in gaming history)
No JRPG love?
- Kingdom Hearts (beautiful Disney / Squaresoft mashup with a host of well-known characters. Ah, childhood memories)
- Final Fantasy X (the last decent entry in the series IMO)
- Odin Sphere (beautiful 2D art, beautiful game overall)
Other than that, I would like to second some of the aforementioned entries:
- Shadow of the Colossus (not much to say, it's one of the greatest games of all time on any system)
- Metal Gear Solid 3 (holds a special place in my heart because of the gut-wrenching final boss battle and end sequence. The less you know about the game the stonger it hits home. Playing the sequels is recommended)
- Silent Hill 2 (IMO one of the strongest entries in the series, right next to part 1 on PS1. Has one of the most iconic horror characters in gaming. The game stands well alone, no prior knowledge of the series necessary)
- Gitaroo Man (for its unique way of telling a story through musical episodes. If you can stand the setting and music/reaction games in general, it's very fun to play)
- Katamari Damacy (If you want unique and pushing the envelope of gaming, this will probably be for you. It's very wacky, but so lovably done, it's impossible to not like it) ;) The sequel is better than the original IMO.
Ilych: I just got my PS2 down from the attic and I wanted to play Persona 4 so much, but it goes for about 30 pounds on Amazon.co.uk and I'm not ready to pay that (yet). But maybe I should, I read it's pretty awesome.
Edit: Just remembered, since the PS2 plays PS1 games, I'll name some 2D classics that stand out for me (2D graphics tend to stand the test of time better than the first baby steps of 3D do and are still playable outside of nostalgic reasons).
- Final Fantasy Tactics (turn based strategy with a well-deveoloped politics-rich story, more serious than the other Final Fantasy games)
- Castlevania Symphony of the Night (revived the Castlevania series with a bang. Awesome pixel art, great music, very fun to play. Highly recommended)
- Vakyrie Profile (2D/3D RPG with an awesome setting and perfect little short stories connected by the overarching quest of gathering souls for Ragnarok, unique action-oriented battle system)
Obviously Max Payne 1 & 2 nuff said
I went to a GameStop today (one of the few in the city still stocking PS2 games:(), and was able to find these, which I then bought:
Sly 3
Silent Hill 2
God of War 1 & 2
Okami
Ico
Shadow of Destiny
Tekken Tag Tournament
Ratchet & Clank
Jak & Daxter
and GTA: Vice City Stories
Now I have to look around for somewhere else that sells them, or find somewhere to mod my PS2 cheaply (probably not here...). I googled around for the disk mentioned, but could only find some memory card thing you insert that region unlocks it, but you have to do it every time the PS2 boots, and I'm not sure it is removable/replaceable once the game starts.
And Tuomas, I have played both Max Payne 1 and 2 on the PC already :D.
Dude, Shadow of the Colossus! Didn't they have that? :-D
Sly 3 is awful, and yes get Ico and SotC.
Quote from: Armageddon on Sun 14/04/2013 12:12:22
Sly 3 is awful...
Sly 3 is fine, it's that just most people prefer Sly 2. If anything, the first Sly Cooper game is the weakest.
Quote from: Babar on Sun 14/04/2013 06:22:11
I went to a GameStop today (one of the few in the city still stocking PS2 games:(), and was able to find these, which I then bought:
Good haul! :)
Five classics, and some damn fine games among the rest. Silent Hill 2 is one of my all time favourites.
I will have to add to the Persona love! Persona 4 especially is amazing. Other games worth mentioning not in this thread yet:
3 great RPGs by Level5:
Dragon Quest 8
Dark Chronicles
Rogue galaxy
If you want games that will eat away at your life:
Disgaea and Disgaea 2
Makai Kingdom
Other good RPGs / tactical games
Ring of Red
Steambot Chronicles
More japanese madness:
Mad Maestro
Freak Out / Stretch Panic
Chaos Legion
Other
Great rhythm action games (get Gitaroo man first though!):
Frequency
Rez
Space Channel 5 2
And my favourite "unexpected pleasure": Mark of Kri. Great atmosphere and the setting was a breath of fresh air at the time. The graphics and animation as well were right out of a disney movie.
Edit: I forgot my favourite Final Fantasy of all time as well!: Final Fantasy XII.
Edit 2: Too many good games on PS2. I forgot the below classics as well:
God Hand (same guys who gave you viewtiful Joe)
Maximo (3D remake of ghouls and ghosts. Hard as nails and very fun)
Zone of the Enders 2 (The first one only sold because of the attached MGS2 demo. The second was a classic mecha game)
Everyone has already recommended some great games, so I figured I'd recommend some others.
