Finally Getting Around to Some PS2 Classics

I find it rather shameful to admit that for years I was afflicted with the blight known as being a "fanboy." My loyalty to Microsoft knew no bounds to the point and refusing to play anything that came out exclusively on other platforms. Therefore I missed out on many wonderful, and now classic, games that I now regret deeply. Having rectified this situation with the acquisition of a Gamecube and PS2 I plan on experiencing them all.

Last week during my days off from work I made it my mission to complete the God of War series up till this point. Over two days of nearly non-stop gaming I was able to plow through Chains of Olympus, God of War, and God of War II with little difficulty. To me these games always seemed to be one dimensional beat em ups with some Greek mythological trappings thrown on to try and make them interesting. After finally playing them however I can now completely understand what all the hype behind them is. The beautifully balanced, and fun, combat is set within a world where Kratos seems to be single-handedly putting an end to every aspect of Greek mythology that ever existed. While every game in the series is basically the same with minor weapon and enemy differences this is nothing to fault it for. As the old saying goes "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

As a continuation of my ongoing quest to finish iconic PS2 series I have now moved on to Jak and Daxter. My first real exposure to this series was during my time in the Army. After my injury I was sitting in med hold with little to do so I picked up a PSP bundled with Daxter. That wonderful little platformer got me interested in the series and I'm happy to say that the ones on the PS2 haven't disappointed yet. I finished Jak and Daxter after only a couple of days and have begun to move into Jak II. While the first game was a rather kiddy platformer the second is obviously a product of the GTA-clone syndrom which permeated video games in the early 2000s. It pulls it off nicely however and makes the transition to a darker setting with relative ease.

My experience so far has shown me both that being a fanboy can do far more harm than good. If it can do any good at all. If I had never gotten to experience these great games that would have truely been a crime against my love of video games. While they have obvious flaws looking through the lens of time they still have alot to offer. Both in fun gameplay and showing the progression of the industry over the past decade. I will be interested to see if Ratchet, Kingdom Hearts, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy hold up as well.

I'll be sure to keep you all posted as to my continuing progress.

I find it rather shameful to admit that for years I was afflicted with the blight known as being a "fanboy." My loyalty to Microsoft knew no bounds to the point and refusing to play anything that came out exclusively on other platforms. Therefore I missed out on many wonderful, and now classic, games that I now regret deeply. Having rectified this situation with the acquisition of a Gamecube and PS2 I plan on experiencing them all.

Last week during my days off from work I made it my mission to complete the God of War series up till this point. Over two days of nearly non-stop gaming I was able to plow through Chains of Olympus, God of War, and God of War II with little difficulty. To me these games always seemed to be one dimensional beat em ups with some Greek mythological trappings thrown on to try and make them interesting. After finally playing them however I can now completely understand what all the hype behind them is. The beautifully balanced, and fun, combat is set within a world where Kratos seems to be single-handedly putting an end to every aspect of Greek mythology that ever existed. While every game in the series is basically the same with minor weapon and enemy differences this is nothing to fault it for. As the old saying goes "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

As a continuation of my ongoing quest to finish iconic PS2 series I have now moved on to Jak and Daxter. My first real exposure to this series was during my time in the Army. After my injury I was sitting in med hold with little to do so I picked up a PSP bundled with Daxter. That wonderful little platformer got me interested in the series and I'm happy to say that the ones on the PS2 haven't disappointed yet. I finished Jak and Daxter after only a couple of days and have begun to move into Jak II. While the first game was a rather kiddy platformer the second is obviously a product of the GTA-clone syndrom which permeated video games in the early 2000s. It pulls it off nicely however and makes the transition to a darker setting with relative ease.

My experience so far has shown me both that being a fanboy can do far more harm than good. If it can do any good at all. If I had never gotten to experience these great games that would have truely been a crime against my love of video games. While they have obvious flaws looking through the lens of time they still have alot to offer. Both in fun gameplay and showing the progression of the industry over the past decade. I will be interested to see if Ratchet, Kingdom Hearts, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy hold up as well.

I'll be sure to keep you all posted as to my continuing progress.

Sounds like a cool little adventure mate!
I only wish i had the time.... still working my way through current gen games that have slipped through.
BF:Bad Company finished last week, Bioshock Started yesterday...New baby due today!!!!
There's always something to Suck my time away!!!

