PS2 Game Reccomendations

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Yeah, I'm pretty behind here. I've recently come into ownership of a PS2, and I'm going to buy a bunch of games for it. I'm only interested in PS2 exclusive games, since I can get multiplatform games on my GC as it is usually.

 

Right now, I'm forsure getting K-1 World Grand Prix, and PRIDE-FC, due to being a massive MMA mark. I've been considering Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, due to being a fan of that franchise, but I'm un decided.

 

If you can't tell, I'm aiming for fairly cheap PS2 games. I want to get God of War and Shadow of the Colossus, but their still quite spendy. I'm probably goign to get SDvRaw2k6, cause I need a better wrestling game.

 

Any suggestions? When it comes to PS2 exclusives, I'm pretty out of the loop due to being so far behind the times. Any really good, fairly inexpensive games?

 

Oh, and I need RPG reccomendations too. I'm not a fan of the typical "Save the world!" type games, and need a gimmick of some sort to keep my interest. A unique battle system, or some type of weird/good story. I've thoguht about Digitial Devil Saga, Star Ocean III and the Xenosaga games, but I'm undecided.

 

Thanks for any help

[devo 0]

As far as RPGs go, you really can't go wrong with anything Atlus released for the system. Disgaea, Phantom Brave and La Pucelle are all fantastic tactical RPGs. Also, Dragon Quest VIII is great, but kinda expensive at the moment.

[Da Maintenance Man 0]

MGS3 is 20 bucks now. It's a steal at that price. Pick it up.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Here are a couple of cheap exclusives that you might want to check out:

 

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal - Great action/platformer with upgradable weapons, good humor, and online play. It's the peak of the series and it might just be one of the top three games on the system.

 

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - You've probably heard of this one.

 

Kingdom Hearts - Phenomenal action/RPG, even if you're not a fan of the Disney characters.

 

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution - You mentioned picking it up, so let me just encourage you further.

 

Dragon Quest VIII - This recommendation only holds if you get it this week from Best Buy, where they have it priced at $34.95. Great old-school RPG.

 

Katamari Damacy - One of the most cracked out games that you'll see in North America, but also one of the most unique.

[AndrewTS 0]

Good, cheap PS2 games?

 

VF4 is an excellent way to go. Evo contains a few extra features, but it also is missing some features from regular VF4. I think Anya has both and could elaborate a bit more.

 

Although she'll also say "Get Tekken 5, it's better" as well.

 

BTW, check pawn shops. I scored God of War for 15 bucks from one. One of these days I'm going to play it again, but it's massively overated IMO.

 

The entire Ratchet and Clank series is ace. You could get 1 for 8 bucks or less. Going Commando is even better. Up Your Arsenal is harder and more combat-based than the other two, though.

 

War of the Monsters is a cool King of the Monsters style game...it's usually about 25 bucks in stores, but hit pawn shops, try Sears (got it for 10 bucks there recently), and half.com and you could get it for less.

 

If you like shooters, Castle Shikagami 2 is a well-spent 10 dollar game. Plus the translation is hilarious, too.

 

Get a Katamari game. Believe the hype.

 

Oh, and I need RPG reccomendations too. I'm not a fan of the typical "Save the world!" type games, and need a gimmick of some sort to keep my interest. A unique battle system, or some type of weird/good story. I've thoguht about Digitial Devil Saga, Star Ocean III and the Xenosaga games, but I'm undecided.

 

Xenosaga? It's your money I guess, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Get Kingdom Hearts, or just wait for Kingdom Hearts 2. You want gimmicks, a unique battle system, a bizaare story, and maybe on top of that some top-notch voice acting? There ya go. KH2 will be even better.

 

Phantom Brave is a good introduction to Nippon Ichi games, although if you like it, keep in mind their rarer/more expensive games are better.

 

DQVIII is really good, but probably a bit too derivative and old-school for what you're shooting for.

 

DDS and any other MegaTen game that made it Stateside is worth a go.

 

If you like wrestling games, Rumble Roses can be picked up for about 15 bucks, and it plays better than most of the WWE games. Yukes went with an awful new stat system from HCTP on that continues to plague and unbalance the gameplay. And for every improvement they make, they screw up something else. Rumble Roses is very arcadey, and lacks play modes, but is still a quality title.

 

Onimusha 3: Onimusha 1 and 2 were like Resident Evil with swords. This is an action title with prerendered backdrops, OTOH. Two characters, cool story and mood, great gameplay, and dirt cheap. It's like 10 bucks these days and is highly underrated.

 

Klonoa 2: A great platformer even if it is very old-school. My first PS2 game.

 

Ape Escape 2: Not as long perhaps as the original game, but still an excellent, hellafun title that actually makes use of the dual analogs. Hard to find, but when you do find it, you can nab it for under 20 easily.

