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Considering how many hours of my life have been sucked into my television via videogames, it feels kinda weird to admit I’ve never owned a PlayStation 2. Played them, yeah. Wanted one, sure. But I was a starving college student when the last generation of consoles hit, and because of Halo and Oddworld I picked up an Xbox, and a while later, because of Metroid and Zelda, I got a GameCube, and then… I don’t know. I just never got around to buying a PS2.

That changed yesterday, though, when some jackass* sold me his PS2 for a mere $20. A few minutes on the internet later, and I’ve got God of War II and Shadow of the Colossus headed my way. (Scoring those two games for less than $20 each almost made me feel less shitty about dropping $60 to get the latest Tomb Raider a few weeks ago. Almost.)

So—as I venture into this not-so-new world of PS2 exclusives—I’m asking for your help. I’ve been looking forward to playing the big PS2 titles for a while now (see above, and I’m pretty sure a return trip to Vice City‘s in order), but I’m also eager to find some diamonds in the rough—older, artier, lesser-known titles. Or bigger games that I would’ve missed out on, too. Shit, I might even give something Final Fantasy a go, and that’s coming from someone who still gets grumpy whenever he remembers Final Fantasy VII‘s random battles. Or wait! What about that Champions of Norrath thing? That was supposed to be like the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance III that never was, right?

Anyway: PS2 recommendations? Good games I can pick up for cheap? Hit me.

*Ezra Ace Caraeff.

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.

24 replies on “Late to the Party.”

  3. Seconding Persona 4, Katamari Damacy. Okami is also awesome. It’s got beautiful sumi-e inspired visuals and a Zelda-ish approach to dungeon crawling/puzzle solving/exploration.

  5. Persona 4 is great and all, but it is also 100+ hours. You could beat Ico, Shadow, Katamari, both God of Wars and most of the of the R+C games in the same amount of time.

  6. Thirding Katamari Damacy and God of War II (if you are going to ever play God of War I do it now before you play God of War II because you’ll be disappointed interface-wise) Okami is better for Wii.

  8. Definitely second all of the R+C games, both God of Wars, and both Katamari games. Beyond Good & Evil is another great one if you haven’t played it elsewhere. I liked Champions of Norrath if you’re on the fence, but it was more fun playing through the campaign online with a friend or co-op on the couch than it was solo.

  10. If you had an Xbox, I’m guessing you’ve played the GTA games. And as I’m late to this party, everyone has picked the low-hanging fruit.

    Front Mission 4. One of the best turn-based tactical combat games for the system. Fuck all that Final Fantasy bullshit, this shit’s got giant mechs.

    An ex of mine swore by the Kingdom Heart games.

    Oh yeah, get some motherfucking Metal Gear Solid. Both 2 and 3.

  15. Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner. The first one isn’t really much, but the second game in this series is the greastes non-Armored Core mech game on the system, and a completely different animal. Its fast, fun, and has tons of huge explosions.

  16. Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner. The first one isn’t really much, but the second game in this series is the greastes non-Armored Core mech game on the system, and a completely different animal. Its fast, fun, and has tons of huge explosions.

  17. Katamari Damacy, and Ico are two MUST MUST MUST have games for the PS2. After that I would highly reccomend Final Fantasy XII… (no “random” battles.. you can see the monsters on screen and choose to avoid them, and it’s a bit more “action-y”).

    Champions of Norrath got old quick, stay away from that one. Get Street Fighter III instead. God knows you could use some practice.

  18. Dude, the Fight Night series! The first one has Chris Rock as the commentator and the action is what you wanted Rock Em’ Sock Em’ robots to be as a child. Fight Night G!!!

  19. Thanks everybody. Awesome. This should keep me going for… fuck, forever, pretty much. Like I said, God of War II and Colossus are first up, and it looks like Ico, some Ratchet and Clank, and Katamari are on deck. (The iPhone Katamari just isn’t cutting it.)

    Also, thanks to togdon for reminding me to play through Beyond Good and Evil again (goddamn that game’s great), and to Mike for letting all of you know just how badly I suck at Street Fighter. Thanks, Mike. You’re a classy guy. Also, we’ll see who’s talking shit once I pick up Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

  20. Bah. There are many glaring omissions here, Blogtown. You disappoint me.

    Other games:
    Amplitude
    Devil May Cry (just the first one)
    Disaster Report
    Disgaea
    Fire Pro Wrestling R
    Gradius V
    Jak 2 (One and three are also ok)
    Silent Hill 3 (and two, if you haven’t played it)

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