So, I got a PS3 for christmas...

[Dalisclock]

After years of being a PC gamer only, I finally broke down and bought a backwards compatible PS3 so I could finally play all those Play Station Exclusives that I've heard were really good. So I picked up or received the following:

-Silent Hill 1 and 2(not the HD collection, since I heard nothing but bad things about it).
-The God of War collection(which has the main 3 and 2 of the side games).
-The first two Uncharted Games(in the double set).
-Final Fantasy 9(the only one I haven't played that I'm actually interested in playing at this point).
-Xenogears.
-Chrono Cross
-Final Fantasy Tactics
-the ICO/SotC collection.

That being said,

1. I've been working on SotC and love it. Once I'm done with it, I'm planning on playing either Uncharted or God of War(the first one). After that I'll probably come back and play ICO(I just don't want to follow up SotC with ICO because I'm worried it'll feel like a letdown in comparison). Suggestions on which game to play next?

2. Any really good RPG's I should look into for the PS1/2/3? I've heard the persona games are good but there seem to be quite a lot of them.

3. Any other Silent Hills I should get beyond the first two? I heard 2 is the best, with 1 and 3 being pretty good and really mixed things about 4. Should I even bother with anything past 2?

4. Any other games I really should check out?

Keep in mind, I already have a gaming PC so don't bother mentioning it if something is already on PC(unless it's a crappy port that just has to be played on the PS). Also, to help you not waste your time, I have no interest in Sports, Driving or fighting(Tekken/Mortal Kombat/etc) games.

 

[Sack of Cheese]

3. Any other Silent Hills I should get beyond the first two? I heard 2 is the best, with 1 and 3 being pretty good and really mixed things about 4. Should I even bother with anything past 2?

Silent hill 3 is actually pretty good, it's the only one I finished. I also played SH2 but never bothered completing it and SH1 might be a bit dated these days. I haven't played the others, but one of my friends who's a Silent hill enthusiast seemed to be really enjoying Homecoming.

 

[Frezzato]

If you really love puzzles, I suppose you could skip straight to Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. Perhaps you could just fill in the backstory with Wikipedia, as opposed to buying the six or seven games that came before it.

However, if you wanted to get a slightly fuller experience, you could go in the order of:

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty (digital download only)[footnote]I just found out you can get this on disc, but I believe the digital download is $15, much cheaper than what Amazon is charging for the disc[/footnote]
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

This is a good compromise in terms of the total experience as A Crack in Time has a bonus level that really feels like a 'goodbye, thanks for your support' type of experience. It felt like they were wrapping up the series, even though they followed up with All 4 One and Into the Nexus, neither of which I've played.

 

[Reed Spacer]

LA Noire is a good one.

Kind of like a law-enforcement version of GTA and atmospheric as all fuck.

If you like strategy games, the Disgaea series is nice. Not at all serious either, which is a bonus.

Star Ocean is a solid standard JRPG. Some of the voices (buy which I mean most of the voices) are annoying, but they're a bit less so in Japanese (you can switch languages or the VAs)

Just Cause 2 is the perfect game to play if you want to blow off steam. Travel over a huge island and just blow shit up.

 

[Dalisclock]

LA Noire is a good one.

Kind of like a law-enforcement version of GTA and atmospheric as all fuck.

If you like strategy games, the Disgaea series is nice. Not at all serious either, which is a bonus.

Star Ocean is a solid standard JRPG. Some of the voices (buy which I mean most of the voices) are annoying, but they're a bit less so in Japanese (you can switch languages or the VAs)

Just Cause 2 is the perfect game to play if you want to blow off steam. Travel over a huge island and just blow shit up.

Already have LA Noir and Just Cause 2 on Steam. I started JC2 over a year ago and someday I'll actually finish it. I'm just not in the mood right now because I went through 3 Saints Row games this year and then Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon in the last month, so I'm kind of off Sandbox games for a few months.

 

[the_great_cessation]

You need to get The Last of Us. It's probably the best reason to own a PS3. I'd also recommend at least trying Heavy Rain. It's cheap enough now that even if you hate it, it isn't too much of a loss.

Oh..and Rayman Legends! That game is bliss.

 

[Zhukov]

Journey (on PSN) and The Last of Us were the two games that made my PS3 worth buying.

