For the first time in my life, I am going to experience the Playstation 2, in all it's glory. I was wondering what games you guys, the community, thought I absolutely had to play, before I spend all of my money on weird JRPGs.

I don't care what you recommend, I'll probably play it, as long as I can find it for cheap.

Edit: I can't help but notice a significant number of people recommending newer, HD/digital versions of a lot of these games. As such, should I forgo buying a PS2 and instead just buy a PS3? If so, which model? Aren't there, like, 7 now?

I'm too lazy to write them out. So I recommend what I have listed on here in the PS2 section. Though they are mostly weird Japanese RPGs.

Many of the PS2's best games are weird JRPGs, so there's nothing wrong with that.

A few off the top of my head:

- Basically anything Shin Megami Tensei (Persona, Nocturne, etc.)

- Suikoden 5

- Dark Cloud 2

- Makai Kingdom

- Xenosaga 1-3

Too many games holy shit.

I'll throw you a wild card pick and say Steambot Chronicles which is one of the most underrated games of all time and one of my personal favorites.

But there are literally unlimited games on the PS2

Zone of the Enders 2 if not played the HD port.

Persona 3 FES / Persona 4

If you can find a copy of SSX Tricky, it's awesome.

Try to track down the original Timesplitters, if you can. Kind of a hilarious shooter created in a pre-Halo era.

Persona 3:FES and Persona 4.

(Though Persona 4 Golden on Vita is the best iteration of the series)

If you can get the three Timesplitters games, they're all really good.

I'm sure everyone is going to recommend the obvious ones, so I'll contribute with Def Jam: Fight for NY!

Dark Cloud 2, Dragon Quest VIII, Shadow Hearts 2, Jak and Daxter Ratchet and Clank and the Sly Cooper series were all great, Okami, Persona 3 and 4,

Jak, Ratchet, Sly, and Okami all have HD remakes, so I'd only get those if you don't have access to a PS3.

Grand Theft Auto 3 & Vice City

Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3. 3 is really good.

God Hand

SMT: Nocturne

Final Fantasy XII (no really, this one was pretty cool if you like the SNES and Tactics stuff)

Rogue Galaxy

Dragon Quest VIII

And those two Shadow Hearts games were cool.

As much as I love the game, don't get Shadow of the Colossus. The framerate on the PS2 is rough. As for my suggestions..

• Destroy all Humans and it's sequel were pretty great.
• If you remotely enjoy monster films (or more recently, Pacific Rim) you should get War of the Monsters.
• Disgaea and Disgaea 2 are really addictive JRPGs. Very anime, though.

The third Shadow Hearts game was pretty good too, though it had pretty much nothing to do with the first two.

@sunbrozak said:

I never found the framerate that bad in Shadow of the Colossus. I've played (and enjoyed) games with significantly worse framerate this gen.

But again, the HD remake kind of negates the need to deal with that at all, unless you don't have a PS3.

Play EVERYTHING mentioned in this thread.

This is very much a weird JRPG, but don't overlook Okage: Shadow King. It's neat.

Radiata Stories is less weird but also good.

Yeah, I could still find the motivation to play through the game on the PS2 and still really enjoy it, but the PS3 version is significantly more impressive. If you're going to play that game for the first time, you really should do it on the HD remake. (that's assuming the OP hasn't played it)

Any PS2 exculsives

• Dogs life

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time... wait did that get an HD rerelease? And I guess you could just play it on original X-box. Screw it, it's a good game with a charming story.

The Warriors

Odin Sphere

Mega Man X Collection

Phantom Brave

Capcom vs SNK 2

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love

Katamari Damacy, mister mosquito, mad maestro, stretch panic, demolition girl, etc. Like the ps1, the ps2 has no shortage of weird and usually japanese games.

The Silent Hill series is pretty good. Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 are decent. I liked Shadow of Rome and Odin Sphere too.

of the SMT series I liked Nocturne best but you could sink a lot of time in the rest of them too and have a good time.

There is one non-RPG that is a must play for the PS2:

GOD HAND

I didn't see any recommendations for the Shadow Hearts games up there, either. That series is the king of PS2 RPGs.

If it doesn't have an HD collection for current generation hardware, you should buy it.

If you haven't played Devil May Cry 3, do that. 1 is optional. 2 isn't recommended.

