Game choice for PS2?

[Tengu]

As I will be getting a PS2 soon, I was looking for games on this console that I'd enjoy. I have preferences for RPGs, strategy games with RPG elements, plot-driven games with interesting storylines, and weird games, while games I really dislike are sports games and car racing. Here is my list so far:

Disgaea 1 & 2
Final Fantasy 10 & 12
Metal Gear Solid 3
Guilty Gear Accent Core (as I'm a big fan of GG)
Shadow of the Colossus
Katamari Damacy
some SRW games

And while these games should have me occupied for a longer while, I'm going to finish them in the end. So, any suggestions for other games that I might enjoy?

EDIT: Bleh, could anyone move this thread to Gaming? Thanks.

[Terraoblivion]

Even if it is to get moved, i'm just going ahead and replying immediately.

If you haven't played them on other platforms and can manage to actually track them down i can advice both Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil. Granted they are platformy and not entirely within your stated preferences, but they are both very plotdriven and have good plots, as well as wonderfully strange in the case of Psychonauts. I might post again when i get home to see what games i actually have.

Also on a note of personal preference i would advice you to skip MGS3. For me it was the worst game in the series, mostly consisting of you walking down a straight path as a none too interesting plot plays. It also takes the silly even farther than the past games when it comes to the bosses. I think i am pretty much the only person to think this, but i still thought to mention it.

[Tengu]

I have heard that these games are very good, indeed, but I am mostly looking for titles that are also unavailable on the PC. I should clarify that.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Soul Calibur III. It's only on the PS2.

[Nevrmore]

Also on a note of personal preference i would advice you to skip MGS3. For me it was the worst game in the series, mostly consisting of you walking down a straight path as a none too interesting plot plays. It also takes the silly even farther than the past games when it comes to the bosses. I think i am pretty much the only person to think this, but i still thought to mention it.
Ignore this, MGS 3 is godly.

P.S. No boss, in this series or any other, will surpass the silliness of "Decoy Octopus."

[Silfir]

I'd definitely recommend Grandia II. It's originally a Dreamcast game, but got ported to the PS2 and PC, but that's acceptable too, right? It has a nice story and one of the best combat systems I've seen in any JRPG.

EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, what's your reason for not wanting to play a game that's available for the PC? Are you worrying about portation issues?

[Drascin]

Soul Calibur III. It's only on the PS2.

I personally greatly disliked SC III compared to the previous ones, but to each his own, I guess.

Anyway, most of my recommendations you already know, Tengu, because I have hammered you over the head with them repeteadly :smalltongue:, so I have precious little to suggest. Except adding a couple more recommendations I've already made today - Rogue Galaxy and Valkyrie Profile Silmeria. Rogue is not exactly top-of-the-shelf writing for an RPG, but the mechanics manage to be surpringly entertaining, and Silmeria is looking like a rather interesting epic up to the point I'm playing.

[Terraoblivion]

I can't believe i forgot this. Both Kingdom Hearts games might be fitting given the list of games you have already stated you are planning on getting. Of course there is the risk of pathological hatred of Disney and the gameplay is fairly buttonmashy. Still they are fun games with lots of plot as well as nice music and some wonderfully designed areas.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I personally greatly disliked SC III compared to the previous ones, but to each his own, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, it's okay, but I dislike it too, mainly because it only came out for one gosh-darn console, and we had the wrong one (My brother's have almost exclusively Nintendo systems, so we got the Gamecube version of SCII). I don't like the number of buttons on the PS2's controller, so I never really got the hang of the controls. The only thing that made me drool over it was the character design system, though I think that could have used a bit more fine-tuning as well (Having clothing decide your morality was silly in Fable and it's silly in SCIII too!). That SCIV is only coming out for the 360 and PS3 doesn't improve my mood in the slightest. Nintendo owners are really getting the short end of the stick with this excellent series!:smallannoyed:

[Terraoblivion]

I knew that getting home and looking over my collection of PS2 games would help. The one game you absolutely have to get, no matter what, if you own a PS2 is Okami. It has quite likely the most spectacular visual design of any video game i have ever seen, with its cel-shading to look like classic, Japanese woodblock prints. In addition to that it has some of the best Zelda'ish gameplay ever, funny lines and a really wonderful and quirky setting based on Japanese mythology. Really if you were to only get one game for the platform it should be this.

