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PS1/2 [Essential] PlayStation 2 games

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lockstar91
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i have some .exe that converts ISO to CSO. Is that sub-optimal for some reason? i did save some gigabytes, but maybe i could save more? maybe i could have smaller loading times? dunno
 
I know it's stickied and hasn't been updated in a while, but I never pass up PS2 talk.

It's sad that Lockstar91 hasn't been seen since 2016, but I still have games I want to throw into the pile.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - Class act all the way.
Resident Evil 4 - Great port of a next-gen game.
Silent Hill 2 - Thought-provoking story and presentation.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Kojima and team in top form.
Persona 3 FES - Arguably the best way to play this classic.
Grand Theft Auto III - Great design and gameplay.
Devil May Cry - One of Hideki Kamiya's best. Great graphics and gameplay.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Fun game with good pacing.
Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - Possibly Naughty Dog's best.
Dark Cloud 2 - Great randomly-generated dungeon crawler.

Those are my votes.
 
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Contra: Shattered Soldier
Dark Chronicle
Devil May Cry 3
Fatal Frame 1&2
Final Fantasy X + XII
Gitaroo Man
God of War 1&2
Ico + Shadow of the Colossus
Jak & Daxter
Katamari Damacy + We Love Katamari
Kingdom Hearts 1&2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Okami
Prince of Persia trilogy
Yakuza 2

I consider every single one of these to be among the best games ever made. I would've also mentioned Bully and GTA: SA, but those are better on other platforms.
 
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Tales of Destiny Remake Director's Cut
Tales of the Abyss
Suikoden V
Star Ocean 3 Till the end of Time
Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria
Shin Megami Tensei - Digital Devil Saga
Persona 3 FES
Final Fantasy X - International
Wild Arms 4
Devil May Cry 3 - Dante's Awakening
Grandia III
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty


voted
 
I think if more people played them, Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts Covenant would be towards the top of PS2 games. They're two of the best rpgs on the system with awesome stories and great bosses and great gameplay. They just missed everyone's radar unfortunately because no hype around them. If you're reading this and you like rpgs and never played them, go get the ISOs and PLAY THEM on PCSX 2, an original PS2, or whereever else. Several key staff members that worked on Final Fantasy 7 worked on the series. They're probably never getting remade, remastered, nothing due to lack of popularity but they so deserve it. There was a third one on the PS2 Shadow Hearts From The New World it wasn't as good storywise to be honest, although the gameplay is excellent maybe some of the best gameplay in an rpg.
 
It's nice to see some new replies in this thread.

Leon-Magnus said:
Tales of Destiny Remake Director's Cut
Tales of the Abyss
Suikoden V
Star Ocean 3 Till the end of Time
Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria
Shin Megami Tensei - Digital Devil Saga
Persona 3 FES
Final Fantasy X - International
Wild Arms 4
Devil May Cry 3 - Dante's Awakening
Grandia III
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty
Click to expand...
I admit, I haven't played most of the games in this list, but I recognize them as "best of's." Final Fantasy X, MGS2, and DMC3 are well-known and recommended, and I've wanted to play through Grandia III, Valkyrie Profile 2, Suikoden V (I genuinely need to play through all five of them. I did a rushed playthrough of Suikoden II, but I feel I didn't do it justice.), and Star Ocean 3.

Persona 3 FES needs no introduction, it may still be the best way to experience the game. I never did play through The Answer (the epilogue), but I felt the main game was perfect as it concluded in The Joruney.

I had always heard that the later entries of Wild Arms have particularly good gameplay. I think they introduced a hex-based battle system, which added more strategy. Sadly, all the PS2 entries (with the exception of 3.) go for over $100 USD. Random question, can I skip to the later entries and still appreciate the story/content?

I did enjoy some of my time with Wild Arms 3, but around the 10-hour mark, I hit a point where the game instructed me to do something, and the NPC never changed dialogue afterwards. I had to start exploring blindly to find the next objective. By then, I had grown tired of the lack of money and expensive upgrade system. I ended up moving on, and I imagine that's why the game isn't really talked about. I do go to bat for the graphics and music, which are particularly good. The actual gameplay wasn't bad, and I like how Wild Arms games try to add more interaction outside of battle. The execution was where it seemed to falter.

Jayinem said:
I think if more people played them, Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts Covenant would be towards the top of PS2 games. They're two of the best rpgs on the system with awesome stories and great bosses and great gameplay. They just missed everyone's radar unfortunately because no hype around them. If you're reading this and you like rpgs and never played them, go get the ISOs and PLAY THEM on PCSX 2, an original PS2, or whereever else. Several key staff members that worked on Final Fantasy 7 worked on the series. They're probably never getting remade, remastered, nothing due to lack of popularity but they so deserve it. There was a third one on the PS2 Shadow Hearts From The New World it wasn't as good storywise to be honest, although the gameplay is excellent maybe some of the best gameplay in an rpg.
Click to expand...
I really do have to give them a try, though each entry goes for at least $70 USD. I agree, they really do need re-releases. I didn't know that key staff members from FFVII were involved. I have always heard that the Shadow Hearts games are particularly good. From what I recall, the gameplay is similar to Super Mario RPG, where the player has to time attacks to do proper damage. I do appreciate JRPG's that add that kind of engagement.
 
