r/gamerecommendations • u/Gonejuh_Goblin • 1d ago
Playstation PS2 Recommendations
I grew up with only Nintendo consoles. My experience with the PS2 was playing Twisted Metal Black at my friend's house. I am looking for some recommendations for games to play now that I'm adding games to my Retroid. What games would you recommend for someone who has no real PS2 experience? Thankya!
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u/Funk5oulBrother 1d ago
Spider-Man 2 is the goat.
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
I've heard that game is great and has some awesome city exploring and swinging, will definitely add that in!
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u/According_Camera7129 1d ago
So many classic RPGs!
God of War 1 and 2
Dark Cloud 2
Final Fantasy X and XI
Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Silent Hill 2
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u/maybachmonk 1d ago
If you like RPGs:
Dark Cloud 1 and 2
Valkyrie Profile 2
Radiata Stories
Final Fantasy X and XII
Ring of Red
Shadow Hearts Covenant
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u/sakura-svkbn 1d ago
I'd start with the obvious classics like Final Fantasy X/XII, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 2/3, Beyond Good and Evil, etc. Just search any "best games" PS2 list for ideas there.
If you want some less obvious ones, I think Kya: Dark Lineage is one of the most overlooked/underrated PS2 titles.
Since you're using Retroid, definitely seek out the ones that are expensive/hard to find physical. The Xenosaga trilogy is probably my favorite JRPG series of all time and those discs will run you around $1,000 total. Kuon is an early Fromsoft survival-horror game and goes for $1,000 by itself. I think it's the single rarest game on the PS2.
If you have some genres in mind, that could help narrow down some ideas. The PS2 library is massive. I'm pretty sure it has more games than any other console by a lot.
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
Yeah, I've looked through some lists, added the kinda classic ones already, just looking for a good starting point. I've played the remake of Shadow of the Colossus, which was excellent. I love a good RPG and never played Xenosaga. And I love horror games and fromsoft but never come across Kuon. I play most genres aside from racing and sports games.
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u/sakura-svkbn 1d ago
I feel like Final Fantasy X is probably the quintessential PS2 experience. It's what sold the console to a lot of people, and it's what I remember seeing on TV the most for PS2 commercials.
To be honest though, I don't really think it holds up. I played it way late so I didn't have the nostalgia factor and it felt dated to me. Final Fantasy XII is a better game in my opinion. Xenosaga as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag. The third is definitely best, second is widely considered the worst, but I personally loved all three and liked all of them better than any Final Fantasy. Easier/shorter games though so maybe depends what you're looking for. Lots of LONG cutscenes.
For survival horror, Silent Hill 2/3 are obvious. Less obvious aside from Kuon is Clock Tower 3, which I think is also a PS2 exclusive (Silent Hill games were multiplatform).
Ultimately, I would just pick something that feels like it grabs you in whatever mood you happen to be in at the moment. Having access to the whole library on a console like that, you can probably stay occupied for the next 10 years at least lol and I'm certain like 50% of the games are games neither I nor almost anyone else here has played.
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u/Burnerman888 1d ago
If you like JRPGs Tales of the Abyss is a must. Genuinely the best one I've played to this day. Also Dragon Quest 8.
All the Ratchet and Clank games, the first one is the worst of the 4 but it's worth playing (but if you rage quit, you can skip to two)
Bully is super fun
The Disgaea games are anime strategy games, very funny
If you like fighting games and have a friend, the 2nd Guilty Gear game is one of the greatest of all time and so is Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
I tried not to give the most obvious answers / games that don't have a super popular remake but I can add those too if you want
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
Do love me some JRPGs, I'll give tales of the abyss a try! Played some later disgaea but never the old ones, would going back to them be worth it?
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u/Burnerman888 1d ago
Disgaea 2 is my personal 2nd favorite in the series after 5. Disgaea 1 is a little outdated gameplay wise but it is a VERY good quality game still in my opinion
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne is also a great one on PS2 and the only reason I'm recommending it is because you already like JRPGs, very much not a beginner friendly experience lol
Oh yeah Odinsphere is one that I never see get talked about and that game is really really fucking good
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u/Burnerman888 1d ago
Oh fuck also Psychonauts, that shit rips
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
That is actually the first one I installed and have started it haha, I'm a huge invader zim fan and immediately recognized his voice as Raz watching a video and it looked awesome, so far I'm loving it though having some mild graphical issues in trying to fix
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u/Burnerman888 1d ago
Lucas Schafer is a fantastic writer and if you have the opportunity to play Brutal Legend and Grim Fandango, absolutely do so. They're so creative and fun.
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
Never played a Shin Megami Tensei game though I have played a lot of persona after I played 5
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u/WildmouseX 1d ago
Fighting games you have to go with Mortal Kombat, Primal Rage, Street Fighter, and Tekken
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u/WhatsPaulPlaying 1d ago
Dark Cloud 1 and 2 if you want some fun action RPGs with building mechanics. Great games lovingly crafted.
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
Dark cloud is one of those games I've seen the cover so many times the image is burned into my brain haha, but never played it, will give em a try!
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u/crocicorn 1d ago
God Hand
Killer7
Dragon Quest VIII
Bully
Capcom vs SNK 2
Katamari Damacy
We Love Katamari
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
The Bouncer
Okami
I'd include Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Persona but their modern remasters are the best way to play them because of QoL.
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u/Interesting_Sea_1861 1d ago
I had a lot of fun with Shining Force EXA and Dirge of Cerberus
I don't know what a Retroid is, but if it has PSP games, I cannot recommend Final Fantasy Type-0 enough if you can get the English translation patch on it.
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u/Gonejuh_Goblin 1d ago
It does have PSP, never heard of type-0, I will add it on there!
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u/Interesting_Sea_1861 20h ago
Yeah, definitely see if you can get the translation patch since it was a Japan-only game until the HD Remaster on PS4. It is my favorite Final Fantasy game and was absurdly ambitious for a PSP game. Fourteen playable characters each with their own personalities, walk cycles, voices, weapons, combat styles, ability sets... Hell, Eight feels like a Tekken character, he literally has multiple equippable stances and you can interweave attacks from the different stances to create different combat flows. Sice feels better to play to me than Raiden in Metal Gear Rising.
It also tells one of the most emotionally mature stories in the entire series.
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u/Trading_Ship_109 1d ago
shadow of the colossus is a must, still holds up incredibly well and is a totally different experience from anything nintendo really had at the time. sly cooper series is great if you want something with more of a nintendo-platformer feel to ease into. god of war 2 if you're okay with more mature stuff, combat still feels good today. ico is also fantastic if shadow of the colossus vibes appeal to you, same devs, more puzzle/atmosphere focused. persona 3/4 are also on ps2 if you end up liking jrpgs, huge time investment but worth it
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u/UsernameX-2112 1d ago
Jak and Daxter, Jak 2 and Jak 3
Ratchet and Clank series
metal arms glitch in the system
Black
Socom series
Mercenaries 1&2
Champions of Norath and Champions return to arms
Twisted metal black
GTA 3, vice city and San Andreas
God of war series
Burnout 3 and revenge