As someone who had the PS4 as their first home console (so you know I don't have nostalgia bias): yes. Simply no other console had this many historically important and genre-defining games. Only the NES has almost the same amount, but not quite.
Watching your ps2 action game videos just makes me want to drop whatever im doing and find the most random ps2 action game and finish it in one sitting
Cvit, you have to try Chaos Legion. I loved it when i was a teen, and still nowadays i think it is a fantastic game, actually a forgotten gem... and absolutely nobody talks about it. I honestly think it inspired (along many others) games like Dark Souls (for example the dificulty), and had many mechanics that were awesome but completely forgotten afterwards (the invocation system). The graphics where insane at that time, and i still listen to its OST to this day... PLEASE! I think you are the only one that can make some justice to this game. Nobody pays any attention to this kind of PS2 games except you. There's like one review, one speedrun and 3 or 4 longplays here on YT, it's outrageous. Also, thanks for the Nanobreaker review, i loved it when it was released one million years ago.
Glad to see you review Sword of Etheria. It gives me a lot of nostalgia since I used to play it as a kid. Imo the music is the best part of the game followed by the gorgeous art style.
honestly they look best without upscaling or enhancements, emulated as close to hardware as possible (if you're really devoted, ran through a CRT). These games were designed for a certain resolution, and upscaling adds a harshness that shouldn't be there. PS2 is the height of graphics IMO - they have a smoothness to them that's a product of more than just resolution that helps models and backgrounds blend together that you're totally robbed of using enhancements
All that extra and bonus content in Sword of Etheria blew my mind. I picked it up a whim back when it was new, as I didn't have a HD console yet, and my local GameStop (RIP) still stocked new PS2 games and they were super cheap, like 25 euro. This is how I got Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 thanks to that shop too. Anyway, I just beat Sword of Etheria once and I moved on, but I remember having a lot of fun playing it. It was a great nostalgia trip seeing it feature so heavily in this video!
These games seem very interesting. I don't know if I'll go out of my way to play them, but you make a great pitch for them and are tempting. I love hearing about these hidden gems.
Holy crap, someone else has played Samurai Western!!! I am suprised you didn't mention the ability to replay the game as all the other characters in the game. It was so funny to me to kill all the cowboys as a kid with all the powers you had unlocked.
Definitely my favourite console of all time. I had one back in the day and was still collecting for it up until a couple of years ago. Admittedly a lot of the games have aged poorly but so many PS2 games are still so good even today. Onimusha 1-3, Godhand, Ratchet and clank, Jak and Daxter, Black, Burnout 3, Ace Combat, Tekken 5, Final Fantasy 10, Resident Evil 4, Devil May Cry 3, Victorious Boxers 1 and 2, Ring Of Red, Gran Turismo 4, Persona 3 and 4, Crash Twinsanity..... the list of great PS2 games goes on and on.
wow!! I'm still discovering ps2 games I have never heard of in 2023. Space Sherrif Gavan and Kamen Rider Genealogy of Justice is right up my childhood an I only find out about this today.
Hands down best hack and slashers were on ps2. Thats specifically why its my favorite onimisha, blood will tell, samurai wester, bujingai, shinobi, dynasty and samurai warriors. Greatest fumble of my life was selling my copy of blood will tell
A great DMC inspired game called Chaos Legion was one of the more interesting Action RPG's with a kind of progression system that has you buffing your self aa one as your summonable allies (Legions) back on Ps2.
Man, I remember playing that game over and over on my old PC. Laggy as hell, 'cause I didn't have a good computer then, but fun nontheless. Always wished there was more levels with the pistols girl.
The PS2 is in my opinion the best console ever, they took so much experimental stuff from the first one, and just made even more random stuff with it. As obscure, not that much really. But when people speak about racing games they think GT4 and NFS, I think about Crash'n'Burn, I still play this game regularly. It still has some of the most fun Arena modes ever made, and when you get to play the "Extreme Kamikaze Tournament" races it's just madness of speed, oil, fire and metal scrap.