And sorry about fangirling so much about it. I just love that game to bits and then some. It is just so beautiful and atmospheric...i could rant about it for days on end.

[Raroy]

Shin Megami Tensi Nocturne: Sure It's rare and may be expensive. Sure it's a lot darker and mature (Mature as in Maturity. Not Blood, Gore, Sex, Teenagers gigglingly in delight) then most RPGs. Sure it can be hellishly difficult at times.......but......The sheer amount of awesomeness of it makes up for all it's failings and some that don't even exist! There is some strategy that is actually needed to play the game and fusing demons is equal to hours of addicted game play. One of my most favorite games. I would play through it again to get other endings if it didn't take many hours.

[Hario]

ICO has a very good storyline, and was the pinnacle of games at its time

Dark Cloud was an amazing (zelda rip off with stats) game, dark cloud 2 was decent too, though the voice acting wasn't that great but I guess better than no voice of its original. Free roaming rpg and world building, though the random dungeons could get a bit on ya after 100 hours. (do not get grandia 3 if you cannot stand long dungeons, for the love of god)

Star Ocean 3 was amazing (for what I played, my ps2 broke while playing it, physically that is).

Those are the only ones off the top of my head for rpgs that you should like.

[Paragon Badger]

Ignore this, MGS 3 is godly.

P.S. No boss, in this series or any other, will surpass the silliness of "Decoy Octopus."

I thought Psycho Mantis was pretty bad... particularly on the Gamecube..

"I see you've been playing Super Mario Sunshine!"

THERE IS NO FOURTH WALLLLLLLLLL! :smalleek:

Anyways... Yes, MGS 3 is fun.

ICO is a must if you like Shadow of the Collosus.

Okami is a must.... because it rocks, childish antics aside. (Believe me, the gameplay and visual/audio aesthetic makes up for every flaw inherent in its 'kiddy' demographic... every.)

Also, Resident Evil 4...

And....others... >_<

[Icewalker]

Ratchet and Clank. Awesome RPG games, one of the first I had on the PS2. There are 5 now (the fifth is on PS3, but I didn't think it was as good as some of the previous ones). The plots are interesting, the characters are fun, the gameplay is awesome (and improves consistently from one game to the next, except 5)

So, that's Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and Ratchet: Deadlocked.


I will second Kingdom Hearts. They are excellent games, despite the disneyness.

[Nevrmore]

I thought Psycho Mantis was pretty bad... particularly on the Gamecube..

"I see you've been playing Super Mario Sunshine!"

THERE IS NO FOURTH WALLLLLLLLLL! :smalleek:

Anyways... Yes, MGS 3 is fun.
You seem to be confused. "Silly" doesn't mean "Totally badass."

[Xefas]

I will second Kingdom Hearts. They are excellent games, despite the disneyness.

I third Kingdom Hearts, but I say that the Disney elements don't detract from the game at all. I dunno, but I see a lot of people say it like the game had to actually claw its way out of the depths of Disney to shine, but really, in my opinion, they go hand in hand. At least in the first game.

The second game was terrible by comparison. The majority of the Disney content in that game was rehashed rubbish, but numbah 1 used it to good effect.

Then again, I actually liked the singing stage in numbah 2. Maybe I'm the only one in the world who had a childhood, or something. Why does Mickey Mouse and legions of unstoppable, mindless, mindraping abominations have to be mutually exclusive?

But, I digress, don't forget to pick up God of War 1&2. Talk about epic storylines. The plot is both engaging, and you get to kill Theseus via door-inflicted head trauma (and impale Perseus on a giant barbed fishhook).

