Recommend non-twitch PS2 games

Cafe Society
1

I’m a fairly heavy computer gamer, but PC/Mac only. I haven’t owned a console since the Sega Genesis. Recently, I’ve heard good things about Katamari Damacy & it’s sequel, both of which are available only for PlayStation 2.

Coincidentally, I’ve just had about $300 of “found money” fall into my hands (unexpected bonus from a project at work), and since the XBox 360 is out, and the PlayStation 3 is “imminent” if you stretch that word a little bit, I figure I can probably get a PS2 console for ~$100 after Christmas.

So…I know nothing about PS2 games in general. I’m not as thumbatically spy as I used to be, so I’m not looking for games that have a high degree of “dexterity difficulty” (complex puzzles aren’t a problem). In fact, probably the only thing that frustrates me in a game is the inability to finish it based simply on combat difficulty or requiring precision moves. Assume I have the manual dexterity of your grandmother.

I also despise the entire “Real Time Strategy” genre (you know, the one where you have to place every footfall of an army, in realtime, and if you look away the entire army gets stuck on a rock?).

That said, I enjoy complex worlds that involve lots of exploration, puzzle solving, and “sneakers.” On the PC, my favorite games of the last few years have been MorrowWind, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, the Splinter Cells, Diablo 2, and Angband. Far Cry was OK until the end (see difficulty, above), and the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was good, but the sequels were too hard. I like trading & exploration space sims, but haven’t played a good one in a while. I have no objection to FPS games as long as they’re more than just “shoot everything that moves” and don’t fail the difficulty test, even at the end levels.

So now, based on your absolute and total knowledge of my psyche gained from this description, recommend to me about $200 of games to go with the console (that seems to be about 6 looking at prices). Don’t be afraid to go back a few years.

Bonus points: Do I need other hardware beyond the console itself to make it reasonably useful (memory card, additional/alternate controllers, etc.)?

Even more bonus points: My wife is an almost total non-gamer. However, it would be fun to have some games that appeal to non-gamers to play with her from time to time. Addictive is good: I think the last game she actually played any amount of might have been Tetris or Snood.

No penalty points if a mod chooses to move this to IMHO instead of the Cafe, I don’t hang out here often and don’t mean to be out of line.

Show your work, and thanks in advance!

2

For your wife (and possibly you) get Bust A Move. It’s Snood, basically. Really fun.

Remember, you can get any PS1 game and play it on the PS2. Used game stores will get you a lot more games for your $200.

I like platformers like Ratchet and Clank (there are four now). There is some precision involved, but unlimited deaths and a billion things to unlock and collect.

3

Allow me to recommend ICO. It’s a platformer, so there’s some dexterity involved, but mostly it’s a puzzle game. Each room is a little problem to be solved – what do you move where, which route do you take, that sort of thing. It’s actually very suited to playing with someone – one person drives and the other person throws in suggestions of things to try. It’s also very beautiful and moving.

4

Second the recommendation of ICO.

If you like Diablo 2, you might like Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The name suggested it would be like the PC Baldur’s Gate games, but it’s actually the best version of Diablo released for the PS2.

Gitaroo Man is one of the best games for the PS2, IMO, but it’s not everybody’s thing. It’s what Parappa the Rapper 2 should’ve been.

A memory card is essential. You probably won’t need 2, though. And an additional controller would be nice, but frankly there just aren’t that many good multiplayer games available for the PS2.

5

I, uh, third the recommendation of ICO.

6

For stealth games, you can’t beat the Metal Gear series. Final Fantasy games are good if you’re into cinematic adventure. If you like racing sims, Gran Turismo 4 is the best one on the market. It is very difficult though.

You might want a Game Cube instead of PS2. It has more quirky games that are meant the non-twitch or casual gamer.

7

Pick up an extra controller, they aren’t very expensive. Depending on where you plan to play, you might want to pick up a wire extender for your controller. I couldn’t sit on the couch and play PS2 without one. Cheap, buy the off brand at your favorite electronics store.

Katamari Damacy is addictive, but very short, and can be quite twitchy, depending on your play style.

Another rec for Ico. Play it together.

8

The Silent Hill series. The third one is my favorite. Dark, creepy, lots of puzzles to solve, and what little fighting there is basically consists of staying far enough away from the monsters to not get hit and emptying your gun (I firmly believe the guy in the first game was shooting with his eyes closed).

The Hobbit is fun, too. Again, lots of puzzles, lots of hidden stuff to find and environments to explore, not a whole lot of fighting, and the graphics and music are pretty good. I picked this one up used at EB for about 4 bucks.

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I’m fourthing/fifthing ICO as well as Katamari Damacy and its sequal. Another gorgeous game, though a tad short and at times difficulty is “Shadow of the Collossus”.

On another note though - I don’t think prices are likely to drop.