The PS and PS2 era was a time of great diversity and fun, when even food manufacturers and airlines were trying to release games to advertise themselves. My personal treasures are Steambot Chronicles and Robot Alchemic Drive.
I grew up playing nanobreaker and remembering the controls would drive me crazy sometimes, but the game itself I have fond memories with and I remember when I got a psp later down the line, I used to play a game called Rengoku? If I remember the name correctly, it reminded me of nanobreaker a lot.
Just wanted to say this video had me legitimately laughing out loud at the gun several times, which is more than I can say for the writing in the majority of TH-cam retro game reviews. Great video!
You really picked a few real stinkers to show as awesome underrated games. These games are underrated for good reason, they are stinkers from top to bottom. I still use my PS2, so I am aware of certain limitations in graphics etcetera.
Thank you so much for this video i play on PC via emulation it's insane to max out everything and apply certain patches and texture mods it's like playing the games in a remastered form! I'll definitely check these games out Subbed by the way keep up the great work
I would love you to cover Chaos Legión. Ive seen you have it in your backlog and that it says that You are not enjoying the mechanics. I would say that the first few quests are just a walk in the park but at some point the Game Spikes in dificulty and You have to learn to use the summon and special atracks of each legion in cahoots with your move set and ítems if You want to advance. It's pretty deep at the end but i understand that it is not a good first impresion...
PS2 was great yes, but also, it sold so well as when it launched it was the cheapest DVD players you could buy. During the DVD boom, everyone wanted one.
i fucking love Nanobreaker randomly found it in a collection of my dad's games and just got so obsessed with it that 18 years later i still play id periodically
One good hack and slash, puzzle platformer I grew up playing was E.O.E. Eve of Extinction. Its an early ps2 game, one of me first ps2 games actually. Certantly not the best in gameplay or story, but I'll always have a soft spot for it.
16:46 as a Dark Souls player this is incredibly huge. I had no idea any game from this time could show your clothing in cutscene with that degree of customisation. Very cool stuff
I had nanobreaker in my early teens, damn I had really forgot about it. I thought it was really cool. Thanks for the reminder! Gotta find it for my collection now
I’ve long wondered what the source was for the background video for Polovtsian Dances And Chorus was for Dance Dance Revolution. Now I know it’s Sword of Etheria.
I gotta say, your complaints on nanobreaker's combat all comes from you just being terrible at it. Watching you poke the fat guys over and over when you can just oneshot them and move on. The game rewards situational use of combos, and you're just using inefficient ones for the situation tbh. I had a blast with the endless mode, and when you're good at the combat you can basically always keep your aura up, grab and split enemies by the dozen. It's fun. When you know how to play
Also what I will say is the item leveling isn't just for show. When doing the hidden levels and challenges. This stuff really comes into play. Whirlwind Sign is also the best track in this game. Oh and did you know it was two player? Yeah player 2 controls Ralph
The PS2 seriously is the Best console ever with 4,000 games! Why don't we have hack and slash games anymore? It's either a "souls like game" or a souls light type game.. is how modern day people describe them & want devs to make them like.. i miss this PS2 era SO MUCH! Do you remember "Whip-lash" that obscure animals that were test subjects of scientific researchers and you break out and are a weasel that has a rabbit on a chain for a weapon lol i love it
Its so strange i hear you talking about this games and i remeber seeing they when i was young, like every one know this game or that game Ps2 sure was awesome
i see you have teh classic shooter " black "" from ps2 in your intro i wonder if you havea video about it on the channel ...as for samurai western its a spin off the original "" way of the samurai '' trilogy .. each one is worth 100s of hours of fun and replayablility ... if you liked samurai western youll like that og trilogy 10 times more
I'd love a new samurai western-like game. Imagine RDR2 but it's straight up boss fights with open world like a souls-game, RPG-esque towns with japanese and wild west themes with steampunk added. Oh man
Actually curious how an indie dev would handle the issues you repeatedly mention: smooth follow-up combo attacks, ability to juggle, handling multiple button inputs, etc. Especially in Unreal/Unity
dude i played the sh.. outa nanobreaker, it was such a ... random game, but i have very fond memories of it, it was addicting and fun, i do remember that
i remember Samurai Western, vaguely, like in asia internet cafe exist right? but not only PC, we also got consoles, one room got a bunch of PC, the other got Consoles, i remember waiting for my turn, this College guy, (im just a pre-teen lik 10-12 y.o) plays a samurai game, one thing stood out is you can equip this demon mask , and then your character will crouch all the time, but in gameplay the character automatically enter this "frenzy" mode where the screen blurs, movement is fast as hell, and you could one-shot almost every mob, because this demon mask only got one attack, upward slash that will split you in half
![[TH] RNT vs SPG - VCT Ascension Pacific - Day 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RUTkf8Detj8/mqdefault.jpg)
Yes the ps2 is the greatest console to ever exist
Long live the PS2!
