The Most Underappreciated PS2 games, Part 3

Part 1                                          Part 2

I set out to highlight PS2 games that were well made, creative, or important, but never got the recognition, sales, or attention they deserved. Underappreciated PS2 games Part 3 casts a wider net: more imports, late-generation releases, and cross-genre experiments that got buried.

This isn’t a typical “best of” list. Instead, it’s a shoutout to games that pushed mechanics, art direction, or storytelling in ways the market overlooked. Like before, I’m focusing on why these games mattered, why people missed them, and how you can play them now. I’ll keep updating this list as I find more hidden gems.

Finally, heads up—I earn a small commission if you buy anything through my links. No extra cost to you, and it helps support the site!

Tier A continued

New Game:  Primal (2003, Sony Europe)

Primal is one of Sony’s most unfairly forgotten PS2 experiments. It’s a Buffy-inspired gothic adventure where bartender Jen Tate and her gargoyle sidekick cross demon realms to restore balance between Order and Chaos. Jen transforms into elemental demon forms to fight, while the invulnerable gargoyle handles puzzles and exploration in a character-driven duet. Terrific art direction, voice work from TV veterans, and a melancholy soundtrack create a supernatural atmosphere that modern players still describe as beautiful and immersive.​​

Sony invested $8.7 million in marketing Primal as a potential flagship franchise, positioning it as their answer to supernatural action-adventure. Slow combat pacing and modest sales killed the planned sequel despite the quality of its storytelling and world-building. Two decades later, Den of Geek and GameRant now file it under “underrated” PS2 gems that fell off the radar, while PSN and PS4 re-releases keep its cult following quietly growing.

Everywhere: Road Trip (2002, E-Game Inc)

Everywhere: Road Trip is a deeply underappreciated PS2 gem, a laid‑back open‑world car RPG where you live as a sentient car roaming a seamless, barrier‑free world that quietly out-ambitions most “serious” racers of its era. You cruise through towns, highways, deserts, snowy mountains, and even underwater, running oddball quests, minigames, and races while hunting coins and stamps, tuning new bodies and parts, and slowly turning your custom “My City” into a thriving hub. It’s regularly singled out as the high‑water mark of the series, combining exploration with an addictive RPG loop.​​​

Despite that quality, it slipped past the mainstream. Eurogamer had to argue for it as a “refreshingly laidback RPG,” and modern videos and Reddit threads still frame it as a forgotten cult favorite. Today, it remains fully playable on original hardware and via emulation, with goofy‑but-manageable physics and RetroAchievements data showing a healthy chunk of players actually finishing major goals. That mix of ambition, niche love, and small footprint makes it textbook Tier-A underappreciated: if you care about weird, experimental PS2 history, you owe it to yourself to take a road trip here.

War of the Monsters (2003, Incog Inc Entertainment)

War of the Monsters is the PS2 kaiju-arena brawler that deserved to be a franchise starter. You’re controlling giant monsters—think 1950s drive-in creature features brought to life—smashing through fully destructible cities where you can climb skyscrapers, rip off building chunks as weapons, and turn entire blocks into rubble. Critics loved it at launch: 80 Metacritic, IGN’s 8.9, even an AIAS nomination for Console Fighting Game of the Year. Yet it didn’t sell that many copies and never got a sequel, vanishing into cult-classic obscurity despite being genuinely innovative.​

Why the gap? It was released in 2003 when the PS2 was crowded with fighters, and Sony never pushed it hard enough to break through. Two decades later it’s still just a connoisseur’s pick—you can play it on PS4/PS5 now, but it remains a “remember this gem?” reference instead of the genre-defining brawler it could’ve been. That destructible-playground design deserved better.

Growlanser Generations (2007, Career Soft)

This buried JRPG lets you pause mid-battle to juggle multiple objectives and no other company picked up on it. Growlanser Generations bundles two games with pausable battles where optional objectives completely change how you play: protect fleeing civilians, intercept reinforcements, or grab treasure for performance grades that unlock story branches. The Ring Weapon system changes standard gear for customizable rings where the best drops only spawn from tough kills within time limits. Career Soft built something genuinely distinct here.​

Growlanser II stars Wein Cruz, who gets framed for destroying a village and hunted while his mercenary half-brother plots war. Growlanser III follows the Federation president’s daughter, stopping the war while helping an amnesiac swordsman. Both feature branching paths where mission performance determines which of eight character endings you unlock. Working Designs shut down in 2005, right after publishing it—talk about bad timing. No remasters, no ports, just PS2-exclusive innovation that later games completely ignored.

