Just when I had all but given up, I managed to get my PS2 limping along again. It wouldn’t read any disks, so I started by cleaning the laser. No use. Then a bit of googling told me there’s a second laser beneath the first one. I had to take the whole array out to get at it, but once I got that dust-free again my good old fatty was back in business.
Nearly, anyway. It still makes a very faint rattling noise , and I suspect it won’t be long before it starts acting up again. That’s why I need to play as many of the games on my backlog as possible before it goes caput for good. I could always buy another PS2 but I’d rather just dump the system altogether and move on if that happens.
So, what should I prioritize? Here’s my backlog of English PS2 games:
[updated. see below]
I hope to play all these eventually but since I’m on borrowed time, what would you play if you could only play one or two? I also have/downloaded some Japanese games, like Atelier Lilie, Sacred Blaze, Tokimeki Memorial 3 and Summon Night 3 (can’t wait to play this), but let’s stick to the English titles for now.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE
Thanks to your suggestions, I’ve re-arranged my list like so:
Steambot Chronicles
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (on hold while I find a new copy)
Dark Cloud 2
Arc the Lad – Twilight of the Spirits
Wild Arms 4 (on hold while I find a new copy)
Yakuza 2
Arc the Lad – End of Darkness
Radiata Stories
Shining Tears
Suikoden Tactics
Tales of Legendia
Unlimited Saga
Wild Arms 5
Disgaea 1 & 2
I’m able to this so easily because I don’t have any particular attachment to those games. With very few exceptions I’ve played all the PS2 games I really wanted to play. Everything else is easily-discarded icing on the cake.
In further news, I actually started Steambot Chronicles last week. It looks like something I’d enjoy. I mean, how can you not like a game with Constipatory Tablets as an item? There’s just one tiny problem… I can’t control the Trotmobile AT. ALL. I can barely move in a straight line, and I sure as heck can’t win the tutorial battle. Let’s see how far I can get at this rate.
Steambot Chronicles!
Right on, I’ll start with that. I remember I really wanted to play it when I got it, but now I don’t remember why.
Wow, you finally resurrected it. More or less…
To tell you the truth, I’d choose the shortest ones, since you suspect the system may stop working at some time. If you play, let’s say, 30 hours and it stops working before you reach the end, you won’t be able even to finish the game you were playing. Since all of them (or almost all of them, I don’t know) are JRPGs I guess it doesn’t mind since all of them all very long, but at least I wouldn’t choose Disgaea 1 or 2 because:
1-I think you own a PSP, and it’s available there, with some extras.
2- They are VERY long.
From that list I only played Disgaea 1 and 2 (I really like them, but you may not like them if you look for a traditional SRPG), Arc the lad twilight spirits (which was quite good, but the combats were too long after you’ve played 10 hours) and Breath of fire Dragon Quarter (which I loved, but many fans were expecting another kind of game, since it doesn’t resemble to any previous Breath of Fire. It has a very special gameplay, read about it somewhere to know if it’s your cup of tea).
Disgaea 1 and 2 may exist on the PSP but I’m not going to get them again when I already have them for the PS2. I’ll shove them towards the back for now.
Arc the Lad and BoFDQ, ok. I think I might like DQ, in spite of all the things I’ve heard. I’ve played so many “regular” RPGs now that I’m more attracted to those that attempt something new.
Wild Arms 4 is around 25-30 hours long. It has a fun battle system but grating dialogue and writing IMO.
I don’t remember liking Arc the Lad: End of Darkness very much. I think I tried playing it with a friend and joked about burning the disc an hour later.
WA4 sounds nice and short. When it comes to that series I worry more about the poor dungeon design and frustrating puzzles than anything else.
From that list I’d suggest Dark Cloud 2. On the side note though, if you were going to play summon night 3&4, I’d highly recommend playing them on PSP since there are tons of quality of life changes for the PSP port that made the games a lot more enjoyable. Also there’s apparently save porting for Summon Night 5 as well (Pretty sure you just get costume and what-not).
I was going to get SN3 for PSP, but now that my PS2 has resurrected I don’t feel like spending the extra money/bandwidth buying/pirating it. I might change my tune if the PS2 version is really bad though.
Bumping DC2 on the priority list.
Strange the comment I posted vanished…
Nah, it just got swallowed by my overzealous spam filter. Sorry about that.
Dark Cloud 2 is one of the best games on any console. You can never go wrong with that.
As for Unlimited SaGa. It is bad. Period. I am probably the most shameless SaGa fan out there, but this game is horrendous… I still get nightmares whenever I remember that tabletop hopping sound.
The good about the game is the skill/battle system but the awfulness of everything else completely overshadows that.
Also, this is my first comment on your blog. I just stumbled upon it while searching for some WIZmans World info, and I think this blog is great. Keep it up.
:>
Thank you. I hope you enjoy Wizman’s World as much as I did.
(bumps Dark Cloud 2 a little higher on the list.)
But I hope you realize the more you insist Unlimited Saga is bad, the more you make me want to play it 😀
[…] next game on my PS2 backlog was supposed to be Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, but there’s something wrong with my copy. […]
[…] right now. When I made that list, I thought I’d never see my PS2 again, but now that it has miraculously resurrected, and there’s stuff I want to play on that. Not only that, but some of the games on the list, […]
[…] next game on my PS2 backlog was supposed to be Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, but there’s something wrong with my copy. […]