DSRage's Top Ten PS2 RPGs

These are DSRage's Top Ten PS2 RPGs ranked for Ed Bellis's What Would You Do.

Top 10 PS2 RPGs
DSRage's Top 10 PS2 RPGs

RPGs are definitely best represented on the PS2 as there is such a vast amount of gems which go overlooked by the mainstreamers. RPGs have always been my favorite genre of gaming because of all the flashy effects, cute surroundings, epic plots, many types of battle systems, etc., that seem to come with the RPG name. This list has probably been done by many RPG fans in the past, but this is my own little spin on it. ENJOY.

10. Final Fantasy XII

I played his game with my friend in our signature style --I control the directions, he controls the other side. We had a blast going through all of the high-level hunts and defeating all the esper battles. The battle system was something I hadn't really had any experience with because I'm not all big on the online crap, but I must say that with the length and style of FFXII's gameplay, the more traditional (And awesome) battle system would've been boring, despite how much I love it (long sentence, holy crap). FFXII received it's fair share of flak for reasons that were quite deserved, but I just wasn't bothered by. I loved the job system, but they could've made it more complex. Overall, an unfamiliar experience that I put a great effort into and it was well worth it. Favorite Character: Fran, her accent was meant to be serious, but I couldn’t help but laugh with my friend at her, she really Is the best lesbian character ever represented in a video game!

9. Grandia III

This game presents itself really well. The battle system is so pretty and quite wicked-sweet. I hate Alfina, but I love a game which has a really stupid character that I can just swear at when I get angry --Alfina is the one! Grandia II is supposedly better than this one, but this one is pretty awesome. I loved the music, even that Jessica Simpson-esque song had me jammin'! The plot was pretty cool despite it being pretty much dungeon to dungeon to dungeon. The mini-game with the cards, that was pretty fun. First time running into, I actually played until I got the top item (Yeah, about 6 hours!) I look forward to Grandia IV and somehow getting a chance to play Grandia II, itsa great! Best Character: Raven, god damn, he should’ve been playable. When *spoiler* happened to him, I was so emotional, it drove me!

8. Dark Cloud 2

These game had a completely new interface to me when I first played it and it was quite a unique concept. It’s been quite some while, but I believe you had to create the town in the future and then visit the past to see what you had done. You could only get pieces depending on what you had found in dungeons and stuff. The music was addicting to me and just the whole approach the makers took with the game, wonderful! Max and Monica are pretty cool people and the dungeons were always fun for me, although a lot of people found them repetitive. This game was a nice dish to spew my creativity into which is awesome. Favorite Character: Monica, but not really. This game wasn’t really strong character-wise, but Monica was pretty cool, just not very good if placed on a scale outside of the game, heh.

7. Radiata Stories

Why did people hate this game? I loved it. All these characters which each were developed enough to have their own personality (You’d see this if you actually played the game all the way!). I ended up playing through this game four times back-to-back totalling 144 hours to get all the characters, there isn’t many games that do that. It was fun playing with different characters each time and stuff. A lot of funny scenes in this game had me lol’ing every time I saw them. They need to make more –charming – games like this one. Radiata Sotries is so simplistic, but a challenging puzzle without a guide to ‘guide’ you. A charming, cute and beautiful game. Favorite Character: Shiela, basically for the scene where she rises back up after getting knocked down. HILARIOUS. Here, have a taste, will ya? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwhGW3BUTQc

6. Kingdom Hearts II

This game outdid the first story-wise and graphic-wise which wasn’t really a surprise, but it felt like less of a game. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it! 6th place on this list warrants a top PS2 game when considering all genres. What I didn’t like was how there was great story at the beginning, great story at the end, and nothing in between beside the occasional Organization XIII appearance – A common complaint. The battles in Kingdom Hearts II were MUCH better than previous, especially the Org. XIII battle. Mmmm. The Gummy Ship was so awesome in this game that it could almost be a game in itself! Note to Square: Next time, make the reaction commands so that you actually have to time them instead of repeatedly pressing triangle. Lost some of it’s charm from the first, but quite the game in the end. Best Character: Sora, Mmhm, I’m a Sora fan and I don’t really know why. He’s really corny.

5. Shadow Hearts: From the New World

I almost feel bad placing this game so low, there really is nothing wrong with it. It’s amazing. I still haven’t got into the second very much, I am kind of waiting until I get a working copy of the first so I can play that. Anyways, I loved the characters, the way to get skills, the plot, the battle system, so good. I found myself getting into this battle system so much that I would never take breaks after losing in a boss battle, I would play and play and play until I got it right which is pretty impressive for a half-ADD guy such as myself. The mysteries and extra stuff in this game is so fun to explore and shtuff. Best Character: Mao, she made me laugh and was great in battle, nice combination!

