I got through phases of games, and right now I’m in the one I like to think of everything-modern-is-making-me-angry-so-I’ll-turn-back-to-vintage-games - and that’s in the form of PCSX2 on my Steam Deck.
Playing the PS2 generation on the Steam Deck is kinda the ‘perfect’ generation: I can upscale the resolution without a performance hit, I can apply HD texture packs, Retro Achievements and I can drop the TDP to extend the battery life.
Anyway, I never had a PS2 (it was just a touch before my time), so there’s so many games I’m yet to discover there. I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have for what I can play on there:
Just a couple notes:
No GTA games because they’re better with the PC versions. While I’ve bought the games, the account that Rockstar demands people have to play their games makes me angry on principle (a single-player game forcing an online check each week to be able to play it? No thanks), so I’ve got cracked versions to play.
No Final Fantasy because I’m not even sure where to start!
So if anyone was around back in the PS2 era, and has some recommendations for games they’ve loved, I’m all ears. I’ve been having such a fun time playing these.
Some big thanks to my friends who made and run RetroDECK (my choice for emulating on the Steam Deck), and to the PCSX2 team (who I’m chatting to right now actually, so keep an eye out and in a week or so I’ll share that chat with them all about creating and maintaining the PS2 emulator!)
Also, if you do have a Steam Deck, and want to play with the HD texture packs I do, then it’s really simple. Just download the pack, and name then according to their game’s I.D. code - SLUS-20743 for example, then place it in the texture_packs folder:
From there, go into PCSX2, then right-click the game, select properties, graphics, texture replacement and tick the two boxes I have:
Then you’ve got the games looking the best they can be!
I’d just start reading at the top and play some that look fun. Sales are a fair proxy for “good” games. I’m sure there are ratings lists too, if you feel so inclined.
(You can probably skip all the sports games, though.)
God Hand is probably the most underrated game on the platform. Dont let the visuals or the crass humor turn you off. It’s made by Clover (the same devs behind Okami and Viewtiful Joe) and is mechanically deep to an absurd degree. Easily the best beat-em-up on the console.
You have one of, if not the best starting points for Final Fantasy in the whole series on this system with X. Just play it. There’s no mainline numbered Final Fantasy game that ties together. They’re all separate stories. A few share a common setting with Ivalice, but that’s about it. Hop on X now. I know there’s a PC version, and that’s probably the recommended way to experience that game at this point, but I don’t really care how you start it. If you ever wanna experience Final Fantasy, FFX is the one a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot of people will say start with.
Radiata Stories - a looker even for a PS2 game.
NFL 2K5 - the greatest NFL game ever made.
Jak and Daxter - This console’s Crash Bandicoot.
Rachet and Clank - I actually have the same problem you have with Final Fantasy with this series. Just pick one.
Need For Speed Underground 2 - One of the best arcade racing games ever made.
Burnout 3 Takedown - Same as above except you crash the cars instead of pimp them out.
SSX3 - Some say Tricky is better, I like them both but usually give 3 the edge.
Soul Calibur II - Best Soul Calibur game IMO
Dragonball Z Budokai 3 - Played the shit out of both this and Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Link special character was best special character… because… it was a great meming time when people realized there were what appeared to be the silhouette of his tower and bases visible during certain moves.
That’s the thing. PS2 at one time was the best selling system of all time. I forget if that record still holds up. I know the DS oversold it, but thats not a tv console.
Point is, with any console that had that big of an impact on gaming, it’s going to have a ton of bangers that still hold up 20+ years later.
And boy howdy if that ain’t true!
I’m honestly surprised there aren’t independant projects releasing new PS2 games today, in the same way you see occasional new releases for NES and Game Boy Color.
Probably the best list imo. I remember picking Radiata Stories up, at random, for my birthday. It blew me away. The story, combat and recruitment mechanic are different from everything else I experienced at the time.
And a few suggestions also:
Def Jam: Fight for NY. Lowkey my favorite fighting game, with 4-players simultaneously beating the crap of each other.
Battle Stadium D.O.N… Fighting/smash bros style game with the biggest jump stars at the time (Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto).
Dokapon Kingdom. Board/rpg game with a lot of fun mechanics.
Fuck yes, Fight for NY was amazing. I love the idea of a fighting game where you have to end the fight, not just knock the other guy’s health bar down to zero so he falls over. So satisfying to put your opponent down with a haymaker or chucking him in front of a subway train
NFS Underground 1 is better than the sequel IMO. The open world is empty and tedious filler vs just loading directly into the tracks.
Best NFS on the PS2 is Hot Pursuit 2 however. Made by Black Box, it’s vastly superior in every way to the other console versions and the PC version made by a different company despite sharing assets.