@@darriusuchida1875the ps2 will never die
Honestly, that entire generation was goated. Xbox, Gamecube, PSP, and GBA included
As someone who had the PS4 as their first home console (so you know I don't have nostalgia bias): yes. Simply no other console had this many historically important and genre-defining games. Only the NES has almost the same amount, but not quite.
The hardware was the worst out of the three at the time. But man the exclusives slapped
Watching your ps2 action game videos just makes me want to drop whatever im doing and find the most random ps2 action game and finish it in one sitting
so true
Yep. I can pop in any PS2 game into my launch day PS3 whenever I’m in the mood. 😎
dew it
Genealogy of Justice keeping the creepy bug form in-between Black's henshin state is just utter perfection.
Cvit, you have to try Chaos Legion. I loved it when i was a teen, and still nowadays i think it is a fantastic game, actually a forgotten gem... and absolutely nobody talks about it. I honestly think it inspired (along many others) games like Dark Souls (for example the dificulty), and had many mechanics that were awesome but completely forgotten afterwards (the invocation system). The graphics where insane at that time, and i still listen to its OST to this day... PLEASE! I think you are the only one that can make some justice to this game. Nobody pays any attention to this kind of PS2 games except you. There's like one review, one speedrun and 3 or 4 longplays here on YT, it's outrageous.
Also, thanks for the Nanobreaker review, i loved it when it was released one million years ago.
I've seen Samurai Western a few times now, and it just looks like a true hidden gem.
It absolutely is
I played at the time, and I loved it.
It is but if you do decide to play this game. Note that the Ninja Sword (stance) is OP AF!
You should update the Sheriff Spirits Wikipedia article with a description of Mimi mode now that you have experienced it
Annie and Mimi’s Big Adventure mode would absolutely be a $20 DLC now
Been kinda hooked on that 80's Gavan theme for a while now (it's fire btw!). Really nice to see it pop up here..
My favorites are the shaider's and sharivan's heme
Glad to see you review Sword of Etheria. It gives me a lot of nostalgia since I used to play it as a kid. Imo the music is the best part of the game followed by the gorgeous art style.
Finally someone is talking about Samurai Western!
I finished this so many times playing co op with my older brother when we were kids!
I LOVE IT
I've been on a PS2 binge lately with PCSX2-QT and Retroachievements. It's amazing how good some of the games can look with little emulator magic.
yup currently re-playing god of war on the ps2 emulator and its crazy how good it looks with upscalling and enhanced resolution..
honestly they look best without upscaling or enhancements, emulated as close to hardware as possible (if you're really devoted, ran through a CRT). These games were designed for a certain resolution, and upscaling adds a harshness that shouldn't be there. PS2 is the height of graphics IMO - they have a smoothness to them that's a product of more than just resolution that helps models and backgrounds blend together that you're totally robbed of using enhancements
All that extra and bonus content in Sword of Etheria blew my mind. I picked it up a whim back when it was new, as I didn't have a HD console yet, and my local GameStop (RIP) still stocked new PS2 games and they were super cheap, like 25 euro. This is how I got Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 thanks to that shop too. Anyway, I just beat Sword of Etheria once and I moved on, but I remember having a lot of fun playing it. It was a great nostalgia trip seeing it feature so heavily in this video!
