Gaming PS1/2 PS2 Games that Stand the Test of Time?

[Robert Newbie]

I thought this would be a good topic. Which PS2 games in your opinion stand up after all these years?

Jak & Daxter
This one just gets that Super Mario 64 formula right. Good variety, art, and animation.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
The best Level-5 game. Great everything and worthwhile storyline.

Devil May Cry
I usually see DMC3 cited as the best of the PS2 games, but I always though the original was the best all around experience.

EDIT: Fixed my half sentence.

 

[cloud-strife777]

Ratchet & Clank. Okami. FFX.

 

[RAHelllord]

Test Drive Unlimited and the Legacy of Kain series for me.
Test Drive Unlimited is still the only open world racing game that actually gets it right to just drive around and do races at your leisure, and has a nice variety of cars available. While the PC version is technically better it's also slightly more annoying to get running on PC properly these days.

The LoK series is in a similar boat, the writing still holds up and the puzzles are all pretty fun. They can also all be pretty annoying to play on modern PCs and don't emulate very well otherwise.

 

[Robert Newbie]

Test Drive Unlimited and the Legacy of Kain series for me.
Test Drive Unlimited is still the only open world racing game that actually gets it right to just drive around and do races at your leisure, and has a nice variety of cars available. While the PC version is technically better it's also slightly more annoying to get running on PC properly these days.

The LoK series is in a similar boat, the writing still holds up and the puzzles are all pretty fun. They can also all be pretty annoying to play on modern PCs and don't emulate very well otherwise.

I looked up some Test Drive Unlimited clips and I was really surprised. It looks very well made. I'll have to try it sometime.

I want to throw Radiata Stories into the list. It's a fun JRPG with excellent music and graphics.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Budokai Tenkaichi 3

 

[Ettino]

A lot of them do. Especially if you're playing them through PCSX2 and up the resolution to 4k. DQ8 looks amazing at the res. I'm actually playing Shadow Heart series atm with hi res patch.

 

[RAHelllord]

I looked up some Test Drive Unlimited clips and I was really surprised. It looks very well made. I'll have to try it sometime.

If you have a PS3 or a PC the second entry, Test Drive Unlimited 2, is technically superior in every aspect and largely makes the first one obsolete. The second entry adds more roads to O'ahu and also unlocks Ibiza with roughly the same amount of roads as the first island, plus a ton of more cars, proper off-roading, and more things to do, and bikes. They also have a better community patch to fix a bunch of issues Atari never tackled.

But for PS2 the first entry is still grand. If you want more jank it also has a PSP port, but that one is hard at the border of being playable, plus has a lot fewer cars. But it's at least portable!

 

[LingFox]

Most of them
in all seriousness, I think the following apply:
Personal opinion lol. If your game isn't listed here, either I haven't played, don't care for it, or simply forgot.

• Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3;
• Gran Turismo 4;
• The first 4 Ratchet & Clank games (1,2,3, Gladiator), the fifth one doesn't count since it's a shoddy PSP port;
• The Sly cooper series (which ends with the third game);
• The Jak series;
• Shadow of the Colossus;
• Ace Combat (At least 4 and Zero, 5 is an idle game);
• Beyond good and evil;
• Burnout 3 and Revenge;
• Castlevania/Lament of Innocence;
• Dragon Quest 7;
• MotorStorm (RIP) arctic edge;
• R-Type Final (better than RTF 2, at least you unlock stuff instead of paying to unlock them);
• Dynamite Deka/Die Hard Arcade;
• The Simp Hit&Run;
• Zone Of The Enders
• Armored Core Nexus, 2, 3 and basically all armored core games.
• Tekken 4 and Tekken 5 (really, they had more than one games in them);
• TOCA Race Driver 3 (last toca game before it became grid and died; also on PC it has to be cracked due to intrusive DRM);
• FlatOut Virtua Racing;
• SEGA Rally Championship, not the REVO;
• Shrek 2 and SuperSlam, not for the Shrek meme, but they're interesting at least;
• Ridge Racer V;

I still don't care what the PlayStation 2 detractors say, it is the greatest console of all time.
But I wish all of its games were decompiled and subsequently ported to PC, especially GT4.

 

[DKAngel]

Final Fanatsy X =] such a great game and story on it

 

[Alexander1970]

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
The best Level-5 game. Great everything and worthwhile storyline.

Yes,definitely.
For me,this Game was a lot more Fun (because of the Characters) than Dragon Quest XI (PC).
Unfortunately,the 3DS Portation turned this great and unique PlayStation only Title into a Nintendo Wallet Filler.

Other "timeless" Titles for me on the PlayStation 2:

- Shadow of the Colossus (same here -The Remake for PS4 ws a big "Damage" to the original Game..)
- Resident Evil 4 - Thanks to "Traitor" Shinji Mikami (???) it didn´t stay as a shitty "Nintendo only"...
- God of War 1 & 2 (same here - The PC "Sequel" did not really helped these "Gems"...)

 

[cloud-strife777]

Suikoden 4+5.

 

[Robert Newbie]

Yes,definitely.
For me,this Game was a lot more Fun (because of the Characters) than Dragon Quest XI (PC).
Unfortunately,the 3DS Portation turned this great and unique PlayStation only Title into a Nintendo Wallet Filler.

Other "timeless" Titles for me on the PlayStation 2:

- Shadow of the Colossus (same here -The Remake for PS4 ws a big "Damage" to the original Game..)
- Resident Evil 4 - Thanks to "Traitor" Shinji Mikami (???) it didn´t stay as a shitty "Nintendo only"...
- God of War 1 & 2 (same here - The PC "Sequel" did not really helped these "Gems"...)

