Storefront of the Damned: PS1 & PS2 Edition
by mento
So long, PS3 PSN. You were like a candle in the wind: unreliable. Like many of you, I was disheartened to hear that Sony was closing the digital storefronts for the PlayStation 3 , PlayStation Portable , and PlayStation Vita . My chief source of distress is that it's yet another example of Sony disregarding its own history and defying long-standing game preservation efforts by making it harder...
So long, PS3 PSN. You were like a candle in the wind: unreliable.Like many of you, I was disheartened to hear that Sony was closing the digital storefronts for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation Vita. My chief source of distress is that it's yet another example of Sony disregarding its own history and defying long-standing game preservation efforts by making it harder for those games to stay accessible. Worse is that it includes the Vita storefront, which while also in decline is still a major source of income of several Indie developers committed to the platform and some have even had to scrap projects in mid-production because there'll be nowhere to sell them once they're done. It's dismantling trust with those same developers and pushing them towards more accommodating platforms like Steam, GOG, EGS, Xbox Live, and the Switch eShop (as a consumer, I certainly don't take issue with wider availability; it's just the PS4 has been my preferred platform and this alienation won't help encourage any future PS4 and PS5 cooperative efforts). My hope is that Sony decides to expand their recent forays into multiplatform releases - the recent MLB The Show 21 coming to Xbox Game Pass was a little surreal - and perhaps figuring out a way to get more first-party games onto other storefronts that want them if Sony doesn't, leaving the door open for inclined third-party developers of Sony exclusives to follow.
But that's all wishful thinking, barring a few recent examples like Guerrilla Games's Horizon: Zero Dawn. The current reality is that many video games are about to disappear, possibly permanently, with the July 3rd closures of the PS3 and PSP PlayStation Network online stores and the subsequent PSVita PlayStation Network online store closure on August 27th. It's a little too much to take in all at once so for today I'm just going to look at some PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, many of which I covered on 2017's The Top Shelf feature. Those two systems are never far from my mind, as even after several decades I've still only scratched the surface of their enormous legacies. Pre-owned marketplaces have no shortage of PS1 and PS2 games taking up space and it's not like all those older physical versions will suddenly vanish, but it is getting harder to find certain standouts as they appreciate in value.
Below, I've included 20 PS1 and 20 PS2 games that have, since their debuts, only been rereleased on the PS3 digital storefront as far as I'm aware. They're games I either own and can recommend, or games I've long been meaning to get into, including many that are exclusive to either North America (and thus the digital storefront remains the easiest way for a European like myself to acquire them) or Europe (which might be more relevant to this site's audience who've probably never had a reason to make an EU PSN account previously).
(NB: I realize there are... other ways to acquire these games, and I'm certainly more sympathetic towards that route once Sony has closed off all legal avenues, but... uh, well, it might not be becoming of a moderator to call attention to them. Emulation for those two systems is certainly getting a lot better though.)
PlayStation
| Box Art | Name | Availability & Notes |
|---|---|---|
 | Alundra | NA PSN only. (EU PSN version was removed.) [Tough Zelda-like with great music.] |
 | Arc the Lad | NA & EU PSN. Physical version was never sold in Europe. [Strategy RPG with interesting team dynamic.] |
 | Arc the Lad II | NA & EU PSN. Physical version was never sold in Europe. [Continuation of first with new characters.] |
 | Arc the Lad III | NA & EU PSN. Physical version was never sold in Europe. [Final part of a narrative trilogy.] |
 | Breath of Fire IV | NA PSN only. Had a PC release in Europe, but it's out of print. [Capcom RPG with distinctive art direction.] |
 | Chrono Cross | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Polarizing, ambitious RPG with amazing OST.] |
 | Echo Night | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Atmospheric FromSoft horror/adventure.] |
 | Front Mission 3 | NA & EU PSN. [Narratively-dense customizable mech SRPG.] |
 | The Misadventures of Tron Bonne | NA PSN only. [Eccentric spin-off about pulling off heists.] |
 | Parasite Eve | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Square's horror survival/RPG hybrid.] |
 | Parasite Eve II | NA & EU PSN. [Superior sequel to the above.] |
 | Saiyuki: Journey West | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Underrated SRPG based on Monkey King.] |
 | Shadow Tower | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Chilling FromSoft 1st-person RPG.] |
 | Suikoden | NA & EU PSN. Was released on other systems, but only in Japan. [First in Konami's great war-sim/RPG series.] |
 | Suikoden II | NA & EU PSN. [Still possibly the best Suikoden game.] |
 | Threads of Fate | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Lighthearted RPG with dating sim elements.] |
 | Tomba! | NA & EU PSN. [Goofy and original caveman platformer.] |
 | Vagrant Story | NA & EU PSN. [Atmospheric and beautiful Square RPG.] |
 | Wild ARMs 2 | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. (Wild ARMs is on the PS Classic mini console.) [RPG with distinct Wild West flair.] |
 | Xenogears | NA PSN only. Was never available in Europe. [Expansive and narratively-layered mech RPG.] |
PlayStation 2
| Box Art | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 | BCV: Battle Construction Vehicles | EU PSN only. [Fighter with construction vehicles.] [Dumb as it sounds.] |
 | Castlevania: Lament of Innocence | NA PSN only. [Decent 3D Castlevania.] [More brawler than usual.] |
 | Chulip | NA PSN only. Never available in Europe. [Eccentric kissing sim.] |
 | Crimson Sea 2 | NA PSN only. [Acrobatic Hack n' Slash.] |
 | Fatal Frame | NA PSN only. Available on Xbox, but not BC. [Rough, but darn spooky.] |
 | Fatal Frame III: The Tormented | NA PSN only. (Fatal Frame 2 available on Wii.) [Little repetitive, but still scary af.] |
 | God Hand | NA & EU PSN. [Gotta God Hand.] |
 | Grandia III | NA PSN only. Never available in Europe. (Grandia I & II saw remasters.) [Lesser sequel. Great combat.] |
 | GrimGrimoire | NA PSN only. [Cute Vanillaware RTS.] [Precursor to 13 Sentinels?] |
 | La Pucelle: Tactics | NA PSN only. [NIS SRPG. Proto-Disgaea.] |
 | Maximo vs. Army of Zin | NA & EU PSN. [Ghouls N' Ghosts successor.] |
 | Maximo: Ghosts to Glory | EU PSN only. [Sequel to above.] |
 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army | NA & EU PSN. [Atlus action-RPG.] |
 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon | NA & EU PSN. [More demons to befriend.] |
 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga | NA & EU PSN. [SMT meets Tron.] |
 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 | NA & EU PSN. [Continuation of above.] |
 | Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity | NA PSN only. [Atlus SRPG, like FFT.] |
 | Suikoden III | NA & EU PSN. Physical version never sold in Europe. [Suikoden with multiple protags.] |
 | Suikoden IV | NA & EU PSN. [Has a boat.] |
 | X-treme Express | EU PSN only. [Racing trains.] [Dumb as it sounds.] |