These games seem very interesting. I don't know if I'll go out of my way to play them, but you make a great pitch for them and are tempting. I love hearing about these hidden gems.
Why is it that you have the perfect voice for this stuff? Not annoying, not too boring, not too loud…I can’t stop watching.
Holy crap, someone else has played Samurai Western!!! I am suprised you didn't mention the ability to replay the game as all the other characters in the game. It was so funny to me to kill all the cowboys as a kid with all the powers you had unlocked.
Definitely my favourite console of all time. I had one back in the day and was still collecting for it up until a couple of years ago.
Admittedly a lot of the games have aged poorly but so many PS2 games are still so good even today.
Onimusha 1-3, Godhand, Ratchet and clank, Jak and Daxter, Black, Burnout 3, Ace Combat, Tekken 5, Final Fantasy 10, Resident Evil 4, Devil May Cry 3, Victorious Boxers 1 and 2, Ring Of Red, Gran Turismo 4, Persona 3 and 4, Crash Twinsanity..... the list of great PS2 games goes on and on.
wow!! I'm still discovering ps2 games I have never heard of in 2023. Space Sherrif Gavan and Kamen Rider Genealogy of Justice is right up my childhood an I only find out about this today.
Hands down best hack and slashers were on ps2. Thats specifically why its my favorite onimisha, blood will tell, samurai wester, bujingai, shinobi, dynasty and samurai warriors. Greatest fumble of my life was selling my copy of blood will tell
The one game in this genre and timeframe I've never heard anyone speak about is Spartan: Total Warrior. I love it to pieces too!
A great DMC inspired game called Chaos Legion was one of the more interesting Action RPG's with a kind of progression system that has you buffing your self aa one as your summonable allies (Legions) back on Ps2.
Man, I remember playing that game over and over on my old PC. Laggy as hell, 'cause I didn't have a good computer then, but fun nontheless. Always wished there was more levels with the pistols girl.
In every vid u make it really shows how much you enjoy making these vids, always great writing, editing, content, etc. Love the channel!
The PS2 is in my opinion the best console ever, they took so much experimental stuff from the first one, and just made even more random stuff with it.
As obscure, not that much really. But when people speak about racing games they think GT4 and NFS, I think about Crash'n'Burn, I still play this game regularly.
It still has some of the most fun Arena modes ever made, and when you get to play the "Extreme Kamikaze Tournament" races it's just madness of speed, oil, fire and metal scrap.
Holy moly dude , these morph animations in that one game are brutally detailled 😂
I’ve watched all of these individually but I was still giddy to see the compilation lol
The PS and PS2 era was a time of great diversity and fun, when even food manufacturers and airlines were trying to release games to advertise themselves. My personal treasures are Steambot Chronicles and Robot Alchemic Drive.
I grew up playing nanobreaker and remembering the controls would drive me crazy sometimes, but the game itself I have fond memories with and I remember when I got a psp later down the line, I used to play a game called Rengoku? If I remember the name correctly, it reminded me of nanobreaker a lot.
I bought Samurai Western on recommendation by my local game store owner, it was a great game. The intro alone is enough to draw you in.
I believe that the maker of Samurai Western did the songs for the Tenchu Series as well. You can even hear rhat easily, fkn awesome tracks!
Just wanted to say this video had me legitimately laughing out loud at the gun several times, which is more than I can say for the writing in the majority of TH-cam retro game reviews. Great video!
That first game looks sick, and Gungrave was awesome!
23:14 I did in fact play and beat The Sword of Etheria. I streamed it as well.
Keep up the good work.
lmao those mechs from nanobreaker are literally just the safeguard from BLAME!
Man am I so glad yt recommended me this video.
You really picked a few real stinkers to show as awesome underrated games. These games are underrated for good reason, they are stinkers from top to bottom. I still use my PS2, so I am aware of certain limitations in graphics etcetera.
Samurai Western was one of my favorite games in high school.
