Well, it’s been decided. The PS3 is a waste of money, Sony is spiralling down the same dark path of doom as Sega and anyway, there is exactly one PS3 game I’m interested in and significantly more PS2 ones. Meanwhile, the Australian launch date has been pushed back to March while PS2 prices are dropping by the week. I’m scouring the classifieds now and hope to pick up a cheap used PS2 this month or next. My list of games to get is currently:
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
MGS 2: Substance
MGS3: Subsistence
Disgaea (someone tell me if this is good or not since I really just like the art)
Psychonauts
I like RPGs and assume there are a bunch of good ones, but since I pretty much ignored all PS2-related news over the past 6 years or so I know nothing about them. And I’m not interested in any Katamari games. I’ve played the first one for a bit and while it was awesome, I don’t really want to own it. I dunno why. So… suggestions?
Oh yeah, I heard old PS2s can be dodgy. Is there anything I should look out for in particular?
I really enjoy platformers. Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, Prince of Persia and, my favorite, Kingdom Hearts all have several games in their series and are really fun to play with lots of humor.
And of course Final Fantasy X is all right. There was a 4 part RPG called .hack which is not related to the old game. Each one comes with a DVD with a short anime movie that relates to the game. It was pretty interesting but I was playing it as it was coming out and completely forgot the story line by the time the last came out so haven’t finished the series yet. Rent or buy then sell them. Actually that’s my whole philosphy.
But the games used (be sure to have some sort of scratch fixer) and if you think it has replay value keep it, if not sell it back. Or you could try the video game thing like netflix.
And my PS2 is about 5 years old. Haven’t had any problems with it at all. Well sometimes it makes a little noise as the door goes in and out. And the girl who sold me some games advised me to never do that thing where you stand the PS2 on it’s side. She said it’s way to easy for the discs to get badly scratched that way.
I’m playing Shadow of the Colossus right now, well worth the $15 I spent even if its short. Wonderful blend of action and puzzles with an artistic style that is only matched by its predecessor Ico (why more games don’t use that kind of soft palette look I have no idea).
I would not recommend Metal Gear Solid 2, but I didn’t like Metal Gear Solid. I found the gameplay to be incrediblely boring and the story made me want to actively hunt down and kill its writer so he can’t pass on his genes. I can’t possibly spoil something this incoherant but just in case, what pushed it far over the line for me was a literally twenty-five minute long cut scene with a septuple-cross. Of course, since it can be found as cheap as $5 (the only reason I got my copy) you can just play it and make up your own mind.
I’ll second the Prince of Persia nomination, the three games are solid platformers. If you like climbing on things and dodging traps ala Tomb Raider (and, well, the original Prince of Persia before that) then these are a lot of fun.
You mentioned RPG’s so I have to make a strong unrecommendation for FFX-2. FFX was all right: fans of the series loved it, I had a decent time playing but thought it was way too easy. FFX-2 is essentially a quickie cash-in using 80% recycled material from the previous game with a paper thin plot slapped over it and one of the most ludicrous class systems ever conceived (the characters switch which class they are by changing clothes mid-battle and doing fan-service poses).
You don’t have a Grand Theft Auto style on your list and if you want one then I recommend Vice City. It was a solid evolution of the previous one’s play. I think that the shoddily done RPG elements in San Andreas diluted the game badly, though I did like the wide open areas. Don’t be fooled by Liberty City Stories; it’s an upconverted PSP game and it doesn’t even look like they improved the textures or models. Nice for the completist but it’s not the one I would recommend.
Beyond Good and Evil is a fun action/adventure game with a lot of diverse elements put in. You’ve got exploration elements as you hunt for animals to photograph, racing/combat sequences, a bit of fighting, some puzzle solving.
Regarding old PS2s the notorious “Disc Read Error” problem tends to occur - more in the large box models than the slimline consoles. There’s more information here http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars - note I don’t recommend opening up your PS2 and soldering it. Google ““Disc read Error” PS2” for more links.
Gamewise, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are excellent. In my opinion Disgaea is one of the best strategy games released for the PS2, and the multiple endings and efective infinite gameplay give it a high replay value. The cartoon graphics may put you off if you only like full 3D, but its very easy to get into. Phantom Brave is a reasonable sequel, if rather preachy. (La Pucelle and Makai Kingdoms are an aquired taste - I played them because I was a completist).
ShadowHearts (the original) is a reasonable RPG.
Beyond Good and Evil is a lot of fun, if fairly short but has enough subquests to expand the gameplay.
If you like platformers with plot, the Sly Racoon series are excellent, though personally I liked 2.
Great choice on Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Shadow didn’t seem as long as Ico, but the gameplay is solid and the graphics are friggin’ amazing.
The Ratchet and Clank series, Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts, and Prince of Persia series are all quality games for cheap. I would recommend avoiding Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. It’s a rather lame attempt to make the game more “edgy.”
Resident Evil 4 is a great game. Give it a rent even if you haven’t cared for any of the other RE games. It’s easily one of my all time favorites. The Fatal Frame 2 and 3 are good scary games with good controls, atmosphere, and story. Lastly, Spider Man 2 is excellent. The graphics aren’t great but it’s a big game with great controls.
The Silent Hill series. 2 is a has a good story but you do spend a lot of time wandering. The atmosphere is good though. 3 is probably the weakest of the lot, but you don’t spend as much time walking and it’s really creepy. In my opinion, 4 is the strongest. It has the same atmosphere and bleak storyline as the first two, and they figured out a good balance of atmosphere, story, and combat.
