A Thread About PS2 Exclusives

[Yousef]

Y’know, your ratchet & clank, Jak n Daxter, sly cooper, parappa the rapper, ape escape, god of war, all that good stuff.
You can discuss third party exclusive as well as ps2 originals too (aka games that either debuted on ps2 or were temporarily exclusive to ps2), so that can include final fantasy x, persona 4, kingdom hearts 1&2 and all the good stuff.

 

[Stookymalarkey]

There's always God Hand, a game that's tough but satisfying in the right ways. Only got a re-release on PS3 but not on PS4 and/or PS5 for some reason. The wiki says it sold well at the time, so I have to wonder why it's been abandoned by Capcom.

It's also funny to think that there's whole game franchises that just disappeared once the PS3 came around. Titles like Breath of Fire, Grandia and Shadow Hearts just ceased to exist, not even considered for a DS game.

 

[Darklink]

I actually finished playing the original Ratchet & Clank game a few weeks ago. It was overall a fun time, but I definitely still like the sequels a lot more. They got so much better at combat and platforming. I'm always surprised to remember how little platforming there really is in R&C1.

I just started playing Yakuza 1, with the Restored mod, and it's a cool time. I've never played a Yakuza game before, and it really is just 3D River City Ransom. Food heals and gives EXP, picking up OP weapons to beat the hell outta punks with, etc. Just with a flair of interesting crime drama.

 

[rida]

One of my favorites, Way of the Samurai.
What a unique series. Part of me wishes it wasn't. I really don't understand why not a single indie dev jumped on the concept of a short game spanning a handful of days but offering tons of story paths with perma death giving your choices weight. Not to mention it's a system that could easily adapted to different settings. I would love seeing a Samurai-like set in an post-apocalyptic settlement threatened by raiders or western town or a space station etc.

 

[ZeromusVX4]

I still want the Xenosaga trilogy to be freed from the ps2 jail, also radiata stories is really nice, took me a while to get into it but i had a blast when it finally clicked

 

[Yousef]

I actually finished playing the original Ratchet & Clank game a few weeks ago. It was overall a fun time, but I definitely still like the sequels a lot more. They got so much better at combat and platforming. I'm always surprised to remember how little platforming there really is in R&C1.

I just started playing Yakuza 1, with the Restored mod, and it's a cool time. I've never played a Yakuza game before, and it really is just 3D River City Ransom. Food heals and gives EXP, picking up OP weapons to beat the hell outta punks with, etc. Just with a flair of interesting crime drama.

I’m happy you enjoyed it. Yakuza is a favorite of mine too.

Post automatically merged: Dec 5, 2024

One of my favorites, Way of the Samurai.
What a unique series. Part of me wishes it wasn't. I really don't understand why not a single indie dev jumped on the concept of a short game spanning a handful of days but offering tons of story paths with perma death giving your choices weight. Not to mention it's a system that could easily adapted to different settings. I would love seeing a Samurai-like set in an post-apocalyptic settlement threatened by raiders or western town or a space station etc.
View attachment 2987

Nice Arle avatar! Yeah, this is undoubtedly the most unique game I played on the system. It’s such an addictive sandbox that felt like it had infinite possibilities or that anything could literally happen. What an amazing little gem. Good music too.

 

[RetroLaw]

This thread made me remember that they are so many games I though were PS2 exclusives but turned out to be on the GameCube, Xbox, or both

Games like Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks or I-Ninja.

I second most of the games mentionned earlier, God Hand is one of my favorite games ever, I love the Way of the Samurai series (and wish more Kenkai Banchou games were translated), Shadow Hearts, and Sly is soooooo good. Same for Jak.

I would add Wild Arms (loved the 4th game, still gotta play the 5th, which seems so damn good)


And of course

 

[Cu-Neo]

It would be so awesome having these two on modern platforms and PC with the online mode restored because the stages have a lot of variations depending of the team you and your friends choose and also the difficulty changes the enemies. For example in the first stage there's an infected guy who in the normal difficulty just kill himself to avoid coming back as a zombie but in hard the dude transforms

 

[Firenoh]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. It's the only one in the franchise I've played so far, but damn was it a blast!

 

[RetroLaw]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. It's the only one in the franchise I've played so far, but damn was it a blast!

Holy Guacamole there is also another human being who loves this game ?

 

[RageBurner]

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. It's the only one in the franchise I've played so far, but damn was it a blast!

Honestly both PS2 CVs are brilliant. Some people like to bash on Curse of Darkness for some reason, but I don't see it - not when the likes of Lords of Shadows 1 and 2 exist.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

I would love seeing a Samurai-like set in an post-apocalyptic settlement threatened by raiders or western town or a space station etc.

Well, you're in luck, kinda:

Made by the same devs as Way of the Samurai but unfortunately it's linear. Still fun though and deliciously ridiculous.

I have a soft spot for the PS2 hack'n'slashs like the Onimusha series, Chaos Legion, Bujingai, Devil May Cry, Dororo, Rygar, Genji or Shinobi.

That's a game just begging for a remake or HD re-release.
Hack and Slash adjacent, the Prince of Persia trilogy was amazing too, albeit not a PS2 exclusive.

Another genre that absolutely rocked on the PS2 were 3D platformers. They all had something unique to them, whether it was Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Rayman or the slightly more obscure ones like Scaler, Kya or I-Ninja. The latter is abandonware now so you can easily find the pc version.

The sequels went multi-platform but the first Timesplitters was a launch title and exclusive and I'll never miss an opportunity to stan this series.

 

[Skeetos]

I'm not entirely sure if it is an exclusive or not but I've never seen it anywhere else. There was this really crusty game I had when I was younger called The Plan. Spelled with a 3. I have faint memories of it being a crime drama but not very well written. It had this cool mission though where you had to infiltrate this museum to steal a painting and you had to dodge laser wires and hide from guards.

 

[nachito]

I want to mention The Getaway. It's a early ps2 open world game with licensed cars and no hud. The only problem are the really outdated controls but its a fun playthrough.
From what I know it's inspired by driver games on psx.

 

[Jotaro]

 

[fishboneKiller]

my favorite ps2 game is probably always gonna be Chulip, i remember seeing the game grumps play it wayyyyy way back in 2013 or something and it always stood out to me. later when i figured out how to emulate ps2, i played the hell out of it and loved every bit of it. it's so completely unlike any other game ive ever played, and im always searching for any game that can make me feel the same way chulip did the first time i played it. its also very simple, in an era where games were getting more and more complex with their controls and actions, chulip only uses the left stick and the four face buttons, not even start or select. for some reason i find that really interesting, it sorta feels like the devs were still getting used to making games in 3D and didn't wanna over complicate things. another interesting fact about chulip is that it was originally released in 2002, but it took until 2007 to get localized, and was a gamestop exclusive. it's pretty rare nowadays, but somehow my parents were able to get it for me for my birthday one year.