By The PlayStation 2 is marking its 25th anniversary today, October 26, 2025. Below, we reflect on the variety of its library, the traits that have persisted beyond it, and those that were unique to that particular era.
In a certain perspective, games are more extensive than they have ever been. Platforms like Itch nurture game jams and niche subcultures, offering aspiring creators a venue to showcase their work. Steam boasts a broader collection of games than has ever been accessible on any home console. The variety of games in these spaces is under direct threat, but it is by no means vanquished.
Yet, if someone wished to experience the realm of video games in all its width on a single platform, a PlayStation 2 might still be the most favorable option.
The variety of the PS2 presents a remarkable contrast with its rivals launched during the same era. The Nintendo GameCube features quite a few genuine classics, but most of them were crafted in-house. You will often recognize Microsoft’s original Xbox more as the origin of Halo-fueled college LAN parties and Xbox Live gatherings for any other game you could enjoy with it.
In contrast, the PS2 hosts a collection of video games that extend beyond their confines and feel, in some ways, scarcely connected to the console that originally housed them. It propelled Grand Theft Auto to become the largest video game franchise worldwide. The console is closely linked to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in my memory, even though those titles were also released on the GameCube and Xbox. It was the starting point for Kingdom Hearts. It ignited Persona’s surge in popularity across the US and Europe, paving the way for Metaphor: ReFantazio. It is challenging to downplay the PS2’s impact on popularizing the medium of gaming and steering the direction of what it would eventually become.
It also hosted the exceptional and one-of-a-kind. Rule of Rose remains one of the most bizarre and profound survival horror games ever, standing tall against the competition of that period, which encompasses undeniable classics like Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil 4. It was the setting for Drakengard, a still unsettling and arduous journey through dark fantasy hell. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus continue to be subtly influential, molding titles like The Last of Us and God of War (2018) alike. Yet, they possess a grandeur and magic that those games cannot capture, a poetic minimalism that feels tied to the PS2’s architecture. When playing Shadow of the Colossus on an original PS2, you can sense the console straining against the ambition on display. This reality elevates its magnificence, it does not stifle it.
On the PS2, Katamari Damacy—a gonzo, existential toy—could attract a vast audience, while Silent Hill 2 and Fatal Frame III: The Tormented advanced the medium towards a maturity it still struggles to achieve. Titles like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty interrogated the foundations of the medium well before BioShock and Spec Ops: The Line explored metafiction. Naturally, the PS2 was a byproduct of all that had preceded it. Still, the range of what it establishes and anticipates is astonishing.
All this, however, presumes the separation I currently have from this time period. I am not reading about intriguing games from Japan that will never be ported over. I am not wandering down to my local store only to discover the shelves filled with inexpensive tie-in games and opportunistic sports titles. I am not an aspiring game developer navigating my way into the industry and realizing how challenging it is to create something uniquely yours. I am someone who has played most PS2 games by borrowing them from friends, picking them up at a bargain from a mom-and-pop game shop, or through alternative means. I can now access English translations of those games that never reached America. My nostalgic idealization of the PS2 is a side-effect of revisiting it now. Many of my grievances with the video game industry trace back to the PS2. As I type this, unique and shocking visions are just a click away. Why feel nostalgic at all?
The PS2 was far from the last time video games were commendable. But it was the last occasion mainstream games felt as though they were actively and collectively blazing new trails beyond pixel counts.
One reason is that the PS2 signifies a period when few console games aspired to dominate your life. The absence of widespread internet connections on consoles meant that only a limited number could offer ongoing online updates. Grandiose online sagas like Final Fantasy XI and Phantasy Star Online were exceptions that validated the rule. Even they did not possess the countless hooks into your wallet and your life that are routine in today’s free-to-play online games. The origins of this, of course, lie in PC gaming. But now it is ubiquitous.
The PS2 also became significantly more affordable during its life cycle. For a period, the PS2 was budget-friendly enough to become omnipresent. It remains the best-selling console ever, still moving over a million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, just a few months prior to its discontinuation, at the very end of its life. For years after, games like FIFA and Final Fantasy XI continued to regularly launch new iterations on the PS2. It is still among the most beloved consoles in Brazil, where modded versions running pirated games reign supreme. This fact makes Sony’s shift toward expensive, premium hardware with the PlayStation 3 all the more perplexing and disheartening.
In summary, the PS2 was a device that was relatively inexpensive, offered an extensive and varied library, and sat on the brink of a new online era it both foresaw and evaded. The PS2 was far from the last time video games were commendable. But it was the final time mainstream games genuinely felt like they were collectively forging ahead into new territory beyond pixel counts. Throughout much of the PS2’s life span, even mainstream games felt broad, peculiar, and audacious. That’s worthy of celebration and deserving of mourning.
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