[Guest Leelee]

I'll also recommend Katamari. The game is so Japanese, but it's lots of fun. And extremely unique fun, which many games can no longer say.

[Downhome 0]

First off, if you have the money at all, try to pick up Guitar Hero (PS2 exclusive). It is my favorite game of that genre, and quickly becoming my favorite game ever, period. Now, on to some cheap PS2 exclusive games. You can pick most of these up for $20 or less:

 

-Ace Combat series

-Amplitude

-Devil May Cry series (especially the first one and third one)

-Final Fantasy series

-Frequency

-ICO (from makers of SotC)

-Jak & Daxter series

-Katamari series

-Kingdom Hearts

-Onimusha series

-Ratchet & Clank series

-Sly Cooper Series

-Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

 

There are tons of other ones though. I just thought I'd point out some of the best ones for now.

[AndrewTS 0]

I was going to mention ZotE2, but it's hard to find cheap. Of course, it is worth the usual $25 asking price, but I've gotten it for 10-12 bucks at pawn shops. It's one of the best mecha games I can recall on any system.

 

However, I feel the Jak series is...not worthy of its massive sales, IMO. The first game is a generic 3D platformer where you collect lots of crap. Jak II lets you collect lots of crap, but you are thrown into a sandbox-style city with boring missions. And lots of racing. Tons of racing. Too damn much racing. The platforming is drastically reduced, disappointing me greatly. The weapons suck, too. Jak 3 is pretty much the same thing, too. the Ratchet games are better than all of the Jak games, IMO.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I shall add Katamari to the list...I was actually intending on getting one, but spaced it.

 

It's not so much that I dislike traditional RPG's, it's just after awhile they lose my interest. The only RPG's I've actually ever finished had something different about them. Legend of Legaia had it's Kung-Fu system, Star Ocean II had a free range system, and Crono Trigger had a excelent plot, just to name a few.

 

Most traditional RPg's follow the "Attack" "Buy" "level up" "Save the world" plot too closely for me.

[Downhome 0]

the Ratchet games are better than all of the Jak games, IMO.

 

There's no doubt about it to me either, just check out the thread I started about the Ratchet game right before this latest one. However, the Jak games are still perfectly acceptable platformers, especially compared to most other games of the genre that are on the next generation systems.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Speaking of which, is the second Legaia game for the PS2 ANY good? I hadn't even ever heard about it until I saw it at Gamestop's online store.

 

Loved the first, but who knows about this one.

[Anya 0]

VF4 Evolution is missing some modes from regular VF4. One where you train an AI character to fight like you and a kumite mode which is basically a never ending survival mode where you earn ranks and custom items. The new quest mode in Evo replaces Kumite and is much better. Evo is the way to go.

 

But get Tekken 5, it's better.

 

 

 

Devil May Cry and Onimusha are both great action series.

[AndrewTS 0]

Everybody hates DMC2, though. I have no comment since I haven't really played it, though. 1 and 3 are good, but hard.

 

Onimusha 1 is really dated. 2 is good but 2nd half of the game is lame. Onimusha 3 is aces.

[Anya 0]

DMC2 isn't that bad. It's still worth playing. It's weird how everyone hated 2 because it was too easy so Capcom made the US version of 3 harder and everyone complains about that.

 

 

I still think Oni 1 was probably the best. 2 gets so weird towards the end.

[AndrewTS 0]

Onimusha 3 is the best. It has Jacques.

[Anya 0]

An old guy with a whip is not as cool as a samurai.

[Rendclaw 0]

If the old guy wasn't Jean Reno, I would agree.

 

If you like action RPGs, I of course recommend Baldur's Gate I and II. Its harder yet more fun when playing with a friend or in kkk's case, your SO. Once my gf learned the ropes we had fun killing everything in sight.

 

Speaking of multiplayer RPGs, has anyone any opinions on the new Gauntlet game?

[Renegade 0]

DMC2 isn't that bad. It's still worth playing. It's weird how everyone hated 2 because it was too easy so Capcom made the US version of 3 harder and everyone complains about that.

Most people hated DMC2 because it was boring as fuck. The combo and damage system were raped to no end and there really wasn't a need for 2 characters. Also add in the fact that moves and actions were pretty unspectacular and that Dante became a mute did little to improve things. The story also sucked. Basically everything that made DMC1 great was taken out and turned into an average typical action game where you mash on the gun button.