Robert Newbie said:
It's nice to see some new replies in this thread.


I admit, I haven't played most of the games in this list, but I recognize them as "best of's." Final Fantasy X, MGS2, and DMC3 are well-known and recommended, and I've wanted to play through Grandia III, Valkyrie Profile 2, Suikoden V (I genuinely need to play through all five of them. I did a rushed playthrough of Suikoden II, but I feel I didn't do it justice.), and Star Ocean 3.

Persona 3 FES needs no introduction, it may still be the best way to experience the game. I never did play through The Answer (the epilogue), but I felt the main game was perfect as it concluded in The Joruney.

I had always heard that the later entries of Wild Arms have particularly good gameplay. I think they introduced a hex-based battle system, which added more strategy. Sadly, all the PS2 entries (with the exception of 3.) go for over $100 USD. Random question, can I skip to the later entries and still appreciate the story/content?

I did enjoy some of my time with Wild Arms 3, but around the 10-hour mark, I hit a point where the game instructed me to do something, and the NPC never changed dialogue afterwards. I had to start exploring blindly to find the next objective. By then, I had grown tired of the lack of money and expensive upgrade system. I ended up moving on, and I imagine that's why the game isn't really talked about. I do go to bat for the graphics and music, which are particularly good. The actual gameplay wasn't bad, and I like how Wild Arms games try to add more interaction outside of battle. The execution was where it seemed to falter.


I really do have to give them a try, though each entry goes for at least $70 USD. I agree, they really do need re-releases. I didn't know that key staff members from FFVII were involved. I have always heard that the Shadow Hearts games are particularly good. From what I recall, the gameplay is similar to Super Mario RPG, where the player has to time attacks to do proper damage. I do appreciate JRPG's that add that kind of engagement.
Click to expand...

You don't have a PC that can play the ISOs or a modded PS2 or anything? Not discouraging buying (in fact they're definitely buy worthy) but at the same time we're on gbatemp and they're old so play them any way you can.
 
Jayinem said:
I think if more people played them, Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts Covenant would be towards the top of PS2 games. They're two of the best rpgs on the system with awesome stories and great bosses and great gameplay. They just missed everyone's radar unfortunately because no hype around them. If you're reading this and you like rpgs and never played them, go get the ISOs and PLAY THEM on PCSX 2, an original PS2, or whereever else. Several key staff members that worked on Final Fantasy 7 worked on the series. They're probably never getting remade, remastered, nothing due to lack of popularity but they so deserve it. There was a third one on the PS2 Shadow Hearts From The New World it wasn't as good storywise to be honest, although the gameplay is excellent maybe some of the best gameplay in an rpg.
Click to expand...
Another reason Shadow Hearts went unnoticed is that it had an unfortunate release time. It was overshadowed by a few PS2 titles that came out around the same time, most notably Final Fantasy X.
But the first 2 were really great, the darker tone of the stories was interesting. A bit sad that the 3rd one dropped it. As far as the combat system goes, I loved/hated it. It was fun for a while, but got annoying when you were leveling or grinding for something.
 
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Reiten said:
Another reason Shadow Hearts went unnoticed is that it had an unfortunate release time. It was overshadowed by a few PS2 titles that came out around the same time, most notably Final Fantasy X.
But the first 2 were really great, the darker tone of the stories was interesting. A bit sad that the 3rd one dropped it. As far as the combat system goes, I loved/hated it. It was fun for a while, but got annoying when you were leveling or grinding for something.
Click to expand...

I've been following review scores since NES was still the thing and I can't think of a more embarrassing review score ever than IGN giving Shadow Hearts 1 a 5.5 out of 10. No telling how many read that and just moved on to the next game didn't even try it, and it's really just one persons opinion that I think was an awful opinion. At least they got it more right with Covenant giving it a 9.1 out of 10.
 
Last edited by Jayinem,
Jayinem said:
I've been following review scores for 30 years and I can't think of a more embarrassing review score ever than IGN giving Shadow Hearts 1 a 5.5 out of 10. No telling how many read that and just moved on to the next game didn't even try it, and it's really just one persons opinion that I think was an awful opinion.
Click to expand...
Yeah, IGN was the go-to back in the day. GameSpot didn't seem to have the same reach. (It didn't help that GameSpot started mirroring IGN's scores, in many cases.) IGN's score probably did end up influencing a lot of buyers. The publisher really should have played up the fact that FFVII devs worked on it.

This reminds me of IGN's review of Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X on the PS2. I think it was given a 6.0 or something. The truth was that it was a competent port with some added content thrown in, which was a good deal for RE fans that didn't get to play the Dreamcast original. Though I doubt it affected sales much, it was a similar situation.

TL;DR: Younger readers may not separate the reviewer from the website, and back in the early 2000's, there weren't many places to go for reliable game reviews.
 
Kingdom Hearts 2
God of War 2
Jak 3
Resident Evil 4
Timesplitter Future Perfect
Silent Hill 2
Burnout 3
Final Fantasy X
Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Rogue Galaxy
I even made videos about those!
 

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