The PlayStation 2 is one of the most successful gaming consoles ever. Whether it was JRPGs, platforming games, or sports titles, Sony's second entry in the console market had something for everyone. It speaks volumes that several of the PS2's greatest hits have been remastered for modern audiences and are still played on PS4 and PS5 machines.
Unfortunately, despite finding success on the platform, many PlayStation 2 games never got the sequel or follow-up they deserved on HD consoles. Whether it was down to studios closing down or other unforeseen circumstances, many favorites from the PS2 ended one generation. This list outlines several of the best and sorely missed franchises that deserve a comeback on modern machines.
9 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Not to be confused with the mainline Baldur's Gate CRPGs on the PC, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 are hack-and-slash dungeon-crawling action RPGs. The games can be played in co-op or solo as players choose warriors to fight through evil hordes set in Dungeon's & Dragon's Forgotten Realm's universe.
A third title in the series was planned, but the Black Isles Studio closed, and using Snowblind's engine without their permission created legal problems, causing any planned sequel to get scrapped. There was a Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance game launched in 2021. It was unrelated to the PS2 games aside from taking place in the same universe. The Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series was remastered and is available now for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
8 Jak & Daxter
Thanks to the remastered series appearing on the PS3 and PS4, it's easy to forget that the developers moved on with the Uncharted and The Last of Us series, ensuring the Jak & Daxter series never received a sequel or follow-up outside of the PS2.
The action-adventure games combine platforming, combat, and exploration merging genres that hold up today. Each entry got progressively darker and more epic, and fans have loved the series ever since, and the remastered collection on the PS4 is the best way to play on modern machines.
7 Champions - Everquest Spin-Offs
The Everquest spin-offs Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest and Champions Return to Arms are hack-and-slash action RPGs that allow solo and cooperative play. The games use the Snowblind engine from Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. As a result, the two series share a lot in common.
Despite being set in the same universe as the MMO Everquest, fans don't need prior knowledge of the series to appreciate it. There is a vast world to explore and lore to uncover, enough to get players up to speed with the events and story. Unfortunately, the Champions of Norrath series remained on the PS2 as Snowblind Studio moved on to other projects.
6 Summoner
Developed by the studio that created Red Faction and Saints Row, Summoner is a fantasy action RPG and a launch title for the PS2. A sequel, Summoner 2, launched in 2002, but there was never a third title, and the action RPG series ended despite critics and fans reacting positively to the story and combat.
The sequel also launched on the GameCube as Summoner 2: A Goddess Reborn improving on its predecessor's visuals and mechanics. It's a series that the developers should revisit because the world, the music, and the combat were ahead of their time. THQ Nordic has a good track record for rebooting and remastering older and more obscure RPGs like Kingdoms of Amalaur. So there is hope that the Summoner series will return one day.
5 Digital Devil Saga
The Digital Devil Saga launched as a two-part series that began and ended on the PlayStation 2. The games are a part of the larger Shin Megami Tensei universe, like the Persona and Devil Summoner series. However, unlike Devil Summoner and Persona, the post-apocalyptic world of Digital Devil Saga hasn't been revisited.
The games stand out as some of the best JRPGs available for the PS2, a system considered one of the best formats for fans of the genre. The games are dark, even for the SMT series, and the narrative stands the test of time, still feeling fresh, and a cell-shaded visual style that wouldn't look out of place on modern systems with a remaster.
4 Xenosaga
The epic science fiction RPG trilogy is a space opera from the developers of Xenogears on the PS1. It shares many themes with its predecessor and the studio's Xenoblade Chronicles games on the Nintendo systems. However, despite sharing some similarities, the Xenosaga trilogy is a separate entity that began and ended on the PlayStation 2.
Fans of the series have called for a remaster, but their prayers have gone unanswered, and the only way to officially play the games is by dusting off an old PS2. The Xenosaga trilogy got the beginning, middle, and end it needed, but the universe and lore are vast enough to create more episodes and, at the very least, reboot for a modern audience.
3 The Getaway
The Getaway series is an open-world crime drama similar to the Grand Theft Auto series. The games are set in London, UK, and take inspiration from more recent popular British crime dramas like Lost Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and classics like Get Carter.
Despite a third game being planned on more modern platforms, it never materialized, and SOHO Studio chose to work on Gangs of London on the PSP and Blood & Truth for the PSVR. The London setting was a refreshing change to American cities, and the gritty Gotham-like London made a perfect setting for a crime drama.
2 Shadow Hearts
Chronologically, the Shadow Hearts series is related to Koudelka on the PS1, but the popular JRPG series began and ended as a trilogy on the PS2. The first two entries in the series are fondly regarded as two of the best in the genre. Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts: Covenant centered on Yuri, an antihero that can transform into demon-like entities.
The third game, Shadow Hearts: From the New World, focused on a new lead protagonist but wasn't as well-received by fans. Despite a planned fourth title, it never materialized, and the studio behind the series was absorbed by its parent company, Aruze Global. However, many of the original team that worked on Shadow Hearts have announced a spiritual successor Penny Blood, after a successful Kickstarter and will retain the Gothic horror themes of the originals.
1 Dark Cloud & Dark Chronicle
The Dark Cloud series was released in two parts for the PlayStation 2 in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The JRPGs include elements of city-building where the characters have the power or the skill to rebuild villages and towns destroyed by the antagonistic forces in the games.
The sequel Dark Cloud 2 - Dark Chronicle, worldwide - is regarded as the best of two games and visually holds up thanks to the quality of its cell-shaded visuals. The award-winning action RPG featured procedurally generated dungeons to explore, and the city-building mechanics are more in-depth than its predecessor and is still loved today. The game is available as an emulated PS4 game, and there are mentions of a third entry if fan demand is justified. Instead, the studio, Level-5, created Rogue Galaxy, a sci-fi JRPG speculated to have been a Dark Cloud sequel.