Ps2 Mortal Kombat games were the best, they have beem sliding ever since.

Deadly Alliance is a slog for story/Konquest but a fun game.

Deception is so so good, one of my favourite games ever. Doesnt really hold up as well as Id like but it has brilliant features that I miss in every modern iteration. Namely the best konquest implementation. Chess Kombat.

Shaolin Monks, another one on par with Deception. I have to replay this next.

Armageddon is carnage, just fun fun all the way through. Every character from the entire run of the franchise is playable, it is everythimg.

How's PCSX2 performance on the Deck? I somehow get much better performance on my Ryzen 5 4500U laptop than I do on my Ally and that makes absolutely no fucking sense.

Not exactly a suggestion, but why emulate Okami instead of just running the PC version?

Edit: If you get the PC version, you should be able to use the touch screen to draw the brush techniques directly thanks to mouse support rather than having to fuck with the sticks. You also don't get the input lag from emulation.

The Simpsons: hit & run, Shinobido, GoW, Destroy all humans.

I spent a ton of time playing the two towers, bit I don't know if it has aged well.

Also, war of the monsters was campy and fun.

Shining Force NEO and Shining Force EXA are both great underrated action RPGs.

I see Rule of Rose, I upvote.

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

Road Trip Adventure

Klonoa 2

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe

Beatmania IIDX (if you don't mind connecting a keyboard to play)

Ratchet and Clank 3 is missing.

Fatal Frame II

Mister Mosquito

Gitaroo Man

It's a little cringe in retrospect, but I really liked my time with Makai Kingdom. Avoid if anime stuff isn't your bag.

Ico had some interesting ideas that are worth a look.

Rogue Galaxy was pretty okay.

Psychonauts deserves a mention, though it's kind of obvious.

Red Faction had cool political leanings for a game of that era.

You've got heaps of great suggestions already so I'll leave it at that.

Definitely play the AC games. Which series am I talking about? Both.

Armored Core and Ace Combat are really good games. For the PS2 continuity of Armored Core it is arguable that the PSP versions are better due to the extra content, but otherwise it's not too big of a deal.

Crash Nitro Kart and some of the PS2 Crash platformers are pretty good. The Kart one has a boosting system that I like better than mario kart (and better items and vibes tbh)

Frequency & Amplitude:

The originators of the modern "rhythm game" genre.

Just throwing out a fun game from my childhood, Lego Racers 2. I'll have to read through later for ideas because I'm in a similar boat in having never really been in console circles and never owned a PS2

I haven't seen anyone mention Dark Cloud. Love that game.

I don't know how "must add" they are, but the Shadow Hearts series was fun for me. I really liked that it was a turn based RPG where skill mattered a little more than others. It had a wheel that spun, and depending on the move, items, etc, your attack would be stronger or weaker depending on where in that wheel you stopped the pointer.

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.

I'm not particularly into sports games but the NBA Street and NFL Street games were SUPER fun. Everything else I loved has already been mentioned in this thread though.

Manhunt 1 & 2, God of War

Dark Cloud 2 (aka Dark Chronicle). That and MGS3 are basically the only PS2 games I actively think about still.

Dark Cloud 1 is also worth playing, but I'd play 2 first. It smoothes out a lot of issues with the first and adds so much more to it.