10

I doubt the prices will drop either, but you should be able to pick up a used new style PS2 (the thin one with the LAN connection built in) for ~$115, and an old one (fatter, modem comes separately) for ~$100. I liked Jak and Daxter (same kind of thing as Ratchet and Clank I think), but it gets a little difficult later on. Used games are definitely the way to go, or you can buy the Greatest Hits collection which are all $20.
Super Bust-a-Move is great too. Like Snood (or I should say, Snood is like Bust-a-move), but it’s timed so instead of after a certain number of shots the ceiling drops, it’s after a certain time.
The bemani/rhythm games are good too. Dance Dance Revolution is fun, I’ve heard good things about the guitar one (Guitar Hero?), and the Taito Drummer looks pretty fun too. Those are good because they’re a bit more active than normal games. I feel like I’m getting some exercise.

11

Dark Cloud 2 is a great RPG. There are wonderful minigames (a golf-like game called spheda as well as catching, breeding, training, and racing your own fish) for when you need a break from dungeon-crawling. We played it for around 200 hours.

12

Excellent responses, folks. I’ve definitely got a shopping list…

13

another vote for Dance Dance Revolution, although a good pad will eat up a chunk of your budget.

My wife and I had a lot of fun with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and are looking forward to picking up the sequels. Gorgeous platformer, with innovative "time-travel’ gameplay. More puzzly than twitchy. (Puzzly in the sense of: “Oh! I have to bounce off there and grab that so I can swing around and pull on that thing-y. That’s why the box won’t budge!”)

14

I had loads of fun with Psychonauts. It is a nice platformer with a fun story and characters.

15

Another vote for Ico and it’s companion game Shadow of the Colossus. Both are top quality games low on twitch and high on beauty.

The Silent Hill series is another good spooky group. Of them, Silent Hill 4 is my favorite.

Katamari Damacy and I heart Katamari are great. Not very twitchy and highly addictive.

I’ll round out the list with mentions for Final Fantasy X, Spider Man 2, and Haunting Ground.

16

I just wanted to say that Prince of Persia 2 is not nearly as good as the first one. They changed it so that the emphasis is huge on combat over the actual problem solving. Plus the Prince has changed from being gentle, funny, slightly cocky, to essentially being a bit of a bastard. You really can’t bring yourself to like him. It’s a pretty decent game still, it’s just not on the same level as 1. Apparently the third one which just came out is more of a throwback to the first one while keeping the good parts of the second one. In short, it’s supposed to be awesome.

17

I have to diagree with your assessment of POP2. Stylewise, it’s definitely not as good as the first, but it’s not quite like what you say. There’s definitely a bigger emphasis on combat, and the combat is improved, but it’s absolutely not at the expense of the puzzles. I think puzzlewise that it’s better than the first.
The new prince isn’t so much of a bastard as he’s whiny. Also, the voice actor isn’t as good. But he never does anything really jerkish.
I think the problem with the second one is that the developers went for a different audience, because it’s obviously geared toward a certain type of teenage males. But if you can get past that, it’s still a lot of fun.

18

I will throw in another vote for the beautiful ICO.
This has got to be one of the most beautiful, moving game-experiences ever created.
There is hardly any dexterity involved and is just stunning in the way it looks, plays and feels.

19

To add something new, I’d recommend Beyond Good and Evil. It’s got a lot of what you are looking for: it’s relatively complex, good story, emphasis on problem solving and stealth over beat them up action (although there is some of that too), and it can be cheap. My only problem was it was a bit too short, although you can make it longer with side questions and looking for 100% completion. It’s a little known gem of a game.

And, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned ICO yet. That was good too.

20

A big thank you to everyone for your replies. It appears that ICO should be first on my list, and a number of other ones recommended look interesting. (I’ve actually played Beyond Good and Evil and a couple of the others on PC).

There was some discussion of Price of Persia: Sands of Time vs. Warrior Within (the sequel), both of which I’ve played (on PC). I agree with both posters, actually: Warrior Within is a lot more combat oriented, and at the same time, the puzzles are as interesting or better. That having been said, those combats are a LOT harder than the first one: I don’t think it would have been possible for me to beat the final combat without all the health upgrades, at least half of which I wouldn’t have found on my own (they were a lot more hidden than the original). I finished WW, but barely, and I had to look up the health bumps – it’s apparently just over the line of “too hard” for me. I’m unwilling to fight the same combat more than 4-5 times, generally, and some of them took a couple dozen tries with those horribly long load times in between. I’ve put off buying the third game until I see a review that actually mentions whether the difficulty is more like SoT or WW.

Anyway, thanks again. You’ve all overspent my budget, but please feel free to keep positing suggestions in case any of the lurkers have the same question (and I’ll keep an eye in here, as well.)