PS2 Can you recommend some PS2 games that truly are under the radar?

[TheImmortalP]

I feel like I've asked this everywhere else. I've tried googling, gamefaqs, and reddit, but no one seems to actually know some titles that actually are under the radar.

When I say actually under the radar, I'm talking titles that were never popular, and still aren't.

Genres that I'm interested in:

Action games, Action-Adventure, RPGs(that aren't super tactical), And Story-Rich pure adventure titles(not to be confused with puzzle games.)

Examples of what I'm looking for:
7 Blades for example is extremely under the radar, it's my pick for the most fun game on the PS2
Eternal Ring is an another example. It's a very under the radar title from before From Software got big, and is still pretty unknown
Growlanser Generations was actually pretty under the radar, as it was Working Designs final game, and it did pretty terrible, and as far as I know there's no cult following. It is very under the radar. Also, despite being a tactical rpg, it's doesn't actually require you to be strategic, and the story and characters are so compelling. I'd love to find more like it.
Ring Of Red is way too damn hard for me, as it requires a lot of strategy. It's not for me, but it is very under the radar, so please do recc under the radar titles like this.

Examples of what I'm not looking for:
Shadow Hearts(My favorite rpg from asia!), Valkyrie Profile 2, and Radiata Stories is an example of a title that isn't really known by a lot of people who don't really know the ps2, but if you still really love the system and you were big on rpgs during the systems lifetime and you had the internet, you've known about them for decades. These are not what I mean when I say under the radar. They have a decent sized cult following too.
Clock Tower 3, Haunting Ground, and Rule Of Rose have a huge cult following, and are not what I mean when I say truly under the radar.
Dues Ex got a ton of attention on the PC, which is my main platform of choice. This is not what I mean when I say under the radar.

 

[Strategist]

My favorite under the radar RPG for the PS2 is Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land. I might write a review on it. one of these days. Apparently, the Wizardry series is still popular in Japan and a dev over there bought the rights to the IP. They continue to make games in the series over there and they have some interesting takes on the dungeon crawler formula. There's a sequel to that game, called Busin 0: Wizardry Alternative, that didn't get localized, but there's a fan made English guide for it floating around the internet. So there's two under the radar games for you.

 

[Spike]

Some ideas, probably not obscure but neither mainstream at least in the west:

Extermination
Bujingai
Disaster Report / Raw Danger series
Red Ninja

 

[PhrawzT]

Aqua Aqua, Dynasty Warriors 3 and Klonoa 2 are some PS2 games that I sank a lot of time into that don't get much attention.

 

[BinaryMessiah]

Adventures of Cookies and Cream
Okage
Under the Skin
Cy Girls
Kim Possible: What's the Switch?
Echo Night: Beyond
Galarians: Ash
Enthusia: Professional Racing (a racer by Konami that was overshadowed by GT4)
Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color
Samurai Western
Trapt
Stretch Panic
Evil Twin: Cyprian's Chronicles

Just a few examples that are all "under the radar," but the more known term is "hidden gem," which I find is a now outdated term as video games are well documented online, and it's down to an individual to find a hidden gem for themselves rather than discovering something new that no one has ever played yet.

 

[Don Patch]

Adventures of Cookies and Cream
Okage
Under the Skin
Cy Girls
Kim Possible: What's the Switch?
Echo Night: Beyond
Galarians: Ash
Enthusia: Professional Racing (a racer by Konami that was overshadowed by GT4)
Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color
Samurai Western
Trapt
Stretch Panic
Evil Twin: Cyprian's Chronicles

Just a few examples that are all "under the radar," but the more known term is "hidden gem," which I find is a now outdated term as video games are well documented online, and it's down to an individual to find a hidden gem for themselves rather than discovering something new that no one has ever played yet.

The Kim Possible game is deceptively awesome. A 2D platformer. Stunning character animation. A real hoot.

 

[symplily]

View attachment 1732650701942.webp

 

[Blamhammer]

I thought i'd grabbed all of From Software's work on the PS2, yet I missed out on this Shadow Tower?!

Another +1 for Samurai Western, it's pretty darn slick and the presentation is sharp. Gameplay is quite good too.

Darkwatch is a Action FPS game that I never knew existed. It gets straight into the thick of things and is quite fun.
...
Quite a lot of western\samurai action games on the PS2, I guess they're still making them on modern systems but their numbers have fizzled out a bit.

 

[Yousef]

You might wanna try Altered Beast’s ps2 remake.

 

[Waffles]

Snoopy vs the Red Baron, Quake III: Revolution and Xiaolin Showdown are extremely forgotten gems, and three of the best multiplayer games on the console.

