How Many Of You Still PS2? (The Beginners Guide to Last Gen)

[darksnowman]

I've played Ico and it is a great game. Shadow of the Colossus tempts me, if it is the same development team, which I think it is?

 

Same team. I've not played Ico but its reputation goes before it so I know its meant to be a classic. The only thing with SotC is that it seems pretty short- though that has meant my progress through it has been at a good, steady pace. I've read (in the IGN review) that there's incentives for replaying the game which is always welcome for extending longevity.

 

It might be Outrun 2006 when I get it back from darksnowman..

 

I'll see your "when" and raise it to an "if. "

[Nolan]

Non RPGs, surely you jest?!

 

Enthusia Racing

Sly Cooper

Yakuza1&2

SotC

 

I think those all count.

[Patch]

Short PS2 games are very welcome. Ico isn't particularly long either - unless you get stuck with one of the puzzles, which is quite likely since the game has lots of them. There's a nice mix of puzzle and action with a captivating ambience about it all. I also love a game that dares to shun having a constant soundtrack.

 

Finished Devil May Cry a few nights ago (the first PS2 game I have finished.. I only got one a couple of months ago after all ) but I'm not sure what will be next on the list!

 

Cool. Maybe you, me and Snowy ought to start a 'How Many of You Have Just Started PS2ing?' thread.

[Grazza]

Same team. I've not played Ico but its reputation goes before it so I know its meant to be a classic. The only thing with SotC is that it seems pretty short- though that has meant my progress through it has been at a good, steady pace. I've read (in the IGN review) that there's incentives for replaying the game which is always welcome for extending longevity.

 

You're too good at it! Seriously, I thought it was the right length.

 

ICO is good - I'd give it an 8/10. I didn't like it very much at first, but then you get into the groove of the puzzles and moving through the castle. It's very similar in gameplay to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, but by the end of the game, I'd appreciated its unique atmosphere.

 

Shadow of the Colossus, which I prefer, is a direct prequel to ICO. There was just something I loved about roaming the land looking for giants.

 

[spoiler=]The ending of the game explains the mystery at the beginning of ICO.

 

[darksnowman]

Short PS2 games are very welcome. Ico isn't particularly long either - unless you get stuck with one of the puzzles, which is quite likely since the game has lots of them. There's a nice mix of puzzle and action with a captivating ambience about it all. I also love a game that dares to shun having a constant soundtrack.

 

Cool. Maybe you, me and Snowy ought to start a 'How Many of You Have Just Started PS2ing?' thread.

 

*Looks at thread title*

 

Oh and as for SotC, incidentally its very light on the music. Its generally just the sounds of the overworld until you reach one of the colossi then you get some music- which makes it all the more epic. There's nothing baddies or anything to fight as you travel between boss battles, so the silence just adds to the vastness of the land. Its just you, your horse and emptiness.

 

You're too good at it! Seriously, I thought it was the right length.

 

Haha. I'm not complaining about the length, I like the direct style of the pacing.

[Patch]

ICO is good - I'd give it an 8/10. I didn't like it very much at first, but then you get into the groove of the puzzles and moving through the castle. It's very similar in gameplay to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, but by the end of the game, I'd appreciated its unique atmosphere.

 

I was exactly the same. It's difficult to adjust to a game that doesn't hold your hand, doesn't have pickups (well, hardly any), no player stats and only limited interaction with the environment. It challenges your perception of how a game should be structured to be enjoyable.

 

But it definitely grew on me the more I played. There's no other game I've played that's quite like it.

[Hero-of-Time]

After much thinking I thought I would give DQVIII a shot and guess what arrived this morning. I was quite happy to find a still sealed, original copy. I hate me some platinum boxes

 

 

The problem is this arrived the other day.

