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[Tetraeon]

While browsing a few thrift stores in the neighborhood, I came across a few PS2 games that I skipped back in the day, so I figured why not, spend a few bucks and see if I missed something fun. Ended up grabbing Twisted Metal Black, Kill.Switch, and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.

Taking these games at face value as a product of their generation and time, boy are they fun. Driving in TMB is a little wack but it's got classic written all over it, and the levels are great. Kill.Switch has a super wonky cover system but it spawned a whole slew of other cover based shooters, so it's obviously doing something right. Ty is a straight Jak and Daxter clone, but it's got a load of charm and personality, along with a half decent world to jump around in.

Got me thinking, has GAF found any awesome PS2 games they missed the first time around?

 

[Platy]

...what is a new ps2 game ?

but for your question, Urban Reign was a game that I played during the ps3 era that is an awesome ps2 4 player fighting game.

Like a mix of beat em up, smash bros and tekken.

Like literally tekken since Law and Paul are unlockable characters

 

[UnnecessaryTodd]

Rogue Galaxy was a really good RPG that sadly got overlooked. Made by the same company that made the Prof. Layton games no less (and Jeanne d'arc on PSP).

I love the art style although it might be a bit too stylised for some, but this game had a lot of polish.

Character models that changed based on equipped armor, enemy varience, intricate crafting systems and side-quests and mini-games... There was a lot to get lost in with Rogue Galaxy. It reminded me a lot of Chrono Trigger (it even has the multiple character techs)

 

[t1gerjaw]

Freedom Fighters

 

[dragonzdogma]

Urban Reign.

 

[Mass Effect]

...what is a new ps2 game ?

Relatively new compared to the age of the PS2 anyway.

----

Anyway, look, another excuse to post one of my favorite racers:

(Rumble Racing)

Arcadey racing game with crazy power-ups. If you liked Blur, you should go back and give this one a try.

 

[TriAceJP]

Shinobi is a solid action title with a pretty good challenge to it.

Blood Will Tell is another great action title with the gimmick of adding gameplay elements as you gain your body parts back (manga, man.)

The Katamari games remember what being a video game was all about. Simple and pure fun.

The OniMusha titles used fixed camera angles a la early Resident Evil titles but added action based combat with multiple weapons you upgraded. Great series.

Okami is the best non Zelda out there.

Sly Cooper/Ratchet and Clank/Jak and Daxter are all great platformers.

Ape Escape 2 and 3 are also platformers, but have the gimmick of getting new tools that take advantage of the right analogue sticks. Very fun.

Final Fantasy XII is a extremely underrated JRPG. Give it a shot if you liked games like XenoBlade.

Tales of the Abyss is one of the more higher grade Tales games. The story is pretty anime but the combat system is solid.




I could go on about PS2 games all day. I can get into more obscure stuff if you want.

 

[haloxk9]

I never miss a chance to plug Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2! I loved the general setup, the map editing abilities, collecting georama pieces, the full-scale leveling and upgrade paths for weapons, the awesome combat, and even the stories and characters. In my view, these are two of the best PS2 games, period.

 

[Tetraeon]

I could go on about PS2 games all day. I can get into more obscure stuff if you want.

Please do! I've played almost all of these. Looking for some hidden gems.

 

[Tetraeon]

Rogue Galaxy was a really good RPG that sadly got overlooked. Made by the same company that made the Prof. Layton games no less (and Jeanne d'arc on PSP).

I love the art style although it might be a bit too stylised for some, but this game had a lot of polish.

Character models that changed based on equipped armor, enemy varience, intricate crafting systems and side-quests and mini-games... There was a lot to get lost in with Rogue Galaxy. It reminded me a lot of Chrono Trigger (it even has the multiple character techs)

This looks fantastic. Reminds me of Xenoblade Chronicles a bit.

 

[GeNoMe]

Freedom Fighters

Playing this game back then during winter time was one of the most immersive things to me!

 

[Indelible]

The Shadow Hearts series, the first two games have a great gothic aesthetic and one of the best battle systems of any JRPG.

 

[Martal]

007: Everything or Nothing.


it was amazing! I think it was Uncharted before Uncharted. Sad I only have a 360 atm and its not backward compatible.