So consider them heartily recommended.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Silent Hill HD Collection is indeed pretty bad and congratulations on steering clear from that. SH2 is the best game; SH3 is also very good. SH1 is a little (horribly) dated. SH4 is a love-or-hate departure from the series. Everything else, with the exception of maybe Downpour, is pretty skippable.

The Batman Arham Asylum & City games are lots of fun. Everything by Rockstar - GTA IV & V, LA Noire, Red Dead Redemption (and the Undead Nightmare DLC) are all fun sandboxes. I'd get inFamous & Uncharted for exclusives as well.

As for RPGs - the best one I ever played was on the PS2, called Dragon's Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. Tales of the Abyss from the Tales series is also good. The Disgaea games are turn-based strategy RPGs, lots of fun and overwhelming with content. Odin Sphere (also on PS2) is a fun action 2D RPG. The original Kingdom Hearts trilogy on the PS2 was also lots of fun.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Given that you never specified a genre, I'll give a list of some of my favorite titles.

Catherine - Puzzle
Darksiders - Action Adventure
Dark Souls - Action RPG
Devil May Cry HD Collection - Hack n' Slash/Shoot 'em Up
DmC: Devil May Cry - Hack n' Slash/Shoot 'em Up
Demon's Souls - Action RPG
Dragon Age: Origins - WRPG
Dragon's Crown - Side-Scrolling Hack n' Slash
Dragon's Dogma - Action RPG
Jak & Daxter HD Collection - Action Adventure
Journey - Adventure
Mass Effect Trilogy - WPRG
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Hack n' Slash
Nier - Action Adventure
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - JRPG
Okami HD - Action Adventure
Outland - Bullet Hell Platformer
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - Action Platformer
Prince of Persia Trilogy - Action Platformer
The Sly Collection - Stealth Adventure
Sly 4: Thieves in Time - Stealth Adventure
Star Ocean: The Last Hope International - JRPG
Tales of Graces f - JRPG
Tales of Xillia - JRPG
Vanquish - Third-Person Shooter
White Knight Chronicles II(includes remastered version of I) - JRPG
3D Dot Game Heroes - Action Adventure

 

[Launcelot111]

Persona 3/4 are each excellent. There's essentially no continuity in story between games, so you can play either one on its own.

For more good RPGs, the Tales Series has Graces and Xillia for PS3 and Abyss for PS2. Disgaea 4 turns grinding into an art form as you deal billions of damage in what can best be described as numbers porn. Resonance of Fate has some neat things going on as well with a cool battle system, though its pacing is very imperfect. Valkyria Chronicles is more of a strategy game, but it deserves a mention as well. For the PS2, there's also Dragon Quest 8, the Xenosaga games, and the Shadow Hearts series.

Beyond that, I endorse the Sly Cooper series and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, the first being the best non-Mario platformers I've played since the N64 days and the latter being an action/platformer with a neat setting and strong characters.

 

[Reed Spacer]

Persona 3/4 are each excellent. There's essentially no continuity in story between games, so you can play either one on its own.

Or Nocturne. This is a game that begins with the death of all life on the planet. And the soundtrack kicks ass.

Especially the pre-boss theme.

<youtube=KYLBLZtbme4>

This is music that says "The next thing that shows up is going to kick the shit out of you."

 

[Casual Shinji]

Go get The Last of Us, Journey and the inFamous games.

The Ratchet and Clank HD Collection is great fun, and so are a few of the 7th gen titles. Skip Quest for Booty though. But definately check out Into the Nexus.

If you like interesting, strategic JRPGs and can stomach the most sticky sweet of anime tropes, Valkyria Chronicles might be worth a purchase.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

For the PS3:

The Last of Us is great fun so far. I didn't like Uncharted, but I'm having a blast with this. Can actually get pretty creepy during the sections where you're on your own.

The Infamous games are great, especially the second. Decent story, really satisfying and weighty feeling gameplay.

Red Dead Redemption is very fun, too, though flawed. Aiming is slow to the point where you kinda need the auto-aim and the auto-aim is precise to the point where you'll basically do a 180 to aim straight at your target's centre mass. The fantastic animation, decals, physics and sound design keep the gunplay satisfying, though.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma would be the best hack 'n' slash ever if it didn't have a shitty camera. Besides that one (sometimes very frustrating) flaw, I cannot recommend it enough. Incredibly fast, fluid and beautiful looking combat.

