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Best graphics on PS2?

Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I was thinking about this earlier today because I was playing Silent Hill 2.

What game do you think has the best graphics on the PS2? You can answer from either a technical or artistic perspective, or you can have answers for both.

I think Silent Hill 3 would be my technical choice. I can't believe how good this game looks (and continues to look compared against modern games). Technical wizardry here.

God of War 2 is another one, I guess. Maybe the effects of ZOE2? I dunno. What do you think and why?
 
A

AzureSkies

Member
I absolutely loved the effects of Zone of the Enders 2, it blew me away when I picked up a copy of the reprint in 2009 and that says something.

06.jpg
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
VP2 is gorgeous! I forgot about that one. And FFXII's environments are so big and beautiful.

I thought the Yakuza games were really cool looking too, though I doubt they qualify as best graphics.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
VP2 has some horrendous aliasing...it's nice that it runs so smoothly though.

My vote goes to God of War 2...some of those set pieces are ridiculous on the PS2.
 
L

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
ZoE2 or SH3. ZoE2 for phenomenally realized focus on particles+lighting. in SH3 some of the texture effects are insane, and I don't think we've even had anything quite as good/creative in that sense this gen. In that sense, games nowadays are like: Yep, stock shader effect #142, seen it in game YZX before... In SH3 it's more like "OK, so this is what bleeding walls from demonic dimension look like"

I think both of these have aged better than GoW2, which looks pretty tame now compared to GoW3.
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I thought the texture work on FFXII was really great. They scaled back the polygon count but have these wonderful textures. Especially in the environment. Like the outside of Raithwall's Tomb.
 
S

ScOULaris

Member
For me it's a close call between Silent Hill 3, Final Fantasy XII, and Metal Gear Solid 3 in terms of both technical wizardry and just the quality of the art assets.

If I had to pick one of those three, I'd probably go with SH3. The texture work, lighting, character models, lip-syncing, self-shadowing, and just overall level of polish in that game is unbelievable for the PS2.

Shadow of the Colossus would be in the running too if its framerate on the PS2 didn't dip so frequently.

Oh, and Dragon Quest VIII deserves an honorable mention too. Best cel-shading to date, IMO. That game was truly a fantasy world come to life in smooth, colorful 3D.
 
F

fernoca

Member
I remember really liking Killzone back then. The overall look, grain-effect. Was one of my favorite PS2 games, visually.

But yeah, most of the ones I was going to say has already been posted: God of War II, Gran Turismo 4, Z.O.E. II.
 
N

NFreak

Member
Artistically for me, Okami is probably the best looking game I've played. Technically, it would probably have to be one of the Metal Gear games or God of War titles, but I enjoy the look of Okami more than those games.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
ScOULaris said:
For me it's a close call between Silent Hill 3, Final Fantasy XII, and Metal Gear Solid 3 in terms of both technical wizardry and just the quality of the art assets.

If I had to pick one of those three, I'd probably go with SH3. The texture work, lighting, character models, lip-syncing, self-shadowing, and just overall level of polish in that game is unbelievable for the PS2.

Shadow of the Colossus would be in the running too if its framerate on the PS2 didn't dip so frequently.

Oh, and Dragon Quest VIII deserves an honorable mention too. Best cel-shading to date, IMO. That game was truly a fantasy world come to life in smooth, colorful 3D.
Click to expand...
Why did the developers of these games fail to make the best-looking games this generation?
 
Z

zerokoolpsx

Member
GoW 2 comes to mind. Haven't played enough ZoE2 to make a conclusive decision so GoW2 it is.
Odin Sphere for favorite art style.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Silent Hill 3, God of War II and final Fantasy XII for me.

Honourable mention goes to Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.

And Black looked good too, I guess. Too bad it was such a mindnumbingly boring game.
 
M

Misguided

Banned
If you're willing to look past the frame-rate issues (fixed on PS3 version so whatever!), Shadow of the Colossus is beautiful.
 
S

ScOULaris

Member
CTE said:
Haunting Ground

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTqpgrgvozY&feature=relmfu
Click to expand...

Are you joking?

Misguided said:
If you're willing to look past the frame-rate issues (fixed on PS3 version so whatever!), Shadow of the Colossus is beautiful.
Click to expand...

The Colossi are really a technical marvel for the PS2, even if they sometimes brought the console to its knees. They all had believable fur and fucking self-shadowing, not to mention the deforming collision maps that were applied to all of them.

Shit is bonkers.
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
God of War 2 tears a lot though. I feel like that could disqualify it.

ZOE2 slows down a ton, but it's almost...like perfect.
 
S

SMT

this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
Final Fantasy XII, my mom kept commenting on how pretty it was.
 
Synless

Synless

Member
Computer said:
Why did the developers of these games fail to make the best-looking games this generation?
Click to expand...

Final Fantasy XIII is one of the best looking games this gen. Locked 30fps, 720p, 2xMSAA, gorgeous environments. Textures are a little weak, but the game is still a stunner.

I can't comment on SH3 because I have never played it, but FFXII, MGS3, VP2, ZoE2 and GoW2 are my picks.
 
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