 

 

Methinks Persona 4 will be the one I will be playing first due to the stupid amounts of praise it gets, lets hope it lives up to the hype. I have been listening to the soundtrack the past 2 days and its great

[killer kirby]

Been going back to playing old PS2 games after completing Kings Field 4 (Seriously, greatest scariest most atmospheric RPG game on the PS2 by far xD )

 

And Persona 4 (Not as great as Persona 3)

 

Now going through Odin Sphere

[Ike]

And so it begins:

 

 

Combed through the PS2 section in CeX this morning and came away with only these two titles and a memory card. There was an FF X and X-2 but neither were in that nice condition and it didn't look like FF X came with the bonus disc anyway. The Nightmare Before Christmas is cracked up the spine unfortunately but I'll make do.

 

Saw some other things like Unlimited Saga 2 and something else, but their boxes weren't that great looking either so I passed them over.

 

Is Steambot Chronicles any good? Looked ok from the box.

 

Have you played Ys yet? I picked it up (brand new) earlier this year but I haven't played it yet (other than checking the disk worked) and I was wondering what you thought of it.

[darksnowman]

After much thinking I thought I would give DQVIII a shot and guess what arrived this morning. I was quite happy to find a still sealed, original copy. I hate me some platinum boxes

 

dq8.jpg

 

The problem is this arrived the other day.

 

persona4.jpg

 

Methinks Persona 4 will be the one I will be playing first due to the stupid amounts of praise it gets, lets hope it lives up to the hype. I have been listening to the soundtrack the past 2 days and its great

 

Two games which I need. Like you, I've only heard good things about the Persona games yet I've played none. Gotta catch up!

 

Been going back to playing old PS2 games after completing Kings Field 4 (Seriously, greatest scariest most atmospheric RPG game on the PS2 by far xD )

 

Never heard of Kings Field but I'll look out for it and read up on it.

 

Have you played Ys yet? I picked it up (brand new) earlier this year but I haven't played it yet (other than checking the disk worked) and I was wondering what you thought of it.

 

Hey, nah I've not even tested it. My PS2 gaming has literally been the three games I keep mentioning, lol. I've felt Ys calling out to me but I thought I'd see about finishing SotC first or something!

 

I was up the town this morning and picked up two more games from CeX:

 

 

Steambot Chronicles (£3.50) and FF X (£10). Sadly FF X has no instructions but it does have the bonus DVD- I think I can make do with that. I also grabbed FF Fables: Chocobo Tales from HMV for a paltry £8!

[Grazza]

After much thinking I thought I would give DQVIII a shot and guess what arrived this morning. I was quite happy to find a still sealed, original copy. I hate me some platinum boxes

 

 

Wow, I don't know how you got that! It's hard enough to find a new Platinum one nowadays!

 

Good buy though.

[Ike]

Wow, I don't know how you got that! It's hard enough to find a new Platinum one nowadays!

 

Good buy though.

 

I've seen loads of copies of DQVIII around recently. Can't remember if it was the normal or platinum version though.

[Hero-of-Time]

Wow, I don't know how you got that! It's hard enough to find a new Platinum one nowadays!

 

Good buy though.

 

Surprisingly I got it off Amazon, it was the main site and not a marketplace seller either!

 

Nice going picking up Final Fantasy X, DSM. I looking forward to reading your thoughts/impressions of that beauty. Be warned though you may fall in love with Auron, he is that cool Also if you don't like this song off FFX then there is something wrong with you.

 

Edited July 18, 2009 by Hero-of-Time

[killer kirby]

Also if you don't like this song off FFX then there is something wrong with you.

 

 

 

No, there isn't something wrong with me, but the song is pretty average, and it's no where near as good as what nobuo uematsu can pull off especially after fantastic music from games like IV,V,VI,VII,VIII,IX, which has far greater music in it then what X had which is a damn shame.

 

Anyway

 

 

Black mages made the song a bit more worthy to listen to

 

Never heard of Kings Field but I'll look out for it and read up on it.

