Recommended PS2 RPGs

[curds]

My buddy gave me a modded PS2 a while ago and I've just set it up since I'm becoming bored with western CRPGs lately. Looking for some Codex-approved PS2 JRPGs.

I've already got Dragon Quest 8, Dark Cloud, Monster Hunter, Persona 3, SMT Nocturne and FF10.

Cheers in advance.

 

[Poseidon00]

Suikoden 3 is pretty good but definitely starts slow, Makai Kingdom is tactics but pretty good, Drakengard doesn't really count but is worth playing. Not really a lot to choose from that I know about tbh.

 

[deuxhero]

Raidou 2.

 

[curds]

Suikoden 3 is pretty good but definitely starts slow, Makai Kingdom is tactics but pretty good, Drakengard doesn't really count but is worth playing. Not really a lot to choose from that I know about tbh.

Any reason to play Suikoden 1 and 2 first? How come Drakengard doesn't count, not a RPG or just not that good? Makai Kingdom looks interesting. RPG-related genres like tactics interest me too.

Raidou 2.

Do you mean SMT Devil Summoner 2? That's what I get when I search Raidou 2. Seems to be a quite a few SMT games on the PS2, are they all more or less worth playing? I know Nocturne and the Personas are all considered quite good.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Evergrace
Forever Kingdom
King's Field IV
Shadow Tower Abyss
Eternal Ring
Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Lands
Unlimited Saga
...
Ephemeral Fantasia

 

[Poseidon00]

Any reason to play Suikoden 1 and 2 first? How come Drakengard doesn't count, not a RPG or just not that good? Makai Kingdom looks interesting. RPG-related genres like tactics interest me too.

Besides the fact that they are just solid RPGs, not really. You will understand more of the background lore of the world and will know certain characters but that's about it.

Drakengard is more action than RPG but it's still solid and has a decent set of endings.

Makai Kingdom is great, yeah. Unique mechanics for a tactics game and they work well.

 

[curds]

Evergrace
Forever Kingdom
King's Field IV
Shadow Tower Abyss
Eternal Ring

Ah yes, the Fromsoft back catalogue. I'll be playing all of those for sure. I've been playing KF4 emulated on PC with an Xbox controller and really enjoying it, moreso than DS3 in fact. I may look into moving my savegames from the PC to the PS2 memory card somehow. Otherwise I'll probably just restart it on the console.

Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Lands

Got this one downloaded already. Not really many other blobbers on the console is there? I know there's Wizardry Busin 0 but I don't speak japanese so I'm out of luck with that one.

Ephemeral Fantasia

Looks somewhat Prosperian. Interested.

Besides the fact that they are just solid RPGs, not really. You will understand more of the background lore of the world and will know certain characters but that's about it.

I suppose since the PS2 can play PS1 games, I can always try the first two anyway.

 

[Ysaye]

In addition to the From and Wizardry games Z_Z suggested, when I bought a PS2 last year I got Suikoden 5 and enjoyed that, albeit some of the references to the other games will go over the head if you haven't played them, and the story kind of feels like a Suikoden storyline (but that again will go over your head if you haven't played the others).

 

[Zerth]

IMO Playing the first Monster Hunters in PS2 worth just as a curiosity playthrough. This is because the franchise gameplay loop was at its earlier state when attempted to be more of a Fantasy Hunting sim instead of an ARPG centered around dueling monster as It's today.

Persona 4 1.0 is also available on PS2.
You can give Xenosaga a try. But these never got me as invested as Xenogear. So never bothered in beat any episode.

 

[Falksi]

The Shadow Hearts games are great, the second one awesome. Up there with FFX as my fave JRPG on the system.

Summoner 2 is a fantastic game too, even if it is a bit janky. The world is lush, and the quests woven into the main game brilliantly.

 

[Miner 2049er]

Yeah, Shadow Hearts 2 is my favorite PS2 JRPG. While being mechanically less evolved, the first one has a darker atmosphere and should be played before the 2nd one. Same protagonist. The third one, on the other hand, had a totally different tone. Almost comedy. I was never able to finish it. The Xenosaga trilogy is also easy to recommend.

 

[Raghar]

WARSHIP GUNNER 2.
Also you might try Naval OPs first, it's earlier version of that game. Naval Ops is more a simulation where carriers are carriers, Warship gunner 2 is more action where carriers kinda exist.

 

[curds]

Any other blobbers on the system aside from Wizardry TotFL?

Thanks for the recommends, keep em comin.

Shadow Hearts I've heard of and looks cool.

