Today I'm going to take a look at top ten PlayStation 2 games. Considering the size and scope of the PlayStation 2 library, this was no easy task.
Note i'm not saying these games have the best story, game play or graphics. They are simply the games I remember fondest.
Number 1.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Probably my favourite grand theft auto game, sure some people will argue that vice city is better, but I always loved the massive open world presented in San Andreas. I'm not going to bother telling you to check this out, if your any type of gamer, you probably already have.
Number 2
Kingdom hearts
there is no reason for this to have worked as well as it did, when I first read about kingdom hearts, my first thought was “A Disney RPG?... Pass” but then I read that it was going to feature final fantasy characters, so I decided to at least try it out and man i'm glad I did. Ecploring the worlds presented in the different disney worlds in the game is a joy, I've never quite gotten around to playing any Kingdom Hearts game other than the first one, but I have many happy memoires about playing it.
Number 3
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake eater
I loved metal gear solid on the playstation, a great stealth game with an interesting story and interesting characters. Then Metal Gear Solid 2 came out... and it was a convoluted mess of a story, with a new dislikeable main character and while the game play was good, it lost so much that made the playstation game a classic. But then they released Snake Eater and the world was good again. Featuring a much harder stealth system without the radar and with the need to think about your camouflage, an interesting cast of characters and the chance to get to know some of the history behind the games mythical Big Boss. Snake Eater to me is as good as the Metal Gear solid franchise gets.
Number 4
Silent hill 2
There is not much I can say about silent hill 2 that has not already been said. Its a survival horror game and probably the first time I realised that you could make horror work in video game format. Packed full of psychological scares and sometimes punishing gameplay silent hill 2 is the reason so many of us who where teens in the early 2000's are still a little freaked out by fog.
Number 5
Primal
Primal is a Action adventure game with a supernatural story that tells the tale of Jennifer Tate, a young women on a quest to save her boyfriend. To do this you have to fight your way through demon realms picking up the ability transform into new demonic forms along the way. The story is good, the gameplay is good (if you don't focus on the water level... *shudders* and the characters are great. Give it a go if you never have.
Number 6
SSX Tricky
This game brings back the memory of me and my younger brother playing video games together. The gameplay is your standard snowboarding, but tricky was the first and still one of the only sports games I have ever got into. I'll never forget competing with my brother to get the highest score and to this day we still quote SSX Tricky's announcer to each other every chance we get. Excuse me while I call my momma in the room to show her how great I am.
Number 7
Resident Evil 4
When I first played this game when it came out, I remember decribing it to a friend as “an almost perfect game” having replayed it recently I have no idea what younger me was talking about. Its a pretty good action horror game, but it has some serious flaws. Still it makes this list on pure nostalgia.
Number 8
Dark cloud 2
One of the weirdest games on the list. This is an action RPG that combined randomized dungeons and city planning. In simple terms its a dungeon crawler, you progress by finding new city pieces in dungeons and levelling up items. Its also an incredibly stylish and pretty game and I have fond memory’s of playing it for hours at a time.
Number 9
Beyond good and evil
Beyond good and evil, may be my favourite game from the Playstation 2 era of my gaming life, in it you p[lay the main character Jade as she and her Uncle Pey'j (who happens to be an anthropomorphic pig) join forces with the IRIS network to uncover the truth behind the alpha network and its possible connections to DomZ.
Confused? Go play the game then, the story is not easy to explain, but the game tells it exceptionally well, you Jade and her trusty camera investigate the conspiracy while also taking pictures of animals to earn a little scratch on the side, this is not however a investigation game, its a pure action adventure, Jade is equipped with a “Dai-jo” combat staff, and the combat is very nicely done, Jade's moves are fluid and satisfying and the difficultly is just enough to challenge you without frustrating you.its not fighting all the time however, the game splits up its combat sections with some very nicely done hovercraft piloting sections and the occasional puzzle or mini game.
The characters in this game are however probably the reason I really love it, they are interesting, weird and engaging. you will have a hard time not identifying with at least one of them as this games story unfolds.
Number 10
Psychonauts
Ah Tim Schafer, I could do a whole set of posts just about your games, Full throttle, Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle even my all time favourite game The Secret of Monkey Island all originated in the mind of the great Tim Schafer.
On my original list the last spot of “!£!”$”!£$ was going to be taken by Grim Fandango, its a truly exceptional game and well worth your time, But Psychonauts just takes the gold.
Psychonauts is a platform game where you play as the main character, Raz a young boy with psychic abilities who runs away from the circus to sneak into a summer camp for similarity gifted “Psychonauts” The game mostly takes place inside the minds of various characters at this summer camp, and its these brilliant bizarre and outright fantastic settings that puts this game at the top of my charts.
Each mind creates its own setting with wildly different visual styles, and enemies and creatures related to the deep seated fears and hidden desires of the person who's mind it is. For example in the paranoid mind of Boyd the security guard, There are cameras everywhere, black helicopters in the sky and everyone you meet is a secret agent in a (useless) disguise.
On the other hand, when you enter the mind of a fish from the lake, Raz appears as a giant monster, in a very Japanese monster movie inspired level.
This constant switch between not only levels, but style of game keeps Psychonauts not only interesting, but down right fascinating I loved it from the very start to the very end, its a classic and you do it a disservice if you have never played it. Its now available on steam, and Good old games for the PC and downloadable as an Xbox original on the Xbox 360, so you have no excuse not to play it.
Go forth and explore the minds of some of the strangest people your ever likely to come across. Then come back and thank me when your done.
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