 

[Hugstable]

Adventures of Cookies and Cream: Awesome Coop game, or you could even control both characters yourself on a single controller

Gitaroo Man

 

[Protome]

One time my mum was picking up a couple of DVDs for my sisters birthday and some slightly older PS2 games were in the same "3 for 2" deal so she let me get one.

I picked up Summoner 2. I loved Summoner 2.

Still never played the first Summoner.

 

[Tyrus]

Steambot Chronicles.

Weirdest game I've played on the PS2. Such a quirky mix (robots + singing + simulation). Really cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbLGrKhxBn0

 

[miserable]

Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter

 

[the black pearl]

Mark of Kriiiiii

 

[Subpar Scrub]

My favs <3

 

[petran79]

The Getaway
Cold Winter
Ghost Hunter

Today such games would have been multiplatform

 

[NoFaceNico]

Battle Engine Aquila
Urban Chaos: Riot Response
Robot Alchemic Drive
War of the Monsters
Sub Rebellion
Naval Ops: Warship Gunner 1&2
Mercenaries


MMMmmmmMmmMhhhhhh So much good shit on PS2. My favorite console of all time. In a few years it'll be as appreciated by everyone as the NES and SNES are today.

 

[Springfoot]

Mark of Kriiiiii

War of the Monsters

+1 to both

Also recommending any Criterion game (Burnout series and Black), Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner, and the Onimusha series.

 

[kamikazekoala]

Last games purchased this year for PS2:

Namco Museum 50th Anniversary
Space Channel
Space Channel Part 2
Capcom Fighting Jam
NeoGeo Battle Colosseum
Capcom vs SNK SVC Chaos
Wizardry
Samurai Western

Everytime I think I have the titles I want, I see new interesting ones. 250 PS2 games and counting

PS2 is a beast

 

[Greddleok]

I never had a PS2.

Am I still allowed to be a member?

 

[rafbanaan]

Freedom Fighters, Black and Mercenaries.

 

[finley83]

Started playing God Hand at the weekend and that game is just as fun as I remember. Sad it never got a PC rerelease as 60fps would be incredible.

Also give Second Sight a shot if you like good stories, that one is a real mind blower.

 

[Rymuth]

 

[Geengrenzuh]

Pes 5.
The Goatest of goats!

 

[00ich]

Got me thinking, has GAF found any awesome PS2 games they missed the first time around?

Ridge Racer 5. I get why it was criticized for it's visuals at the time, but it's a really good Ridge Racer game and the graphic are only a shade worse by today's standards.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

NHL hits games

 

[ZeroXZee]

Battle Stadium D.O.N.

Dragon Ball Z + Naruto + One Piece + Smash Bros. = Profit

Such a shame it's JP exclusive...

 

[Window]

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction was basically a precursor to MGSV.

 

[superjona]

Vampire Night. GunCon vampire-styled shooter with tons of options. Don't remember too much of it, but I remember it was insanely fun to play.

 

[Gamble]

Rogue Galaxy was a really good RPG that sadly got overlooked. Made by the same company that made the Prof. Layton games no less (and Jeanne d'arc on PSP).

I love the art style although it might be a bit too stylised for some, but this game had a lot of polish.

Character models that changed based on equipped armor, enemy varience, intricate crafting systems and side-quests and mini-games... There was a lot to get lost in with Rogue Galaxy. It reminded me a lot of Chrono Trigger (it even has the multiple character techs)

I came here to post this very game, excellent choice

 

[Deft Beck]

Gitaroo Man is the best standalone music game on the system. It has so much charm and energy and heart.

The Beatmania IIDX series is a classic DJ simulation game with fourteen entries on the PS2. High difficulty, but a very diverse selection of songs across the games.

For a non-music game, try out Otostaz. It's an early PS2 puzzle game about building towns and cities. It is JP-only but has an English text option.

 

[Zombine]

These were really fun.

 

[Khort]

The Shadow Hearts series, the first two games have a great gothic aesthetic and one of the best battle systems of any JRPG.

kept then around hoping for a ps4 emulation...

