I basically abandoned console gaming after the Dreamcast died, a minor stint with the Xbox notwithstanding. So obviously I missed out on a lot of games, especially for the PS2. I'm wondering now, with the system being so cheap, if I should pick one up so I can play some of these games I missed. I feel I should play Ico, Odin Sphere, and Shadow of the Colossus, but what are some other games it would be a shame to miss?

Hit the two I was going to name, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus right of the bat.

After that, I would highly recommend Okami. Beautiful art, an interesting gameplay mechanic and just very highly recommended game.

Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 and Ace Combat 4 were also great Playstation 2 games. I personally have always loved the Armored Core series, several of which appear on the Playstation 2, but they're niche titles, so might not strike your fancy.

The Playstation 2 was blessed with a huge library and although had a lot of mediocre to bad games, also sported some real gems. But Okami strikes me as one of those that should be towards the top of your list for good releases there. People will probably recommend the Final Fantasies, particularly X and XII, but I can't personally attest to liking those games, weren't my thing.

The Kingdom Hearts series- overrated perhaps, but definitely domething you'd miss.

Both Disgaea games- rare, and the combination of gameplay and humor is a crime to ignore.

Devil May Cry was fun. Most hack 'n' slashers get boring after a few minutes, but it managed to keep me playing, at least.

You cannot buy a PS2 and not get a Katamari game. It doesn't matter which. It's like heroin, only not illegal and slightly more addictive.

I've said this before but TimeSplitter was pretty good. Brillient multiplayer.

But then again you can get it on other consoles and PC too.

Nothing. Nintendo loves you. Join us. :]

All of these are fantastic titles (Especially Okami, MGS series, and Kingdom Hearts if you like Final Fantasy or Disney films at all). I can only think to add two. First is the obvious, God of War. It's $20 bucks right now and worth every penny. There's nothing quite as epic as a rampaging Spartan who's got a beef with a god. My personal favorite and cult classic is Dark Cloud 2. It's like Sim City meets Zelda. It doesn't matter what you're a fan of, you'll LOVE Dark Cloud 2 in some respect.

well, if your into hack 'n slash games, then you should definitely get God Of War. (the second one if you don't wanna buy both)

or if your into JRPG's then I can recommend final fantasy X.

...OH, and shadow of the colossus. get that one. :)

For these reasons, I've actually been considering buying a PS2 as opposed to one of these newfangled things. I figure I can get most games cheaply, and in my view the PS2 has the broadest range of the best games.

Tekken 5 and Soul Calibur 3 are both great fighters that are most definitly worth playing.

Rouge Galaxy is made by the same guys who did Dark Cloud, and I think they had a hand with Dragon Quest 8, so if you like one of those games, you'll most likely like them all.

Onimusha has about 4 games on the PS2, and they're all good, if a little too similar by number 4.

Any Ratchet and Clank game not called Deadlocked is so worth it.

Sly 2, not the first, not number 3, Sly 2, is one of the best games on the system, and one of my personal favourites.

*insert mention of Jak and Daxtor here*

Zone of the Enders, if you can find it, is great, but it's squeal, The 2nd Runner, is better in every way.

Maximo, Shinobi, and Rygar are all old, niche titles, and some of the best games to fall under the radar in ages.

Oh, and Black, easily the prettiest game on the system, makes Halo 3 look outdated, and it's not a bad game, either.

Of course, Grand Theft Auto has a good reputation for a reason, and San Andreas is a good game by any standards, but the Xbox and PC versions are much better.

SSX 3, Beyond Good and Evil, and Psychonauts also fall under the "get it if you can't find a better version" catagory.

And that's just the list of games that came up in a quick Google search, I haven't even touched the RPGs yet (get Wild Arms 5, it's a good one), nor have I touched upon the huge number of classics in the PS1 libary that are just that much better on a PS2.

Okami.

Now go and buy two copies, as penance.

GloatingSwine:
Okami.

Now go and buy two copies, as penance.

As surprising as I found it, I'd rather advise people to get it on the Wii if they care to wait.
I think the paintbrush function deserves more than an analogic stick, and the game may get slightly shinier graphics.
It will, for sure, get lets aliasing anyway.

Here are a couple of games I picked from a rather long list:

Project Zero 3, Devil May Cry 3, Resident Evil 4, R-Type Final, Shadow of the Colossus, Ace Combat 5, Hokuto No Ken, God of War II, Burnout Dominator, Odin Sphere.

Bit of an Everquest fan says you missed out on both Champions of Norrath. Played kind of like Diablo 2 but was insanely addictive.

Aside from the greatest game to grace the platform, Odin Sphere, there are a few other good gems you should find (especially 2D Fighters).

Street Fighter Anniversary Collection: Not only does this game come with Street Fighter 2 in all its versions, it also comes with the greatest fighting game ever (till Brawl), Street Fighter III Third Strike.

Kingdom Hearts series: although they are overrated a bit, they are quite an experience.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core: A underappreciated 2D fighter with original character designs and great combat system

King of Fighters XI: Game finally came to the states. Its well done and balanced to boot(except for the final boss, which is usually SNK's thing)

Megaman X8: Its basically Megaman back to its roots and it has good replay value too.

