PS2 Games for the Casual Gamer Options

[MistressAlti]

So my boyfriend bought me a PS2 while I've been on vacation as a welcome-home surprise (not much of a surprise, considering I'm still in Europe, but still). I'm totally grateful for the gift but I have NO idea what kind of games I would use on it, 'cept maybe Guitar Hero and DDR, which is what I wanted it for in the first place.

So, I need recommendations for games for someone who is:

1. not into violence
2. not spectacularly good at console games (as in, nothing too hard to get decent at please)
3. too busy to spend tons of time grinding through tedious parts of games or unlocking special features

I have no idea if that actually, uh, leaves any games left. But I figured it's worth asking.

[Jonman]

So my boyfriend bought me a PS2 while I've been on vacation as a welcome-home surprise (not much of a surprise, considering I'm still in Europe, but still). I'm totally grateful for the gift but I have NO idea what kind of games I would use on it, 'cept maybe Guitar Hero and DDR, which is what I wanted it for in the first place.

So, I need recommendations for games for someone who is:

1. not into violence
2. not spectacularly good at console games (as in, nothing too hard to get decent at please)
3. too busy to spend tons of time grinding through tedious parts of games or unlocking special features

I have no idea if that actually, uh, leaves any games left. But I figured it's worth asking.

You, my dear, are right on the money with Guitar Hero - it pretty much single-handedly justifies the existance of PS2s. Buzz is also an absolute riot with 3 friends, but it doesn't look like it's out in the US. Boo. Mrs Jonman's quite keen on the Sly Cooper series - lovely design, and some decent cartoony platforming fun. I'll post more as they occur to me. And there's always Singstar, although it seems the first one's only coming out in the US next year. Tsk. Sure sign of a cultural backwater, that is.

[Feyliya]

Soul Caliber 2 is a nice two-player game a-la Mortal Kombat. Talk your boyfriend into playing with you, loser does the dishes.

And if you don't have a PS1, you can pick up some old classics to play on it. PS1 games are delightfully cheap when bought used.

[PsychWardMike]

Hm...

I'd reccomend the following:

Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Ratchet and Clank
Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal!
Makai Kingdom
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Katamari Damacy
We <3 Katamari

Any of those are going to do you well. All of them save Makai and Disgaea will only set you back about twenty bucks (or less!) a pop, and none of them are extremely violent nor do they require an excess amount of skill to play. I'd warn you only that Makai and Disgaea are extremely time consuming, but very "pick up and play" in that you can play them in twenty minute bursts for a good 100 hours of gameplay.

Enjoy!

And FYI, I think that Soul Calibur III is much better than Soul Calibur II. I'm just not sure of the prices...

[Jonman]

As an addendum to Mike's post, I'd advise that Disgaea and Makai Kingdom are not suitable for the casual gamer - they're both up to the neck in stats, and require hours of idling inventory management. Don't get me wrong, they're both fab-frickin-tastic games, but both require a sizable investement in time to get the best out of them.

[PsychWardMike]

Agreed, my fanboyism might have gotten the best of me (but look! No Devil May Cry or Viewtiful Joe!) but the reason I put them up there is because of the fun story lines, the good gameplay, and the inventive, though not overly violent, combat systems.

[Daria]

The Simpsons Road Rage. Fun, not alot of effort needed and can be two player.

I'm not a games player at all, and I can do it

[Felander]

The Simpsons Road Rage. Fun, not alot of effort needed and can be two player.

I'm not a games player at all, and I can do it

I'm pretty sure Alti is looking for decent PS2 games. ¬_¬

Can't go wrong with beat 'em ups; the latest incarnation of Tekken (5) is pretty good.

Other than that, a game which perfectly fits with your criteria is Lego Star Wars. It's an absolute gem of a game. You can spend a while unlocking special features should you so wish, but the game is so damn fun on its own, if a little short.

Both these titles can be found under the PS2's Platinum label.

[Daria]

It is an awesome game! ... yeah. As I said, I don't play computer games. My little brother has Lego Starwars. It is great- you can make all the characters have big moustaches and shoot people with teacups instead of light sabres.

[michael1384]

Other than that, a game which perfectly fits with your criteria is Lego Star Wars. It's an absolute gem of a game..

Second.

[Chronotub]

sonic mega collection, the old sonic games from the megadrive and gamegear, loads of fun (more so than many of the current games imho) and you can pick it pretty cheap

super monkey ball, played this up my friends house the other day, you have to guide a monkey in a ball through a maze its great fun and really adictive, there are loads of mini games aswell

the sims 2 don't have the ps2 version of this but its good fun on the pc

[That_Guy]

Ratchet: Deadlocked. It's a pretty long game (At least twenty hours of campaign), but it's broken down into lots of smaller "missions". If you've got a multitap and three friends, this is the game for you.

