Game Suggestions for PS2

[babloyi]

Hey all!
I think this may be my first thread here. Warning: Long post coming up!
...
So aside from an occasionally used Sega Megadrive II as a kid (and Link to the Past on my friends SNES), I've been a PC gamer most of my life. I'm not even comfortable with controllers on the PC.
But I like gaming, and I like liking gaming, and felt I had been missing out on much of the cultural context of games related to consoles. So last year, I bought myself a PS2. I asked advice elsewhere, but I dunno why I didn't think of asking here.

So can you suggest to me some "culturally significant" non-PC ported PS2 games for a guy who's not consoled in almost 2 decades?

Here is what I was suggested already and was able to get:
Ico (played it and loved it)
Shadow of the Colossus (played it a bit after Ico, but it seemed a lot more complex controller-wise, so I left it for a bit)
We Love Katamari (also really enjoying it)
Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 (started with 2, was enjoying it, hit a bit of a hard patch, so taking a break for now)
God of War 1 & 2 (played 2 for a bit, the constantly switching around QTEs had me leave it frustrated)
Way of the Samurai (am still playing it, enjoying what I have so far)
Devil May Cry (messed around with it for a while, didn't dislike it or anything, but it didn't stick with me)
Tekken Tag Tournament (play it off and on, the lack of analog stick movement bothers me a bit)
Final Fantasy X ("played" through the 20 minute intro cutscene and 10 minutes of "game" before deciding it wasn't for me)
Red Dead Revolver (played it for a bit, but left it for when I'm more comfortable aiming with the analog sticks)
Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 4
SSX Tricky
GTA Vice City Stories & Liberty City Stories
Silent Hill 2
Shadow of Destiny
Okami
Shinobi
Gungrave Overdose
Jak & Daxter & Jak II
Viewtiful Joe
Ratchet & Clank
Sly Cooper 3 (I was told 2 would've been a better choice)

It was also suggested to me to get Kingdom Hearts, Time Splitters 2, Gitaroo Man, Rez, Mad Maestro! and Odin Sphere, but I either couldn't find those, or they were prohibitively expensive.

So...can your collective wisdom provide me with any culturally significant PS2 games?
What I mean is, not a game that "Oh, this is my favourite game when I had a PS2, you should try it!" or "Hey, there's this super obscure game that never got any love, you should look out for it!", but "Hey, as a PC gamer, here is something you probably missed out on that as a gamer, you totally should know about!"
My collection ended up a bit heavy on platformers, and I know that the PS2 was a good console from them, but unless you have a suggestion that gives something not provided by the ones I have, it is probably ok to leave it out. Also, lots of similarly played out or themed games are probably not necessary. Give me the best of every experience!
Also also, I absolutely have no problem jumping into a series in the middle. If you think part 3 is the best, but I should play part 1 and 2 to "get it", don't! Just suggest 3 straight out!

While I'm not a japanophobe or anything (you can see a couple of japanese games there that I really enjoyed), if it is an JRPG like Final Fantasy X with long, drawn-out cutscenes and boring repetitive gameplay fighting, it is probably not for me. I had a lot of japanese game recommendations (many of them horror) like Rogue Galaxy, Dark Chronicles, Dragon Quest 8, Disgaea games, SOS: The Final Escape, Fatal Frame, Clock Tower 3, Haunting Ground, Persona games, but I have to admit, the fact that they were japanese (and I'm not the biggest fan of horror games, and I already got Silent Hill 2! ) made me somewhat hesitant.

I'm off to bed after that, but thanks for hearing me out, and thanks in advance for any suggestions. I'll check up with this in the morning!

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Beyond Good and Evil is an awesome game that I'm surprised is not on your list. It's a great game that you should totally play.

Also, Space Channel 5. It was originally on the Dreamcast that was ported to the PS2, but it's a quirky music game. With your favorite, and mine, Ulala! The funky space reporter with the awesome pink hair to help you through the grooves!

I would suggest Silent Hill 3, but you said horror isn't your jam so I'll just mention it because it's just as good as Silent Hill 2.

 

[babloyi]

Beyond Good and Evil is an awesome game that I'm surprised is not on your list. It's a great game that you should totally play.

I absolutely agree! Except I'd already played it on the PC (one of the last physical CD games I bought ).