 

If you enjoy first person, a game where you can't go straight in front of an enemy or your dead and patience as well as a huge amount of chances dying in it. You'll enjoy it

Edited July 19, 2009 by killer kirby

[Hero-of-Time]

No, there isn't something wrong with me,

 

Your dislike of Kingdom Hearts and World Ends With You says otherwise

 

I personally think that the music in FFX is some of the best in the series but then its no surprise that Killer Kirby and H-o-T don't see eye to eye when it comes to games

[killer kirby]

Your dislike of Kingdom Hearts and World Ends With You says otherwise

I have taste, I just don't like fan fiction stories

 

No surprise that Killer Kirby and H-o-T don't see eye to eye when it comes to games

 

What are you talking about!? We both love Monster Hunter as well as most Nintendo games no?

 

It's mostly just Nomura games which we both go against each other

 

I don't think we have complained about what game is good or bad, only one I think about are the ones Nomura has been heavily been involved with and thats it :P

[darksnowman]

Yeah, if Tetsuya Nomura is heavily involved in the making of a game Killer Kirby seems to automatically have a stigma against it, even though you say you've given the likes of TWEWY a chance. I bet if you didn't know Nomura worked on it you'd be more open minded. (But I've only played a few mins of a friends TWEWY and no Kingdom Hearts- aside from CoM on GBA- so they could well be crap... though I would doubt it!)

 

I recognised that song you posted H-o-T from having downloaded some FF music. It will be good to get the tunes I don't recognise into the context of the games they appear in. Think I might crack FF X on today actually, SotC's final two colossi will have to wait.

 

If you enjoy first person, a game where you can't go straight in front of an enemy or your dead and patience as well as a huge amount of chances dying in it. You'll enjoy it

 

You know... I'm intrigued.

[killer kirby]

Yeah, if Tetsuya Nomura is heavily involved in the making of a game Killer Kirby seems to automatically have a stigma against it, even though you say you've given the likes of TWEWY a chance. I bet if you didn't know Nomura worked on it you'd be more open minded.

The games I played before I still did not like and did not know about Nomura being a director on. Namely Kingdom Hearts, Square side of business has basically lost the ball ever since Mutsuno left after FFXII, since so many great talents have left and gone onto other things as well (Like Monolith Soft, guys behind Chrono Cross and Xenogears) as well as hironobu sakaguchi leaving. Only thing making me like Square-Enix (And Enix side of things anyway) is Yuji Horii and his fine work (But he is freelance as well so he could leave and make a new series for another company whenever he wants to)

 

(But I've only played a few mins of a friends TWEWY and no Kingdom Hearts- aside from CoM on GBA- so they could well be crap... though I would doubt it!)

It's all about taste, I have very different taste compared to others, I am sure you would enjoy the game and I highly recommend you playing it.

 

 

You know... I'm intrigued.

 

 

A trailer for it, shows little of the game but still a good basic show of what to expect ^_^

[Grazza]

I've got to back up killer kirby here. I've no idea who Nomura is, but it's interesting to see he may have been involved with two games I didn't like.

 

I tried both Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You, having no idea who made them, and I didn't like either of them. I'm not going to say they were "bad" as such, as I literally just couldn't stick with either of them.

 

darksnowman, are you going to give Final Fantasy XII a go? It was my first Final Fantasy and I had a lot of reservations about it, but the truth is a played it in a very naive way. Still, I could tell it "had" something, and I did complete it.

 

I should have been more sensible with the Licence Board and Gambits, and I actually prefer the ADB (Active Dynamic Battle) to the ATB (Active Timed Battle).

[darksnowman]

It's all about taste, I have very different taste compared to others, I am sure you would enjoy the game and I highly recommend you playing it.

 

Yep, true. I hope to get the KH games and hopefully TWEWY as well at some point.

 

A trailer for it, shows little of the game but still a good basic show of what to expect ^_^

 

Looks pretty interesting actually. Real time?

 

I've got to back up killer kirby here. I've no idea who Nomura is, but it's interesting to see he may have been involved with two games I didn't like.

 

I tried both Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You, having no idea who made them, and I didn't like either of them. I'm not going to say they were "bad" as such, as I literally just couldn't stick with either of them.

 

darksnowman, are you going to give Final Fantasy XII a go? It was my first Final Fantasy and I had a lot of reservations about it, but the truth is a played it in a very naive way. Still, I could tell it "had" something, and I did complete it.