Jak and Daxter are better played via OpenGoal - a modern open source engine implementation that runs natively on Steam Deck and includes fixes, graphics improvements, proper widescreen, etc.
Re: Final Fantasy games not tying together or having continuities.
Yes. Except, ironically, specifically Final Fantasy X, which had a direct sequel in X-2. Final Fantasy XIII also managed to have a direct sequel in Lightning Returns. Thankfully, if you care to think of it that way, it was crap and can be safely ignored.
Anyway, have an upvote for not blithely suggesting that everyone start with VII.
Yes and they’re all neatly contained in their numbered entry which is why I say no mainline numbered games tie together. And all the 2s are optional IMO. Especially X-2, which always seemed like a cash grab to capitalize off of X’s success to me. As much as I love, love, love X, I’ve never touched X-2 and probably never will.
NBA Street Vol 2 or V3. Never found another sports game that’s as much fun.
Games only last a few minutes and there’s no concept of seasons or anything. It’s just casual streetball where no rules matter - including the rules of physics.
I love the ps2 era of games! Here are some suggestions:
ICO: Minimalist game about a cursed boy & a girl with mysterious powers trying to escape a castle together. An absolute classic.
Shadow of the Colossus: Another Team ICO game, this one you’ve probably heard of. You play as a young man who sets out for the Forbidden Lands, finding and slaying 16 colossi to resurrect his deceased love.
Silent Hill 2: One of the greatest survival horror games ever made. Introspective, tackles mature themes, and deeply chilling. A game I truly feel is haunted.
Persona 4: High schoolers solving a murder mystery in a rural Japanese town. I prefer the vanilla ps2 version to the revised Golden edition, it graphically preserves the fog & spookier ambience - with better pacing from less bloat.
For some more obscure games:
The Adventures of Cookie & Cream: A brutal co-op/singleplayer puzzle game developed by Fromsoft. Has a fun art style & interesting levels.
Tak 3 - the Great Juju Challenge: Works best in co-op but still a blast in single-player. 3D platformer with varied levels & a fantastic voice cast (Patrick Warburton as Lok is the highlight).
Btw if you’re playing mgs3 on the ps2 make sure it’s the Subsistence edition! It has a 3D camera that works way better than the top-down the og game shipped with.
Yes absolutely! Inspired Dark Souls, future zelda games, & basically every indie game to come out afterwards.
I started The Last Guardian, still need to go back & finish it. I liked a lot of what it was bringing to the table, but the pacing dragged a bit in the middle imo.
You have to… No, You NEED to Play Downhill Domination. There is NO WAY you won’t have fun playing that, trust me.
Oh! And Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3! You don’t have to be a DBZ fan to have fun with that, is amazing and so chaotic!
Also, have you consider trying Devil May Cry 3? (Don’t worry about the number, it’s a precule). It’s kinda hard but so fun and satisfying.
No Final Fantasy because I’m not even sure where to start!
I had the same problem too, but after trying to play them chronologically (and failing), I learned that you can play any FF game at any time, cuz they are very unique and don’t actually relate one another.
Final Fantasy X is a great pick, for example, it helped me overcome my despise for Turn-base combat RPG.
And, if you’re up to some Big Robot Fight mayhem anime style, Zone of The Enders is Amazing.
edit: AND YAKUZA! HOW COULD I FORGOT YAKUZA!!?? YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE FIRST YAKUZA ASAP!!
(unless you want to play / already played the kiwami version, which may be a better experience)
Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction,
Destroy All Humans!
Shadow of the Colossus,
The Matrix: Path of Neo,
Psi Ops: The Mind Gate Conspiracy,
Burnout Revenge,
Gitaroo Man,
God Hand.
I’m sure there’s more but that’s off the top of my head. Also some of these can definitely be found in newer versions or ports, but they started on PS2 so I listed them anyways.
They’re both fun, but I think Path of Neo is probably more what people were hoping to get out of a Matrix video game.
Enter The Matrix was cool, but it suffers a bit from some awkward earlier dual stick controls that Path of Neo had corrected. Plus you’re stuck within the timeframe of the second movie only really.
I recently went through a ps2 games phase. Some already mentioned but the lesser known standouts for me were;
God hand (probably the best game on ps2 and released really late in the life of the PS2 so many people missed it),
Odin sphere (best looking game on the system and really fun),
urban reign,
steam bot chronicles (robot action rpg really satisfying game play)
robot alchemical drive (ride on the shoulders of huge gundam style robots, really unique game)
champions of norrath, (action rpg based on EverQuest universe, really fun)
psi ops, (fps like game with stars wars style force powers, crazy fun)
Drakan: Ancient gates, (action rpg, fly on a dragon, one of the best magic systems ever where you have to trace the pattern to cast. The reason I started my ps2 phase was to replay this game, loved it as a kid and still holds up)
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The Shadow Hearts series! I so badly wish it was remade so I could play it again.
