ThePS2was an amazing time in gaming as we took a leap in graphics and gameplay in several huge ways. It was also the imperfect era of gaming, because while there were plenty of amazing games, there were still so many things holding them back from perfection.
This can be everything from gameplay to story elements, but there is always one thing, whether it’s small or not, that keeps the best games from their top form.
You may find some of your favorites on this list or hear about games that you’ve never actually played, but either way, these are a handful of amazing PlayStation 2 games where just one thing went wrong.
10Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Snake? Snaaaakeeee!
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Libertywas a mega success, but if you weren’t around at the time, you’ve never seen a gaming controversy like the one this game started.
The reason? Because of the old switcheroo. We were told by the demo that this was yet another game starring Solid Snake, who at this point was a verified gaming icon. But after that opening on the tanker that still holds up as one of the best levels in gaming, we start our infiltration of Big Shell.
In the opening seconds of it, something is off. Snake sounds different, and once he takes off his mask, you see why. It’s not Snake, it’s Raiden. A new character who was far younger and, honestly, far more annoying sounding than Snake.
It affected pretty much nothing in the game, as the gameplay was better than everand the story is a mind-bending journey with all the twists and turns you can handle.
But people could not ignore that we were no longer Snake. We had all his moves, all his gadgets, but we weren’t him. Something so small caused gamers to rage, the likes of which you just don’t see these days.
9Kingdom Hearts 2
Twilight Town
Kingdom Hearts 2
Similar to Metal Gear Solid 2,Kingdom Hearts 2gives us another character switch. Despite being fully invested in Sora’s story from the first game, the third opens up with you in the shoes of Roxas, enjoying a seemingly idyllic life in Twilight Town. That segment is full of extremely boring gameplay like collectathons, muted combat, and only minor story beats.
What’s worse is that the segment lasts for nearly two hours, and it’s like a different game from what would eventually follow. Thankfully, this painful segment does eventually end - and in quite a tragic way, I might add - and that leads into the actual real game of Kingdom Hearts 2, which, despite some story weirdness, is easily one of the best RPGs the PS2 had to offer.
The combat gets so much more complexafter the opening hours, and the story is so bizarre, but just as compelling as the first game. It’s just the Roxas opening that tripped everyone up the first time.
8Resident Evil 4
Leon, MOVE
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4isa revolutionary game in so many waysfor the horror genre and for gaming in general, but there is one slight issue that has always held it back for me.
Leon can’t move while he’s shooting. In a game where monsters of all types are swarming you in a persistent, non-scripted fashion, you have no choice but to sit there and aim instead of backpedaling and shooting, shooting while running or generally any other comfort afforded to the third-person shooter genre over the past 20 years.
It’s so maddening, and it’s no wonder that Capcom did away with this ancient type of control with the remake and all Resident Evil remakes since as it just feels so strange and restrictive in a game that is all about freedom of gameplay and player choice.
7Final Fantasy XII
Whose Story Is This?
Final Fantasy 12
Final Fantasy 12is a classic in the iconic franchise, but there is one minor issue that always irked me about the game. Who is the main character? Thankfully, it’s not Vaan, although it’s very much suggested that’s the case. He barely has an impact on the story, and it’s all the better for it, but because of that, there is no avatar for the player like the series had been known for.
Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus. These were the characters meant to be the player’s avatar, from which they’d experience the story. Here, we didn’t have that, and while that’s okay for most games, it felt like it was supposed to, but something went wrong during the storyboarding section of development.
We would find out later that there were initially plans for Basch or Ashe to be the main character, but they worried that Basch was too old, or a female lead wouldn’t sell as well. So they created Vaan. Thankfully, the cast is fantastic, and we got a great game witha very interesting storyto go along with it.
6Tales of the Abyss
A Rough Start
Tales of the Abyss
Tales ofthe Abyssis one ofthe best JRPGsever made, with an amazing protagonist journey and some fantastic character development. However, just like Kingdom Hearts 2, the start of the game is absolutely brutal. It’s slow, it’s dull, it feels far too light-hearted for a Tales game, and, worst of all, Luke is infuriatingly annoying.