If you dont have a Gamecube get Veiwtiful Joe 1 and 2 on Ps2
I recommend the DarkCloud series along with Disgaea 1 and 2, Gladius, Jak2 (hilarious to me) , Okage (launch title i think.....), and the tons of cool things from PS1 also.

Timesplitters.

Let's see...you missed out on:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Bully
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven; Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
Legacy of Kain: Defiance; Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (Blood Omen 2 sucked but is necessary for the story sorta that originated with Blood Omen 1 on psx)
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus
God of War; God of War II
Okami
Metal Gear Solid Sons of Liberty
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus
Manhunt
Gundam Battle Assault 3
Robot Alchemic Drive
Yakuza
Wipeout XL
Way of the Samurai
Onimusha series

That's a few

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Looks like I'll be getting a PS2, and playing a lot of games. Now I just have to make a list.

The Irrelevant Gamer:
Thanks for all of the suggestions. Looks like I'll be getting a PS2, and playing a lot of games. Now I just have to make a list.

Make sure Odin Sphere is on it.

The Jak series. You missed a lot there, especially with Jak 2. All the jumpiness of a platformer combined with the solid sandbox and shooter elements of GTA. Plot was good, and the graphics were the best the Playstation had to offer.

If you haven't played them on other platforms:

Silent Hill 2
Shadow of Memories (I liked it, many hated it)

I'm not into driving games myself, but I've heard that Grand Turismo 3 is the best in the series.

I very much recommend the Soul Calibur series if you like fighting games, and I found Mortal Kombat: Deception surprisingly enjoyable.

It would help if we knew your gaming preferences. Even the best games of a genre will bore you if they aren't your thing.

That said..

SSX Tricky (better then the other versions I think)
God of War (and GoW 2)
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus (if you love it, go back for Ico. But SotC is the better of the two)
I have heard great things about Okami. But I have never played it myself. I am waiting for the Wii version at this point. From what I hear it is a Zelda game, but link is a goddess in the form of a wolf. Instead of an elf... erm, in the form of a wolf.
Twisted Metal Black. It is an early game, so the graphics are not spectacular. But it is a great game, especially in multiplayer
Gran Turismo 3
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

If you no longer have your Xbox..
GTA: Vice City
Burnout 3
Psyconauts
Soul Calibur 2 or 3

well, all i ever did with my (brothers) PS2 is play Armored Core games nothing else really, but yea, if you dont have a freakish love for big robots you can probably skip those too.... the story lines are really vague

The only PS2 games I really played were Soul Calibur (Beating your friends hundreds of times is always fun) and Grand Theft Auto, and I had a LOT of PS2 games.

Here's my list for must have PS2 games:

RPG: Odin Sphere. Forget about FFX and XII. After 7, the series has continuously been disappointment after disappointment. XII is too damn long and the combat gets really repetitive. FFX has a story and characters that make me ashamed of ever enjoying JRPGs. Odin Sphere, on the other hand, is near perfect. Disgaea is also high on the list. Kingdom Hearts was okay, but the sequel had possibly the lamest beginning to a game ever.

Hack n' Slash: Devil May Cry. For the love of god and all that is holy stay away from God of War and pick up this gem instead. I have never understood the appeal of God of War, especially with games like DMC and Ninja Gaiden having come out before it and before much much better. There are things in video gaming more enjoyable than the shotgun in Devil May Cry. It has a perfect difficulty curve, a wide choice of upgrades that allow you to customize, wonderful controls, and combat that is just plain fun. Fun Fun Fun. Also, it had skippable cut scenes if I remember correctly, which is good because the story is something which you should avoid like the plague.

Adventure: Okami, Ico, and holy shit Silent Hill 2. I've never actually played Okami, but people have compared it very favorably with the Zelda series, so it has to be good. I know that's very hallow of me, but damnit Zelda is great and anything that's like it must be amazing also. Pick up Ico too, it has the best puzzles I've seen since Lufia 2. Silent Hill 2 is the scariest game and best horror game ever to be made; an absolute masterpiece. Resident Evil 4 is pretty damn good as well. Stay away from Shadow of the Colossus, it's horrible, boring, and uninteresting. Don't believe everyone else's lies. Honestly though, the 'adventuring" in that game is nothing more than riding your horse for hours on end until you find the right rock cluster to climb up, and the battles are mostly all the same thing. Climb, jump, hold on, climb, stab, repeat until you die of boredom. If you're going to play a Grand Theft Auto game, pick up 3. The other two don't have as dark of an atmosphere, and tried to do too much without adding any real new gameplay elements.

Racing: Grand Turismo 3. Best racing game ever. End of Story.

Fighting game: There's a big debate of which is better, Soul Calibur 2 or 3. My vote goes for 2. Soul Calibur 2 was the perfect fighting game, and in 3 Namco tried to do that whole "fix something when it isn't broken" and ended up screwing over everything. Soul Calibur 2 has the same thing going for it as Starcraft. It has a boat load of characters that can all do very unique things while remaining incredibly well balanced, requiring smarts and reflexes to become truly great.