Woah! I had a Space Sherriff Gavan toy as a kid but never knew what it was and thought it was a knockoff Robocop.
There is an "Robocop knockoff" Its called Jiban
Thank you so much for this video i play on PC via emulation it's insane to max out everything and apply certain patches and texture mods it's like playing the games in a remastered form! I'll definitely check these games out
Subbed by the way keep up the great work
I'm glad that you were able to confirm that Mimi mode is real.
Saw this on my front page, hopefully you get algorithm'd, great vid!
Found a game I really want to play because of this. Comparing something to the original NieR is all I need. NieR Gestalt is my FAVOURITE GAME. Ever.
samurai western the one game stuck in my head after years of gaming
I would love you to cover Chaos Legión. Ive seen you have it in your backlog and that it says that You are not enjoying the mechanics. I would say that the first few quests are just a walk in the park but at some point the Game Spikes in dificulty and You have to learn to use the summon and special atracks of each legion in cahoots with your move set and ítems if You want to advance. It's pretty deep at the end but i understand that it is not a good first impresion...
PS2 was great yes, but also, it sold so well as when it launched it was the cheapest DVD players you could buy. During the DVD boom, everyone wanted one.
Samurai western was one of my favorite games I think it was pretty popular at the time. Ads were everywhere for it.
1:15:42 Cavia also did THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME!
Resident Evil: Dead Aim!
Bruce & Fong Ling being the coolest RE protagonists next to Joe Baker!
YOOOOOO BUJINGAI I LOVE THAT GAME i got gifted a copy a few years ago for christmas after mentioning i wanted it again
The rlm bit was too funny and totally accurate, nivlcw vid man, stay safe ❤
Who remembers “Bushido Blade”?!?? I think it was ps1 but man was that game fun 🎉
Underrated "Surviving Edged Weapons" reference
i fucking love Nanobreaker randomly found it in a collection of my dad's games and just got so obsessed with it that 18 years later i still play id periodically
Check out "Blood Will Tell". One of the best action-rpg's i have ever played with a great story and great characters.
One good hack and slash, puzzle platformer I grew up playing was E.O.E. Eve of Extinction. Its an early ps2 game, one of me first ps2 games actually. Certantly not the best in gameplay or story, but I'll always have a soft spot for it.
Kinda insane how accurate space sheriff cutscenes look
I love this type of content so much. I doubt I’ll ever play any of these but I want to know everything about them.
16:46 as a Dark Souls player this is incredibly huge. I had no idea any game from this time could show your clothing in cutscene with that degree of customisation. Very cool stuff
46:58 The introduction of villain here was peak 🤌🏻
You should try genji: dawn of the samurai. It truly is an underated gem and one of the best ps2 action game
I had nanobreaker in my early teens, damn I had really forgot about it. I thought it was really cool. Thanks for the reminder! Gotta find it for my collection now
wow, was not expecting to see RaSan69 mentioned in this video. I've been subbed to that guy practically since youtube gaming content got started
I’ve long wondered what the source was for the background video for Polovtsian Dances And Chorus was for Dance Dance Revolution. Now I know it’s Sword of Etheria.
I gotta say, your complaints on nanobreaker's combat all comes from you just being terrible at it. Watching you poke the fat guys over and over when you can just oneshot them and move on. The game rewards situational use of combos, and you're just using inefficient ones for the situation tbh. I had a blast with the endless mode, and when you're good at the combat you can basically always keep your aura up, grab and split enemies by the dozen. It's fun. When you know how to play
Shoutouts to obscure and hidden masterpieces from the PS2 era, gotta be one of my favorite genders.
Would love to see 10,000 Bullets get covered next, keep up the good work bro.
Ngl the part that had me dying was hearing my homie Yipes coming in outta no where 🤣🤣 can’t wait to check out some of these games
Also what I will say is the item leveling isn't just for show. When doing the hidden levels and challenges. This stuff really comes into play. Whirlwind Sign is also the best track in this game. Oh and did you know it was two player? Yeah player 2 controls Ralph
This.....this video right here.....yep this video has gotten you the prestigious honor of me following you my good sir
I've got Samurai Western and Sword of Etheria and they are both amazing games.
