What draws you into a video game? Is it the graphics? Is it the genre? Is it the company? I could ask questions all day long, but we are all different. A 10/10 game reviewed across multiple outlets may be the voice of the majority, but it does not speak to everyone. This year’s God of War is being hailed as one of 2018’s best and I love it, but I also have friends that it didn’t gel well with. Then there are games that not just gamers love, but seemingly everyone on the globe is on board with, aka Fortnite. Personally, I can’t stand it, but it’s not the kind of game I like to invest my time in. It doesn’t mean it’s bad though.
A game’s literal graphics may wow me at the time, but it’s an art style that really draws me in. It’s these games that try to do something more than a system’s pure power that stand the test of time. For example, let’s look at the reaction to The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker when it was first announced. It was ridiculed for being a cartoon aka for kids. Gamers wanted something darker and more grown-up, like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. Looking back at those three games now, well, it’s pretty clear which one still looks good. That’s all we’ll be talking about in regards to this list. It doesn’t mean, for that example, that Wind Waker is a better game overall, but just that it holds up visually. Okay? Well then let’s get to the PS2.
30 Amazing: Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII was one of the last big games to debut on the PS2. It came out in 2006, a year after the Xbox 360 and just months away from the PS3. The HD era had begun, but Square Enix was set to prove that the PS2 still had some power. It looks good on the old hardware and even better with the cleaned up HD port that launched last year. However you play it, just make sure not to skip this often-forgot fantasy.
29 Ugly: Grand Theft Auto III
No one really remembers, or cares about the first two Grand Theft Auto games. They were top-down and minimalistic in every way. That’s why GTA III was such a revelation. To evolve the genre, no, to create it, was a huge leap forward. Every company wanted a piece of it so we got clones aplenty. Going back to it now, while fun for nostalgia’s sake, it’s pretty ugly. The worst part is its character models, which don’t look much better than the best of the PS1 era.
28 Amazing: Resident Evil 4
The GameCube was often ridiculed as being underpowered. That it couldn’t run with the big boys and, or get high quality support from third parties. Well the skeptics probably ate crow when they witnessed the graphical fidelity of both Resident Evil’s remake and Resident Evil 4.
Got something that might interest ya, stranger.
They are stunning even today and that transfers to the PS2 as well. Like a lot of these entries you can enjoy it on modern hardware, which does make it appear even smoother, but the point is it’s still a looker on older consoles too.
27 Ugly: God Of War
The new God of War on PS4 may be the console’s prettiest exclusive. The same was true over a decade ago regarding the first God of War. It was barbaric, raw, bloody, and made all the boys crazy. It’s pretty silly thinking about that now especially regarding those “special” mini-games with the ladies. I could find a more attractive model in a 1930s J. C. Penny. A lot of other things don’t hold up about it as well as its reliance on quick time events.
26 Amazing: Metal Gear Solid 3
It was hard deciding what Metal Gear Solid to put on this list between the second and third entry. They both look amazing. I had to tip my hat to Snake Eater since, like Final Fantasy XII, it squeezes out a little more juice toward the end of the PS2’s life. The jungle setting can’t hold a candle to a modern outdoor setting like Horizon Zero Dawn, of course, but it really excels at characters and style regardless of that fact.
25 Ugly: Twisted Metal Black
Whatever happened to car combat games? It was huge in the late 90s and early 2000s and no franchise was bigger than Twisted Metal. With the jump to PS2, like my reference to GTA III, it was a huge leap at the time. However, Twisted Metal Black looks dated even with the slightly cleaned up version on PS4.
This was the Insane Clown Posse of video games.
It’s just a lot of blacks, browns, grays, and shades in-between. Even the style has faded. It was a product of its time.
24 Amazing: Okami
Oh, how I love to talk about Okami. I didn’t think it was possible for the art to look any better than it does on PS2, but every new port of it gets better. So if you somehow missed this game and want to play it, the most recent release on PS4, or Switch is the way to go. However, again, she’s still magnificent on the original hardware. It just goes to show that an art style reminiscent of a painting is going to hold up better over time.
23 Ugly: Star Wars Battlefront II
Just to be clear, I’m talking about the original PS2 release of Star Wars Battlefront II. You know, the actual good game with the two in the title. If you buy it on Xbox One the graphics are smoothed over, but it still looks pretty janky especially in space. That’s the one thing the new games can lord over this one. They are stunning. Graphics aside gameplay is just as engaging as ever whether you buy it on new hardware, or on older stuff.
22 Amazing: Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter released in 2001, which was just a year after the PS2’s debut. It stands to reason that a game that old and so close to a system’s launch should look bad, right?
Stay fuzzy, save the world…
Thanks to the cartoony nature of everything, this is not the case. Of course, I’d be silly not to mention the PS3, or PS4 re-releases, which really clean it, and its two sequels, up a bit. Again, that’s just an obvious comment.