This is the hill I choose to die on.

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

We got:

Nightmare of Druaga

Eternal Poison

Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance

Fighting Beauty Wulong

Tsugunai: Atonement

 

[RetroLaw]

It's hard to tell what's under the radar.

I guess games like Urban Reign aren't considered under the radar anymore.

What about Sword of Etheria ?

I also second Fighting Beauty Wulong, Beat Down, Red Ninja and Okage, all pretty fun games.

 

[Momo Momomo]

i have a real softspot for Blood Will Tell! but that ones starting to pick up a cult following, so you might have already checked it it out.

if you've already tried it, i recommend Genji Dawn of the Samurai. it's a lot better than its reputation, i personally really like it

 

[Abecero]

I think you'd quite like Steambot Chronicles.

It's main genre is an explorative 3d mech fighting game, but you also have like a rhythm minigame, mech customization, different kinds of jobs to make money and such, dialogue/story choices with some that quite alter your character/story, its really a gem of a game that's barely remembered nowadays.

 

[OldManLav]

Gitaroo Man

 

[stealthRUSH]

10,000 Bullets / Tsukiyo ni Saraba

 

[Cu-Neo]

I would recommend Maken X (Shao) and Okage Shadow king

 

[gk_ishy]

Berwick Saga. Its by the creator of fire emblem. Feels like the evolution of fire emblem if he never left intsys.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

if you've already tried it, i recommend Genji Dawn of the Samurai. it's a lot better than its reputation, i personally really like it

Never realized it had a bad reputation. I always greatly enjoyed the two Genji games as a huge fan of the Onimusha series with which it shares dna.

The PS2 had lots of quality action games, especially in the hack'n'slash genre so I second Dororo/Blood will tell. It's infamous for its high price tag these days but I've rarely heard anyone ever talk about its gameplay which is a shame.
Bujingai is also a fun exemplar of the genre. It got decent hype at the time because the protagonist was modeled after J-Pop singer Gackt, but it quickly faded into obscurity.
I don't know if you'd count these because the series they sprang from was once incredibly popular but I'd consider the Shinobi remake and its sequel Nightshade/Kunoichi to be real gems on the system. The two Gungrave games are also very enjoyable and stylish if short.
I'll cautiously throw Tenchu 3 and Tenchu Kurenai in the ring here too. The series was massive around the turn of the millenium, but it hasn't been remotely popular in twenty years (unfortunately for good reason), so I'm not sure how well it is remembered if at all.

 

[RageBurner]

I'm not sure if it matches your criteria properly but Rogue Galaxy is pretty neat and, as far as I know, something of a hidden gem.

 

[mandrakes]

Rogue Galaxy

7 Sins
Playboy the Mansion
The Guy Game
Bmx XXX
Larry Suit Larry : magna cumlaude

for this 5 game title it is dangerous to play with speaker on, and put dualshock controller on your own joystick

 

[Xeres]

There were incredible mentions like Shadow Tower Abyss, Okage, Maken, Steam Bot Chronicles-the PSP port is short and sweet- and Rogue Galaxy (I am biased on those three, I'm a sucker for Level5 and Atlus games). I could add Dororo to the list, I love how the game changes as you recover your body parts. Magic Pengel, the quest for color is quite clunky because of its drawing mechanic using analog sticks. It could have been a blast for the DS, though.

 

[mandrakes]

don't forget about

Shining force EXA

Arc The Lad : Twilight Of Spirits

Namco X Capcom Rpg

Legaia 2 Duel saga

Champion of Norrath

 

[Glimbo]

Drakan: The Ancients' Gates

Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat

Two really great action-adventure games. Drakan on PS2 is actually a sequel but the first game is PC only released in 1999.

 

[werewolfgimmick]

Oh I got a few
First, Chaindive is a 2.5D action game where you use a rope to grapple onto hooks, flying through the air freezing and then smashing enemies. The controls are weird but extremely fun and addictive once you get a handle on them. This one never left Japan but you can play it just fine without understanding the story.

Then there's Gungriffon Blaze, a pretty standard but fast paced arcadey mech FPS. I could only find this in CD format, which a lot of modded PS2s (like mine) don't read well, so you might want to just emulate it.

Last but not least is a licensed game, Super Dimension Fortress Macross. The selling point of this one is that at any time during gameplay you can transform back and forth from plane, to semi-plane, to humanoid mech, making for some pretty dynamic action. The worst thing about it is that it's super short, but that speaks it's strenght as a game that left me wanting more. Also only in Japanese but same as with Chaindive it's pretty simple to navigate and understand.