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Beyond Good and Evil is an awesome game that I'm surprised is not on your list. It's a great game that you should totally play.

I absolutely agree! Except I'd already played it on the PC (one of the last physical CD games I bought ).

Then buy it again!

I was just making sure since it's a massive crime that it didn't sell as well as it did when it first came out. D:

 

[Stryc9]

Destroy All Humans 1 & 2, they're funny as hell. I originally thought they were gonna be Mars Attacks! meets GTA, they ended up not being quite that but were close enough and are still wonderful games.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - regarded as the best of the Splinter Cell series. If you like MGS, chances are you'll like this.

Killer 7 - a bizarre game that should be experienced by everyone. I blew less than $8 on it, so even if you don't like it it's not too much of a loss.

Any Worms game. Be warned; Worms: Forts Under Siege tends to crash my console for some reason.

Spiderman 2

Ghost Recon - a fun bare-bones tactical FPS. Very atmospheric and I still find myself playing it

Need For Speed - these tend to be fun enough.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Well, I get to recommend Persona 4 again. I haven't had the chance to do so for a while. Seriously, I don't care if you don't usually like JRPGs, neither do I really. Persona 4 is just so good it transcends genre.

 

[TheAsterite]

Shin Megami Tensei - Persona 4 and Digital Devil Saga are really good.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I would insist on Odin Sphere and raise you Grim Grimoire (an RTS by the same studio) and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, a very fun strategy RPG. Also Killer 7, just for the sake of experiencing a weird-as-fuck game unlike any another. Except others by Suda 51 I guess.

 

[Samael Barghest]

True Crimes: Streets of LA. You're a Chinese cop taking down Russians, Koreans, and other Chinese. That's pretty cultural.

There's also a sequel but since you want culture, I can't recommend True Crime: NYC.

 

[Stg]

GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas. I'm not sure why the DLC/expansions are on your list, but not these.

All the Ratchet and Clank games as they are beyond amazing.

Resident Evil 4. If you buy any games for your PS2, let it be these.

 

[Miles Maldonado]

The Naval Ops games are good if you want to build ships and blow stuff up. Warship Gunner 2 in particular is good, but they have an amount of downtime that should be expected in a game about warships. Also, crazy amounts of customization on your warships.

The Ace Combat games for the PS2 are epic. 04: Shattered Skies/Distant Thunder and 5: Unsung War/Squadron Commander are the ones I've played, and I've heard good things about Ace Combat Zero. 04 in particular more or less set the gold standard for arcade air combat games for a while - I believe even the normally hard-realistic IL2 Sturmovik series for PC had an arcadey game with heavy Ace Combat influences. The controls are pretty much perfect if a little obtuse since, well, it's an air combat game, even an arcadey one has some flight model stuff you have to get used to.

 

[Brian Tams]

You know, owning a PS2 opens you up to much more than just pS2 games. The Playstation 2 is backwards compatible, so you can also play some of the PS1 games as well.

Anyways...

Kingdom Hearts 1 & Kingdom Hearts 2 are both great games.

God of War.

Ratchet & Clank everything.

I think Resident Evil 4 also came out on the PS2, but I can't remember...

Anyways, those are the ones off the top of my head.

 

[Jak23]

Star Wars Battlefront!(1 or 2)
Those games were my childhood! Though admittedly they're probably a tad dated now. Definitely a game to play with a friend as well, as split-screen was where it really shined.

I swear if they make SWB3 split-screen, I won't care what they do to it, I'll buy it!

 

[pilar]

Well, for starters, you can check any Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games list available on so many sites I can't even bother to list or link any.

My Preferences
Socom I & II
Final Fantasy XII
Bulgars Gate: Dark Alliance

 

[babloyi]

Thank you for all the recommendations so far! Fine, fine, I'll be on the lookout for Persona 4 . Anything else you feel is must-play, please do tell!

Also, not one for long, drawn-out cutscenes, but you already have MGS2 and MGS3? I think that qualfies as a paradox.

I've not got that far in MGS2 (the only cutscene so far has been a flash-forward after the intro level?) so I can't speak as to the cutsceneness of it. The only thing that has burrowed into my head so far is "snake? Snake? SNAKE?!!!"
But since everyone was going on about MGS3, and I wasn't aware of its reputation before, I got it. Lets see!

