The Most Underappreciated PS2 games, Part 1

Part 2                                    Part 3

My last post was about underappreciated Super Nintendo games, which was a daunting task given the SNES catalog.

This is more difficult and more work because the library is so incredibly vast! As a result I expected to find more than nine PS2 games, and I did. It’s a long list but I’m not going to shorten it, I’ll just divide it up into different posts.

I’ve divided the games into tiers this time, just S Tier and A Tier made the cut. This list covers underappreciated PS2 games that are well-made, creative, or important, but never got the recognition, sales, or attention they deserved—even today. If you want a list of the best PS2 titles ever, I’ve written about that here. Let’s get right to it.

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!

S Tier – Criminally Underappreciated PS2 Games

Kinetica (2001, Santa Monica Studio)

Kinetica deserves to be remembered as the game where you became the vehicle, strapping on “Kinetic Suits” with wheels at your hands and feet to race at breakneck speeds through futuristic cityscapes. Set in a world where underground racing was legitimized after a catastrophic “E-Fire” event, competitors now race for profit in the city of Kinetica across Earth’s major cities, outer space, and alien landscapes. This wasn’t just another sci-fi racer – you could wall-run through entire sections, flip off ceilings, and chain aerial stunts that would make Tony Hawk jealous, all while boosting at 350mph.

What made it criminally underappreciated was the innovation hiding beneath that steep learning curve. The stunt system, where tricks filled your boost meter, created this addictive risk-reward loop – do you play it safe or go for that insane ceiling run to build massive speed? Then there was dual analog setup, which felt revolutionary in 2001 when most racers still used face buttons for everything. And here’s the kicker: this early PS2 title pioneered the Kinetica engine that later powered the God of War series. It’s also highly playable today thanks to the 2016 PS4 re-release.

Rule of Rose (2006, Punchline)

Rule of Rose was the first horror game to turn childhood trauma into actual gameplay—managing cliques, giving gifts to stay in favor, surviving the psychological warfare of children, and using your dog to track items by scent. These weren’t just details; they were the core mechanics that made you feel like a vulnerable kid again.

What killed it was a manufactured scandal. An Italian journalist plagiarized a positive review and twisted it into lies about nonexistent violent mechanics. European politicians bought the story and banned it in several countries. With no re-release, Rule of Rose became one of the rarest PS2 titles, ranging from $250 up to $25,000. Almost nobody could actually play it, so it survived through YouTube analysis and fan dissections by people who’d never held a controller.

Eighteen years later, horror still leans on monsters and killers, while Rule of Rose’s psychological cruelty remains unmatched. The combat is clunky, but the emotional hit lands harder than any jump scare. Brilliant innovation, erased by fake outrage and buried by history.

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (2004, Midway Games)

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy was one of the first action games to base combat on physics-driven psychic powers—preceding Half-Life 2’s gravity gun, Control’s telekinetic combat, and Force Unleashed. Built on the Havok engine, you could hurl debris with telekinesis, torch environments with pyrokinesis, hijack enemies with mind control, drain foes, scout via remote viewing, and spot hidden things with aura view—all in destructible, physics-driven levels.

The amnesia plot worked: flashbacks taught each new power organically. Critics loved it, highlighting the tech and tight controls, but it never caught on commercially. The sequel got cancelled after Midway’s bankruptcy left Warner Bros. owning it, and copyright lawsuits complicated development. Without ports or remasters, Psi-Ops mostly vanished.

You can still pick up originals cheap, and it remains fun for physics-combat fans. Most people credit Half-Life 2 or later games for pioneering these mechanics, but Psi-Ops was doing it first. That combination of clear innovation and almost zero recognition is exactly why it ranks as one of the S-tier underappreciated PS2 games.

Radiata Stories (2005, tri-Ace)

Radiata Stories from tri-Ace (Star Ocean developers) and Square Enix implemented a true living-town simulation in JRPGs—a level still rare today but gets zero recognition. The game featured over 170 NPCs with daily schedules and over 175 recruitable party members.

You could follow any villager through their routines, and midway through, choose between Human or Non-Human story paths that completely changed the narrative and available allies. It delivered this simulation concept 11 years before Persona 5 made it famous, but critics found the massive recruitment system overwhelming and combat repetitive, giving it average reviews.

Without digital re-releases, you can only play it on the PS2 or emulators. Even gaming sites listing the “best JRPGs” typically ignore it—search for yourself. While Persona 5 and Yakuza got credit for social simulation, Radiata Stories did it first with more complexity and scale. Twenty years later, it’s still genuinely fun for fans of Suikoden and Persona.