 

All the hate for DMC2 is well deserved.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

Final Fantasy X, even though it is about saving the world, is worth at least renting in my opinion. Metal Gear Solid 2 can be had for $5 used now. It gets weird toward the end, but is very much worth playing. Also, grab the Jampacks, the demos are pretty good and can be had for cheap

[The Man in Blak 0]

Another cheap option, if you like car combat, would be Twisted Metal Black. Great multiplayer, as well as dark and twisted storylines that make it worthwhile to play through with multiple characters.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I had been thinking of TM:B. TM2 is one of my favorite games ever, but I dunno how Black stacks up compared to that one. I've been wanting to hit the video store and rent a few games to test run them...but I aint made it that far yet.

[The Man in Blak 0]

TMB plays much faster than TM2, so you'll have a little bit of an adjustment period...but, once you catch on, you'll find that it's just as good, if not better.

Edited December 29, 2005 by The Man in Blak

[Downhome 0]

Check out GameRankings.com for reviews and everything, it's very helpful since they take the review scores from the major sources (and links you to the reviews) and averages them all together to get an overall score.

[Special K 0]

I second ICO, it's a better game than Shadow of the Collosus, and has nearly as much wonder. Plus it'll enhance the SotC experience when you get it later for cheap. (I bought SotC for cheap, and enjoyed it, but it's very short.)

 

Also Zone of the Enders 2 IS awesome. Great graphics, some nice variation in the gameplay, very fast paced, for when you just want to blow some shit up. I just got it for $10.

 

Marvel V Capcom 2 or Guilty Gear 2 are fantastic button-mashing fighters. Tekken or Soul Caliber are better, but you'll most likely have more fun playing your friends in the 2-D games.

 

Katamari is great, fun for kids, and easy to pick up and play.

 

Frequency/Amplitude are much cheaper than Guitar Hero, though the guitar controller is awesome. They're my favorite rhythm games. They usually run about $25, though.

 

Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, Shadow Hearts, Phantom Brave, Dark Cloud 2 are all really great, cheap RPGs.

 

Xenosaga was mediocre, and I hear Xenosaga 2 is terrible, so I'd avoid them.

 

In addition to Devil May Cry, Rygar's a similar, very underrated game. It's sort of God of War lite. I bet you can get it really cheaply.

 

The various arcade comps, or the Mega Man comp are great deals.

 

Twisted Metal Black is quite good. You can probably get that for $5.

 

Lastly, the Silent Hill games are all excellent, scary as fuck, and cheap. I think #2 is the best one, I hear the official opinion is that #3 is supreme. Either way, they're the best of the series, and they're about $10. Even #4 is way worth it, I've seen it as cheap as $15.

[Downhome 0]

Rygar's a similar, very underrated game. It's sort of God of War lite. I bet you can get it really cheaply.

 

Ugh, I can't believe I forgot to mention Rygar! I bought it when it was first released, I and I played the absolute living hell out of that game, beating it multiple times. It is a very fun game, and it's one of the most beautiful games that I've ever played. Have you ever seen the (underrated) flick What Dreams May Come? Well, there is one level in Rygar that looks like it's straight out of that flick, and it's amazing. The weapon physics are fantastic as well.

 

You can pick Rygar up for less than $10 all the time and I've seen it at Blockbusters for around $5/used. It was worth every penny I paid for it new, so buying it that cheap is a must.

[Mole 0]

MVP 05

[Anya 0]

I had been thinking of TM:B. TM2 is one of my favorite games ever, but I dunno how Black stacks up compared to that one. I've been wanting to hit the video store and rent a few games to test run them...but I aint made it that far yet.

 

 

I don't think TMB is nearly as good as 2, especially in multiplayer. None of the levels are designed as well as New York or Antartica and the weapons don't have the same impact.

[AndrewTS 0]

I still pull out TM2 now and then. Just an insane amount of fun, and fighting throughout the streets of Paris or the NY rooftops is just a blast. I even like that suburban area when I'm in the mood for a more relaxed atmosphere. The carried-over TM1 levels don't hurt either.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I'd still play TM2 if I still had it.

 

Right now, this is what I'm thinking of getting:

 

K-1

Pride

SDVRaw2k6

VF4:Evo

Katamari

Final Fantasy X (...It atleast has a novel level up system, right?)

TM:B

and fuck it, for ten bucks I'll give Rygar a whirl, and for twenty Kingdom Hearts

 

Any other major suggestions?

[Anya 0]

Buy Tekken 5.

 

 

I quit playing TM2 when I stopped seeing the guy I used to play against and no longer had good competition. For a while I was very into two player. It got even better when the Sell Your Soul move was found, battles could last ages with each of us jousting then running off to recharge until someone finally made a fatal error. The best levels where were you could set up intense showdowns and stalemates. Like the island you had to teleport to in Antartica. We would stockpile ricos and one of us would go to the island knowing if the other teleported in it'd be a battle to see who could rico the other off the cliff first.