My 5 Favorite PS2 Games

‘SUP, NERDS?!

To get an idea of games I love, I figured compiling a list of My 5 Favorite PS2 games—in my opinion one of the best consoles to exist.

It was tough to choose which of the best games are truly the best, but I decided a series cannot be listed more than once. I confidently believe that additional titles from each series are fun as well. If you’re a close friend of mine, you will not be shocked by this selection.

5) Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Platformers are the bomb dot com. Among the gems of the PSOne and PS2 era, Sly Cooper is my favorite on PS2. I distinctly remember receiving a copy for my 11^th birthday and it consumed all my free time.

I revisited the Sly games and picked up a copy of the SlyCollection on PS3. Unlike most 3D platformers, the games surprisingly still play well. As a child, I never owned Sly 2 or Sly 3 and playing the Collection as an adult, I think Sly 1 is the best in the series.

Don’t get me wrong—Sly 2 and 3 are awesome games that add more depth to the gameplay, but I just don’t like playing as Bentley and Murray. Sly handles more smoothly compared to his companions and you must combine strategy and action. On the other hand, Bentley and Murray are heavily focused on either strategy or action. The constant running and brawling becomes repetitive and Sly is a perfect hybrid.

Even though Sly 1 is easier than its sequels, I think the level design is the cleanest because the game is only tailored for Sly’s play style. The collectables and side quests were equally enjoyable as the main story. Mostly importantly, Carmelita Fox’s voice is sexiest in the first game.

4) Silent Hill 3

The PS2 has a plethora of horror games, both good and bad. I began my journey into Silent Hill as a preteen and don’t understand how I got away with playing it around my parents. The rust, blood and subtle terror excited me as I navigated the foggy streets of SH1 and SH2, but there’s something extra special to me about Silent Hill 3.

Playing video games since practically birth, I always longed-for games with female protagonists. I thought Heather Mason was brave and rare female specimen. Recently replaying it, I noticed she reacts to the disgusting nature of the environment like an actual teenager would.

Around the same time I first played SH3, I played Resident Evil 4. Oh, how I giggled about the similar designs of Heather and Ashley Graham. Ashley, mind you, the daughter of the POTUS, is completely useless and untrained during a similarly high-stress situation. Heather is much cooler by comparison.

I prefer games that are more linear, I like that I cannot get lost in SH3. One of my frustrations with some other SH titles is that it is difficult to know where to go because of the expanse of the town and dense fog. A lot less time is spent outdoors and the claustrophobic buildings make it feel as if there is no place to escape.

Heather never knows what's lurking around the corner...

The last I played SH3 was on the PS3 HD collection. If you want to play two awesome PS2-generation horror games, I suggest downloading the patches before playing. I rarely experienced any issues, the most being an audio delay in a couple of cutscenes near the end of SH3.

A bit of advice before playing: don’t stare in the mirror for long. In all seriousness, Silent Hill 3 has better scares than 2 or 4.

3) Dark Cloud 2

Allow me to preface my Dark Cloud 2 obsession: I more than likely played this game more than any other PS2 title in my life and even went as far as 100%ing it on the PS4 port. Don’t believe me? Look at the insane trophy guide roadmap…

I’m a huge fan of Level-5’s games, starting with the Dark Cloud series, 2 released as Dark Chronicle abroad. As the studio’s first game, Dark Cloud is a pretty solid action RPG and town-building simulator. Once 2 released, I demanded nicely asked my mother to take me to the store. Believing 

that DC1 was one of my favorites games, DC2 blew me away.

The beautiful cell-shaded graphics were a considerable upgrade compared to the first. I didn’t buy a GameCube because of the “kiddy” cell-shaded graphics of The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker. If I could, I would take a trip back in time to smack my 10 year old self over the head as for I thought cell-shading was completely acceptable on PS2. Either way, the audio and visuals of DC2 created a deep atmosphere.

One of the most improved aspects of the game is the Georama feature. I heavily invest time playing simulation games such as The Sims, Animal Crossing, Style Savvy, etc. The Georama feature is a hybrid of such games. Every village you visit is completely decimated and it is your job to rebuild it.

By dungeon crawling, you gain small pieces of information to city plan according to the wants/needs of the villagers in addition to knowing who you should move into the houses. The story revolves around time travel. By placing the proper buildings, environments and people in a village, you gain the ability to progress the story and sweet bonuses if you complete all requests.

Our protagonists, Monica & Max.

The dungeon crawling aspect of Dark Cloud 2 is also challenging. As a seasoned Dark Cloud veteran, there were at least a few stages in each dungeon that made me go mad. This is good, considering I cruise through most RPGs. Let’s not forget the side missions either: I genuinely enjoyed playing Spheda and beating the dungeons with strict restrictions. There are plenty other side missions I could mention, but screw fish breeding. Too slow for my tastes.

2) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES

So. I love JRPGs… and I love simulation. Oh, did I forget to mention I have this sick disease called Banjo-Kazooie Fever? I love in-game collectibles. Persona 3 is the love baby of all the above.

A great introduction to the Megami Tensei series, Persona 3 is a phenomenal dungeon crawler where you must manage your daily activities in order to unlock perks to make yourself stronger when you combat at night. By creating bonds with your classmates, teammates and townies, you strengthen the abilities of the personas. Personas can be collected and fused to create bigger, badder ones as you progress through the game. The urge to collect all Personas, complete Elizabeth’s requests and max out my social links feeds my illness.

Everything is blue... and dreary. I love it.

