-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Recommend me cult/obscure PS2 games
- Thread starter ULTROS!
- Start date
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
3 more
SniperHunter
Banned
There was this horror PS2 game, set on a space station. You could only control it through voice commands, it was very Resident Evil'ish. Forgot the name, I think it was called Lifeline. You should check it out.
edit: yea I was right
edit: yea I was right
Wax Free Vanilla
Member
Coldwinter
Dropship
Dropship
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
I don't feel that way. I found the light RPG elements superfluous and adding nothing to the experience. There were many problems with the game, but what irritated me the most was how everything felt so incredibly clunky - combat, flight, character interaction, even the menus (and thanks to those added light RPG elements, you'll be seeing the menus a lot). It feels like a subpar PS1 era game released on PS2.
Interesting, I don't think I encountered any bugs (I finished the game despite hating almost every moment of it), but speaking of the save system, saving the game took sooooooooo daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong. Seriously, i think it was 3-4 minutes per each save. Loading was slow, too.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
I don't think it did. Only in EU and Australia really late in the PS2's lifecycle.
So similar to Sword of Etheria I guess.
Still looks like an awesome game simply based on the scale.
Blood Will Tell (Dororo)
These so much, both a little flawed with boring stealth interludes but the main action sections are brilliant. Shadows of Rome is a precursor to Dead Rising so the fighting might seem a little familiar but the ridiculous combos will pull you in.
Dororo/Blood Will Tell is an action adventure where you retrieve parts of your body but it's beautifully executed and engaging.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
Best Zelda game of the generation.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
If that's what you want, Michigan then will leave you satisfied. I mean the game isn't really good, but there's some very interesting concepts and some very fun parts.
I mean how many games let's you left characters to their doom and recording it at the same time? lol
BobJustBob
Member
Blood will tell - One of the best storys in any game ever.
Gameplay (hack'n slay) can get a bit repetitive but besides that it's brilliant.
The story (based on the Manga Dororo by Osamu Tezuka) is so great there's even a movie:
Other (already mentioned games)
Echo Night Beyond (Adv)
God Hand (Bemu)
Eternal Poison (SRPG)
La Pucelle (SRPG)
Ys - Ark of (RPG)
SMT - Devil Summoner (RPG) (extremely underapperciated, characters are awesome, OST amazing and it's so much fun to fight alongside the monster from the SMT universe, probably my favorite SMT game)
DDS 1&2 (RPG) - Great, great story but if you're new to to the universe a bit frustrating and hard
Nocturne (RPG) - See above, but not nearly as hard as people make it out to be.
Shadow of Memories (Adv) - Time traveling adventure that's a blast to play cause you don't have to fight nobody and it totally focuses on storytelling. Wish there were more games like this. Very short though
Goddamn if only I would've browsed GAF back then. I wouldn't have missed such an awesome game (yes I'm serious). And is it just me or are games like this just not getting released anymore? (not even in japan it seems). At least not for the stationary consoles.
MrCookiepants
Member
Yup, this one is really good.
I've wanted to play this forever. I remember seeing it at Blockbuster all the time and thinking it looked so interesting, but I never did give it a try.
Wonder how much it goes for now.
Terra_Ex
Member
There was this horror PS2 game, set on a space station. You could only control it through voice commands, it was very Resident Evil'ish. Forgot the name, I think it was called Lifeline. You should check it out.
edit: yea I was right
This one does look bizarre and interesting, surprised I've never heard of it before. Getting a slight Shadow of Destiny vibe from the screens, will probably check this one out. And this thread reminds me just how many of these games are sitting on my shelves waiting to be completed - damn you gaming backlog.
Adding one more to the obscure game list:
This is a sort of bizarre horror/adventure game by Suda 51 iirc where you control a cameraman and I think the female news reporters you're filming during gameplay keep on meeting unpleasant ends depending on your actions. Strange, short game with minimal gameplay that is best experienced rather than described, not saying its especially great or anything but its definitely unique and obscure.
And I'll definitely second the Metal Saga recommendation on page 1, which is an absolutely fantastic game.
