PS2 PS2 Hidden Gems

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound pretentious. Just thought you'd find that interesting.

I didn't see it that way no worries and it was.

 

[Anne Tagg]

Not sure if it was niche or not, but I also loved Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, it was like a precursor to Nioh. Just saw they're releasing an Onimusha 2 remaster, so I have my fingers crossed Dawn of Dreams might eventually get the same treatment. I wanna play it again without having to dig out my PS2.

Definitely the peak of the series. Super ambitious and absolutely massive compared to its predecessors. It always baffled me how Dawn of Dreams was such a banger and clearly had so much effort put into it, only for Capcom to abandon the series for, what, almost 20 years now?

It had a couple of codes you could enter on the title screen, one of them put characters into Street Fighter outfits, and the other enabled 2P co-op, which was clearly intended as a feature, given the mandatory partner character, though it's clear why it was scrapped. Very cool that they included it regardless.

My old roommate and I played through about 2/3 of the game in 2P. The problem was that the fixed camera angles follow player one, so player two would often wind up stuck off-screen and need to blindly navigate into the next screen. Super weird considering the game was using properly rendered 3D environments instead of prerendered backgrounds.

I hope that if Capcom ever gets to rereleasing Dawn of Dreams, we'll see a fixed version of the co-op mode, because it was a lot of fun, though I also worry that they'll just bury it entirely, like Genma Onimusha...

 

[Pjira]

I really feel like more people would notice MS Saga nowadays if it got a rerelease

 

[OkinawaPolice]

I remember playing games that were never on any lists of popular/best games on PS2. I enjoyed them a lot. There were a ton of sports/racing games but one of my favorites that stayed in my memory is Shrek: Carnival Craze.
Cousins and friends from my neighborhood would gather around and play them together, and had such a fun time. Shame I don't have that spark anymore for it, neither do I have the time to play as much. There were also other games but I can't seem to remember them as I am writing this, maybe only Hugo games.


What about you? Which games have you played that are not as popular with the majority of the population?

Downhill Domination on PS2.... think Road Rash meets downhill BMX racing

 

[ThatOneLum]

Not sure how niche it is, but Whiplash is a fun PS2 game about animals escaping a testing laboratory. Loads of really funny moments/dialogue throughout and a decent 3D platformer to boot if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[xX-Delirium-Xx]

playing a game called Twin Caliber surprisingly its not on this site. its sort of a rail shooter in which to travel through a prison during a zombie outbreak and you control two guns with left and right joysticks. it has two player co-op too

 

[GardeniaSky]

Haunting Ground

 

[SonOfEnosh]

 

[lilizu]

I would say the .Hack series (particularly IMOQ), but that might not be considered niche among many people.

If not those, then the absolute mess of a game below. Some of the worst combat loading times I've ever experienced, and yet so fun for fans of the show. I enjoyed the original story since the player characters actually feel like they fit in well.

 

[DjQuick2008]

About to test this out

 

[merzbun]

Michigan: Report from Hell. Can't say I fully enjoy it's execution, but the concept of it is super enthralling to me. I wish it was better designed mechanically, because the combination of found footage aesthetics with video games is like exactly geared to activate my neurons. I like the ridiculous voice acting and all that, but the camera and recording elements don't feel as compelling and intricate as they should be. I think abt that game a fair amount.

also Gregory Horror Show is da best game ever

 

[Don Patch]

Tons!

Some absolute gold, there.

 

[chibimatty]

Chaos Legion - Really unique and pretty addictive in a more arcadey sort of way. Absolutely dreadful voice acting but in the best possible way, but it's definitely a love it or hate it kind of thing I think.



Bujingai is sort of in the vein of crossing DMC with Ninja Gaiden, and like NOBODY seems to have heard of it. It's really fun and pretty intense.


Darkwatch is a haunted wild west shooter that is loads of fun and just the essence of cool. It also has a really fun multiplayer mode... as long as you don't have a friend who gets a lot out of taking advantage of the friendly fire a little too much... >> Not me or anything, I totally didn't ruin the experience for @Mr. Daddy once I got my hands on the rocket launcher.

Man, classic! I have these three in my collection still.

I was actually at the Tokyo Game Show in 2002 when they introduced Bujingai and Chaos Legion and previewed them with early footage. Bujingai in particular was touted as a big deal from Sega as they had a pop star called "Gackt" in the lead role.

crimson tears

That game had such an awesome intro and theme, saw that at TGS 2002 also. Had the intro on a Capcom promotional DVD from the show also

 

[groundbeef]

Enthusia Professional Racing is perhaps my biggest to point out. If you enjoy slightly more sim related games this is definitely a great experience. I liked some of the shmups like Giga Wings Generations, Thunder Force V, Mushihimesama, Homura, Ibara and a few others. Blood Will Tell and Crimson Sea 2 were fun.

 

[GardeniaSky]

Radiata Stories for sure.

It's pretty cartoony but I found it quite charming.

 

[RocketPowered]

Ace Combat: The Belkan War! It's not exactly the most popular game around (being a PS2 game released in 2006 doesn't help), but it's definitely a gem. The PS2 Ace Combat games in general are a real treat, so definitely check them out.

 

[Boo Man]

Recently discovered this X Files game that is surprisingly good!
its very similar to Silent Hill and Resident Evil

for some reason it wont save or load game on PCSX2 so you have to use save states but no big deal

 

[albrown267]

Haunting Ground for the PS2 deserves more love honestly. It is just a shame that it had to be overshadowed by Silent Hill 3 and Resident Hill 4.