4. Final Fantasy X-2

This game really wasn’t bad, I am still unsure if more people hate it or like it..eh. I loved the dress-sphere system, it was pretty classic. I loved the simplistic implication of customization, too –You simply chose a skill and got 1 or 2 points on that skill every time you used it. When you got 100% of the points, I believe you could use it without equipping it. There was a great story behind the great gameplay, you just have to not look at the mission system so objectively. It felt so awesome playing through the game with the cat nip, quite cool indeed! I still need to get 100% and see the final movie, my damn brother corrupted my data somehow, I don’t know how, but he did it! Anyways, FFX-2 is the type of game that doesn’t have to go really far to impress me, I enjoyed playing through it every time and just looking for items and new little things. Also, the 1000 words scene is easily the best thing I have ever seen in a video game. It was so beautiful, I feel obliged to make a save file right before it so I could watch it at my own leisure. People who fail to see this game’s greatness need to get a clue! Favorite Character: Rikku, she’s a pretty great character that is kind of like me, I bet she annoys herself more than she does other people, heeheheh.

3. Kingdom Hearts

I played this game two years after it came out. If I wouldn’t have got it for Christmas from a friend that one year, I may have never experienced it or 2, tis a shame. This game was the first thing like it I have ever played. It felt like a Final Fantasy game with the Disney characters acting all serious. Kingdom Hearts outdid II by some margin simply because of a few things it didn’t get rid of. It felt more like a complete game. The Gummy Ship was less fun than painting a fence, god damn. Gameplay-wise it was simple and clean (hehe), just like I like as I have said before. I loved the 101 dalmations and stuff, completing the journal yada yada yada. Favorite Character: Sora.

2. Final Fantasy X

I am sure everyone who is anyone can enjoy FFX. It’s the kind of Final Fantasy I really enjoy. It had a unique story and was just a complete masterpiece from music, to environments, to beauty. The Sphere Grid (The game’s form of levelling up) was pretty great despite it’s limited areas early on. The thing that really capture me with this game was that I really never had any idea where the story was going and had multiple scenarios that I created in my head and none of them were right in the end That little “you cried” boy was probably the source of most of my assumptions, he really did make the game better. I loved how you never knew when Sin was gonna show up. Mmm. It’s hard to talk about games so heavily plot-driven. It’s just a great game, okay? Best Character: Yuna, she was much better in this game than X-2, despite the poor voice acting, but hey IT’S JUST A VOICE. HA HA HA HAHAHAHAH HAHAH HAHAHAHAHAH HAA AHAHAHA HAHAAHAHAH.

1. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Most would probably judge my gaming taste when I say what I am gonna say about this game. It’s the best PS2 RPG, Best PS2 Game, Best RPG, Best Game Ever. Yes, it’s my favourite game and I am sure anybody who knows me knows this. I loved the game’s introduction. Just how you are on this ‘date’ and you make her play some virtual reality game and BAM, you’re under attack and you’re all like omg what do I do..”please use this teleporter so we can transfer you to safety” okay let’s do this Sophia, great we are safe, everything is calm, lets calm our heads and rest but noooo warning warning we are under attack cmon lets go oh no robots circus lady help, she helps, we are safe again but soon must vacuate on these pods and what the heck, I am all alone travelling through space, this is so awesome, where am I gonna end up I don’t know. *lands* Time to start a wonderful game!! Right off the get go from the crash landing, I notice the map completion thing. Map completion is awesome and in this game it doesn’t disappoint. The story, characters and everything in this game is just so wonderful. The battle trophies really sealed the deal, SO4 better have these. They were so fun to collect and really added depth and challenge to many of the boss battles. I just LOOOOooove hearing that little TING when you get a battle trophy. Great! Getting battle trophies yield so small, but interesting unlockables. The bonus content after the boss is so wonderful in this game. You get to see Lenneth Valkyrie and a Santa with a boner who sells wicked items, not to mention some wicked-sweet boss battles mmmmm. I have so much to say about this game, but I will save it for a write up with form and structure. Best game ever. Peace. Favorite Character: Fayt, main characters are really great, especially him, BLUE!

And that’s it. I am not really good at structure and stuff unless I take my time, but I had no choice. This list was pretty much me spewing random crap about great games. Anyways, RPGs will always have a place in my heart and will always be the selling point to any Playstation# to come in the future. I can’t believe I wrote so much, new record for me.