A very quick addition to my earlier post - I can’t believe I forgot to mention Kingdom Hearts. If you are after a simple RPG without too much difficulty, but a lot of subquests, and an excellent cast (disney & FF characters) it is a great game. The graphics and sound aren’t bad either.
Apparently Kingdoms Hearts 2 isn’t bad, but it hasn’t made it over here yet, so I can’t say.
If you are after action games the Onimusha series (especially one and 3) are rather good.
I recommend the Xenosaga series. It’s not for everyone and sometimes feels more like an interactive movie with the looooong cut scenes, but I adore it. I love the characters, the symbolism peppered throughout, and the storyline. Each game has a different battle system (as well as other things that have changed) but the basic world is the same, so you feel a nice comforting familiarity when you return to the Durandal after going to the weird new lands you were just thrown into.
If you like music, definitely consider checking out Guitar Hero. It’s a unique experience, and the internet is full of posts from people who played it once and ended up buying a PS2 so they could get more. Yes, it’s that good.
I have a co-worker friend who did exactly that. He’s strictly a PC gamer, but he played Guitar Hero at a friend’s house and then went out and bought himself a PS2 so he could own the game. Subsequently, my wife and I visited him and got to play the game at his house, and the next thing you know, we bought the damn thing (we already owned a PS2, fortunately).
I also want to second or third the Katamari games. Nearly infinite replay value on one of the best original ideas ever put into a game.
Rez is one of my all-time favorite games. I remember hearing that the designer came up with the idea tripped out of his mind at a rave, decided in the morning that the technology wasn’t there to develop it yet, and waited seven years until the Dreamcast came along (then decided that the PS2 was also a good platform for it). It shows.
See if you can find someone who has it (it’s rare-ish and expensive these days) before you go buy it, though. It seems to get very polarized responses: everyone I’ve shared it with says it’s either one of the most underrated games of all time, or the most overrated.
SSX is one of the PS2 launch titles, and a great game.
SSX Tricky is even better, with tighter controls and fun new tracks. It may be the best game of the series.
SSX3 is my other pick for best game of the series. It’s a huge technological leap forward, with content streaming off the disc so you can literally snowboard all the way down the mountain, taking 45 minutes or more for a continuous run. It also has a wide variety of challenges and the ability to freeride.
SSX On Tour sucks really, really bad. It’s stylistically different, the music is terrible (unless you like wall-of-sound grunge rock and metal), and the UI takes several steps back. I think it’s an attempt to copy Amped 3, which is a huge mistake.
FRM, little heads up - good luck trying to find these games in Australia. I got really excited about Ico and Shadow of the Colossus about this time last year, and have had no luck in managing to purchase either of them. Even though Ico was rerelased, its now discontinued, again.
Okay, I’m only a sporadic gamer, and my attempts to buy these may have been more half-arsed than I’d care to believe - I’ve checked out a few online shops, and I asked about them for about six months every time I went to EB or Dick Smith, which really wasn’t all that often.
The rest of my games I like: All the Ratchet and Clanks, just for adventurey fun, the original Eye Toy Play game, Sing Star (which is somehow less fun alone) and a couple of forgettable others. Am thinking about Guitar Hero. It seems to be currently all about the peripherals, which I swore I’d never get into…
skimming through here cause I need to go study, but my list of must-have games for the PS2 follows:
The Ace Combat games, (for the PS2, this starts with Ace Combat 04), excellent music, good voice acting, and lots of fun aerial combat action using real-world fighter planes in a totally made up (but consistent between the games) setting. I’m 2/3rds through Ace Combat 04’s campaign, and I’m LOVING this game.
Of course, Kingdom Hearts is another must-have, even though I’m hopelessly stuck in this game.
I really liked the Burnout racing games (especially Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge, which gave you extra points for running other racers off the road in creative ways) and Star Wars Episode III for the X-Box, but I haven’t seen if their PS2 versions are as good (or, indeed, exactly the same) or not. I want to say Gun is also available for the PS2, but it might be XBox/PC only (EXCELLENT story and great gameplay in Gun, which manages to be both epic and way too short).
I really loved Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube, and I hear the PS2 version has some extras that the GC one didn’t. Anyway, it’s a great game if you like RPGs.
I think the new Tales game (Tales of Legendia) is out for PS2 also.
Tales of Symphonia got a PS2 port only in Japan. But, uh, I guess the OP could always import and mod his/her PS if they really wanted too. (That’s what I did, coincidentally). And the extras really aren’t worth the slowdown, IMO. The lag is minor, I admit. And if you’ve never played the GC version, you probably wouldn’t even notice it. Still ruins the gameplay for me. Eh.
Actually, I don’t think that Legendia ever got a PAL release. Sadly.
And to the OP – you’ve got a great list a starting games there, but I hope you’re planning on purchasing them via the Internet. 'Coz those games, especially ICO and SotC, are going to be somewhat hard to find. Unless you’re not like me and you don’t care about buying used copies.
I’d also recommend…
Haunting Ground
Indigo Prohpecy
Silent Hill 2 and 3 (avoid 4)
Devil May Cry
La Pucelle: Tactics
Shadow Hearts
Resident Evil 4
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
and Rule of Rose (though the PAL version isn’t out 'til Oct).
Anyway, it’s a great game if you like RPGs.