[Mata]

Can't go wrong with beat 'em ups; the latest incarnation of Tekken (5) is pretty good.

Would you care to place a wager on that?

1. not into violence

Jak & Daxter: The Precusor Legacy is a great game, mostly pretty easy, and has a lovely learning curve. Sues likes it and can play through most of it by herself, but she does get a bit stuck towards the very end.

Anything that involves the EyeToy is great for casual players, although universally exhausting in bouts longer than five or ten minutes (which is what casual gaming is all about, so that should be fine). The official EyeToy games are usually the best, but the Sega All Stars one is reputedly a good second.

[Felander]

Can't go wrong with beat 'em ups; the latest incarnation of Tekken (5) is pretty good.

Would you care to place a wager on that?

1. not into violence

Pfft. ¬_¬

[mooooooooooopo]

Sensible Soccer 2006 is cool, despite being a football game (which I hate). It manages to be fun and easy to play instead of dull and stupidly detailed like most of them.

EyeToy games are great too. I'm planning on buying EyeToy Kinetic when I get a PS2...it's a game and a 12 week fitness plan which is rather cool.

[sarahfelicity]

As a car obsessive, I'd like to add Gran Turismo 4 to that list. Its is my ultimate game - I can spend hours and hours and hours sapping away my life trying to get enough "money" for a Mercedes SL500...

[Mata]

The Gran Tourismo games are like RPG games with cars - strive hard enough to build up your stats and defeat the next objective - and just as time-stealing for those that they appeal to!

Which is a good point: isn't it interesting that none of us can think of a RPG that can appeal to casual gamers? There's got to be a gap in the market there, although designing it would be a very interesting challenge!

[pgrmdave]

I think that the problem with a casual RPG is that one of the appeals of RPGs is that they are very in-depth storywise, while casual gaming tends to be much more...casual. I suppose the best crossover would be the Sims - not a true RPG, but with a clear role-playing aspect, and yet very appealing to the casual gamer, due to its simplicity.

[That_Guy]

If you own a computer than Elder Scrolls would be your best bet, it does have a pretty intense (yet short) main storyline, but you can also just romp around and hack away at zombies, skeletons, wolves and passersby for hours.

[Fluffy]

Might I add that Ico is an excellent game that seems to meet all of your qualifications. It's for the PS2, very short (maybe 8-12 hours the first time through), has little violence to speak of, isn't terribly difficult (though the ingenious puzzles can be fairly challenging), is downright beautiful, and, on top of all this, is probably one of the finest games ever crafted. It may be a tad bit of trouble to locate though; it's from 2001 and didn't sell well. However, looking at Amazon, I see a used copy for $19, so yeah. I strongly recommend Ico.

[That_Guy]

Ooh! For that matter try Rez, if you can find a copy, it's rare and a bit expensive but by far has the best audio/visiual setup I have ever experienced in a video game. The whole world in the game has a rhythm, and the simplistic graphics are much more immersive than, say, the realism of FFX or Gran Turismo. Turns out trying to make something look fake works a lot better than trying to make it look real.

Good if you've ever liked games like Time Crisis or that old Jurassic Park arcade stall thing.

[CommieBastard]

Definitely Ultimate Spiderman. For you, my dear, I shall bullet-point its virtues:

-Written by Brian Michael Bendis, who writes the Ultimate Spiderman line of comics (maybe my favourite ongoing comics title), it's witty and funny throughout
-Looks very nice, very comics-style art
-Freeform, in the fashion of Grand Theft Auto, except that instead of arbitrarily murdering people, you're swinging around New York looking for crimes to fight and wrongs to right!
-Webslinging is intensely fun, and you'll find yourself doing it to the exclusion of actually progressing with the plot
-Though later parts of the game are challenging (the final race with Johnny Storm is nigh-impossible), it's very easy to get to grips with
-In-depth Spiderman knowledge not required

Strongly recommended for pretty much anybody!

[PsychWardMike]

Can't really go wrong with The Simpson's Hit and Run if you're a Simpsons fan.

Lots of nostalgia, original voice actors, decent gameplay. I'll admit the graphics are a little sketchy at times, but it's the best Simpsons title since the arcade game.

[That_Guy]

I never got past the bears on that blasted machine.

/SPAM