Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X was an incredibly important chapter in the franchise. It introduced voice acting in the series and had a phenomenal combat system. It was recently re-released in HD and seems to have aged like a fine wine. However, for some, it was the beginning of the end. The one downside people had was that it was apparently the last great Final Fantasy installment in the franchise, as the titles that came after that were mediocre. Not to mention, the train-wreck that was every game with 13 in the title, leaving many hoping for a brighter future. Final Fantasy X was a definitive RPG for a console that seemed to be made to play amazing RPGs.
Dragon Quest VIII
Dragon Quest is kind of a big deal. While it was received well enough on a global scale, it became a bit of an insanely popular thing in Japan. It was so popular that it led to many muggings for the game, and also somewhat crippled the workforce on release day. It was rumored that the later games were released on Saturdays due to academic truancy and the workforce being noticeably weak, as well as being hailed as the national game of Japan. With a power team consisting of the creator of Chrono Trigger as well as Akira Toriyama doing the art, how could this series be anything but great?
Odin Sphere
Atlus is known for putting out incredibly long, ruthless, beautiful, and very unique games. Odin Sphere fits that mold perfectly. With its incredible art style, entertaining combat system, and lengthy play time, it was a home run with players. It follows five different children from five warring royal families, and it’s a game that allows for fleshed out narratives and viewpoints. Although the game has been criticized at times for dragging on a bit and reusing assets at different parts of the game, it’s a one-of-a-kind RPG that helped make the PS2 great.
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts has quickly become one the most recognizable franchises in early century gaming. It’s a game that hits every demographic pretty perfectly. Want a Disney game? How about a Square game? Like Final Fantasy? Or do you just want a great RPG? Kingdom Hearts hits all of those notes. With a fairly original story, a stellar character cast, smooth gameplay, and more canon releases than you could ever hope for, the series is doing a great job at staying relevant before the third game’s release. Go play Kingdom Hearts guys.
Persona 3
Persona 3 is just the best. Now I could show you all the legitimate science that backs this fact up, but that’d be boring. Just trust me on this one, this game is a treasure. Persona 3 puts you in the middle of a group of high school students who need to balance that tricky see-saw of a social life, as well as defend humanity against absolute evil. No big deal right? The game is like a life sim, dating sim, dungeon crawler, and Pokemon all rolled up into one neat little package.
Persona 3 is the perfect game for anyone with a lot of time on their hands, and it also paves the road to other gems such as Persona 4 and the much anticipated Persona 5. As a series that fills you with gooey feelings, as well as being an absolute blast, Persona 3 is truly one of best PS2 RPGs out there, if not one of the greatest RPGs of all time. In my opinion, of course.
So readers, do you agree with this list? What are your favorite PS2 RPGs?
Updated: Feb 2, 2015 02:43 pm