Yeah, Dragon Quest XI didn't hit me the same as Level-5's work. I only played half of it, and I still feel slighted for buying the standard version just before the Definitive Edition was announced.

As for Dragon Quest VIII, I looked into the 3DS version and passed on it. A Vita port would have been a better choice overall, if the exploding mobile app market (All of a sudden everyone knew what Candy Crush was.) hadn't eaten up the Vita's chances.

I had forgotten about the Capcom Five! I wouldn't blame Shinji Mikami, since Viewtiful Joe (Hideki Kamiya) and Killer7 (Suda51) also made it to the PS2. If anything, Mikami gets a pass because P.N. 03 never left the GameCube. (The Resident Evil remake wasn't ported until a generation later.)

I hadn't thought about Dead Phoenix (The missing member of the Capcom Five) in a while either. IGN lobbied hard for Kid Icarus awareness during that time and claimed it was a Kid Icarus game in disguise. They finally quieted down after Smash Bros. Brawl and Uprising on the 3DS.


Sorry, derailed the thread. Good memories, though!

 

[Jayro]

XenoSaga 1 and 2.

 

[Quore]

I would suggest like:

• Black

That game is so well made with lots of specific details that even some newer FPS games don't have. The story is straight to the point and really interesting to watch till the end. To be honest I hope they DON'T release an sequel to it, because I know It would be trash AF

• Burnout 3/Revenge

"I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M DESTROY ALL OF THESE CARS AT SPEED OF SOUND BUT WHO CARES I'M FUCKING INVENCIBLE cof cof sorry wrong game

• Final Fantasy 12

In a quick resume, if you play the International Zodiac Job System (IZJS) you'll be basically playing The Zodiac Age FF12 but with the original graphics. Aside from that, the game has indeed a great story, with some good plot-twists from time to time and it even has the GAMBIT SYSTEM that no ther FF game has it (I don't know why, but it's basically a way to control what specific action will be made, on specific situation with specific target FOR EACH CHARACTER, this Gambit System on the End Game is something that will take some good hours just to make it near-Perfect

 

[Robert Newbie]

I would suggest like:

• Black

That game is so well made with lots of specific details that even some newer FPS games don't have. The story is straight to the point and really interesting to watch till the end. To be honest I hope they DON'T release an sequel to it, because I know It would be trash AF

• Burnout 3/Revenge

"I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M DESTROY ALL OF THESE CARS AT SPEED OF SOUND BUT WHO CARES I'M FUCKING INVENCIBLE cof cof sorry wrong game

• Final Fantasy 12

In a quick resume, if you play the International Zodiac Job System (IZJS) you'll be basically playing The Zodiac Age FF12 but with the original graphics. Aside from that, the game has indeed a great story, with some good plot-twists from time to time and it even has the GAMBIT SYSTEM that no ther FF game has it (I don't know why, but it's basically a way to control what specific action will be made, on specific situation with specific target FOR EACH CHARACTER, this Gambit System on the End Game is something that will take some good hours just to make it near-Perfect

Nice post. Those final PS2 games were a real classy finish for the console. From what I remember, Final Fantasy XII had great everything--- graphics (with the default blur turned off), music, gameplay. I need to go back and finish it someday.

 

[Quore]

Nice post. Those final PS2 games were a real classy finish for the console. From what I remember, Final Fantasy XII had great everything--- graphics (with the default blur turned off), music, gameplay. I need to go back and finish it someday.

I remember the first time I've completed the game, I had something around +180hrs and I still had much more to do

 

[TheCryOfHatred]

A lot of them do. Especially if you're playing them through PCSX2 and up the resolution to 4k. DQ8 looks amazing at the res. I'm actually playing Shadow Heart series atm with hi res patch.

No need to bump the resolution to 4k either, just at 1080p they already look great. The problem with emulation in general is that you can improve the 3D models, but 2D sprites, fonts, etc still look pixelated. No filter can solve that as magically as playing via a real console and a CRT TV, be it with component, composite, whatever. And no input lag is a BIG improvement as well... Its sad that most kids think that older games look pixelated as shit when that is not what they really look like.

As for the game that for me still stands the test of time, i must say Shadow Hearts 2, a very good game both graphically and in story and characters (even though i dont care about the odd old man and the child that can summon monsters)

 

[LingFox]

The problem with emulation in general is that you can improve the 3D models, but 2D sprites, fonts, etc still look pixelated

And what's the problem with that exactly? You can use patch to put ""better"" 2D-related stuff anyways through PCSX2 (an example would be those GT4 "remastered" mods that look like someone flooded the whole track).
I honestly don't mind "pixelated" graphics. (in fact, I'm one of those that play CS:S without texture filters. I'd rather see chunky pixels rather than having the experience of someone smearing vaseline all over my screen)

Everytime, it reminds me of this old pictures:

Its sad that most kids think that older games look pixelated as shit when that is not what they really look like

It's even sadder to assume that everyone played on a CRT that smeared the whole screen. The ones from the 90s onward didn't exactly looked like you're pretending they did lol.

Plus, this is PS2, not exactly famous for 2D Pixel platformers.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Revenge

I love that game and completed it on PS4 and then when I played 3 I was disappointed, couldn't slam into other cars so I'd end up crashing.

And the game looks really damn good in HD.

 

[Quore]

Revenge is a Certified Hood Classic
And it's a guaranteed playtime with serotonin+adrenaline