[Icewalker]

Yeah, I only felt the disney-ness detracted from it when it went over the top and something that should have been serious just went silly. Just because the characters are made in such a world didn't leave them ridiculous, making for excellent story.

I found the second game better, actually, although I think they improved the gameplay a bit, and some of the new worlds were from (IMO) some of the better disney movies.


Oooh, God of War. I only played the 2nd one, and it was quite fun. Very violent games, if you have any reason to avoid anything like that, this is what you'd have to stay away from, but still very fun to play.

On a similar note, I'll suggest Devil May Cry 3. Only one I played. Good game, although I had the Special Edition, which was very hard, and about three times easier than the normal version. Very fun to play, simple enough in most other aspects. You can make big shiny combos. Mmmm, Beowulf...


(Yeah, Theseus got wrecked...that's gotta suck)

[Nevrmore]

I third Kingdom Hearts, but I say that the Disney elements don't detract from the game at all. I dunno, but I see a lot of people say it like the game had to actually claw its way out of the depths of Disney to shine, but really, in my opinion, they go hand in hand. At least in the first game.

The second game was terrible by comparison. The majority of the Disney content in that game was rehashed rubbish, but numbah 1 used it to good effect.

Then again, I actually liked the singing stage in numbah 2. Maybe I'm the only one in the world who had a childhood, or something. Why does Mickey Mouse and legions of unstoppable, mindless, mindraping abominations have to be mutually exclusive?

But, I digress, don't forget to pick up God of War 1&2. Talk about epic storylines. The plot is both engaging, and you get to kill Theseus via door-inflicted head trauma (and impale Perseus on a giant barbed fishhook).

The only thing that bothered me about KH 2 was when they retread old ground, because they usually ended up making it worse. They completely destroyed Halloweentown, which was, once-upon-a-time, my favorite locale.

But KH 2 is vastly superior thanks to the improved combat system. Although the quick-time events are rather poorly done as they only utilize one button so in a series of them you're sitting their like a lunatic mashing your triangle button like it was getting you off. sexually.

[Xefas]

I found the second game better, actually, although I think they improved the gameplay a bit, and some of the new worlds were from (IMO) some of the better disney movies.


But KH 2 is vastly superior thanks to the improved combat system. Although the quick-time events are rather poorly done as they only utilize one button so in a series of them you're sitting their like a lunatic mashing your triangle button like it was getting you off. sexually.

While I found the drive forms to be quite awesome, their greatness was heftily detracted from by the main reason I didn't like KH2's combat, and that is: It was too freaking easy. On the hardest difficulty, without doing any unnecessary leveling, on my first run through, I didn't die a single time or really ever have to think about what I was doing except for two of the boss fights (Xaldin and Xigbar), and that includes the optional Sephiroth fight (which was depressingly easy). After the novelty wore off, I never used the Drive Forms except to show them to friends because you didn't need them at all to succeed.

Where was that Valor form when I was getting my ass handed to me by the second Riku fight in KH1? That was an epic battle (assuming you didn't spend any time leveling up, but that's true of all games with 'levels').


The only thing that bothered me about KH 2 was when they retread old ground, because they usually ended up making it worse. They completely destroyed Halloweentown, which was, once-upon-a-time, my favorite locale.

Well, that's a theme with Disney as a whole (and perhaps the whole film industry).
Beauty and the Beast: Badass!
Beauty and the Beast 2: Oh god my eyes! My poor, thoroughly sodomized childhood classic! ARRGH! Either there is no god, or this movie is proof that he's losing!
And so on...

Yes, in KH2, I didn't like the Disney worlds. Even the PotC world could have been done loads better, in my opinion, though it was a lot better than some of the other worlds. The Underworld and Atlantica were worthwhile to me, though. Still waiting for my Hunchback of Notre Dame world.

All the non-Disney stuff was still epic win, though.

[DeathQuaker]

The Suikoden series. Overall, a very well written fantasy series of war epics very loosely inspired by an old Chinese legend about 108 warriors.