Many of you may be wondering: Why do I like P3 better than P4? Mostly because I like the characters and premise more. To avoid spoilers, nearly all characters in 4 become more annoying and I feel the spin off titles cater too heavily towards fan service. Not to say that P3 doesn’t cater to fan service, but I think the characters are more mature. I don’t have a better reason than to say that I just like them more as a whole and that the stakes of the P3 seem much higher and more dangerous. It is a darker game aesthetically and thematically. That’s what I’m into.

The FES expansion includes The Answer which… do I need to explain? Sans spoilers, it helps explain gaps in the main story and the difficulty is cranked up. When I first played P3 vanilla, it was tough to learn some of the lingo and rules of MegaTen. Now that I’ve explored most of the series, playing The Answer involves more strategy on my behalf, therefore the combat was enjoyable. Although most characters are jaded because of the events in Persona 3, Aegis and Metis hold a special place in my heart. Aegis is my waifuuuuuu

1) Final Fantasy X

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!! My favorite PS2 game is Final Fantasy X. Do I consider myself a fan of Final Fantasy? Not really. I’m quite fond of X series, XII, XIII series and the Tactics series. Shame on me, but FFX is not just a nostalgia trip from my youth.

The game plays well and the rules are fair for a turned based game. If you screw up, it's your fault. The only thing I truly hate is that in the original version, there are unskippable cut scenes. Putting my gripe aside (aka: watching a long-drawn Seymour scene ten times before I beat him), major battles are still nail-biting and still pose some challenge, no matter how many times I've played it.

While playing the remastered version, I spent about a year to 100% it, a feat I couldn't accomplish as a kid. Even if I used a guide to find miss-ables and prepare for secret bosses, I enjoyed almost every part of the process to fully complete the game. Admittedly, some of it is tough. I feel that I got more out of FFX in the last few years than I did when I was younger.

Most critics dislike the characters and story of FFX, but I think it raises intriguing questions about religious organizations, which totally flew over my head when I was 10. The game design was inspired by South Pacific and Thai cultures, creating a universe I am absolutely in love with. There is a sense of oceanic romanticism that gets me every time...

What are your favorite PS2 games?

You may disagree with me, but these are my favorite games just because they are. Do I need a reason?

I'm really interested in your favorites. Share this blog and mention your favorites while you're at it!!

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz

"Full Metal Alchemist" vol. 1 FIRST IMPRESSION

'SUP, NERDS!

So I hate to admit: I haven’t watched Full Metal Alchemist. Yeah, I’m the worst anime fan on the planet. I’ve maybe seen the first few episodes in addition to catching a few random episodes on Adult Swim. It is difficult to get me to sit down to watch any television show for that matter, but I never doubted FMA’s greatness.

To correct this error, I asked my friend Dan to borrow the manga. Amidst graduating college, full-time working and packing to make a cross-country move, I wanted to share my first impression of Full Metal Alchemist vol. 1, published by VIZ Media.

THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT

Let’s just say that what I remember from the anime is totally different than what happens in the manga. Edward Elric is a state alchemist and his younger brother, Alphonse, travels with him and practices alchemy as well. This is the base similarity between the anime and manga.

There are plenty of
places you can buy FMA!

It’s safe to say that the manga is much more relaxed than the anime. You’re introduced to the protagonists and get a short glimpse of the antagonists all while learning the powers and limitations of alchemy. Edward explains the concept of an equal exchange while procuring items to trick or defeat his enemies.

This explanation lightly touches upon Ed and Al’s history and why their bodies are made of metal. As children, they weren’t aware of this concept and lost Edward’s limbs and Al’s body in attempt to resurrect their passed mother. The anime explicitly shows these sequences through flashbacks to build suspense and drama while the brothers use this as an example of why alchemy can be dangerous in the manga.

STORY AND CHARACTERS

Not much happens. I think that the manga provides a great introduction to the universe and the brothers’ motives. Ed and Al simply want to return their entire bodies back to flesh and seek the Philosopher’s Stone for such power.

They first encounter a cult leader who claims his powers come from a god. The reality is that he’s using a phony stone, which ultimately comes back to hurt him, to practice alchemy. The brothers also deceive a corrupt government and give power back to the citizens. Roy Mustang is introduced at the end of the volume, a most notable character to the series.

At this point in the story, I felt like Ed and Al are more comedic than serious. Ed is witty and can concoct and execute complex plans on the whim. It’s made clear that Ed is an atheist and that he doesn’t appreciate comments about his short stature. His fuse is short whereas Al is level-headed. Despite Al’s armored exterior and hollowed interior, I can tell he is a real sweetheart. I like him most thus far.

Edward revealing his metal arm.

ARTWORK

The art is solid. I think the chimera art is realistic-looking and the backgrounds are detailed given that this is a shounen manga. Since I’m probably spoiled by seeing an exorbitant amount of fanart, I thought the characters just looked mediocre. Ed and Al are the most impressive-looking characters, but I want to see more detailed images of Ed’s armored limbs. Al’s armor is very consistent and never looks odd.

A common issue with manga are bland or repeated faces. There are many generic background and tertiary characters in this volume. I anticipate that regular characters will begin to appear in the next volume.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I thought the first volume of FMA is set up like any classic shounen manga: there’s an emphasis on character introductions and a showcase of their abilities. Pathetic villains prove the strength of the protagonists while the true enemy is hinted at.

I am aware that Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a faithful rendition of the manga and the pacing of that series is a common complaint. The types of stories in the manga are easy to read, but I couldn’t see myself watching the first volume easily as an anime— but I definitely want to continue reading.

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz