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 On 02/17/2023 at 10:35 AM by KnightDriver See More From This User » |
I’m sure I got a PS2 a little later than release, probably after I got a Xbox in 2001. Xbox became the key system my friend and I played, and so I played all the other systems for their exclusives with a few exceptions. PS2 had some good ones too.
I had the launch console at first and then in 2004 a silver Slimline, which is still my favorite. When my previous one died, I got another one.
In the beginning, I got games that fit the FPS habits my friend and I had. The first Red Faction and Half-Life were only ported to PS2. Later I played non exclusives Black and Urban Chaos: Riot Response on PS2 because I loved them so much, I wanted to play them again on another system. The first Timesplitters was an exclusive and got me into the series. My favorite Timesplitters, however, came later on all systems.
Carrying over from Gauntlet-like co-op action RPGs we’d played before was Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance, which was only exclusive to PS2 for a year before hitting Xbox.
I discovered something new with the God of War series. The first and second games were fantastic action games with mind-blowing cinematic visuals. I loved the way the camera would pull out to show the huge scale of the environments or bosses Kratos was encountering.
Culdcept I got after discovering the series with Culdcept Saga on Xbox 360. I love this unique fantasy board and card game design. I even got the original Japanese version of Culdcept Saga, called Culdcept II, on Dreamcast. The game has since seen a 3DS iteration and gone online for PC. I’d like to see another console game, or at least, anything like it.
My friend and I both got copies of Dragon Quest VIII and played it to completion. Or at least, he did. I wore out after 90 hours of gameplay. Sometimes a game can be too long.
Two games that came out just before PS3 that were fantastic were Okami and God Hand. One RPG with sumi-e brush strokes as a spell casting mechanic and a funny, over-the-top 3D adventure/fighter. God Hand was a favorite of both of us. We’d often be playing it at the same time on our respective systems.
The Ratchet & Clank games: R&C, Up Your Arsenal and Going Commando are some of my favorite mascot action/adventure games. I’ve been following the series ever since.
The last of the Wizardry games I’ve played appeared on PS2 with Forsaken Land. Fun but very difficult.
Burnout Dominator was a PS2 exclusive published in 2007 while Criterion was working on Burnout Paradise. I had to have it, even though it came out so late in the PS2’s life, being a huge Burnout fan.
TV Time! PS2 commercial.
My best memories of this would be jealousy over all the games this got that didn't come to GameCube; like, how was Psychonauts not perfect for the GCN?!
I played Metal Gear Solid 2 when I was old enough and after my brother was done with it, then Guilty Gear X2 ensured Guilty Gear became my favorite fighting series when I rented it, and you can't forget that its success story was largely thanks to it being a cheap DVD player.
I think the PS2 would have crushed it anyway because of the incredibly strong position Sony was in when the PS1 launched. I loved the Gamecube, but Nintendo was in a weakened position and still struggled despite stronger Japanese support. Microsoft was finally getting a long-overdue lesson that throwing its overflowing checkbook at everything didn't guarantee domination. (Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be a lesson that they internalized.)
Even setting aside DVDs, the PS2 was pretty much the default choice, though the DVDs did help at first. I feel that being the lead console for the unexpected blockbuster Grand Theft Auto franchise was what helped Sony in the long run.
I think, PS2 won because it could play DVDs and was a known entity. Xbox was too new and if it wasn't for Halo, it might've gone the way of the Dreamcast. I've heard that the head of Microsoft were against a game system at first. If it failed, they might have tanked it.
Psychonauts would've been great on Gamecube.
Final Fantasy X was my first PS2 game. There were so many amazing RPGs on it, but it also seemed like action games also made a big comeback on PS2, thanks to games like Devil May Cry. Grand Theft Auto III and Vice Ciry were also fun. I played Dragon Quest VIII with my wife, got FFXII the next year. My last PS2 game was Sakura Wars, bought in March 2010.
There's so much there for me to explore. I just need the time for it.
When the PS2 came out, I had just graduated college so I was low on funds so I couldn't get it right away. Plus it was really hard to find for the first few months. I finally got one around March or April that next year. Aside from stuff like Kingdom Hearts and Katamari Damacy, I don't have many PS2 specific memories because most everything I wanted to play came out on both the PS2 and GameCube, so it was just a matter of what system I'd rather play them on.
I was still reviewing games for the newspaper when the PS2 first came out. I remember my editor saying, "Cary, you need to get a PS2!" And I was like, "I just got out of college. I have to get some funds first! Maybe if you hire me full time I can get one soon. Or let me have your press copy which I know you have." My editor didn't like me much. Not sure why.
If a game came out on all or two of the systems, I always defaulted to Xbox because that's what my friend played.
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