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (2003, Swingin’ Ape Studios)

In Metal Arms: Glitch in the System you play as Glitch, an amnesiac robot found in the wreckage of a war-torn planet where every living thing is mechanical. The Droid rebels reactivate you just in time to fight General Corrosive’s Milbot army across a 42-mission campaign packed with sharp gunplay, destructible limbs, witty voice acting, and environmental puzzles. It’s funny, inventive, and surprisingly tough, exactly the kind of confident shooter that deserved a sequel.​

Instead, Vivendi cancelled Metal Arms 2 three months in because “there just weren’t enough people who were aware that the game existed”. Blizzard bought developer Swingin’ Ape in 2005, parking the IP in limbo—no remaster, no Game Pass revival, just physical copies and the occasional “underrated gem” thread. This was a mechanically sharp, character-driven shooter buried by bad timing and worse marketing.

Way of the Samurai (2002, Acquire)

Way of the Samurai is an overlooked PS2 cult classic that introduced the idea of short, choice-driven gameplay long before roguelites and immersive sims were popular. The game takes place in 1878 at Rokkotsu Pass during the Meiji era. You play as a nameless ronin caught between government troops, the Kurou family, and the Akadama clan. Every choice you make leads the story in a new direction, resulting in several possible endings.

Each playthrough is short, usually just a few hours, but the game responds to your choices. You can step in, change sides, or simply leave. Playing again with new swords and upgrades lets you see very different results. While some criticized the game for being awkward and brief, its unique storytelling, meaningful consequences, and replay value deserved more recognition.

Splashdown (2001, Rainbow Studios)

Splashdown was Rainbow Studios’ overlooked masterpiece, proving that jet ski racing could rival any four-wheeled competition. This Sea-Doo licensed title offered 18 lush environments, from Florida’s Everglades to Italian coastlines, where nine characters performed signature stunts while navigating buoy-marked courses at high speed. The water physics were revolutionary, while the realistic Sea-Doo handling made every wave convincing. The risk-reward stunt system encouraged creative aerial moves like the Superman, Can-Can, and signature tricks between checkpoint gates.

Despite earning an 84 on Metacritic and GameSpot nominations for “Best In-Game Water” and “Best Driving Game,” Splashdown drowned in the crowded PS2 launch window. This gem from the ATV Offroad Fury team deserves a place alongside Wave Race as a defining aquatic racer.

Snoopy vs. the Red Baron (2006, Smart Bomb Interactive)

Snoopy vs. the Red Baron represents that rarest of unicorns – a licensed game that actually understood its source material. The story unfolds as Snoopy’s WWI manuscript where Charlie Brown gets kidnapped by German spies after discovering plans for the devastating “Doodlebug bomb,” forcing the beagle ace on a rescue mission to stop the Red Baron from using this weapon of mass destruction to win the war. SvRB transforms Snoopy’s WWI flying ace fantasies into dogfighting action, featuring 25 upgradeable weapons from Woodstock missiles to potato cannons and dozens of missions across six worlds.

Its appeal goes beyond casting Peanuts characters in military roles (Lucy as general, Linus as intelligence officer). It delivers Star Fox-quality dogfights with simple controls that suit younger players without simplifying the challenge. Despite critics praising its charm and solid gameplay, this gem remains buried in the licensed-game graveyard – an overlooked example of how to adapt beloved characters respectfully while creating something genuinely entertaining. If you have a PS2, play it!

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006, Sumo Digital)

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is a fitting farewell to arcade racing perfection. This PS2 gem merges OutRun 2 SP’s content with a new career mode, featuring 15 licensed Ferraris, and inventive missions. Heart Attack mode challenges you to meet your girlfriend’s increasingly strange driving requests. What made it revolutionary was how it modernized the 1986 formula without losing its soul.