Haunting Ground (2005, Capcom)

Haunting Ground is one of the most overlooked horror games of the era—and that’s saying something. Developed by Capcom’s Team Clock Tower as a spiritual successor to their stalker horror series, it introduced features we now take for granted: responsive companion AI (your dog Hewie learns from how you treat him), a panic system that distorts controls when scared, and dynamic stalker enemies with unique AI who could appear anywhere in the castle.

Critics recognized the innovation, but releasing alongside Resident Evil 4 from the same company buried it commercially. The alchemy crafting system and real-time music reacting to panic levels showed real technical achievement, but none of it mattered against RE4’s momentum.

No ports, no remasters, just a cult following and a $300+ collector price tag today. If you want to see how far ahead of its time it really was, fire it up on an emulator and see where modern psychological horror mechanics with stalker AI really began.

Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color (2003, Garakuta Studio)

Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color was a JRPG that centers around Deet, a young boy who discovers a magical pen that can bring his drawings to life as battle-ready creatures called “Doodles.”

The game’s revolutionary mechanic allowed players to use an advanced 3D drawing tool that allowed them to draw their own monsters, called Doodles, based on some groundbreaking software. These sketches didn’t just look cool; the game turned them into fully animated fighters with stats and abilities tied to your designs.

Players navigated through a story involving magic, friendship, and artistic creation while building a team of player-created creatures to battle against other Doodle masters. That was Magic Pengel’s big innovation, way ahead of its time, why it’s one of the most criminally underappreciated PS2 games.

A Tier – Significantly Underappreciated PS2 Games

Full Spectrum Warrior (2004, Pandemic Studios)

Full Spectrum Warrior was a tactical revolution that completely eliminated trigger-pulling from combat games and got criminally ignored for it. You command two infantry fireteams through orders only—no direct soldier control—as they navigate a NATO invasion of a fictional Central Asian nation to topple a dictator. Born from a $5 million U.S. Army training simulator, this radical approach to squad tactics won Best Original Game at E3, but the PS2 version arrived fatally late in March 2005 to a crowded market already saturated with shooters.

A hit on the Xbox, PS2 audiences never embraced its cerebral, command-based gameplay, burying what should have been recognized as a virtual blueprint for Brothers in Arms and every squad-based tactical shooter that followed. Available dirt-cheap today, it remains the most authentic infantry tactics experience on PS2. No game since has demanded this level of real-world military doctrine.

Aggressive Inline  (2002, Z-Axis)

No timer, just flow—this inline skater out-innovated Tony Hawk, then disappeared. Aggressive Inline swapped two-minute runs for a Juice Meter and big, goal-driven levels, mixing ‘use-it-to-grow’ stats with vaulting and pole swinging tricks. There’s no overarching plot—NPCs hand out standalone challenges that unlock new areas and skills.

Metacritic gave it a score in the mid-80s and called its ideas the next step for the genre. However, that same year, THPS4 switched to free-roam, mirroring Aggressive Inline’s innovations. Despite a strong blueprint, inline skating’s niche appeal and limited marketing held it back. As a result, today it’s seen as a cult favorite, not a regular reissue. This is about as close to S tier as you can get.

Gun (2005, Neversoft)

Five years before Red Dead, Neversoft’s Gun introduced open-world gameplay to the Old West. Set in the 1880s, players could roam towns and badlands, fight on horseback, hunt bounties, and try out Quickdraw bullet-time duels. On consoles in 2005, these features ran well and highlighted the game’s strengths.

Critics liked the game’s design and cast, featuring Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Kris Kristofferson, and Lance Henriksen. The title sold over 1.4 million copies in the U.S. Yet, the campaign lasted about 7 to 10 hours, and controversy over violent scenes (including scalping) limited its long-term appeal. With no sequel or support on newer Xbox consoles, Gun eventually became a cult favorite on its original platforms and PC–one of the most underappreciated PS2 games.

kill.switch (2003, Namco)

kill.switch introduced taking cover before shooting, and keeps the main character’s thoughts hidden. The game follows Nick Bishop, a remote-controlled commando sent on secret missions by Archer and his handler, Controller. When his ally, Duchess, hacks the system, Bishop regains his memories and fights back against his controllers.

Guinness lists kill.switch as the first cover-based shooter, thanks to its snap-to-wall movement, blind fire, and destructible barriers. Epic and Naughty Dog have called it the inspiration for Gears of War and Uncharted. Still, the game’s mixed reviews and low sales meant there was never a sequel. Since there’s no remaster, you can only play it on the original discs or with an emulator. Every time you duck behind cover in a modern shooter, you’re using kill.switch’s DNA.