• Final Fantasy 12
• Persona 4
• Bully
• GTA Vice City
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

• Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
• Metal Gear Solid 3
• Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
• Devil May Cry 3
• Okami

These are all amazing games that still hold up fairly damn well.

The Warriors. Bully. Vice City. Def Jam. Lego star Wars. Raw Danger. Rule of Rose. Robot Alchemic Drive.

THE WARRIORS

Great co-op game.

Just want to recommend a couple off the beaten path games:

Def Jam Fight for NY - If you're a fan of wrestling games and/or hip-hop this is a must play. To me this is definitely the best wrestling game ever made. Awesome career mode. Also one of the best local co-op games ever, especially if you have 4 people to play at once. Just a game of cat and mouse and backstabbing left and right as you make and break alliances to try to be the last man standing in a four man brawl.

The Warriors - my favorite 3D brawler. Rockstar's most underrated game. So much fun to play and the local multiplayer is surprisingly amazing. It also has great 2 player co-op. It absolutely nails the movie, probably better than any game has ever replicated it's movie counterpart.

EDIT: Wow multiple Warriors mentions. Good to see! It definitely deserves it.

Metal Gear Solid 3, Resident Evil 4, Valkyrie Profile 2, Xenosaga 1-3, Final Fantasy X and XII, Dragon Quest VIII (the one and only good Dragon Quest game) Kessen 2 and 3, Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX, Samurai Warriors and Samurai Warriors XL, King of Fighters XI, Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Rogue Galaxy, Suikoden III and V, GTA: San Andreas, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Grandia II, Summoner 2, Devil May Cry 3, Red Faction, Soul Calibur 2 and 3, Front Mission 4, God of War, God of War II, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and High Heat Major League Baseball 2002. There's a lot more, the PS2 has by volume by far the most retail games out of any system ever and as a consequence has the most good/great games as well.

Gradius V, Yakuza 1&2 and all of the above.

Also Ring of Red.

Resident Evil 4 might be worth a look, if you haven't played it on some other console - it's the first of the "new" style resident evil games, and it might just be rose-tinted glasses, but I think it's the best.

Aside from that, you can't go wrong with DMC3, and I'd add that everything clover studios touches seemed to turn to gold. But yeah, seriously, play DMC3 - it's the best action game I've ever played, and I've played a few.

I'm gonna try to only list stuff that other people haven't already mentioned and that hasn't had an HD re-release. If you don't already have a PS3, though, this list could be a bit longer.

• Frequency
• Amplitude
• Onimusha
• SSX 3 (Tricky is great too, but this one's my favorite of the series)
• We Love Katamari

Dragon Quest 8

Rouge Galaxy

Both are great rpgs by level 5

Most of the really good stuff has been called out. I will therefore plunge into the slightly more obscure games.

-Mister Mosquito

-Mad Maestro

-Shadow of Memories

-Fatal Frame series

-Disaster Report

Any Shin Megami Tensei game is a great time. I can't think of any other games off the top of my head but there are tons.The PS2 is the best console ever made.

Gitaroo Man

Most of my favs have been mentioned already (GB has good tastes!) but I'll give a shoutout to Freedom Fighters, Psychonauts, Viewtiful Joe and Gladius. Burnout 3 might still hold up well too? None of those are exclusives, but if you haven't played them elsewhere they're on PS2 and are all pretty awesome.

Persona 3/4, Okami, Disgaea, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy X, Shadow of the Colossus...

I just realized my PS2 collection is super japanese...

Kingdom Hearts

Some of these games you could, and probably should, get as HD remasters if you have either a PS3 or a 360.

Onimusha (at least 1 and 2)

Ape Escape 2
Metal Gear Solid 2,3
Silent Hill 2-4
Wild Arms 3
Final Fantasy XII
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Timesplitters 1,2
XIII
Yakuza 1,2
Okami
SOS The Final Escape

I can't help but notice a significant number of people recommending newer, HD/digital versions of a lot of these games. As such, should I forgo buying a PS2 and instead just buy a PS3? If so, which model? Aren't there, like, 7 now?

• The Warriors
• Bully
• Def Jam: Fight For NY
• Timesplitters 2
• Timesplitters Future Perfect
• Psychonauts
• Resident Evil 4

That's all I can think of off the top of my head

Drakengard is worth a look too, even if a bit rough graphically and in gameplay.