Welcome to another BigNerdGaming top 10 list! This is the next list in my somewhat chronological journey through every system I’ve ever owned. This is all building up to me doing an overall top 50 games of all time list at the end.
I’ve always wanted to do a top 50 games of all time list, and this more methodical approach building to it feels like the best way to make sure I don’t put together that list haphazardly.
The Playstation 2 is widely considered one of the greatest consoles of all time. I don’t quite feel that way, but it’s still a console I greatly enjoyed having. The craziest thing about this era compared to today is seeing some of these iconic franchises and looking at the output they had here. It seemed like every major franchise had at least two games drop during the PS2 era, and sometimes even three. No matter what genre you liked (outside of arguably FPS), the PS2 probably had many great games for you.
With that, here are my top 10 favorite PS2 games.
Past Lists
10. Grandia 2
The Grandia series is not one that excels at a lot of the strengths of JRPGs, especially for this era. It has a pretty boring story, world, and characters. It thrives on cliches and tropes.
But damn it, this still remains one of my favorite JRPG battle systems ever. Grandia shows turn order and does it in a way that allows you to counter enemy attacks or delay them. It adds an extra layer of strategy to literally every encounter. There is not much in the way of just smashing the attack button in a Grandia game. You are thinking out everything you do. And that amazing feeling from landing a counter never fades away. Grandia 2 still has one of my favorite combat systems ever. That is enough for me to love the game, even if everything else is just mediocre.
9. Persona 3
Like Grandia 2, I have plenty of issues with Persona 3. Namely, Tartarus is just such a slog sometimes. Having the game based around one specific dungeon is just a recipe for me getting bored with it. I like variety in my level design. I like it when things stay fresh. Tartarus makes it hard for me to get through Persona 3.
But I just love everything else around it. This was my first time with the entire Persona formula, and it is incredibly addicting. The overall story has its ups and downs, but it has some phenomenal moments and a few really great “social links.” The entire formula of working your way up Tartarus can be addictive at times as well.
I love the way that this series has evolved since this game, but I definitely respect everything that Persona 3 did to pave the way.
8. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
It’s crazy to think that this series once dropped three releases in one gen. Now, just one GTA game dropping is a massive deal. The series somehow has managed to retain that same level of hype with next to no output.
But back in the PS2 era, GTA: San Andreas felt like real growth for the series on a storytelling front in particular. There are also lots of fun little tweaks that I thought made for a better sense of progression than perhaps any other GTA game. This was the height of the series for me, and we will see if it gets surpassed later this year with Grand Theft Auto 6.
7. Beyond Good and Evil
Beyond Good and Evil is just one hell of an action adventure title. It genuinely makes me sad that we still haven’t gotten a sequel. This game just knocked it out of the park in damn near every way. It has a great hero, some unique aspects with its photo elements, and is just rock solid in every way. The combat, platforming, and storytelling are all extremely well done. I think it has stuck in my memory more than a lot of games like this from this era because it also just has a unique vibe and hero that aren’t quite like all the more “mascot” type characters that were usually in these sorts of games. This is one that I feel like would age better than a lot of games on here as well. What a great experience.
6. Devil May Cry
I’ve never really loved anything that tries really damn hard to be cool. It never comes across as authentic, and then it ironically ends up being not cool at all.
Devil May Cry is the rare exception. This game wants to be cool so fucking badly, but you know what, it works, it’s very cool.
I guess it helps when the gameplay is as good as it is here. This is action combat perfection, with systems that let you rack up stylish kills and long combos with a nice variety of maneuvers. I always felt like the difficulty balancing was really good as well. There is a reason that this is one of the most influential action games of all time. Devil May Cry was a must-play in this era.
5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
My favorite PS1 game ever was Metal Gear Solid, so it’s probably no surprise that another game from the series makes this list.
MGS2 grabbed me from the second it kicked off with its awesome tanker mission, and it never lets go. The game has tons of great gameplay enhancements from the first game, but it also still delivers on all the core things you’d hope for from the series. There are awesome boss fights, great stealth mechanics, and a crazy story, with lots of great uses of the Codec system as well. Much like the first game, this game is just about the height of cinematic experiences for the console it is on. This was the most essential Kojima PS2 experience for me.
(I just didn’t click with MGS3’s gameplay when I first played it, just to pre-empt “WHAT ABOUT MGS3” questions).
4. Okami
To this day, Okami stands as one of the coolest artistic achievements in all of video games. This is a Zelda-esque game, but it is steeped with culture and style. It executes on just about everything it wants to do flawlessly and somehow goes from being a bit of a Zelda clone to something very worthy of standing on its own. I’d even personally say it is better than the vast majority of Zelda games.
There’s a reason that the reaction for the Okami 2 announcement was so crazy. It’s because this game was so special that people still think about it a lot to this day.
3. Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X kind of feels like an end of an era for the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy VI through Final Fantasy X are all games where I will consistently see people say that it is one of their favorite games of all time. After Final Fantasy X, the series suddenly seemed to not be able to reach those same highs anymore (until arguably Final Fantasy XVI and Rebirth in recent years).
But man, what a way to cap off this era of Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy X was, of course, absolutely top-tier for its production values. It had strong characters, a fascinating setting, and some all-timer twists and moments. It also has one of the strongest battle systems in series history. While it certainly isn’t the inventor of displaying turn order, it is definitely the game that popularized having turn order listed. The more general linear nature of it could be a bit controversial, but it undoubtedly leads to a much more focused storytelling experience. This is a clear all-timer and easily one of the best Final Fantasy games ever.
It’s just a shame that with all the promise of Blitzball, the minigame for it sucked so bad.
2. Rogue Galaxy
Controversial take, but this is my favorite Level-5 game ever. Admittedly, I’ve always leaned sci-fi over fantasy, but man, I really wish this game sold better.
I played Rogue Galaxy in an era where I abandoned a lot of JRPGs. Even the previous JRPGs on this list are games that I didn’t beat until the 2nd or 3rd tries later on. Rogue Galaxy is the one that I couldn’t put down from start to finish. The story isn’t perfect, but it has its moments and some interesting politics attached to it. It, at the very least, succeeds in being incredibly epic in spots.
In every other way, I absolutely adore Rogue Galaxy. The battle system is a lot of fun, and there is a surprising amount of effort put into the sidequests and the minigames. There is enough innovation with the battle system (for the time) and enough variety to the proceedings, to go with a great setting and good enough story to make this a game I truly loved.
1. Guitar Hero 2
Regular readers of the blog will know that I am a major game hopper. I’m often playing at least four games in my rotation at any given time. Playing games this way enhances them greatly for me. I like to keep experiencing new things, so I don’t like getting stuck on one game. There have only been a handful of games that managed to keep me for a year or more throughout my life.
One of those few games was Guitar Hero 2. This game had an absolute stranglehold on me for a solid year. The game came out while I was in college, and it was just part of my daily routine to play it at least a little bit. The crazy part is that almost everyone I knew, even people who didn’t really play video games, seemed to have it in their dorm room or apartment. The game was at parties. Sometimes, the local radio station set it up at my grocery store. Itwas a sensation. There were multiple nights when my buddies would be going to a party, and I would decide to stay in because I was this close to mastering a certain song. It just felt so damn good to play, and nailing a song on expert was one of the most rewarding feelings in all of video games.
Like anything else, I eventually moved on (much like most of the world did as well), but I just have a cavalcade of amazing memories playing this game in all sorts of different places that I will never forget.
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