21 Ugly: Persona 4
Persona 4 is without a doubt the best game in the series. It has an amazing cast, soundtrack, and a great RPG loop of gameplay that will get you addicted. That said. it looks like garbage. Okay, that’s a little bit of an overstatement, but look at this fact alone. The game was released in 2008. 2008! It should look loads better given that point, but it appears like a super early PS2 title. Not even the “HD” Vita version looks better.
20 Amazing: Viewtiful Joe
I recently wrote about ol’ Joe in my article recapping 2000s Nintendo games only fans remember. Viewtiful Joe is one of those treasures. It appeared first as a GameCube exclusive and once it was ported to the PS2, it received Dante from Devil May Cry as a playable character. Now that’s a bonus! The Power Rangers motif crossed with comic books is presented live and well no matter what version you play thanks to the cel-shaded graphics. It deserves an HD remaster.
19 Ugly: TimeSplitters 2
THQ Nordic recently acquired the TimeSplitters license so it’s quite possible these lost gems will reappear soon. Whether it’s a bundle or released separately, I’m excited about an HD upgrade possibility. It’s still a fun first-person shooter with a great gimmick, but boy has it aged poorly.
Time has not been kind to this.
The physics, environments, and models all need some tuning up. Of course, you’re pretty shallow if you can’t get past poor graphics to play this game, but again, I’m in support of a remaster too.
18 Amazing: Dragon Quest VIII
Guess what? I have another cel-shaded game that still looks amazing on PS2. I know, I’m a broken record, but Dragon Quest VIII is more than that. It was a huge evolution for the series. The one PS1 game was still 2D in nature like its 16 and 8-bit predecessors. Going from pixels to full on models with voice acting was big enough, but it also got rid of the dreaded random encounter mechanic. It is a landmark title not just for the series, but RPGs as a whole.
17 Ugly: Splinter Cell
Contrary to Metal Gear Solid 3, another big PS2 spy game, Splinter Cell, does not hold up. At the time it was hailed as this graphical powerhouse that made the lighting in games matter. It was all about sneaking in the dark, so the resolution of the darkness mattered. At least that’s what Ubisoft was counting on. While it didn’t wow me as much as the zany Metal Gear games, it was still enjoyable as a grounded adventure and was admittedly stunning. Today, eh, not so much.
16 Amazing: Dark Cloud 2
The first Dark Cloud had some good ideas like the roguelike, randomized dungeons, and the town building mechanics, but as a whole, it’s not remembered well. It was fine for a launch PS2 RPG basically.
This is the game that made Level-5 a household name.
The sequel, on the other hand, cranked it up to eleven. It got rid of the large cast and focused on two characters, which were now voiced. It used cel-shading instead of polygonal models, and the scope was just bigger. It’s still fun on PS2, but even better on PS4.
15 Ugly: Gran Turismo 3
If there was one series Sony counted on to show off their systems’ graphics, it was Gran Turismo. Every single entry made graphics for racing games look realistic. Gran Turismo 3 literally made my jaw drop. It looked so real to me. Looking at it now, ha, well let’s just say I feel silly. When games are made on pure, graphical power, it can sell a system. However, it’s the art and style of a game’s director that will make a title stand the test of time. Games like Gran Turismo 3 have no legs past their prime.
14 Amazing: Kingdom Hearts II
Fans are constantly demanding a Chrono Trigger sequel past Chrono Cross. Hey, it already happened just not in the way you’d expect. I’m referring to Kingdom Hearts. No, this series has no ties to Crono and his gang, but it is related in terms of scope. I still can’t believe the powerhouses of RPGs and animation teamed up together. Camera controls aside, and they are bad; Kingdom Hearts and its sequel are amazing. Between the HD remasters and the original versions it all looks the same to me: perfect. Kingdom Hearts II is just slightly better.
13 Ugly: Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 was my first entry in the series and actually one of the first PS2 games I played. I bought Jak and Daxter plus Final Fantasy X when I eventually bought my system. While both good, I wanted a horror fix akin to Resident Evil. This looked like a fun zombie shooter. Boy was I wrong. It was pure psychological terror.
Mannequins will forever scare me now.
What scared me back then makes me scoff at now due to the graphical quality. Funnily enough, this is one example wherein the HD remaster looks even worse.
12 Amazing: Odin Sphere
Odin Sphere was yet another end of life situation for the PS2. It released in 2007. So that was a factor in its obscurity, but it’s also 2D. By 2007 a lot of the mainstream crowd were ready for face-rupturing graphics. No one had time for a 2D game on PS2. That said because it’s 2D and drawn artistically like a painting in motion, it holds up rather well. The gameplay is a bit clunky, but all of that and more were fixed in the HD remaster: Odin Sphere Leifthrasir.
11 Ugly: Medal Of Honor Frontline
The year was 1998 and one movie swept the summer: Saving Private Ryan. It was a tour de force for Steven Spielberg and his crew, changing what we knew about war movies. The same could be said for its video game counterpart aka Medal of Honor: Frontline. Spielberg even had a hand in it, which is why that opening D-Day mission is just as memorable as his film. While it blew us away in 2002, well, let’s just say we’ve come a long way since then.
