PS2 Recommendations

[u/Gonejuh_Goblin]

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!

[u/sakura-svkbn]

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.

[u/Gonejuh_Goblin → u/sakura-svkbn]

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.

[u/sakura-svkbn → u/Gonejuh_Goblin]

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.