Players enjoyed smooth drifting through exotic locations, from sun-baked Spanish coasts to snowy mountain passes, all while Magical Sound Shower played. PSP cross-compatibility and online multiplayer for up to six players were ahead of their time. Despite these features, Coast 2 Coast remains an overlooked finale to gaming’s most joyful racing series. Now it survives only through original copies and community preservation efforts. If you have a PS2 though, play the heck out of it.

ObsCure (2004, Hydravision Entertainment)

ObsCure was ahead of its time – a survival horror masterpiece disguised as a teen slasher that pioneered local co-op in the genre when most horror games were strictly solo. Set in Leafmore High School, five students uncover Principal Friedman’s twisted experiments using plant spores to create photosensitive monsters.

Its revolution lay beyond character-specific skills—Josh’s keen eye, Stan’s deft lock-picking, Shannon’s sharp healing. ObsCure innovated by making light a lethal weapon: flashlights weakened monsters before gunfire finished them. Juggling battery drain and overheating, while coordinating with a partner, generated a tension Resident Evil’s puzzles simply didn’t achieve. Despite earning retrospective praise and comparisons to Alan Wake, ObsCure remains largely forgotten—a hidden gem that proved cooperative horror can shine when crafted with intention.

Castle Shikigami 2 (2004, Alfa System)

Castle Shikigami 2 is a deeply underappreciated bullet hell masterpiece that was buried beneath a misleading $10 budget price tag. What made it revolutionary was the Tension Bonus System – a grazing mechanic where flying close to enemy bullets (without getting hit) multiplied your score while boosting weapon power. Each of the eight playable characters featured completely different weapon systems and mechanics, from homing spirits to spinning sword attacks.

This risk-versus-reward design influenced modern bullet hell games, yet Castle Shikigami 2 rarely gets credit for pioneering these mechanics. Terrible marketing doomed it commercially, but recent Steam re-releases have finally given new audiences access to this forgotten gem that proved shoot-em-ups could be both accessible and mechanically sophisticated.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (2003, Konami Tokyo)

Darkwatch (2005, High Moon Studios)

Darkwatch is a criminally overlooked PS2 gem—a Wild West vampire shooter that deserved to be legendary.

In 1876, outlaw Jericho Cross robs a mysterious train and unwittingly releases ancient vampire lord Lazarus Malkoth. After being bitten, Jericho begins to transform. Forced into service by Darkwatch, a secret society hunting supernatural threats, he faces a new mission: track down his creator.

What made it special was morality-driven vampire powers—good choices unlocked “Silver Bullet,” evil paths granted “Blood Frenzy.” These powers are only activated at night, forcing players to choose day strategies without powers and night strategies to exploit abilities. In spite of its innovative Western-horror fusion, this gem got buried in crowded shooter markets. Pure injustice for gaming’s most unique vampire cowboy.

Summoner 2 (2002, Volition)

Summoner 2 trades the usual chosen-one arc for a queen who is a goddess reborn, and can become the monsters herself. Maia, Queen of Halassar, must restore the Tree of Eleh and oppose the Tempest while navigating court duties that let her fund services and issue rulings with later consequences.

Real-time action-RPG combat features a three-person party with instant leader swapping, configurable AI behaviors, and Maia’s signature shapeshifts into multiple summon forms for big power spikes. Reviews were generally favorable, positioning it as a strong successor loosely tied to the original Summoner. Also released on GameCube as Summoner: A Goddess Reborn, it has no modern re-release.

God Hand (2006, Clover Studio)

God Hand is Shinji Mikami’s underappreciated slapstick martial arts masterpiece. Martial artist Gene loses his arm saving Olivia, inheriting the legendary God Hand to smash the Four Devas and prevent demon lord Angra’s resurrection.

Beneath the comedy lies razor-sharp design: fully customizable combos, right-stick dodging, God technique roulettes, and dynamic difficulty that scales with skill. Despite mixed reviews, this gem of a game became a cult classic—revered by hardcore brawler fans for its depth and unique style, even if it stayed under the mainstream radar. A true injustice for gaming’s most stylish beat-’em-up.

If more games belong on this list, drop suggestions—underappreciated PS2 games Part 3 will keep getting updates.

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