Shadow Hearts (2001, Sacnoth)

Shadow Hearts picks up after the bad ending of the PSX game Koudelka, mixing World War I-era occult themes with a ground-breaking, action-focused combat system. Players use the Judgment Ring, a spinning meter that must be stopped at just the right moment to land attacks or spells. This turns every move into a test of timing instead of a simple menu choice. The story follows Harmonixer Yuri Hyuga and exorcist Alice Elliot as they travel across Eurasia to stop the warlock Albert Simon from summoning a destructive god.

In battle, each character has two gauges to manage. Sanity Points decrease every turn, and if they reach zero, the character goes Berserk. Malice builds up after fights and needs to be cleared in a special area, or an unbeatable enemy will show up. Even with its creative combat system, Shadow Hearts became a cult favorite because of mixed reviews, low sales, and the lack of a digital rerelease.

The Mark of Kri (2002, San Diego Studio)

Seven years before Arkham, The Mark of Kri cracked 3D melee: flick the stick to tag foes, then chain button combos between them in a violent ballet—graceful Disney-styled animation masking brutal decapitations. Polynesian warrior Rau Utu and his scout eagle Kuzo cross distant lands to recover the Mark and thwart a necromancer’s plot tied to the Kasai.

Reviewers praised its animation and Disney‑meets‑ultraviolence aesthetic, while stealth detours and camera jitters dampened momentum. It later returned digitally on PS3 and PS4 with trophies, but still sits in cult territory despite modern‑feeling combat for 2002. The Mark of Kri may not feel as refined today, but back then, it wasn’t just ahead of its time—it was off the map as one of the most underappreciated PS2 games ever.

XIII (2003, Ubi Soft)

Cel-shaded FPS XIII makes every firefight feel like a comic book, using split-screen panels, “Tap!-Tap!” sound effects, and head-shot insets. Inspired by Van Hamme and Vance’s graphic novels, you play as Jason Fly, a tattooed amnesiac accused of assassinating the president, on the run from FBI agents and hired killers. Over 34 missions, you sneak through mountains, rooftops, and secret bases to uncover “The XX,” a group plotting a military coup.

Spartan: Total Warrior (2005, Creative Assembly)

Spartan: Total Warrior casts you as an unnamed champion thrown into massive battles against Roman legions, undead, and mythic beasts. Guided by Ares, he chases the sorcerer-emperor Tiberius across Greece, Troy, and Rome, aiming to stop a god-driven invasion in a mythic alternate history.

Throughout this campaign, the game’s engine handles dozens of on-screen enemies, while straightforward versus radial attacks, active shield bashes, weapon swaps, a rage meter, and god powers keep battles both easy to keep track of and spectacular for sixth-gen hardware. Reviews loved the epic scope of the game but noted repetition; given modest sales, it never saw a sequel or modern port, leaving this exceptional brawler stranded on original consoles.

The Fatal Frame trilogy (2002 – 2005, Tecmo)

Few horror series make you stare at danger the way Fatal Frame trilogy does. This whole series is an example of underappreciated PS2 games. In this survival-horror series, you’re armed not with guns but with a Camera Obscura that damages ghosts only when they fill the viewfinder, forcing you to hold your nerve until the last heartbeat. Developers still cite Fatal Frame’s “look-into-the-abyss” design as inspiration, but most players have never felt its lens tighten.

Each game hooks you with folklore-inspired tales. The original follows a girl hunting her vanished brother in a ritual-cursed mansion. Crimson Butterfly traps twin sisters in a fog-shrouded village haunted by a sacrificial rite. The Tormented weaves nightmare realms in which a grieving photographer confronts intertwined tragedies from the past, and refines the formula with a dual-world structure, three distinct protagonists, and escalating hauntings in Rei’s apartment—making it the trilogy’s gameplay peak.

Each game earned very solid Metacritic scores but failed to crack mainstream sales charts. FFIII is the most underappreciated with the series’ worst sales, while the 2001 original follows for inventing the camera combat with barely any recognition. FFII edges into Tier B thanks to more press retrospectives, but is overlooked next to giants like Silent Hill and Resident Evil.

Alright, that’s all for part one. Part two will have more underappreciated PS2 games. Do you agree, disagree, have I missed an S-tier game? Let me know in the comments, then continue to part 2.

Best & Forgotten Games Main Page