Also, Magna Carta.
As others have said, Ratchet and Clank series is fantastic
One I did not see in the comments is Test Drive: Eve of Destruction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_PlayStation_2_video_games
I’d just start reading at the top and play some that look fun. Sales are a fair proxy for “good” games. I’m sure there are ratings lists too, if you feel so inclined.
(You can probably skip all the sports games, though.)
Midnight Club 2
God Hand is probably the most underrated game on the platform. Dont let the visuals or the crass humor turn you off. It’s made by Clover (the same devs behind Okami and Viewtiful Joe) and is mechanically deep to an absurd degree. Easily the best beat-em-up on the console.
God Hand is great!
God power keeps my pimp hand strong, so trust me or you won’t last very long!
You have one of, if not the best starting points for Final Fantasy in the whole series on this system with X. Just play it. There’s no mainline numbered Final Fantasy game that ties together. They’re all separate stories. A few share a common setting with Ivalice, but that’s about it. Hop on X now. I know there’s a PC version, and that’s probably the recommended way to experience that game at this point, but I don’t really care how you start it. If you ever wanna experience Final Fantasy, FFX is the one a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot of people will say start with.
Radiata Stories - a looker even for a PS2 game.
NFL 2K5 - the greatest NFL game ever made.
Jak and Daxter - This console’s Crash Bandicoot.
Rachet and Clank - I actually have the same problem you have with Final Fantasy with this series. Just pick one.
Need For Speed Underground 2 - One of the best arcade racing games ever made.
Burnout 3 Takedown - Same as above except you crash the cars instead of pimp them out.
SSX3 - Some say Tricky is better, I like them both but usually give 3 the edge.
Soul Calibur II - Best Soul Calibur game IMO
Dragonball Z Budokai 3 - Played the shit out of both this and Budokai Tenkaichi 3
I’m not even scratching the surface.
Can’t believe I left Soul Calibur II off of my own recommendations, perhaps because most of us thought of that as a Gamecube game.
XBOX version was the best to me but I loved that game so much I owned all three copies at once.
Link special character was best special character… because… it was a great meming time when people realized there were what appeared to be the silhouette of his tower and bases visible during certain moves.
That’s the thing. PS2 at one time was the best selling system of all time. I forget if that record still holds up. I know the DS oversold it, but thats not a tv console.
Point is, with any console that had that big of an impact on gaming, it’s going to have a ton of bangers that still hold up 20+ years later.
And boy howdy if that ain’t true!
I’m honestly surprised there aren’t independant projects releasing new PS2 games today, in the same way you see occasional new releases for NES and Game Boy Color.
Probably the best list imo. I remember picking Radiata Stories up, at random, for my birthday. It blew me away. The story, combat and recruitment mechanic are different from everything else I experienced at the time.
And a few suggestions also:
Def Jam: Fight for NY. Lowkey my favorite fighting game, with 4-players simultaneously beating the crap of each other.
Battle Stadium D.O.N… Fighting/smash bros style game with the biggest jump stars at the time (Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto).
Dokapon Kingdom. Board/rpg game with a lot of fun mechanics.
Fuck yes, Fight for NY was amazing. I love the idea of a fighting game where you have to end the fight, not just knock the other guy’s health bar down to zero so he falls over. So satisfying to put your opponent down with a haymaker or chucking him in front of a subway train
+1 for Burnout 3. That’s a series that desparately needs a new entry.
NFS Underground 1 is better than the sequel IMO. The open world is empty and tedious filler vs just loading directly into the tracks.
Best NFS on the PS2 is Hot Pursuit 2 however. Made by Black Box, it’s vastly superior in every way to the other console versions and the PC version made by a different company despite sharing assets.
Loved the pc version. With force feedback wheel
Jak and Daxter are better played via OpenGoal - a modern open source engine implementation that runs natively on Steam Deck and includes fixes, graphics improvements, proper widescreen, etc.
Nice! I’ll have to check that out.
Re: Final Fantasy games not tying together or having continuities.
Yes. Except, ironically, specifically Final Fantasy X, which had a direct sequel in X-2. Final Fantasy XIII also managed to have a direct sequel in Lightning Returns. Thankfully, if you care to think of it that way, it was crap and can be safely ignored.
Anyway, have an upvote for not blithely suggesting that everyone start with VII.