Each game has a similar overall arc: you play a hero (most often a young man/teenager) who is stuck in the middle of a war or a time leading up to war; you gain access to an extremely rare artifact called a True Rune which will somehow influence the turnout of the war, and you end up recruiting up to 108 followers and leading a faction participating in the war. It has both traditional RPG quest elements as well as dealing with things like army and stronghold management.

They have a JRPG structure (single hero you take the POV of, leads a 4-6 person party, engages in traditional turn-based combat) that folds in tactical combat as well (both a simple one-on-one duel system where you anticipate your foe's move and respond accordingly, and a "army combat" system" where you control units around a battlefield). These latter two combat systems are very basic as far as tactical combat go--if you want true army-fights this isn't a great game, but it's neat that they have the three kinds of combat to keep the game interesting.

There are 5 Suikoden games (the first two were made for the PS1 and I think were re-put out for PSP), plus a "Suikoden Tactics" which follows up on plot elements introduced in Suikoden IV.

Each of the games have some recurring characters, but are designed so you can play them standalone if you did not play one that came before.

IMO, the best are Suikoden III (where you have a choice of 3 heros--beyond the boring typical teenage boy warrior, you can also choose an older male mercenary and a female knight captain, both of whom are awesome) and Suikoden V (some of the best political intrigue in the background, and I find the hero more enjoyable to play for some reason).

All of the RPGs are quite good (some people don't like IV, but I liked that one as much as the rest of them, and more than some others) and despite a very large cast of characters, there is a lot of excellent dialogue and character development.

Suikoden Tactics is not as good, with a rather boring tactical combat system, although some of the story elements are still quite good; it's more interesting as a game that explores some plot elements introduced ino other games--if you're interested in some game history and the like, it's good, but not so much for the gameplay itself.

The only frustrating thing about them is that recruitment for your army can be a pain as some of the "puzzles" for recruiting certain people are not solvable without a game-guide, essentially, and while you don't have to recruit everyone available, you won't get your "Best ending" without them.

You can carry savegames from 1-2, from 2-3, and from IV into Tactics.

[stm177]

Lego Star Wars II is really good. It's not challenging, but it's a great game to play side by side with a pre-teen relative.

[Neftren]

Dirge of Cerberus, if you want a shooter that is about Vincent Valentine, zombie gun expert from Final Fantasy.

Any Star Wars games are good...

Kingdom Hearts is another interesting one...

[Tengu]

Lego Star Wars II is really good. It's not challenging, but it's a great game to play side by side with a pre-teen relative.

I had a pre-teen relative but I eated it.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, what's your reason for not wanting to play a game that's available for the PC? Are you worrying about portation issues?

No real reason - it's just that I've probably already heard about the games that are also on the PC, while I might have never heard before of some of these that are only on consoles.

So, the list of games suggested so far is:
Psychonauts
Beyond Good and Evil
Soul Calibur II & III
Grandia II
Rogue Galaxy
Valkyrie Profile Silmeria
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Okami
Shin Megami Tensi Nocturne
ICO
Dark Cloud 1 & 2
Star Ocean 3
Resident Evil 4
Ratchet and Clank series
God of War 1 & 2
Devil May Cry 3
Suikoden series
Lego Star Wars II
Dirge of Cerberus

Sounds very good, and among these really are many I've forgotten about before and will definitely check too. Feel free to post more suggestions, though.

[Khanderas]

Soul Calibur III. It's only on the PS2.
I play this all but daily.
Real good stuff.

Edit, Kingdom hearts 2... Played it straight for two weeks. Yes it can be finished far sooner, but I cleared it. Then cleared it with full %. Then again on hard. Then I played KH 1 all over again.
KH2 > KH1 in every way I feel. And KH 1 was GOOD.
So many mentions Pychonauts. I should pick that up.