Leave it to Suda 51, because that premise sounds awesome. Bet the gameplay sucks, though.
Maybe I'm just mad at Suda because I just played Lollipop Chainsaw a few weeks ago, God what a steaming pile that was. The only moment of excitement in that entire game for me was hearing some kind of weird, looping, bastardized version of "Needled 24/7" by Children of Bodom in the second level, I'm a huge Children of Bodom fan. Even that was worse than if I just went and watched a live performance on YouTube or whatever. Screw Lollipop Chainsaw.
Didn't Dark Cloud get a Greatest Hits rerelease? Guess it sold pretty well. Maybe Dark Cloud 2 is more rare, and probably a better game.
Based on what I hear about Detroit, "Michigan: Report from Hell" may be a very appropriate title.
I think this is still $6 for PSP on PSN. Go for it!
I think this is still $6 for PSP on PSN. Go for it!
Red Star reminds me of Cannon Spike, I think. I liked Cannon Spike.
This. I'd also suggest Eternal Ring and Shadow Tower Abyss. All three of these games play similarly, and in a way are the grandpappies to this generations Souls series, despite being first person with different combat. Much of the aspects of the Souls difficulty was honed in these other games by From. Eternal Ring could be considered like a King's Field: Easy Mode game and the Shadow Tower games are often considered King's Field: Hard Mode, for being far more cryptic and punishing.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
Adding one more to the obscure game list:
This is a sort of bizarre horror/adventure game by Suda 51 iirc where you control a cameraman and I think the female news reporters you're filming during gameplay keep on meeting unpleasant ends depending on your actions. Strange, short game with minimal gameplay that is best experienced rather than described, not saying its especially great or anything but its definitely unique and obscure.
And I'll definitely second the Metal Saga recommendation on page 1, which is an absolutely fantastic game.
Just one thing: Grasshoper made the game but Suda51 barely had anything to do with the game. He was just a producer.
radios shipping overview
Member
Nah, downloadable titles are a different beast from the PS2 B-game. The only thing in this thread that resembles current online releases is The Red Star. The games in this thread represent a level of ambition and craft - sometimes hampered by budget - that you simply don't see in the vast majority of downloadable titles. PSN/XBLA stuff is built small with reasonable expectations. Titles in this thread tried to go big and were memorable, but often failed in one way or another, and represented a level of risk that is almost never taken anymore.
Kill.switch
I feel like this game never really got the attention it deserved when it came out, I thought it was fantastic. It did get good reviews, but I don't really know if it sold well and nobody ever talked about it, except when Gears of War was coming out, then people remembered it.
But anyway, it's notable for being the game that influenced basically every Gears of War-style third person shooter this generation (like Spec Ops), it's a generic military shooter that had the first notable cover mechanic. It's still fun, as fun as a PS2 game that's not a timeless classic holds up. Come on, this was 2003. 3 years and a console prior to Gears, it's pretty ground breaking.
Hard to find YouTube footage of this game that isn't Killswitch Engage... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh0Q57J9EH4
Dem graphics
Actually, it reminds me a lot of Spec Ops: The Line (desert themed, cover-based third person shooter) minus all the stuff that makes Spec Ops cool and interesting, like a plot. But whatever, the gameplay is good.
Double suggestion.
This game was fantastic and sadly not recognised at the game that shaped today's third person view shooters. (while IT IS the game that started it all)
Can we talk about how bad that plot was, though? It was really, really bad.
What a stinker,
terrible plot twist
Tylahedras
Banned
Most of the good stuff seems to have been covered, let me just toss in:
I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
These did get released in NA (the latter as Blood Curse).
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
While that was certainly true at the start of this generation, nowadays there are plenty of games on XBLA, PSN and Steam that would have gotten retail releases last gen (in fact, some still do get released in physical form, and others are remakes of last gen's retail games). That misconception is one of the main reasons why some people shun downloadable games as less worthy, when that's often not the case.
viewtifulsub
Member
Bookmarking this thread for when full PCSX2 compatibility in the future.