Yes and they’re all neatly contained in their numbered entry which is why I say no mainline numbered games tie together. And all the 2s are optional IMO. Especially X-2, which always seemed like a cash grab to capitalize off of X’s success to me. As much as I love, love, love X, I’ve never touched X-2 and probably never will.
XIII had two sequels, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns.
NBA Street Vol 2 or V3. Never found another sports game that’s as much fun.
Games only last a few minutes and there’s no concept of seasons or anything. It’s just casual streetball where no rules matter - including the rules of physics.
There are some good PS2 Crash Bandicoot games-- any of the platformers, or the racing ones (I had Crash Nitro Kart and can confirm it’s a good time).
You could also try Kingdom Hearts (+ the sequels, Re:Chain of Memories and KH2) if you want to be confused
Katamari Damacy and sequel <3
Im here for this answer.
Onimusha 3 is a banger
Gitaroo Man!
I only played it recently but it really feels like an underrated gem that you don’t see mentioned that often in lists of “best PS2 games”
It’s a rhythm game with goofy visuals and cutscenes. Also super hard at points but the music is great!
I love the ps2 era of games! Here are some suggestions:
For some more obscure games:
Btw if you’re playing mgs3 on the ps2 make sure it’s the Subsistence edition! It has a 3D camera that works way better than the top-down the og game shipped with.
Every time I’m walking with someone and come across a sofa out on the street I force them to . . .
spoiler
sit down on it for a moment with me. Just in case they played ICO.
Also F for agro
spoiler
probably the most tragic death scene i ever played
Kinda surprised how long it took to scroll before seeing Ico and SOTC mentioned, tbh.
Crown jewels of PS2, imo. Pushed the medium forward artistically.
Yes absolutely! Inspired Dark Souls, future zelda games, & basically every indie game to come out afterwards.
I started The Last Guardian, still need to go back & finish it. I liked a lot of what it was bringing to the table, but the pacing dragged a bit in the middle imo.
You have to… No, You NEED to Play Downhill Domination. There is NO WAY you won’t have fun playing that, trust me.
Oh! And Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3! You don’t have to be a DBZ fan to have fun with that, is amazing and so chaotic!
Also, have you consider trying Devil May Cry 3? (Don’t worry about the number, it’s a precule). It’s kinda hard but so fun and satisfying.
I had the same problem too, but after trying to play them chronologically (and failing), I learned that you can play any FF game at any time, cuz they are very unique and don’t actually relate one another.
Final Fantasy X is a great pick, for example, it helped me overcome my despise for Turn-base combat RPG.
And, if you’re up to some Big Robot Fight mayhem anime style, Zone of The Enders is Amazing.
edit: AND YAKUZA! HOW COULD I FORGOT YAKUZA!!?? YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE FIRST YAKUZA ASAP!!
(unless you want to play / already played the kiwami version, which may be a better experience)
Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Destroy All Humans! Shadow of the Colossus, The Matrix: Path of Neo, Psi Ops: The Mind Gate Conspiracy, Burnout Revenge, Gitaroo Man, God Hand.
I’m sure there’s more but that’s off the top of my head. Also some of these can definitely be found in newer versions or ports, but they started on PS2 so I listed them anyways.
It’s not as well known, but a lot of people consider Enter the Matrix to be superior to Path of Neo.
They’re both fun, but I think Path of Neo is probably more what people were hoping to get out of a Matrix video game.
Enter The Matrix was cool, but it suffers a bit from some awkward earlier dual stick controls that Path of Neo had corrected. Plus you’re stuck within the timeframe of the second movie only really.
I recently went through a ps2 games phase. Some already mentioned but the lesser known standouts for me were;
God hand (probably the best game on ps2 and released really late in the life of the PS2 so many people missed it),
Odin sphere (best looking game on the system and really fun),
urban reign,
steam bot chronicles (robot action rpg really satisfying game play)
robot alchemical drive (ride on the shoulders of huge gundam style robots, really unique game)
champions of norrath, (action rpg based on EverQuest universe, really fun)
psi ops, (fps like game with stars wars style force powers, crazy fun)
Drakan: Ancient gates, (action rpg, fly on a dragon, one of the best magic systems ever where you have to trace the pattern to cast. The reason I started my ps2 phase was to replay this game, loved it as a kid and still holds up)
Recently did a no-deaths kick-me run of God Hand. The combo system in that game is so satisfying.
Also second the recommendation for Steam Bot Chronicles. The dialogue doesn’t half let you say some out-of-pocket shit.
A warning about emulation though; bind a key to swap between hardware and software rendering. Software mode is necessary within stores.