Reckon I should talk about some of these, too!
PS2 list:
A-List - Games I really want to play
Genji - If you like hack and slashers like
DMC, this should be down your alley. I liked it a lot.
Onimusha 3 - Ditto this one. It's structurally similar to the first two (which I've barely played) or
DMC, but doesn't have tank controls. You also can't jump, weirdly enough, but it works, and the story is pretty bonkers. I'd go ahead and recommend
Dawn of Dreams, although it isn't quite as good as this one, so definitely go for
O3 first.
B-List - Games I want to play, but lower priority
Devil May Cry - I'm team
DMC. Outside of some wicked difficulty in spots and wonky camera angles, it holds up really well. Highly recommended.
Growlanser V - I need to roll around to this, too. I still haven't beaten the third game, either, after I got set back ten-ish hours years ago and I can't remember what the heck I'm supposed to be doing.
Urban Reign - Impressively deep fighter mechanically. Expect a stiff challenge for sure.
C-List:
Shining Force NEO - Don't remember if you liked
Record of Lodoss War on Dreamcast, but if so, this one should probably go higher on your list.
Tsugunai: Atonement - I'd like to put some time into this one, too. I've got a copy, but never went very far into it.
Games to check out:
Blood Will Tell - Consistently hear good things about this one. Wish I hadn't returned that copy I bought, even if it had a read error. It's stupid expensive now.
Bujingai - I hear it's pretty solid. Also something something Gackt.
Chaos Legion - An odd one for sure, my memories say it felt a little more
DMC-meets-
Dynasty Warriors with a weird summoning mechanic.
Dark Cloud 2 - Gorgeous, but I fell off of it. Worth giving it a look, though.
Dual Hearts - I want to look at this one, too. Always bounced off of it when I played it, but I didn't give it a lot of time.
Ephemeral Fantasia - I've always heard this one is terrible. I have it, of course.
Might be better than its rep, but it never grabbed me.
Final Fantasy XII - I know
Ex and
Xeogred are big fans. I still think it's good, but it's not my favorite.
God Hand -
Someone I know keeps recommending me this game.
I should get back to it.
Grandia III, Grandia Extreme - Didn't get into
Xtreme, but I enjoyed
III, even if it was a bit shorter than you'd expect and it doesn't have the strongest rep compared to the first two.
Okage: Shadow King - A friend of mine played through this, it's got a unique sense of humor, anyway.
Okami - My favorite
Zelda-like of that generation not part of that series. Really fun, meaty experience. Others may see it as a bit padded, but as always, tastes vary wildly.
Radiata Stories - I didn't like this one that much compared to other tri-Ace games. Combat didn't feel as good, and I feel the
Suikoden-style recruitment is not executed as well, either. But it does have two paths through the story, and you can fight Valkyrie in a bonus dungeon.
Rogue Galaxy - Enjoyed this one a lot, even if it's sometimes a little overburdened with mechanics like a lot of Level-5's games.
Shining Tears - I've still barely put any time into this one, but probably worth at least trying it.
Suikoden III, IV, V - Oh, man, so many mixed opinions here. I diverge from the consensus in that I liked
IV the best. It doesn't overstay its welcome.
III has a weird battle system I didn't care for and a
lot of backtracking.
V attempts to recapture the feel of the second game, but it's overbloated in my opinion. I think it took me 70-ish hours to get all the characters, and their recruitment quests tend to be pretty long and it's
very easy to miss triggers and characters entirely. Also, battle load times suck, so use something like Open PS2 Loader or emulate.
Sword of Etheria - Tried it for a bit, I didn't like how combat felt. It seems to have a lot of promise, otherwise, so maybe it would eventually click.
Wild ARMs 3, 4, 5 - Most consider
WA3 the best of the bunch. It's the most similar to the first three games, anyway. It's a good time, at any rate, and if you like that,
Alter Code F is worth checking out, too.
WA4 changed to the hex battle system, and it's a solid game, but a bit short.
WA5 expands on that style, and is legit one of my favorite PS2 RPGs, even with all its anime anime anime! ridiculousness. The final battle track is fire, too. That mid-song buildup always gets me.