I got through phases of games, and right now I'm in the one I like to think of everything-modern-is-making-me-angry-so-I'll-turn-back-to-vintage-games - and that's in the form of PCSX2 on my Steam Deck.
Playing the PS2 generation on the Steam Deck is kinda the 'perfect' generation: I can upscale the resolution without a performance hit, I can apply HD texture packs, Retro Achievements and I can drop the TDP to extend the battery life.
Anyway, I never had a PS2 (it was just a touch before my time), so there's so many games I'm yet to discover there. I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have for what I can play on there:
Just a couple notes:
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No GTA games because they're better with the PC versions. While I've bought the games, the account that Rockstar demands people have to play their games makes me angry on principle (a single-player game forcing an online check each week to be able to play it? No thanks), so I've got cracked versions to play.
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No Final Fantasy because I'm not even sure where to start!
So if anyone was around back in the PS2 era, and has some recommendations for games they've loved, I'm all ears. I've been having such a fun time playing these.
Some big thanks to my friends who made and run RetroDECK (my choice for emulating on the Steam Deck), and to the PCSX2 team (who I'm chatting to right now actually, so keep an eye out and in a week or so I'll share that chat with them all about creating and maintaining the PS2 emulator!)
Also, if you do have a Steam Deck, and want to play with the HD texture packs I do, then it's really simple. Just download the pack, and name then according to their game's I.D. code - SLUS-20743 for example, then place it in the texture_packs folder:
From there, go into PCSX2, then right-click the game, select properties, graphics, texture replacement and tick the two boxes I have:
Then you've got the games looking the best they can be!
Here's a link to a stack of pre-done HD textures for a lot of PS2 games, to help you on your way!
Beyond Good & Evil
Devil May Cry trilogy
If you liked God of War (and its PS2 sequels), another franchise well worth checking out!
Final Fantasy X. Hands down the best entry of the franchise (fight me), and one of the best introductions to the series.
Ico + Shadow of the Colossus
Literal works of art.
Killer7
Manhunt + Manhunt 2
If you like Bully & PS2-era GTA entries, this series is well worth exploring. Very dark and gory.
Need for Speed Underground + Underground 2
Some of the best racing OSTs ever, and the offline PS2-editions don’t lose tracks when licenses expire.
Prince of Persia - Sands of Time
Silent Hill 2
Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2
An incredible 2d beat-em up with a great vibe.
The Warriors
Rockstar’s love letter to a cult classic 70s film.
Zone of the Enders + Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner
Hideo Kojima just doing more of his thing outside of the MGS franchise.
I never finished X, it felt like it was dragging on and there were too many unskippable scenes.
I actually preferred XIII, which I nearly 100%'d (I think I was one or 2 combats away from 100%) and even XIII-2 which I enjoyed, tho I thought the "post-game" was too heavy with loading screens. I never played XIII-3 (Lightning Returns).
In any case, FF VI is actually the best entry in the franchise. I know that because I played and beat it as a child. (/s)
(I was really hoping FF XV [?; road trip with the boy band] would be good, but I played about 10 hours and had nothing good to say about it.)
To each their own, I suppose!
FF7 was my entry into the franchise, and I went back to play 4-6 after 8 left me disappointed. I ended up (regretfully) skipping 9 until revisiting it much later. I’m saying this specifically to point out that I am not biased because FFX was my first.
I skipped XI as MMORPGs didn’t hold any interest to me at the time - but WoW would change that, and cause me to skip XII altogether!
I didn’t like the combat of XIII, it was too much of a departure of what came before (variants of ATB and general turn-based combat) - and I did not find the plot engaging enough to persevere much beyond I think the ~10hr mark?
I haven’t bothered to revisit the newer entries since, even though I have added XII, XIII, XIII-2 & Lightning Returns to my retro collection. Perhaps one day?
I thought I wasn't going to like the combat of XIII, but I ended up really quite enjoying it most of the time. I thought the support roles AI was quite good, and eventually I figured out a rhythm of switching roles that felt really good.
But, I probably should go back and play some of the 7-9, maybe even X again. I picked up 2, 3, and 5 (and the portable Nintendo consoles to play them) and never made the time to play them.
I know some are on Steam, but I'm on Linux and I don't know how well the Proton/SteamPlay works with them. (Plus, I need to finish up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 before I buy yet another JRPG.)
According to protondb.com the entire Final Fantasy catalogue is pretty much flagged as either Gold or Platinum so you shouldn’t have issues.
For what it’s worth, the console versions also run great through EmuDeck and RetroDeck on my Steam Deck too!
I need to get around to playing Clair Obscur - I’ve seen and heard great things about it, but with a 2yo running around the house - I just don’t have the bandwidth currently to invest in new games… 😅
Zone of the Enders was phenomenal.