 

[Gamecocks625]

Pro evolution soccer
Socom
Mercenaries
Hot shots golf

The best

 

[sixteen-bit]

that dimps yu yu hakusho fighter. it was jp exclusive tho.

 

[RetroPlayer]

I thought Black was awesome, the first time I saw it.

 

[PendekarRajawali]

Mortal kombat shaolin monks

 

[supermarioworldE]

The thread title and the last question of your post are completely different. I'll try to answer both.

Some PS2 games I remember being awesome:

God of War 1+2
Grand Theft Auto 3 to San Andreas
Silent Hill 2
Dynasty Warriors
Street Fighter EX3
Metal Gear Solid 2
Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain
Psi-Ops
The Matrix: Path of Neo
DBZ: Tenkaichi Budokai 2
The Bouncer
Resident Evil 4

Some good PS2 games I've recently discovered:

God of War 1 - I didnt get a chance to beat the game till the HD collection. Kratos clones on God Mode is the stuff of nightmares.

Silent Hill 3 - Not as good as 2, but still terrifying in places. The HD version is apparently an abomination.

 

[Dargor]

Radiata Stories

Lovely ARPG by tri-Ace

ps: Forgot to add an little something about the game.

The plot is pretty straightforward, but what makes this game really shine are the NPC companions that you can recruit. All having their own life cicles during the day, and there are alot of them, all having their own personalities. Some of course are more flashed out than others, but they all feel unique.

It felt awesome when you finally convinced some of them to join you.

Them graphics are very charming, obviously, but you can get blown away by the little details.

Totally worth to play it since its a shortish RPG (40hs or so).

 

[Dr.JayP]

The PS2 had so many overlooked and underrated gems because it's library was so stacked and amazing. Just a few off the top of me head:

Freedom Fighters: Made by the incredibly talented people at IO. An excellent action game with and impeccable score by Jesper Kyd. Such a shame we never got a sequel.

007 Everything or Nothing: The game that made me feel like Bond the most. Playing as Pierce Brosnan with Willem Dafoe as the villain the story was enjoyably cheesy and the gameplay was solid. I'm still hoping for a future Bond title that follows its template (let's forget about 007: Bloodstone).

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner: Absolute mech combat bliss. Incredibly kinetic action that just oozed style coupled with excellent cel-shaded visuals. Like the others, I'm still hoping for a sequel but knowing Konami my faith in a follow up has dwindled.

But yeah, one of the reasons PS2 was king for me was because you had so many of these awesome games alongside the AAA titles.

 

[halfbeast]

get yourself a jp capable ps2 and you'll find a couple of (at least to us westerners) unknown gems.

Super Galdelic Hour is one of those I've found a couple of years ago. sure, it's nothing like shadow of colossus or godhand in terms of awesomeness but it's so weird in concept, it's worth just for the experience. if you don't know what it is (does anyone really?), it's a mini-game compilation like doa xtreme with furries. but it's presented in such a bizarre way, you'd think your tripping on acid!

another one is Ikusagami (was released in europe named Demon-something). it's just another musou game, they marketed it as 65 000 enemies on screen. nothing you'll rave about, but still impressive.

 

[Auctopus]

Rogue Galaxy was a really good RPG that sadly got overlooked.

I've got this downloaded on my PS4. I got up to the first boss (The frog in the jungle) and hit an absolutely brick wall. Then other games came out and I forgot about it. This GIF makes me wanna pick it back up immediately.

 

[Dremorak]

I've got this downloaded on my PS4. I got up to the first boss (The frog in the jungle) and hit an absolutely brick wall. Then other games came out and I forgot about it. This GIF makes me wanna pick it back up immediately.

I flippin loved Rogue Galaxy, it doesnt have the town building aspect that Dark Cloud had, but it was a planet hopping good time. And that factory minigame was good enough to be fleshed out into a full game

 

[dano1]

SSX !!

 

[Garthoff]

Never knew anyone else who played it but Rogue Trooper was a really cool third person shooter. Also played Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance a million times.

 

[Gator86]

Freedom Fighters

Ha Khort beat me to it. The perfect response to a lot of these answers.