The Playstation 2 is now $99, meaning you have absolutely no excuse to not have one. In fact you’ve already gone to the store and bought one, right? Good! You have made the right decision, the Playstation 2 library is very large and very diverse; it will fill in any gaps between releases this generation. Now that you are a proud owner of your Playstation 2 system, I am starting a series for you on what games you need to get. Each week I’ll look at a genre and what in that genre you need to get. This week, we’re going to take a look at some RPGs.

Persona 4 and Persona 3 FES

If you’re even remotely interested in Japanese RPGs, you need to play these games. They have a fresh modern setting, very likable characters, and a great battle system. Weaknesses and buffing/debuffing spells actually matter! When was the last time you played an RPG where you actually cared about those? It also features a large portion that is very reminiscent of dating sims, in which you build relationships with your party members and schoolmates for bonuses in other areas of the game. The game works simply enough for you to get it fairly quickly, but has enough depth to keep you going. I would recommend getting Persona 4 first, and if you like that, going back to get Persona 3 FES.

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht & Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra

The Xenosaga trilogy is well-known for its very, very long cutscenes. If you don’t like those, move on to the next game. The cutscenes are usually pretty well done, but they do tend to drag on. The battle system in Episode I is rather complicated, but fun once you get the hang of it. In Episode III it’s more refined and easier to understand. Episode II… don’t buy it. It was a horrendous ruination of the series with horrible, horrible gameplay.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Dragon Quest VIII is a beautiful game with a wonderful soundtrack. It’s also very, very old-school, so keep that in mind.Very simple plot and battle system, but that’s a good thing. Although the game went on too long for my tastes-the game should have ended at 40 hours (which is where I quit)-the time I played was definitely worth it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Nocturne is, to put it simply, a more complicated version of Pokémon rated M. You wander a post-apocalyptic Tokyo as various factions work to recreate the world as they see fit using the power of their gods. The plot takes a while to pick up, but when it does you’re hooked. The battle system’s “press turn” system, allowing extra turns for exploiting weaknesses and passing, worked really well. You recruit demons through battle, and then you can fuse them to make more powerful ones. It just has a lot of depth and is  a very good game that no RPG fan should miss.

Odin Sphere

This one is a bit different; it’s part beat-em-up, part RPG. You have your basic beat-em-up combat, but RPG style special attacks and stats. You play as several different characters throughout the game, all of which have fairly unique play styles; keeping it fresh as you go on. It is probably most well-known for its beautiful 2D sprite graphics, something sorely missing from most modern games today. It’s worth playing for the graphics alone, but keep in mind it is brutally difficult, those not wanting a challenge should avoid it.

Final Fantasy X

I figured I had to add a Final Fantasy game on here, so I picked this one. Don’t listen to what other people say, Final Fantasy XII is terrible, but Final Fantasy X is very good. The characters and plot aren’t the best-Tidus is one of the most irritating RPG protagonists you’ll run across-but the game itself is quite good. The battle system is fun, and the sphere grid system for leveling up is pretty creative. It’s not the best game out there, but it’s definitely worth picking up.

Honorable Mentions:

Tales of the Abyss – Good action-RPG with great characters, but the fake-out ending ruined it for me.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Shadow Hearts: From the New World – I haven’t played them enough to comment too much, but I like what I’ve played so far.

Suikoden III & V – I haven’t had a chance to play them yet, but Suikoden II was great and these are considered the other good games in the series.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 – It’s Shin Megami Tensei, which means quality. I unfortunately haven’t had the chance to play them yet.

In case you couldn’t tell, I love RPGs, hence the long list of ones I say you should buy. The Playstation 2 is the system for RPG gamers, but also great for other genres too. Next week I’ll look at some Action-Adventure titles, so keep an eye out for that.

http://thegamingdungeon.com/2009/03/31/playstation-2-games-you-need-to-get-part-1-rpgs/

Is Xenosaga as sex-tastic as the boxarts would indicate? This is an important factor in any future purchases.

I hate when they call Xenosaga II a bad game, nobody is denying that it's worse than I and III, but it's a good game and worth playing. Plus, III is complicated enough to understand having played II, who could recommend skipping the second one?

All those games, except one (you know which) are well worth a play. I personally recommend playing first P3FES and then P4, if you play P4 it'll be hard to play P3 because you'll be complaining about the "de-evolution" of some gameplay mechanics

I only played the first Xenosaga, and it isn't as sexy as the boxart puts it to be. You do get to see Shion in a bathing suit though. I recommend Nocture; best in the list, imo.

blasphemy. ffx has the best plot in the ff series.

call me when the RPG episode is finished. want to give some recommendations for some games in other Genres

Dark Cloud 2 is better then any of this

WTF!!!! Tales of the Abyss had an incredible ending and Final Fantasy X was a masterpiece. Persona 3 FES was a great game though. Disgaea 1 should be on the list as well.

Dark Cloud 1/2 , Valkyrie Profile 1/2 , Shadow Hearts 1/2/3 , Kingdom Hearts 1/2 , Rouge Galaxy , Suikoden V , Grandia 2 , Star Ocean Till the End of Time (still my fav in the series) , Disgeae , Tales Of the Abyss , Steambot Chronicles (Search it up guys this game is very freaking underrated)

How hard are these games to find? I just picked up FF10 used and the disk was too scratched. Also I am enjoying FF12 quite a bit. So unless the game takes a dip twoards the end (a la FF 7) then I may have to disagree.