You kidding me?!... Do you think FF12 is the BEST PS2 game around?!... I'd go for... Medal of Honor: Allied Assault!

No, lol... Eehrm, i'd take Shadow of the Collosus! 

 You kidding me?!... Do you think FF12 is the BEST PS2 game around?!... I'd go for... Medal of Honor: Allied Assault!

No, lol... Eehrm, i'd take Shadow of the Collosus! 

Garcian's Annotated PS2 Must-Have List:


EXCLUSIVES

Devil May Cry 1 & 3: Very good beat 'em ups. Skip 2.
Dragon Quest VIII: If you like oldschool console dungeon-crawlers, this is the game for you.
God of War 1 & 2: Cinematic-style action games. Some of the best out there.
ICO: A short, Prince of Persia-style action/puzzle game, notable for its excellent use of atmosphere.
Katamari Damacy & We Love Katamari: One of the best pick-up-and-play games I've ever played.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Over-the-top stealth action. Skip the codec conversations if you want.
Odin Sphere: A beautiful 2D beat 'em up with RPG elements. You'll either love it or hate it, but you need to give it a try.
Ratchet & Clank series: Fun shooter/platformers.
Shadow Hearts 1 & 2: RPGs with a fun battle system and a bizarre sense of humor. Skip From The New World.
Shin Megami Tensei series: The best RPGs for the system. There's five of them for the PS2, and all are worth playing, though Nocturne and Persona 3 most of all.
Sly Cooper series: Good platformers with some stealth thrown in.
Soul Reaver 2: Action game with a kick-ass story. Best played after playing the first two games in the series, so you understand what's going on.
Tales of the Abyss: Real-time-battle RPG that's also the best Tales game out there.


MULTIPLATFORM (Play these on other systems if you can, since the PS2 versions are usually graphically inferior)

Beyond Good & Evil: A great "Zelda-like" with stealth elements by the creator of Rayman.
Killer7: An artsy, post-modern rail shooter, odd as it sounds. One of my favorite games.
Legacy of Kain Defiance: The last game in the LoK series, so play the others beforehand.
Max Payne 1 & 2: Over-the-top third-person shooters with BULLET TIME.
Prince of Persia series: Action/puzzle games that are really hard to beat in quality.
Rayman 2 & 3: Amazing 3D platformers.
Second Sight: A supernatural shooter where your character has a lot of awesome powers; by Free Radical (the Timesplitters guys).
Silent Hill series: The best horror games out there.
The Suffering: A horror-shooter that's either first or third person, depending upon your preference. Skip the sequel.
Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2: Old-school-style 2D beat 'em ups.
The Warriors: Brutal beat 'em up based off of the movie of the same name. By Rockstar (makers of GTA).

 I meant of the ones I mentioned. I have no idea what PS2 game I would get if I could only have one. There are so many great ones. I know it would not be Shadow of the Collosus however. As good as that game is, it's a short ride. I would go with something that is no only great, but has a lot of replay value.

Dark Cloud
Dark Cloud 2
Guitar hero(any one will do)
final fantasy(X,X-2,XI,XII)
Devil may cry(1-3)
Lego Star wars
Jak(1-3)
ratchet(1-3)
Ico
Timesplitters 2
Killzone
....theres more im just lazy

GTA IV
MGS3
Rachet & Clank Deadlocked

Dude you are really,really really late to the party there are a lots and lots of must haves on the ps2 that is too hard to name them all but get:

GOW 2
shadow of the colossus
kingdom hearts I,II
FF X,XII
Grand Theft Auto III,Vice City,San Andreas
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Guitar hero I,II

Those are only a few of a lot of awesone ps2 games ,btw mod your ps2 .

Resisdent Evil 4, Max Payne 1 (the sequel wasn't great), Gran Turismo 4, Onimusha 2, Dynasty Warriors 4 (the best of the series), Grand Theft Auto 3. God of War II.

So many great titles...

SamuelRSmith said:

(just listing the games i owned/had extensive hands on time with and liked)

God of War
Jak and Daxter and the Precursor Legacy
Jak II: Renegade
Jak 3
Jak X
Timesplitters 2
Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry 3
Resident Evil 4
Grand Theft Auto III
Burnout 2
Burnout 3

+

Ico. - Shadow of the Collosus. - SSX 3. - maximo vs the army of zen - marvel vs capcom 2 - okami - viewtiful joe 1/2 - gradius V - the adventures of cookie and cream (a good co-op game to play with your gf) - smackdown 5 - nhl hitz 2003 - nba street 2 - contra: ss - twisted metal black - beyond good and evil - katamari damaci/we love karamari - klonoa 2 - mr mosquito (not "great," but a crazy/fun game)

(double post)

so, i'll add:

rayman 2