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - regarded as the best of the Splinter Cell series. If you like MGS, chances are you'll like this.

Killer 7 - a bizarre game that should be experienced by everyone. I blew less than $8 on it, so even if you don't like it it's not too much of a loss.

Any Worms game. Be warned; Worms: Forts Under Siege tends to crash my console for some reason.

Spiderman 2

Ghost Recon - a fun bare-bones tactical FPS. Very atmospheric and I still find myself playing it

Need For Speed - these tend to be fun enough.

I've heard of Splinter Cell, was planning on getting it on the PC, but if you say the PS2 version is better, I'll keep a look out for it!
I played some Worms on the PC as well, not really a fan (I prefer the real-time hectic mess in stuff like Liero instead).
I remember hearing how Spiderman 2 was better for the PS2 than the PC. I'll keep an eye out!
I actually have one of the Need for Speeds (Pro Street, I think?), but I didn't think they were great enough to deserve a mention. I'll make sure to check it out properly. I'm not much of a racing gamer...my history is basically just Lotus 3->4D Sports Racing->Carmageddon 2.

Wild arms 2-4 are all great games. They are a bit different than your standard JRPG, in that the setting is a scifi western. Final Fantasy 12 or Legend of Dragoon are also pretty good in my opinion. Grandia 2 was pretty good too.

Is Final Fantasy XII mechanically much different from X? Because I really didn't much care for it.

True Crimes: Streets of LA. You're a Chinese cop taking down Russians, Koreans, and other Chinese. That's pretty cultural.

There's also a sequel but since you want culture, I can't recommend True Crime: NYC.

I've played Sleeping Dogs on the PC, which was supposed to be something of a sequel that then wasn't a sequel. Is it anything similar? I enjoyed Sleeping Dogs for a bit, but in the end it really became drudgery.

GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas. I'm not sure why the DLC/expansions are on your list, but not these.

All the Ratchet and Clank games as they are beyond amazing.

Resident Evil 4. If you buy any games for your PS2, let it be these.

Because I've played Vice City and San Andreas on the PC (and enjoyed them to a degree), but the -Stories games were PS2 exclusives. Which Ratchet & Clank is the best ? I've got the first already, if it was a choice between that or another, which would you go for?
I played RE2 (or maybe it was 1?) on the PC with an emulator, and enjoyed it in a tension-building, zombie-creeping terror BLAM-BLAM-BLAM sort of way, and vaguely remember watching a friend play a sequel (all I remember is constant load times with doors) on some console. Which RE would you suggest? It is my understanding they went downhill at some point.

You know, owning a PS2 opens you up to much more than just pS2 games. The Playstation 2 is backwards compatible, so you can also play some of the PS1 games as well.

I have a couple PS1 games I play emulated on the PC (PS2 emulation, or maybe just my PC doesn't seem up to snuff yet)- I had Final Fantasy VII (which I am given to understand is one of the peaks of the post-SNES series), but all I remember from it is unnecessarily long combat animation sequences (that still counted towards the countdown clock at the start), and some train and hideout level after. Aside from that, I think I have Tekken 3 somewhere as well...anything specific you'd recommend on the PS1?


Thanks again!

 

[Bofus Teefus]

Check out Rule of Rose. Creepy atmosphere, awesome soundtrack, and completely screwed up story.

 

[AmberSword]

From looking at your least, here are some you REEAAALLLY need to get

Resident Evil 4: Trust me, the series took to shit after this one, but what you get here is absolutely awesome fuckbiscuits, my top 3 PS2 games of all time. As you will see from the Island level, this is literally a mixing pot where the older style (Village/ Castle) starts meeting the new style of RE.

Final Fantasy XII: The plot had potential, moving into more mature territory, too bad Square probably didn't have experience with political plots, plus the game was stuck in development hell. The game is worth in purely based on the gameplay, it throws every other FF out of the park in this regard, be warned though, if you don't like the WOW MMO style, you might not like this.

Devil May Cry 3: This one was ported to PC eventually, but it wasn't really proper, so it still counts I guess. Whatever you do, get the Special Edition! and don't forget to NOT get DMC 2!!! Again be warned, if you do get the North American version, then this is one of the hardest games of all time, normal will wipe your ass starting as early as stage 2 if you aren't experienced in these types of games, don't give up though, well worth it.