Platformer: I actually don't know. I haven't played a PS2 platformer that is worth recommending. I've heard good things about Psychonauts, so I suppose go for that one.

Stealth: Metal Gear Solid 2. The more and more I post on these message boards, the more I realize that my taste in games is vastly different than the general populace. I digress, MGS2 is a wonderful game, better than 3. Raiden is awesome, the art direction is the best the series has seen, even if the graphics aren't as good as they are in 3, the difficulty curve is great for people like me who enjoy not getting eaten by alligators over and over again at the start of a fucking game, and the story builds on the original beautifully. Screw what gamespot says, this game is definitely not overrated.

Most importantly, never buy: Devil May Cry 3, Manhunt,Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus.

Here's a game I haven't seen yet. Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. It kind of has a bit of the FEAR touch in it, but you can do a lot more cool stuff. There's just something special about mind-controlling a sniper, having him clear out the level, then making him jump out of the sniper tower to the hard ground below.

I also dig the tekken series.

Selka:
Most importantly, never buy: Devil May Cry 3

Surely you jest? It was a bit frantic, and the learning curve was a bastard, but it was still a ton of fun and the cutscenes were so fun to watch I often looked forward to the end of the level just to see them.

No offense to you Selka, but your suggestions are just dripping with personal bias.

Anyway...

RPG:
-FFX and FFXII were excellent; if you've ever played an FF game, liked it, yet are not fanboyishly attached to its traditions (i.e. are somewhat open-minded), I think you will find a lot in them. XII is a big leap in terms of gameplay and mature, nearly cliche-free storytelling, if you're interested. People often complain just because it's not as insanely emotional, the way I see it.
-Kingdom Hearts and its sequel were fun; they had obvious flaws and were nothing very provocative, but they were both very entertaining throughout. The Disney-ridden yet intricate story, along with great music, was, to me, very inspiring.

ADVENTURE:
-Okami's gameplay is much like Zelda's, but its aesthetics and its EXACT mechanics make it a very different experience. Highly recommended.
-Shadow of the Colossus doesn't deserve a placement in genre. It could just as easily be RPG, action, or puzzle. This is epic game poetry, and its also fun. There is much to appreciate in the game, and playing it through will definitely make you FEEL something. The game constantly has your attention, even though it plays off of so few mechanics... OVERT mechanics, that is... :)

PLATFORMER:
-Ratchet and Clank is wonderful. Deadlocked has more of an arena-style structure with less adventuring, but the first three are a great mix of role-playing, andventure, shooting, and platforming genres.
-The Jak series comes sort of close behind Ratchet. Gameplay is a little stiff in comparison, but the storytelling nearly makes up for it.

ACTION:
-Timesplitters is great multiplayer, with an entertaining single player. A fairly unique-in-style, worthwhile play.
-Splinter Cell has not been mentioned here, has it? Terrible. This is stealth gaming at its finest. Unilke MGS's great action-oriented gameplay and top-tier storytelling (don't get me wrong; if I'd have played any of them yet I'm 100% sure I'd list them here, as I know they are great games), these games make you think your way through missions. First is great, second steps down in general quality, third (I've heard) is the best so far.
-Bully is pure fun with a bit of a social message. Doing the things that are possible in the game are just a blast, and the gameplay is varied throughout. If you liked GTA, it's for you. If you haven't played GTA, don't miss this one.

Games I hear are good:
-Psychonauts
-God of War
-Indigo Prophecy
-Disgaea

EDIT: Added Bully.

Okay, I'm saying it again: SLY 2.

Why does no one else mention it?

This is a great game, and more than deserving enough of your time and money.

Metal gear solid in all it's forms are masters of a particular genre. A very small, insignificant genre, but you don't get any better anywhere else.

And they're all now cheap in bargain bins.

I have to echo the "surely you jest?" about DMC3. The Best. Combat. Eva. No character is more responsive (or cooler) than Dante. (Sorry, Kratos.) And the style system makes the replay value INSANE. (Plus, I don't know if you're a girl or not, but if so, Dante's alternate costume is a real treat. *winks* It's not often we girls get the eyecandy.) Just make sure you get the Special Edition.

I'll just add my vote to the following already mentioned games: Okami, SOTC, ICO, Beyond Good and Evil, Silent Hill 2, Onimusha series (sans 4), God of War(s).

Selka:

Racing: Grand Turismo 4. Best racing game ever. End of Story.

Fixed. ;)

Okami, God of War, Way of the Samurai (I'm amazed it was already mentioned!), Tourist trophy if you're into motorcycles or just racing in general, and GTA San Andreas all stand out.

With the GTA series, just buy San Andreas and don't bother with the other two. Once you've played SA, the others are just kind of disappointing.

If you like rhythm games at all, you should definitely check out the Guitar Hero series.

EDIT: Actually you should probably check it out anyways, I didn't know I liked rhythm games until after I played Guitar Hero.

I'm going to save myself a half hour and say "a lot".

xbeaker:

Psychonauts

Trust me on this one- AVOID the PS2 port of Psychonauts. The load times will make you kill someone. Buy it on Steam, get it on the PC, or get the XBox version like xbeaker sad.