Games The Defined The PS2 - Add Your Contribution!

[casterofdreams]

Persona 3 & 4 made the series huge in the West and debuted on the PS2

Do you think it's a good idea to add all of SMT on this list?
SMT Nocturn
SMT Digital Devil Saga 1&2
SMT Devil Summoner 1&2

Or does the group think thoses five games are more hidden gems?

I wanted to add Okami to the list of games that defined the PS2.

[MrPopo]

I think all the ones you listed are far more in the hidden gems category. Especially Nocturne and DDS. The second Raido game came out after Persona 3 and so got some more attention for its sub-series, but as a whole it's still much more under the radar compared to Persona.

[Segata]

Okage and Guitaro Man are some great hidden gems on PS2.

[casterofdreams]

I think all the ones you listed are far more in the hidden gems category. Especially Nocturne and DDS. The second Raido game came out after Persona 3 and so got some more attention for its sub-series, but as a whole it's still much more under the radar compared to Persona.

I think what you said makes a lot of sense. Well when that article gets revised we can add those suckers in there!

[isiolia]

I don't think that RPG listings need to get too granular since (arguably) the defining thing for the PS2 in that respect was that it had nearly all of the home console JRPG releases in that generation. As such, there'd be a ton of them to potentially list...but objectively, the Final Fantasy games are largely the ones that sold on par with a lot of the other games listed, along with DQVIII.

Most others objectively didn't sell well enough to really rank. I think Star Ocean Till the End of Time and Xenosaga Episode I were others that were Greatest Hits for instance, but most JRPGs - as good as many on the PS2 are - are objectively niche titles. The Persona games too, even if they stand out in retrospect.

[Exhuminator]

The only Persona that makes any sense going on this list would be Persona 4. It was the true gateway breaker for the series, and it did indeed debut on PS2.

[alienjesus]

I'd say Persona 4 deserves to be on the list, but for a totally different reason.

Persona 4 is a big name game that released on PS2 in 2008 in Japan and the US and 2009 in Europe and Australia - 3 YEARS after the launch of XBox 360 and 2 years after the Playstation 2's own successor, the PS3.

It's pretty defining of the success of the console that it's lifespan continued with pretty decent support for some years after the point you might expect.

[isiolia]

Agree, and the late launch could be seen as a reason for lower numbers - the Vita port sold well, and there were spinoffs based on it on 7th gen consoles to boot.


Lifespan, I think, is better highlighted by the late release soccer games and support for online games though, since those stretched to 2014 and even 2016.
2008 era might be more interesting with stuff released on both PS2 and Wii.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I'd say Persona 4 deserves to be on the list, but for a totally different reason.

Persona 4 is a big name game that released on PS2 in 2008 in Japan and the US and 2009 in Europe and Australia - 3 YEARS after the launch of XBox 360 and 2 years after the Playstation 2's own successor, the PS3.

It's pretty defining of the success of the console that it's lifespan continued with pretty decent support for some years after the point you might expect.

That is the best argument for the game. That it was one of the last and it was stellar. The last hoorah of the system.

[marurun]

If the game selected is just a stand-in for, "look how long the system lasted!" then you only need one.