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.
I really loved the “Anchor Man” DVD menu. Solid graphics, great playthrough, simple controls.
Persona 3 FES
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 :)
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
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.
Cars, NFS Hot Pursuit 2 (and Underground 2), Test Drive Unlimited, and The Simpsons Game (and Hit & Run). Mostly racing games lol.
I ❤️ Katamari
KATAMARI DAMACYYYYYY BUM BUM BUM BUM
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.
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.
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.
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
Oh that sucks. I only had this problem with a Dualshock 1 a while ago, my Dualshock 2s thankfully never got into that state. Maybe it has something to do with how they’re stored? Anyway, you can always replace the thumbsticks if cleaning doesn’t help.
Disassemble, clean with isopropyl alcohol, reassemble.
I assume there are guides on youtube.
I cleaned mine with alcohol and it did not help. The material (silicone?) is breaking down so just cleaning it didn’t help that much.
Shadow of the Colossus.
The scale of the game was just massive for a PS2 title. Amazing hard hitting ending and challenging battles.
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 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
Wow…I remember the PS2 as the console that you smoked weed when you played. I was 16 when it came out. And it was my first ever dvd player.
When watching some videos from retro game youtube channels, they tend to point to how much more daring they were back then, and all new games will just safe it. New aaa games cost so much they cant fail, but then a flop was to a larger extend “meh” and move on for the studio. Guess that made some of these games feel more freaky as you say
oh definitely. Games just felt differently back then. It was rarer for games to hold your hand, too. Not to say that that was always a good thing, sometimes it was quite annoying I guess, but maybe it was part of the reason games felt different. Combined with having to find stuff out on your own, you literally were on your own, yeah.
There are many things though that make this era of gaming special, this one is just something I often think of.
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
