RetroGaming

Some of my favourite slow-burn adventures that no one's mentioned yet:

• Project Zero/Fatal Frame (1, 2, and 3)
• Shadow of Memories/Shadow of Destiny
• Echo Night: Beyond
• Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 1 and 2 (a.k.a. S.O.S. The Final Escape/Disaster Report, and Raw Danger)
• Killer7
• Siren (1 and 2)
• Chulip

And some action-adventure-RPGs that have a place in my heart but aren't generally considered to be anything special:

• EverGrace (there's also a sequel which I haven't played yet)
• Eternal Ring

Currently playing through Grand Turismo 3 A-Spec again (working through the rally stages, my favorite) and occasionally swapping out for GTA San Andreas. Love the PS2

Lost many hours of my life to Gran Turismo 3 and 4!

Sly Cooper Jak and Dexter Ratchet and Clank Suikoden III and IV God of War Tony Hawk

I remember renting God of War and my little brother wanting to watch me play. Then scrambling to turn the TV off as the opening cut scene played. Had to explain to my parents why he couldn't watch me play.

Metal gear Solid 3, Kingdom hearts 2 and Ape Escape 3

Shadow of the Colossus.

The scale of the game was just massive for a PS2 title. Amazing hard hitting ending and challenging battles.

Dbz, played it for hours with friends, still holds up imho.

Just for some of the quality of life features included, Sonic Mega Collection Plus. The gamecube version may have been my first foray into classic Sonic, but eh PS2 is in my opinion the better version if you're a more casual player like me because savestates.

Also, I need to get onto actually playing them, but I recently got all 3 of the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger games on PS2. I played enough on Dolphin that I knew I had to pick it up on PS2 (since I don't have a gamecube). From the couple levels I played in the first game, definitely a fun game and one I personally have enjoyed.

Also, big shout-out to the only Star Wars Battlefront games I acknowledge existing.

I ❤️ Katamari

Metal gear solid 3. Final fantasy 10, 11, 12. Freedom fighters. Kingdom hearts. Xenosaga. Battlefield modern combat. Metal gear solid 2. RAD. NFS underground. NBA street. Shadow of the colossus. Sax on tour. Burnout 3. God of war 1 and 2. Silent Hill the room. Ōkami. Metal arms.

Idk some others I'm sure. It's THE goated console for a reason. I also enjoy RPGs and the PS2 just had banger after banger.

Hitman 2! First game I 100%’d the trophy’s

Do you miss how weird and liminal some of the games on this system were? Maybe it's because of the magical thinking of a child (I was like two when this came out but played mine every day until I was fourteen, loved that thing like a religion lol) but even the startup screen and disc read failed screen were so... Weird? Freaky? I don't know, I know there's plenty of indie games now and plenty of shovel ware on current gen but it feels different, there was a strange magic to some games on the PS2 that seems to be sort of inimical

Twisted metal

Metal gear

Toiny hawk

Resident evil

I don't remember what number it was but soul caliber was good! maybe it was 2? after the glorious dreamcast soul caliber.

honestly I completely agree with my feed

After setting up emulators for both the PS2 and PS1, I'm amazed at how little I actually turn on my xbox one S anymore.

Games from that generation just hit differently for me. Especially my favourites like Final Fantasy X and XII. It took me a while to get why I felt that way, but it's the combat systems in modern games have become to frenetic and button-mashy. How am I supposed to strategize what my team mates are doing at the speed that the combat now wants to take place at.

And that's not just with the Final Fantasy series. God of War both went down that "let's make combat as fast and frenetic as possible" route after the PS2 generation.

I'm also going to give an honourable mention on PS2 to the last Stalwart alternative to the EA NHL series; that being NHL 2K10. I really enjoyed the things that it did differently to EA Sports, like the ability to set two of your team-mates to hassle an opposing player. I wish 2K had kept it up. But it seems they gave up the NHL and EA gave up the NBA. Fair trade I guess.

Gosh where to start..

Shadow of the Colossus, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, God of War, Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2, Okami, Burnout, Metal Gear Solid 2/3, Singstar, Eye Toy, Spider Man 2

And I could go on and on. We had it good back then.

My unsung hero of the PS2 was World Poker Tour.

I spent a lot of time playing Texas hold em with internet strangers, which doesn't sound like a big deal now, but I think back then, most people didn't even know you COULD connect a PS2 to the Internet.

I went to use my old PS2 the other night after many years. The controllers thumpads had turned into this sticky, rubbery, goo. Gross. I couldn't play it

I really loved the "Anchor Man" DVD menu. Solid graphics, great playthrough, simple controls.

Too many to even mention.

Even more than the games, I cherish the memories made with friends.

Driving around different towns to finally find FFX, four people sitting around a 15 inch TV to marvel at MGS2, drag racing our ugly custom cars in NFS Underground, spending a whole summer rocking out and breaking highscores in Guitar Hero...

To me, it was the golden age of video gaming.

State of emergency rocked

Cars, NFS Hot Pursuit 2 (and Underground 2), Test Drive Unlimited, and The Simpsons Game (and Hit & Run). Mostly racing games lol.

Final Fantasy X is tied as my favorite game of all time. Funny enough, the game it's tied with came out on Xbox.

Worth mentioning:
Final Fantasy XII
Kingdom Hearts I & II
Ratchet & Clank (all)
Tony Hawk's Underground
Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Burnout 3: Takedown
Rock Band
NFL Street
Amplitude
X-Men Legends

MGS2 and 3, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, GTA... There's so many great games specifically from that era, and even exclusive to the PS2.

My birthday today too, although I'm unfortunately not 25...

I didn't have a PS2 (Dreamcast and Xbox in my household), but I do remember frequently staying at my cousin's house and playing NFS, GTA, Simpsons hit and run, and SpongeBob battle for bikini bottom on his

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

Twisted metal, vice city, predator

So many great games on the PS2, I think of it as the best console and best gaming period of my life, these 3 are on the top of my mind of that time.

Edit - ofcourse, not a game, but the modchip was the best thing :)

I never owned a PS2 when they were still being manufactured and sold. I still do not own a PS2. However, there are some games I actually liked that released on PS2 (I did not list games that were better on other platforms, for example, Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition on PC is still the best way to play SH2):

Metal Gear Solid 3

Kuon

King's Field 4

CyGirls (I liked Disk 1 more than Disk 2)

Drakengard 1 and 2

Shadow of the Colossus

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex

Extermination

Lifeline

Ico

ill try to name things most people havent played.

I heavily recommend people to try Downhill Domination. think like snowboard kids or mario kart(specifically mount wario or dk mountain tracks) but on mountain bikes. Silly bike combat with soo many side paths for players to try to forge their own way on winning a race.

Destroy All Humans!

A few titles that I never really hear anyone mention:

Mister Mosquito

Wetrix

Steambot Chronicles

Auto Modellista

XIII

And then some of my favourites that everyone knows about:

Burnout 3: Takedown

Smugglers Run

State of Emergency

NFS: Underground

Manhunt

Shadow of the Colossus

SOCOM, specifically the online MP

To name but a few, I don't want to write an absurdly long list which is just too easy to do.