Xenosaga I have heard the name of many, many times but still have no idea of what they're like. Maybe nows the time to find out.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Any other blobbers on the system aside from Wizardry TotFL?

Mostly Wizardry titles (Busin 0, Wizardry Xth, Wizardry Summoner...) and IIRC Elminage originally came out for PS2. There's also Kowloon High-School Chronicle, which was recently ported to Switch.
These titles aren't translated, but the Switch version of KHSC / Elminage Original for PSP and PC are available in English.

If there's anything else, I'm unaware of it and would like to know more.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The Bard's Tale
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

 

[curds]

The Bard's Tale

One of my first RPGs. Played it on my PS2 as a kid.

I remember reading about the original bards tale at some point, thinking it was the one I had played and getting very confused because it sounded quite different.

 

[d1r]

Wizardry Tale of the Forsaken Lands (play this first before Busin 0)
Busin 0 Wizardry Alternative Neo (https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...native-neo-translation-guide-included.138022/) - get your paper and pen ready

A warning though, Wizardry Tale of the Forsaken Lands is an extremely slow game on the original hardware (overall gameplay speed).

Final Fantasy XII ZJS
All Shin Megami Tensei games

 

[Puukko]

I can heartily recommend the following SMTs:

Digital Devil Saga 1+2: SMT if it was a more traditional PS2 RPG ala FFX. More linear, story driven, really unique setting. Shoji Meguro's best music, and I'll fight anyone at the school yard over that opinion.

Raidou 1+2: detective ARPGs made by people with no previous experience making action games, so manage your expectations. This era of Japan makes for another prime setting. Best demon negotiation in the series.

You'll want to play both of these duologies in order. DDS because it's one story split in two, and Raidou because going back to 1's clunkiness after 2's relative fluidity will be more difficult.


Regarding a few of the other games you mentioned, Shadow Hearts is a pretty cool series with a unique tone of dark humor. I played through most of Covenant and while it was structured like another typical PS2 RPG (progression, party makeup, hubs etc) all of those aspects had a unique twist to them which made the game very fresh for me. Still, the fairly easy difficulty made me lose interest over time. There's a hardtype mod for both 1 and 2 at least, but I've only played a bit of the mod for 1.

Xenosaga: I've played 1 and it was just a very ok game, not something I'd say you need to hurry to play. I'd sooner recommend Xenoblade Chronicles, and then there's OG Xenogears which is in my "I know it's a classic and I'll like it but I'm waiting for the inspiration to really hop in" basket.

 

[ghostdog]

SMT Nocturne is my favorite PS2 rpg and my favorite megaten game.
The first Shadow Hearts. Great little gem. Manages to keep a nice atmosphere without too much animu silliness. SH2 was much too silly for my tastes, but still a decent one.
Persona 4 is much better than 3 IMO.
Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 are pretty good. Like a more story-focused, but more linear, SMT Nocturne.
Dragon Quest VIII is excellent. The DQV remake is pretty nice too.


While playing on a PS2 has its charm (I have a PS2), I find it's much better to emulate those games nowadays.

 

[j2alg]

Ar Tonelico 1+2
Mana Khemia (there is a psp port which you should avoid)
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song

 

[laclongquan]

Kessen 3. A lite version of King Arthur the RPG in Japanese setting. Or a more RPG, more tactical version of Dynasty Warriors 5, but in JPN. Or a more RPG version of Sengoku Warriors 2.

Romance of Three Kingdom 10. Obviously people emulated that nowadays, but in the old days it's the main method to play ROTK10 in english.

Front Mission 4,5. The only way to play mecha tactical~

 

[SerratedBiz]

Any reason to play Suikoden 1 and 2 first? .

I know that a bunch of people feel differently but I'm here to tell you that S3 is nowhere near as good as S1/2 (S2 in particular). S3 is so fucking slow I wanted to tear my hair out, I barely finished it. Meanwhile, I probably have 4 playthroughs of S2 in me.

S2-3 are literally not connected by storyline other than being set in the same world, but 2 is a direct continuation of 1. S1-2 is the superior choice for the monocled gamer.

 

[abnaxus]

Rhapsody of Zephyr

 

[Reinhardt]

Ar Tonelico 1+2
Mana Khemia (there is a psp port which you should avoid)
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song

This man knows what he's talking.

 

[samuraigaiden]

Drakan: The Ancients Gates was the PS2's answer to Morrowind on Xbox. It's an Action-Adventure/RPG where the main character controls just like a PS1 Tomb Raider game. And there's a talking dragon. It's nothing like Morrowind at all!