cheap PS2 RPGs

[Chicomagiko]

Mega Man Legends, bitches. Also, play some Magna Carta(lol).

[Kaylia]

Mega Man Legends, bitches. Also, play some Magna Carta(lol).

People who never played MML rarely like it when they go back years too late, but man, it was such an awesome series. Fighting the huge bosses was sweeet, and character interaction were pretty fun to watch for a psx game.

[Yuri-G]

oh Okami, how do I love thee? let me count the ways...

- Loved the graphics from the moment I first booted the game up, but that's no surprise. The environments are beautiful, of course, but I've been more impressed by the little touches. The flowers that flow across the land when you restore one of Sakura's trees, the flora trailing behind Ammy that change with her speed, the way her weapons all have their own unique animations, even when they're just resting on her back. This game is gorgeous.
- The gameplay gets compared to Zelda a lot, and I can see why, but quite honestly it surpasses Zelda in a few key areas (and I've played everything up through Twilight Princess). First, the combat is just plain better. One of my complaints about Zelda games has always been how many options you have, yet how rarely you're forced to use them. Sure, once in a while you have to shoot someone's eye with an arrow, or grab some monster's shell with your hookshot, but that's about it. Okami, on the other hand, seems to force you to use all of your tools effectively. Brush strokes are overpowered, but limited by ink and don't affect some enemies. Physical combat is great, but some enemies freeze up after a hit, forcing you to stop button mashing and figure out a better strategy. Bombs are highly effective, but ruin any chance at getting demon fangs out of the bad guys, etc. Very well-done and so much fun to mess around with. I love attacking enemies... by growing trees underneath them that shoot up and launch them into the air. Now that is a unique combat element right there.
- Okami also does a great job at providing constant yet minimal rewards, which means there's always an incentive to keep playing. From the little patches of cursed grass that need renewing, to the enemy shrines, to feeding little animals, the way they integrated the "restoring nature" theme with the actual gameplay is absolutely some of the best work I've ever seen from a design standpoint. I'm at around 7 hours in and I don't think I've ever gone more than five minutes without getting some praise, or yen, or some other little reward for playing. There's just so much to do, and thanks to the way they designed the game, it never feels like a collection-fest.

My only real gripes are the fact that you can't speed up dialogue during cutscenes (ugh) and some unclear gameplay objectives (visit several locations on the field, then for no reason return to town and restore all the trees and talk to the elder, so you can advance... how was I supposed to figure that out? >_>) Oh and combat's really, really easy. And on the offchance that it gets hard, pop a few items. But with all of the great things this game has to offer, I can look past those. I'm definitely happy with this purchase, I just wish I'd bought it sooner.

[Byrthnoth]

.hack GU? Wat?

I abandoned other PS2 games and switched to FFXI onry when my fat one stopped reading disks. Recently got a new "slim edition" so I could finish some of those RPGs I was in the middle of when it crapped out though. I liked the first four .hacks, though I beat the first one on release day on painkillers after getting my wisdom teeth out and always felt like I was missing some part of the story after that.


I've played La Pucelle Tactics, and it isn't that great imop. Short, not very challenging, hard to tell what is going to get you a "good ending." You can definitely feel it was a precursor to Disgaea, as everything is an unpolished shadow of what it will become. Still has a great translation team. Not quite Disgaea funny, but pretty good.

I have Phantom Brave, but have only played it for a few hours. Young girl protagonists just make me lose interest compared to Laharl.

[Folant]

If you have a lot of patience and don't mind watching a video game, Xenosaga is one of the most memorable experiences you'll have next to Kingdom Hearts and Persona.