You might be confused, as I just said how great the protagonist is, and I stand by that, but that’s because of the transformation he undergoes throughout the game. At the start, he is the worst person ever. Spoiled, complaining nonstop, mean-spirited, it’s a hard thing to want to keep playing with this character as the lead.
And yet, it’s that hatred that makes the love you’ll feel for him all the stronger later. The problem is, you may never get to that point. You might just drop the game not to have to suffer Luke’s presence any longer. If you push through that, the game is great and one of the best in the legendary series.
5Zone of the Enders
Sequel Baiting
Zone of the Enders
Zone of the Endersis an awesome game that thrills from moment one to the end on its brief but epic journey. There is one slight problem I have with the game, though, and that is the final segment.
Everything builds to a crescendo, and you’re finally going to confront Anubis, the main villain, and the scenery is set for an epic battle, and then…nothing.
There is no epic final battle. Anubis pretty much laughs at you and says you’re not in his league, and leaves, and then the game just ends. All of that for nothing.
Of course, Anubis gets his comeuppance in the sequel, but it’s not even at the hands of Leo, our protagonist in the first game. It was such a letdown that it almost soured the whole game for me, but luckily,the gameplay is so fun, and the graphics are too pretty to let it ruin anything too much.
4Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
The Tone is Lost
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeriacame out at the very end of the PS2 lifecycle, making it a relative unknown, especially considering its previous game had been over half a decade old at that point.
It’s one of the best JRPGs you can find on the console, but there is one small issue that keeps it from being perfect, and oddly enough, that’s the style of the game itself. The original was amazing-looking, with a unique combo of 2D and 3D gameplay that gave the game an identity all of its own. Unfortunately, the sequel loses that due to the seemingly mandatory jump into the world of 3D gaming.
The charm and melancholy that the original had is lost in a somewhat ugly-looking game that focuses on muted colors so much that it’s a farcry of what made the original a standout title both in tone and visually. It doesn’t really sour the experience all that much, but it drops an iconic look in exchange for underwhelming PS2 visuals, which, spoiler alert, usually never look good.
3Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
A Lonely Journey
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towersis one of the first great movie games I can recall and probably one of the best ones ever made. It’s a perfect recreation of the best movie in the trilogy in so many ways, except for one minor issue.
There is no multiplayer. In an era where every game seemed to have a co-op option, especially in the action brawler genre, it was mysteriously absent here. It made no sense as you had multiple playable characters, big battlefields to fight through, but regardless, this was a solo journey.
It was an oversight that was quickly corrected in the follow-up game, and that game was all the better for it. Going through a journey defined by The Fellowship just felt wrong without a friend by your side, and it’s the only real negative I can think of for a game that really stands the test of time as being one of the PS2’s best.
2Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Awkward Stealth
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Depending on who you ask, you might hear thatSplinter Cell: Chaos Theoryisthe greatest stealth game ever made. And in many ways, that claim is right. It’s so incredibly realistic, and you really do need to act as if you were a special agent to make it through the various scenarios.
The one little thing that has always bugged me with this game, though, is how incredibly awkward it is to take an enemy out from the shadows. If you approach from behind, you have to select from a menu what kind of move you want to perform in real time, and it’s incredibly clunky and strange considering how smooth everything else in the game is.
While you can avoid interacting with any enemy in the game if you’re good enough, this makes the taking of a hostage feel far less cool than it should in a game like this and the interrogations with enemies are part of what makes the game such a stealth masterpiece to begin with, so anything standing in the way of that is a problem.
1Shadow of the Colossus
An Empty World
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossusis an amazing and unique experience in the gaming world, but I always found its massive, barren world to be a bit of a letdown.
I know the main event is the battles against the Colossi, but I was so interested in the world they inhabited. It took a while to get from one to the other, and while the scenery was certainly mysterious, there was absolutely nothing to do or find.
This game could’ve been the same if the lands were just separated by levels, but instead, we were free to roam around, not able to interact with the world in any meaningful way.
It doesn’t take away from the gameplay in any real way, but I always felt the game left some meat on the bone when it came to the spaces of gameplay between the big fights. It’s still an amazing game and a great experience, but I never understood why it needed to be an open world.