The PS2 seriously is the Best console ever with 4,000 games! Why don't we have hack and slash games anymore? It's either a "souls like game" or a souls light type game.. is how modern day people describe them & want devs to make them like.. i miss this PS2 era SO MUCH! Do you remember "Whip-lash" that obscure animals that were test subjects of scientific researchers and you break out and are a weasel that has a rabbit on a chain for a weapon lol i love it
I came to Samurai Western via the Way of the Samurai series. Loved it.
Samurai Western game mechanics looks awesome
Lol the altered beast intro was great
CHILLS DOWN MY SPINE when you went to sword of atheria. NIER theme tune.
Bro that Space Sherrif Gavan game looks amazing!🔥
Its so strange i hear you talking about this games and i remeber seeing they when i was young, like every one know this game or that game
Ps2 sure was awesome
Yo have made lots of My boring working afternoons bearable. Thanks 😊
OZ (Sword of Eternia) is amazing. It never released stateside, but i still have my original japanese copy. Love ut to death.
I had to double take when i heard Rich Evan's siren song above all the PS2 action!
One game i played on ps2 was virtua quest and I only saw 1 copy of it in toys r us at the time and no other place near me even had a copy
Van Helsing has the best werewolves and it is wild ride from the start to the finish. I am convinced critics who dunked on it never even watched it.
It’s truly gaming’s GOAT.
It makes me very happy to hear you reference dragon install
You should check out Jet Ali Rise to Honor. I love the game controls, surprise games didn’t take after it.
i see NANOBREAKER and BLOOD WILL TELL, i drop a like and sub to the channel, 2 of the best games i played on ps2 that sadly not too many talk about.
I saw the Xavier reference Fam I’m an adult swim kid too lol
“Almost a decade before I was born.” brb burying myself
i see you have teh classic shooter " black "" from ps2 in your intro i wonder if you havea video about it on the channel ...as for samurai western its a spin off the original "" way of the samurai '' trilogy .. each one is worth 100s of hours of fun and replayablility ... if you liked samurai western youll like that og trilogy 10 times more
I'd love a new samurai western-like game. Imagine RDR2 but it's straight up boss fights with open world like a souls-game, RPG-esque towns with japanese and wild west themes with steampunk added. Oh man
Actually curious how an indie dev would handle the issues you repeatedly mention: smooth follow-up combo attacks, ability to juggle, handling multiple button inputs, etc.
Especially in Unreal/Unity
Space sheriff was very popular in France, I used to watch it everyday. Awesome show. It's called X-OR in french and the theme song is sick af.
This video is a gold mine, as usual, thank you @Cvit. you make such cool and unique videos man. thanks for uploading .
Ps2 is the best game console ever made.
Timeless gameplay, great releases and still relevant graphics.
dude i played the sh.. outa nanobreaker, it was such a ... random game, but i have very fond memories of it, it was addicting and fun, i do remember that
I enjoyed Blood Will Tell when I was in the 5th grade
This video is a gold mine, as usual, thank you @Cvit
Thanks for this video, Ps2 has some of the greatest games 💯
You should check out the Ultraman games on PS2. Pretty much all of them are awesome!
Sometimes I like to think that PS2 was a testing ground for future games upcoming games.
Loving the Dilla in the Altered Beast chapter
i remember Samurai Western, vaguely, like in asia internet cafe exist right? but not only PC, we also got consoles, one room got a bunch of PC, the other got Consoles, i remember waiting for my turn, this College guy, (im just a pre-teen lik 10-12 y.o) plays a samurai game, one thing stood out is you can equip this demon mask , and then your character will crouch all the time, but in gameplay the character automatically enter this "frenzy" mode where the screen blurs, movement is fast as hell, and you could one-shot almost every mob, because this demon mask only got one attack, upward slash that will split you in half
I hope one day you'll mention the Another Century's Episode series. An action crossover anime mech game made by Fromsoft