Nier is pretty flawed in terms of both story and gameplay and it actively hates you for being a completionist. Still, despite some odd dialogue choices and pacing, the story is incredibly interesting, with an absurdly sympathetic villain (especially in the NG+ which actually changes the story a bit!) and an experimental approach to storytelling. The combat is kinda limited and clunky, but when it works it actually feels pretty great. It's basically an ARPG with bullet hell elements for the most part, but different parts of the game take elements from platformers (2D ones, too!), top down Zelda-like dungeon-crawling, survival horror and even bloody text adventures. Very weird game, but a memorable one with an incredible soundtrack. The best thing Cavia ever made.

Okami HD is a beautiful Zelda-like with great combat and some interesting, unique mechanics. This version was about the same price as the PS2 one when I bought it, so you may as well get it on PS3.

For the PS2:

Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call/Nocturne is my favourite game of all time. Turn based JRPG with an incredibly good combat system, wonderful aesthetics and atmosphere and a decent (though not mindblowing) story.

Persona 3 and 4 will be recommended to you enough, but with good reason. Prefer the main MegaTen games, personally, but they're still great.

Digital Devil Saga is another SMT game. The story doesn't start off brilliantly, but it gets really interesting and the gameplay is very similar to Lucifer's Call (so awesome). Like most SMT games that aren't Persona 3 and 4, it's very dark.

Shinobi is a fun, fast paced, hack 'n' slash. It's not combo-based and features a lot of platforming, making it feel somewhat unique in the genre. The combat looks cool as hell and the game is very challenging in places.. It's obviously somewhat low-budget, but still worth playing.

Yakuza 1 and 2 are basically what would happen if you took Streets of Rage, made it 3D, added fucktons of exploration and side-content, RPG elements and a more interesting story. I hear the PS3 games are good, too, but I haven't played them. These look amazing for PS2 games, as well.

 

[Poppy JR.]

-Chrono Cross

Not so fast! it isn't strictly necessary, but I highly recommend you try Chrono Trigger first. They take place in the same universe, so it'll certainly help you understand the world. Plus, I'd recommend Chrono Trigger to every man, woman and child on the planet. It truly is excellent.

 

[GonzoGamer]

If you like RPGs and you have a ps3, you owe it to yourself to get Valkyria Chronicles. It's an interesting combination of RPG, TBS, & FPS...and it works somehow. It's got a great art style to it as well. I'd say it's definitely the most interesting PS3 game to come out.

 

[Akytalusia]

you have xenogears, and you haven't played it, and it's not even on your list of priorities? you should remedy this asap.

 

[lacktheknack]

3. Any other Silent Hills I should get beyond the first two? I heard 2 is the best, with 1 and 3 being pretty good and really mixed things about 4. Should I even bother with anything past 2?

Oh HELL yes.

Silent Hill 3 is the peak of the series. Silent Hill 2 is good, but so very understated to the point of lifelessness.

Heck, I'd say Silent Hill 2 is the weakest of the first four, because at least 1, 3 and 4 actually scared me beyond making me feel marginally uncomfortable and sad.

 

[Ken_J]

If you really love puzzles, I suppose you could skip straight to Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. Perhaps you could just fill in the backstory with Wikipedia, as opposed to buying the six or seven games that came before it.

However, if you wanted to get a slightly fuller experience, you could go in the order of:

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty (digital download only)[footnote]I just found out you can get this on disc, but I believe the digital download is $15, much cheaper than what Amazon is charging for the disc[/footnote]
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

This is a good compromise in terms of the total experience as A Crack in Time has a bonus level that really feels like a 'goodbye, thanks for your support' type of experience. It felt like they were wrapping up the series, even though they followed up with All 4 One and Into the Nexus, neither of which I've played.

Theres also the HD PS2 Ratchet and Clanks available for download and the first 3 have retail compilation release.
And Into the Nexus is good. Short but sweet. And it's only $30 for retail which includes Quest for Booty for free!

 

[lachlan4567]

I'd recommend giving the metal gear legacy collection a go, It contains all of the metal gear solid installments with 2 and 3 remastered in Glorious HD. I'd recommend playing them in order though.
Another great choice is the Jak and Daxter HD collection, a bundle of naughty dog goodness if there ever was one.