You should definetly check out Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Curse King, it's actually one of the best RPG games on the system. And it hold up very, very, well.

Nice to see people keep coming back to the PS2. It's a brilliant games machine with a fantastic back catalogue. I'm sure you'll have a blast with Jak II, it's probably my favourite game in the series. The GTA games are also fun to go back to, if a little hard to look at these days.

Get Shadow of the Colossus. And if you can somehow find a copy of ICO, buy it immediately.

I just beat Bully the other day and im working through the final 3 chapters of Rogue Galaxy. I'm also working my way through ICO, though my launch ps2 is finally kind of pooping out on me so it's not always reliable.

Track down a copy of Shinobi.  It's one of the most underrated PS2 games, and is so hard that it'll turn your balls into steel.

"You should definetly check out Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Curse King, it's actually one of the best RPG games on the system. And it hold up very, very, well."

I neglected Console gaming as a whole pretty much ever since getting into Diablo 2 and Counter-Strike back in Junior High and i'm gonna say around '98 or '99. Most of my gaming hours if not all were put into those 2 titles for the longest time which eventually around '04 or '05 turned into Counter-Strike:Source and World of Warcraft. As of recently I have pretty much given up on PC Gaming for the time being with maybe 30 minutes of CS:S before dinner and have gone back into the console gaming world.

While I do own a PS3, most of my time on gaming time on the PS3 is spent with either a PS1 or PS2 title that was either nostalgic or neglected by me. The Metal Gear Solid series is something you may want to pick up as well; as the essentials collection is 30 bucks you will need a PS1 memory card for MGS1 however. If you haven't played RE4 that held up as well, you can also give Code Veronica X a playthough as well (but then again I played 1-4 + Veronica before RE5s release). Pretty much everything i've played has stood up to the test of time but then again Graphics are not what makes a game in my mind and is something I can easily overlook (as long as its not bugged out). I focus on Story and Gameplay and well pretty graphics is just icing on the cake.

I am currently playing Persona 4 (thanks to the Endurance Run) and about to finish that at roughly 60 hours and will be returning to the MGS series (as MGS2 while a good game went pretty much insane in the final 2 hours of the game) and will be playing MGS3 and MGS4 (which i've had since I bought my MGS4 bundle PS3 back in August)

However no matter how many games I finish, some how another 2 takes place of the one I just finished...

If you're into Strategy Games by chance and got like a 1,000 hours to blow, check-out Disgaea 1 and 2 :p

Yeah, the Disgaea series is on the list but I haven't been able to track them down yet. I also intend on playing Ico but that thing is near impossible to find. It's also not cheap to pick up online.

Lots of great ps2 games to choose. I still have a bunch that I own and have yet to beat, so I'm trying to finish some of those off. (currently rouge galaxy) RPGs take hella long to beat!

Yeah, Ico seems impossible to get (thankfully AI already own it), but playing SotC on it's own isn't a bad idea.
I would recommend Kojima's products as well. I'd hate to recommend JRPGs because they take forever to beat, but anything NISA and the Xenosaga series, as well as anything SMT, which is next to impossible to find. And also, anything Capcom you might have missed (Okami, God Hand, Viewtiful Joe), if only for the aspect of knowing where Capcom was in the last decade, and where they might be going.

On PSP, Metal Gear Ac!d 2 if you wanna play something completely original in terms of games design (though it comes close in concept to Phantom Dust on XBOX1 if you've ever heard of that)

...and on PS1, Silent Bomber. Get it. Love it.

"If you're into Strategy Games by chance and got like a 1,000 hours to blow, check-out Disgaea 1 and 2 :p"

You should check out Disgaea. :P

The first Disagea is definitely on my Top 10 Favorite Video Games of All Time... my save file for it is over 500 hours, which I don't know if I should actually tell people that or not? :p

Phatom Brave is getting a remake on the Wii, coming soon, and I'm most certainly going to be picking that up for sure... so maybe CenturionCajun should wait for that, if he also has a Wii?

Oh yes the Metal Gears are on there as well. I beat them way back in the day but feel like they deserve another play through. If only so that the story in Metal Gear Solid 4 makes some kind of sense.

Many of the games listed are on my list but I have yet to actually pick them up. Things like Viewtiful Joe I would prefer to play on the Gamecube since I feel like that's the console most associated with them. I will pick them up when I come across them.