From what hasn't been posted:
- Killer7 (the mainstream gaming backlash against it made it a cult classic overtime)
- Contra: Shattered Soldier (everyone gets all nostaglic over Contra 3 or Hard Corps, but SS never gets any love)
- Under the Skin
- Maximo (a cool Ghost n Goblins spiritual successor)
and Flower, Sun, & Rain for my j-gaf friends.
From what hasn't been posted:
- Killer7 (the mainstream gaming backlash against it made it a cult classic overtime)
- Contra: Shattered Soldier (everyone gets all nostaglic over Contra 3 or Hard Corps, but SS never gets any love)
- Under the Skin
- Maximo (a cool Ghost n Goblins spiritual successor)
and Flower, Sun, & Rain for my j-gaf friends.
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
I'll add this one:
Sadly, it was never released in Europe.
Anyway, this thread also has plenty of good suggestions.
Sadly, it was never released in Europe.
Anyway, this thread also has plenty of good suggestions.
drkOne
Member
I got this game back then. It's a bit like SMT where you're capturing the monsters and using them to fight for you, or you can transform them into items.Is this any good? The boxart always picked my interest.
Is this any good? The boxart always picked my interest.
I loved it. Story is amazing, characters anything but cliché art beautiful and the gameplay is solid. It can get repetitive and the battles are a bit slow (especially at the beginning when you don't know what works against which enemy) but that's about it. Everything else is simply great.
I loved it so much I played through it probably 10 times just to see all the endings and capture all majin. And it actually does a good job explaining WHY you have to finish it so often (3 or 4 times but once you get the hang of it it takes just a couple of hours to get through the chapters) to get the 'good' ending.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
You know what this thread / doing searches for old titles made me realize?
So much western box art for localized JP titles are shit D: I thought we were past this kind of crap already.
So much western box art for localized JP titles are shit D: I thought we were past this kind of crap already.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
I didn't post it because I was naive enough to think it wasn't obscure I guess
Easily my favorite Contra game until Uprising on PSN/XBLA. and even now it's close between the two
Just wish it wasn't so goddamn expensive to buy 2nd hand
? it's 8 bucks on amazon in very good condition..
Flachmatuch
Member
Aren't you thinking of Mad Maestro (and Mr. Mosquito, which came out at around the same time). PS2 had way too many awesome games. Almost all games listed here are awesome. There's nothing like this in this generation :-( And I guess nothing will ever come close again. I won't quote all the posts with awesome games here, there are just way, way too many. In addition, both the Gamecube and the Xbox had some incredible original stuff (even if not nearly as many as the PS2). Best generation ever. This one is not even remotely comparable in term of number of incredible (although mostly not as polished and high production value) games. Not even close.
R
Retro_
Unconfirmed Member
cj_iwakura
Member
Don't be silly, that's a Gamecube exclusive.
the PS2 version is a travesty, ignore it.
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
Digital is bullshit, and doesn't fucking count.
There's still a lot of niche/underrated gems out there. You just need to know where to look.
I feel like the Wii was the truest extension to what we got from the previous generation. The fact that all Wii games are "complete", "DLC-less" packages too only solidifies my feelings. Also, as some have said, the portables (DS, PSP, 3DS, and now Vita) are where it's at if you want "these kinds-of-games", but even then it's still not quite the same.
You're right though, if you just look exclusively at what was available on the PS2 and compare it to what we now have on the PS3, it's staggering how little variety there is this "generation". The PS2 era (including Gamecube and the original XBOX, to some degree) was an age for variety and experimentation. There are just SOOOO many interesting games on the PS2. I look at this thread and it just feels like a Thanksgiving platter or a well-rounded meal. You've got your vegetables, your meat, AND your potatoes on the PS2.
Imported this from Italy for an obscene amount of money. Still play it on a weekly basis with my buddies. Great game!
Name a few, besides Deadly Premonition I can't think of any really obscure game (not counting underrated, on GAF everything is either over or underrated) this gen that came out in the West.
Guess game development just has become so freaking expensive most companies just aren't willing to take the risk anymore..BUT: as developing for HD platforms should get cheaper (I assume) we might see a resurrection of games that make you scratch your head how anyone in their right mind gave the greenlight (aka the best games)