PS1:
Medieval (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5sao6NXa4o) - Fun action-adventure game with some great dialog, cartoony graphics, decent voice acting and an awesome player character Dan Fortesque!
Resident Evil Trilogy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psocOySFePA) - I call it a trilogy because they were on PS1 and were much different compared to the newer ones. All pretty classic and fun to play.
Silent Hill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUdUQbxZIg8) - The grand daddy of survival horror games. Very atmospheric and also pretty damn scary.
Thrasher - Skate and Destroy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6XUsYuJclc) - Picture Skate from this generation. Thrasher is essentially that. Pretty ahead of it's time and it has an awesome soundtrack.
Einhander (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj8b0ROOI9A) - A shmup from Square and a damn good one. Great soundtrack as well.
Final Fantasy Origins (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j4JCmf8xrw) Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II with updated graphics, bug fixes, and better translations. Great RPGs get better.
Twisted Metal 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6mB8zlx88g) - Car combat done great.
Those are my favorites on PS1.
PS2:
Kingdom Hearts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcMYWdPmsH8) - I personally would avoid the 2nd one. It's nothing but a button masher. This one started it all and it did it just right.
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLGWNoU7LU) - My favorite from the series that features John Reno. Hard, but fun game.
Dragonball Z Budokai 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7LMWprmdBM) - Pretty great fighting game if you like Dragonball Z.
That's it for me. Never had a PS2 so didn't really spend much time with one.
This is the perfect time to get one, R4L! :D
I found We Love Katamari at another GameStop today. As well as Metal Gear Solid 2, for just 2 cents. Even though that is an awesome deal, I got annoyed, because just as I came back with my purchase and checked my mail, it turns out I got a coupon to get any game free if I buy two games...
I don't think anybody's mentioned Red Dead Revolver yet. I played that game to death, loved it!
I actually saw that in a shop, but didn't pick it up. It was the first part in the series that included the more acclaimed Red Dead Redemption (for the PS3), no?
As of now, I have:
God of War I & II
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Ico
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Okami
Ratchet & Clank
Shadow of Destiny
Silent Hill 2
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
Tekken: TAG Tournament
and We Love Katamari
And I have ordered Shadow of the Colossus online.
Unless I can find Gitaroo Man or Rez or SSX Tricky (to fill in good ones from the missing rhythm games and sports-type games), I think that is it for me now. Or am I still missing something vital, and not having that on the PS2 is blasphemy? :P
Wow, you have a ton of games to play there. Super happy you got We Love Katamari. I do think it's the stronger game, but I would play the first game first, since the second game may not make a lot of sense otherwise.
yeah, listen to the king of all kosmos and sing along to the happy tune :D
if you know gta III, vice city and san andreas already there is not much missing (beside new games you will sure want in 2 years from now once you completed them all). I guess after completing MGS2 you want to play MGS3 anyways ;)
maybe a Final Fantasy (X or XII) is missing if you like rpgs even a little bit.
Odin's Sphere is a must-have, and pretty cheap if you can find it (GameStop is your best bet)...
The PS2 is awesome if you like horror games like me(even though I'm a coward so it takes me a LONG time to finish them). Here's a link that has some of the best horror games for the PS2: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sony/ps2/the-playstation-2-ps2-survival-horror-library
Quote from: Babar on Tue 16/04/2013 03:05:47
This is the perfect time to get one, R4L! :D
I've been thinking of buying one for $20 at my local pawn shop. Would love to romp through Kingdom Hearts again.
And I can't believe I forgot about Red Dead Revolver. One of the most funnest games EVER.
How did I not mention Ratchet and Clank, the first three games are the most amazing things I played as a kid.
Quote from: Babar on Thu 18/04/2013 17:46:45
I actually saw that in a shop, but didn't pick it up. It was the first part in the series that included the more acclaimed Red Dead Redemption (for the PS3), no?
Correct! I remember buying Red Dead Revolver for my PS2 when it was released, and absolutely loved it. It's one of the very very few games I was actually bothered enough with to 100% it.
It was originally developed by Capcom and I believe it was intended to be released as an arcade game (where you hold a plastic pistol up to the arcade screen). They ended up dropping it and Rockstar took it on, adding awesomeness along the way.
Never heard of Red Dead Revolver, possibly because it's not my main genre.
So if I had to play one, would you recommend RDR for PS2 or rather Red Dead Redemption for PS3?
Well, between the two, it's Redemption without a doubt.
Revolver has great characters and soundtrack although when you play it nowadays, it does somewhat show its age. The storyline is very linear (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course) and there isn't a tremendous amount of things to do outside of progressing the storyline.