 

I should have been more sensible with the Licence Board and Gambits, and I actually prefer the ADB (Active Dynamic Battle) to the ATB (Active Timed Battle).

 

Well we established a while ago that your RPG taste can be pretty unique. :wink:

 

FF XII is definitely on my hitlist. I've not picked it up as yet but even if I had, it would be a while before I play it. I reckon I'll try and do X, X-2 and then XII in that order... but whatever way you look at it, a lot of hours are gonna have to be sacrificed!

 

(Or maybe it would be better not going directly from X to X-2? Give it a little time between them so it feels better to return to the world of Spira...?)

[Nolan]

I've got to back up killer kirby here. I've no idea who Nomura is, but it's interesting to see he may have been involved with two games I didn't like.

 

I tried both Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You, having no idea who made them, and I didn't like either of them. I'm not going to say they were "bad" as such, as I literally just couldn't stick with either of them.

 

darksnowman, are you going to give Final Fantasy XII a go? It was my first Final Fantasy and I had a lot of reservations about it, but the truth is a played it in a very naive way. Still, I could tell it "had" something, and I did complete it.

 

I should have been more sensible with the Licence Board and Gambits, and I actually prefer the ADB (Active Dynamic Battle) to the ATB (Active Timed Battle).

 

Nomura has basically been in charge of Final Fantasy since halfway through the development of VII. It's not quite as simple as that, but you get the gist of it.

 

As far as FF is concerned, VII was the start of the decline, VIII was rock bottom, XI wasn't bad tbh. X terrible, XI MMO (not one I've heard good about either) XII, I didn't hate it was kinda interesting and fun. XIII looks kinda meh to me. The trailer of XIV got me excited until they said it was another MMO and I quit caring. So, I hardly love Nomura, but I enjoyed TWEWY a considerable amount, and I haven't played Kingdom Hearts at all so I can't say but people I trust on their opinions do like it, and kinda follow the same idea as me for Nomura FF.

[Hero-of-Time]

darksnowman, are you going to give Final Fantasy XII a go? It was my first Final Fantasy and I had a lot of reservations about it, but the truth is a played it in a very naive way. Still, I could tell it "had" something, and I did complete it.

 

I should have been more sensible with the Licence Board and Gambits, and I actually prefer the ADB (Active Dynamic Battle) to the ATB (Active Timed Battle).

 

That's also on my pile of RPGs to do ( won it off ebay last week, original and still sealed ). I will play it but given that many slated the story of the game it will probably have to wait til Persona 4 and then DQ have been played. The whole changing on the gameplay system never really bothered me but if the story doesn't hit the right buttons with me then I will probably struggle with it.

[darksnowman]

As far as FF is concerned, VII was the start of the decline, VIII was rock bottom...

 

I feared the worst when I read this and saw H-o-T had posted straight after you.

[Hero-of-Time]

I feared the worst when I read this and saw H-o-T had posted straight after you.

 

He posted when I posted, he got off lightly!

[killer kirby]

I've got to back up killer kirby here. I've no idea who Nomura is, but it's interesting to see he may have been involved with two games I didn't like.

 

I tried both Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You, having no idea who made them, and I didn't like either of them. I'm not going to say they were "bad" as such, as I literally just couldn't stick with either of them.

 

Nomura is good with designs, but thats it. He is shit at directing in my opinion, gameplay is as boring as paint dry.

 

Looks pretty interesting actually. Real time?

Yeah, lots of striking then running backwards quickly or else once enemy hits you you die

 

Nomura has basically been in charge of Final Fantasy since halfway through the development of VII. It's not quite as simple as that, but you get the gist of it.

 

Nomura did have a lot more involvement after VII, but not as much as he has now.

 

As far as FF is concerned, VII was the start of the decline, VIII was rock bottom,

I'll give VIII some credit...it's better then Final Fantasy X

 

XI wasn't bad tbh.

Funny fact, Nomura wasn't involved And most of the team behind FFIX are over working on Crystal Chronicles series. (They should get the chance to make FF XV and make it for the Wii )