[JabberwockySupafly]

Get ready for a practical inundation of titles:


No Katamari collection is complete without We <3 (Love) Katamari. One is never enough. Take it from me. If you're planning on picking up MegaTen games like Nocturne/Lucifer's Call (what it's called in the UK/Australia), then I suggest getting Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th vs. The Soulless Army, and Persona 3. All of them are part of the MegaTen universe and extremely unique jRPGs. Quick explanation: MegaTen is short for Shin Megami Tensei, in case you're wondering *Caution: Huge Fanboy*

Another interesting RPG is Odin Sphere, which is a semi-recent game and plays, well, it's hard to explain, but it's made by Square Enix & Atlus, two of the heaviest hitters in RPGs to date. The original .hack// games have an engrossing and interesting storyline and are fantastic games if you don't mind the occasional bit of grind involved. Dirge of Cerberus isn't that great. Get the title it's ripping off of with Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition or Standard. Special has Vergil though which makes it instant win.

Dragon Quest VIII is hard. INSANELY hard.That being said it's a great piece of sentimental gaming if you ever played some of the old NES FFs or the original Dragon Quest/Dragon Knight. Classic RPG in every sense of the word(s). I am deeply hurt and offended no one has mentioned Shadow Hearts yet. The first two (Shadow Hearts & Shadow Hearts: Covenant) are some of the best RPGs with a unique and engaging cast of characters and a brilliant storyline. Definitely a must-have. Xenosaga is another excellent series that is greatly under-appreciated.

A lot of great suggestions have already been made, and these are all I can suggest at this moment without going into my game closet (yes I have a closet just for video games. Sad to say I'm a first generation hardcore gamer, so I've got a lot of games to store!), and means waking up my wife, and that means instant decapitation. So, I may post some more suggestions at a later date :D.

[Airk]

Let me add my reinforcing vote for:
Okami (I cannot recommend this one enough)
Odin Sphere
Shadow Hearts 2
Persona 3 (I didn't like Digital Devil Saga very much. Too much wandering around fighting time vs plot time)
Star Ocean 3

Let me add dissenting votes on:
Shadow of the Colossus (Pretty, but gameplay was meh.)
FFX (My least favorite FF game ever)

Let me add the following new items to the list:
Tales of the Abyss - I love this game to bits. It's got a tremendously fun combat system, great characters, and a plot that does a good job of being a new twist on the usual JRPG plot. Three thumbs up. ;)
La Pucelle Tactics - from the folks who did Disgaea. An earlier title, and not as pretty, but I found it much more engaging from a character/storyline perspective.
Front Mission 4 - a downright solid strategy/RPG blend.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Sure, it's linear, but it's fun!
Crazy Taxi - if you missed it on the Dreamcast, this game is pure win. And I -hate- racing games. (Which this isn't, don't let the car fool you.)

Good call on picking up the PS2. It has a lot of mighty fine software for it.

[DeathQuaker]

I am deeply hurt and offended no one has mentioned Shadow Hearts yet. The first two (Shadow Hearts & Shadow Hearts: Covenant) are some of the best RPGs with a unique and engaging cast of characters and a brilliant storyline. Definitely a must-have.

I'd also go in and recommend the third installment, "Shadow Hearts: From the New World," as well. It has magical girl vampires and Brazilian ninjas. How can you go wrong with that? Overall, the story and gameplay are as good as the others, and as a bonus, doesn't have the annoying, boringly emo male lead the first two games had. The only thing is some of the character sidequests are really, really freaking annoying, but they are fortunately non-essential to completing the game.

[Shikton]

HUUUGE SNIP.

Just about everything DeathQuaker said. Except that I rate the games in this order:
Suikoden I
Suikoden II
Suikoden V
Suikoden III
Suikoden IV
Suikoden Tactics (because I think Tactics games are boring)

[Oeryn]

Psychonauts
Beyond Good and Evil
Ratchet and Clank series
God of War 1 & 2

I heartily second all of those. I'd also throw in the Sly Cooper games (2 & 3 are vastly more fun than the first, but they're all good), and the Prince of Persia series.

The Baldur's Gate series and the Champions of Norrath series are both good pickups, too, if you want an "RPG Lite" to play with friends. Won't tax the brain, or anything, but it's a fun way to spend an evening.