As far as I'm concerned, Redemption is an absolute gem. I have never been so completely immersed in a game world as much as I was with Red Dead Redemption. It is visually gorgeous and being able to free-roam in a detail packed spaghetti western world with lots of things to do, not to mention random encounters, makes you feel like the place actually could have existed at some point in history.
Sorry, I'm babbling, this isn't a "Kiss Red Dead's Ass" thread. (laugh)
Quote from: LimpingFish on Thu 11/04/2013 23:15:33
VIDEOGAMES! My favourite subject!
Way of the Samurai and it's sequel are two of my favourite PS2 games. Very adventurey, with non-linear gameplay. I'm a big fan of Acquire's catalog of games though, such as the Tenchu and Shinobido titles, so I may be a little biased.
Glass Rose is a good adventure game that nobody seems to have heard of, as is Gregory Horror Show. The Project Zero/Fatal Frame games are also fantastic. As are...oh, heck, here's a short "no-particular-order" list, based on what I can see without standing up and going over to the shelf they're on:
Haunting Ground
Clock Tower 3
Spy Fiction
Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4.
Gungrave
Gungrave Overdose
Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3
Way of the Samurai
Way of the Samurai 2
Shinobido: Way of the Ninja
Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Shadow of Memories
SOS: The Final Escape
Glass Rose
Gregory Horror Show
Project Zero/Fatal Frame 1, 2, and 3.
...
All very Japan-centric, but that was mostly what I was into during my PS2 days. The Slimline PS2 model is nice and quiet, and not as prone to failures (in my experience) as the older, heavier, noisier, original.
As for regions, all Playstation software is region-locked. PAL PS2 and PS1 games will only play on a PAL PS2, and the same is true of NTSC US and NTSC JAPAN. Unless it's a modded PS2 (with a chip), in which case anything will play on it.
All the games I've mentioned had PAL releases, and at least 75% of them had NTSC US releases. Unfortunately, a lot of them won't be that easy to find, and some of them might go for (relatively) high prices. If condition isn't an issue, some disc-only or ex-rental copies might prove a lot cheaper.
Have fun! ;-D
...
VIDEOGAMES!
He listed pretty much all my favorites.
Quote from: stu on Thu 25/04/2013 19:54:32
Well, between the two, it's Redemption without a doubt.
Revolver has great characters and soundtrack although when you play it nowadays, it does somewhat show its age. The storyline is very linear (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course) and there isn't a tremendous amount of things to do outside of progressing the storyline.
As far as I'm concerned, Redemption is an absolute gem. I have never been so completely immersed in a game world as much as I was with Red Dead Redemption. It is visually gorgeous and being able to free-roam in a detail packed spaghetti western world with lots of things to do, not to mention random encounters, makes you feel like the place actually could have existed at some point in history.
Sorry, I'm babbling, this isn't a "Kiss Red Dead's Ass" thread. (laugh)
I'll keep it in mind then. I'm not really a fan of free-roaming open world games, as nowadays I don't get the opportunity to play without interruptions for an extended amount of time, but the settings sounds interesting enough and I will consider it if I get the chance
I'm trying one more round of game finding, even if it isn't the rhythm or sports-action games....
What I should be on the lookout for now, I guess:
Time Splitters 2
SSX Tricky
Gitaroo Man or Rez or Space Channel 5 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Sly 2
Tony Hawk 3 (or 4?)
GTA: Liberty City Stories
Viewtiful Joe
Odin Sphere
Final Fantasy X (or XII?)
Kingdom Hearts
Red Dead Revolver
Jak & Daxter 2 or 3
Ratchet & Clank 2 or 3
LimpingFish, I didn't really want to heavy out on any one sort of game. Sorry to try and squeeze up your suggestions :D, but if you could, which of those do you suggest as a cream of the crop for the survival horrors you suggested and the stealth games you suggested and the japanese action adventures?
Bush_monkey, which of those RPGs is the top? :D
Creaming and squeezing!
Haunting Ground = Great "no fighting" survival horror with puzzles. (substitute Clock Tower 3, or any of the Project Zero/Fatal Frame games)
Way of the Samurai = Great non-linear action adventure, with an emphasis on npc interactions, and a fairly deep sword-fighting system. (substitute WOS 2 or Shinobido)
GunGrave = Pure arcade-style shooter with cool production design. (substitute Gungrave Overdose or, now that I think of it, Sega's remake of Shinobi or its sequel Nightshade)
SOS: The Final Escape = I really liked this game, because it's something you don't see very often. It's almost entirely based around environmental traversal and survival in a sinking, collapsing city. Technically it's pretty creaky, with stiff animations and such, but it's worth playing regardless.
You've already picked up some of the rest, and all that's left on my list is a few adventures and the Silent Hill sequels. :)