Uh oh... dare I even ask? Best RPGS... for the PS2

[feilong80]

I've had fun getting ideas from the past two threads, so let's open up the real floodgates:

Best RPGs (of any type!) for the PS2. Which had tons of RPGs.

Let's hear it, board with no namers! Educate meh!

[elchevalier]

I will start with a controversial pick: Final Fantasy XII, i guess it's controversial because half of the FF fandom hated the game, but considering most of the fandom these days is made of people with the mentality of your average anime 13 year old fanboys.....who the hell cares about their opinions? The game has no romantic sub-plot, no stupid "tidus and yuna laughing" moments, and the bad guy is a political backstabing bastard, not a bishonen fruitcake going around shouting nonesense. The game is by no means perfect of course, is not FFVI or FFT, but it's pretty damn fun and engaging. It has challenge, it has a cool battle system, the story is interesting, aside from gaps here and there. It's the last good thing square has done with the franchise.

Curious enough, as much quantity as the ps2 had in terms of rpgs, i still think the snes, genesis, saturn and psx had more quality. I'll give you a better list in a future post, but again, give FFXII a chance if you haven't.

[runinruder]

Some quick thoughts on a few of them...

Final Fantasy X
Pros: Very memorable characters, story, and game world. Fantastic soundtrack. Beautiful locations. Pretty cool "sphere grid" advancement system. Some cool and surprisingly rewarding side-quest stuff.
Cons: Square was being criticized for the overabundance of "angst" in VII and VIII, so they overcompensated a bit with some elements of "lightheartedness" here--characters do goofy things, wear goofy outfits, and have goofy exchanges (the laughing scene really will make you cringe). Don't expect large, complex dungeons--many areas have just one long path to follow.

Final Fantasy X-2
Pros: More adventures in an appealingly familiar realm with great characters. Absolutely awesome fast-paced battle system, really one of the coolest systems ever. Plenty of character classes to experiment with and LOTS of stuff to do--enough to last me four playthroughs and well over a hundred hours. Underrated soundtrack.
Cons: Well, think about the difference between the first and third Rocky movies, the shift from character and story development to action and antics. That's kind of what happened here, and some people don't like the switch. Expect lots of ridiculousness--don't bother with it if you want something serious. Some of the mini-games are pretty dumb even if you're up for silliness.

Xenosaga Ep. 1
Pros: Some large dungeons and atypical locations to explore and exciting scenarios to experience. Rockin' battle theme.
Cons: Cryptic, convoluted story that unfolds very slowly through ridiculously long cutscenes. Most of the good stuff comes during the second half of the game; the first fifteen hours have you do mundane things like wander around an enormous ship to bring some dude his dinner. Lack of field music makes matters duller. Famously stupid "mind rape" scene.

Xenosaga Ep. 2
Pros: Excellent character designs. Focuses on the coolest character in the series (Jr.). Wonderful conclusion. Nice music. Neat locations to explore. Fun side-quest and post-adventure missions to partake in. Combat system can be fun to milk for bonuses.
Cons: I'm the only person who likes this episode. Most find the battle system unnecessarily tedious and the adventure too brief and straightforward.

Xenosaga Ep. 3
Pros: Good all-around game, the most solid and consistent episode in the series. Definitely doesn't lack action-packed moments.
Cons: Due to the series being cut way short, story elements tend to feel crammed/rushed in this episode.

Ys VI
Pros: Fast-paced gameplay, super-fun combat, pleasant soundtrack.
Cons: Lacks the unforgettable villains and ultra-dramatic plot points of some earlier Ys episodes.

Legaia: Duel Saga
Pros: Starts off as if it'll be a worthy followup to the excellent first game. Very sweet first-town tune. A string of exciting scenes early on.
Cons: Ends up being derivative and extremely repetitive. Lacks both the dark atmosphere and the occasional funny stuff of the first episode. Graphics aren't very good. Has a cheap feel in general about it. Avoid this one.

Both the PC Engine and PSX are much stronger than the PS2 for RPGs, but I'm glad I got to experience the FFX games, Xeno 2, and Ys VI.

[Justin]

I really liked Shadow Hearts. Not the campy sequels. Just the original.

[Borsalio]

Of course, I have to bring in Persona 3 and 4, although I already convinced you to buy P3 so now you just need to grab P4. Play it, even though you never finished P3! P4 continues to improve the battle system from P3 (you can control your characters now! No more yelling at Mitsuru for using Marin Karin and Ice Break over and over!), the dungeons are more varied this time around since it's not just 250 floors of the same place, and the character development is aces. Plus, the storyline is a good ol' fashioned rural murder mystery, and we don't get enough Twin Peaks in our lives anymore.

The whole Shin Megami Tensei suite on PS2 is recommended, between Nocturne, DDS (as mentioned above), and even the Devil Summoner games.

Wild ARMs 3 - I'm a big fan of this series, and in my opinion, this game is easily the best of them. It's got a solid "weird western" setting, likeable characters (even though Jet's taken classes from the Cloud Strife School of Emo), and the game actually still looks good thanks to the cel-shaded graphics. Wild ARMs games always have dungeons full of puzzles, and this one's no exception. The battle system's pretty solid as well (buffs and status ailments are relevant!), plus battles just look cool with all the characters running around. It's just a really solid traditional RPG.

Wizardry: TotFL - We've brought this one up here before, but it should be here anyway. It takes the old school gameplay of classic dungeon crawlers and merges it with the solid story, cinematic presentation, and atmospheric dungeons that you'd expect from a more modern game. As much as I've enjoyed the more "retro" styled dungeon crawlers as of late like Class of Heroes and Wizardry PSN, I'm sad that we haven't gotten more along the lines of this game.

Suikoden 5 - I'd like to see the Suikoden series represented here, and 5's the most crowd-pleasing of the series on PS2. You can play this one without having played the rest of the series, there's a lot of returning characters, but you won't be lost. It's got all the political intrigue and army-massing you'd expect from a Suikoden game (and the voice acting is surprisingly decent).

Just to comment on a few of the already posted ones, while I still won't touch FF12 with a twelve-foot pole, I've actually warmed to FF10 over the years. The battle system's pretty amazing, especially since FF had embraced the ATB for so long up until then. I still don't like Tidus or Yuna too much (yes, the laughing scene is terrible), and the game's got some ridiculous minigames (dodge 200 Lightning Bolts!), but it's still a great game overall. And I actually like Blitzball.

Never got to play the Atelier series, but I keep thinking about getting one of the PS3 versions, since so few traditional RPGs come out on the HD consoles these days.

[ECM]

I've got Borsalio's back on Wizardry. In fact, if you can't find it, I'll even loan you my copy....after you finish OOT.

I am not so sanguine about Eternal Poison, though: I tried and tried to get into it, but something about it jsut didn't gel for me (and I'm an SRPG whore, so that should mean a bit more than it otherwise might).

[AllenSmithee]

just don't play RPGs.