Games

Gotta play the Time Splitters games. (3 of em).

Whatever Gauntlet games they ported from Arcade.

The Simpsons Hit and Run is a solid GTA style game and is considered to be one of the best Simpsons games ever. The Simpsons Road Rage is a rip-off of Crazy Taxi but is still a solid game. The Simpsons Game is also a good game that kinda does it's own thing. Don't bother with the Simpsons Skateboarding, that one sucks.

Chrono trigger and cross are both good on the SD.

GOD HAND- the granddaddy of Platinum Games's combo based "beat em ups", made by Clover Studios before they went bankrupt and reopened as Platinum. So think Devil May Cry and Bayonetta but hand to hand 🎵"or fist to fist. Kick your nuts or twist your wrist. God power keeps my pimp hand strong so trust me or you won't last very long."🎵 Yeah, it also has quite possibly the best theme song ever too.

Zone of the Enders the Second Runner drops you into the midpoint of a fairly generic mecha anime plot, but as overseen by Hideo Kojima. It has a lot of "Dynasty Warriors" style "tear through hundreds of fodder with ease" gameplay, but also a very fast paced "attack/dodge/parry" system for fights against beefier enemies that ends up as this fast paced sort of rock paper scissors as you have to adapt to use the right technique to counter the enemy. You fly and can manuever very fast, attacks can come from any angle, and it's just flat out fun to control. There is a PC port/remaster of questionable quality (and no steam deck support), and a xbox 360 port of good quality, but it's mostly just uprezzed graphics that you'll get by emulation anyway.

Another one for Jak & Daxter. I've got OpenGOAL and PCSX2, and between them both I have the full Jak series. I was playing Jak 3 when I had a crash, but then I had been playing it like all day.

I've also been making my way through the first three Sly Cooper games (loved the series as a kid, but only ever got to play the third one for myself) and they've been running flawlessly.

My plan is to play through the Ratchet & Clank PS2 games as I never really got a chance to play them when they were fresh or otherwise. I'm excited for those.

Then I might go and play through the Spyro PS2 era games, minus the original trilogy as I have Reignited already.

Aside from those I have a bunch of other classics I've played and loved/wanted to play like the Tak games, Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, Batman: Vengeance, and others.

I would also be open to suggestions. I'm very into 3D platformers and action RPGs.

Silent Hill 2

Try Steambot Chronicles! It's my favorite game of all time by a wide margin, but it's been forgotten by time. It's a really cool adventure game with a ton of different things to do, from piloting a giant robot to playing different musical instruments in a band, to decorating your own little apartment, and a bunch of other stuff! There's a lot of dialogue choices to make too that can affect how people treat you, and lead to a few different endings, including being a hero vs a villain. The graphics and soundtrack are great, too! I can't recommend it enough!

One of the weirdest games I've ever played: Okage: Shadow King.

Think Final Fantasy gameplay + Zelda: Majora's Mask level of being genuinely bizarre as all hell.

Fair warning, the music will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life.

Need for speed underground 2, this is my favourite racing game of all time. I sunk so much time into it.

Any of the Suikoden games really. Legend of legaia 2

Ephemeral Fantasia for an extremely underrated gem.

My personal favorites on PS2, as someone who did not own a PS2 while it was still being manufactured and sold as new. This does not include remakes/remasters or games that have better ports on other platforms (for example, Soul Calibur 2 on GameCube, Dead or Alive 2 on Xbox, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 Another Cases on PSP, or Need for Speed Underground 2 on PC).

• Haunting Ground
• Kuon
• CyGirls (Both discs are fun but I prefer disc 1)
• Drakengard 1 & 2
• Ico
• Lifeline (requires microphone, very underrated)

ICO.

Ratchet and Clank games

Dance Dance Revolution!

Manhunt 1 & 2, God of War

I’m with the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus stans, but I’d be curious how your emulation handles the light effects. PCSX2 struggles in my experience.

It’s my wife’s favorite game. She has a small shrine to it in her library!

How is XIII via emulation? Would love to try that on my Steam Deck.

Jak 3

Arc the lad 2 twilight of spirits is a cult classic

If you're a fan of the anime, the .Hack// games hold up pretty well. There's a little OVA that is included with each game to give more story.

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is great classic fun

Id look up the GT4 spec II mod. it adds a bunch of features to the game and even the Valencia track from Tourist Trophy

All the GTA games (GTA III, GTA VC, GTA SA, GTA LCS, GTA VCS). There are some good Need for Speed games too, and a bunch of great Tony Hawk games. TimeSplitters, SOCOM, and Red Faction are great too.

Try out Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2. It's one of those JRPG games with a lot of mysteries and loose threads and every single one of them end up solved by the end.