10. Summer Heat Beach Volleyball
I love me some beach volley games. When I got this, I thought the controls were excellent, and the difficulty just right. When I tried it again years later, I was utterly destroyed by the computer...
9. Kingdom Hearts
Disney meets Final Fantasy in an action RPG. Honestly, the mix didn't work very well, but the game was huge and had entertaining gameplay. Also, beating up critters with Donald Duck is kinda made of win.
8. Wild Arms 3
Something as rare as a Japanese sci fi western RPG. Ride into the sunset, guns blazing and find out what happened to your post apocalyptic world. Honorary mention goes to the rest of the Wild Arms games. It was always confusing to figure out whether they were related or not.
7. Silent Hill 3
Survival horror with emphasis on horror. Everything Resident Evil wasn't. Atmosphere, character driven plot, frail protagonist. Just the beginning of this game is made of so much awesome, I was at the edge of my seat. Honorary mention goes to the rest of the Silent Hill games, 3 just made the biggest impression on me.
6. Soulcalibur 3
Fighting games! Gotta love 'em. Soulcalibur 3 stands out strongly with its crazy RTS campaign, which was very different from the usual versus/story modes included in most fighters.
5. Resident Evil 4
The game that finally made Resident Evil accessible to all. Surviving the controls was hard enough without throwing strange body modified monsters at you, not to mention a certain critter lurking beneath the lake. Dudes with chainsaws. Timed sequences. Voice actors hamming it up. Also, quick time events... It's a wonder this game turned out to be the success it did.
4. Final Fantasy X
If there's one game that sold the PS2, it's FFX. Strong, strong graphics, detailed characters, voice actors (of sometimes questionable quality), an alternative leveling system and Blitzball! The story was epic and the gameplay the last of the fine FF games IMO. Honorary mention to FFX-2, the first spice girls GURRL POWAHH game, and also to FFXII, the first (ok, maybe not) game that you could simply leave to play by itself (due to the terrible "gambit" system).
3. Dragon Quest 8
So classic you would think it was made much longer ago, in spite of its beautiful cel shaded graphics. So much charm crammed into one tiny package. Stands out as one of the all time best Japanese RPGs. Also, Jessica! the heroine whose unique skill set was aptly named "Sex Appeal."
2. Persona 4
Longish description in another thread. Best example of a modern day RPG I can think of. High school students, a world inside the TV, dating, beating the crap out of weird pokémons, and a plot with more twists than a twister. Honorary mention goes to Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES.
1. Shadow Hearts: Covenant
My very favorite PS2 game is an obscure Japanese RPG set around World War I. With an outstanding cast of strange characters traveling all over the world (and beyond) getting involved in ever weirder affairs, this game just sold itself on charm and pure EPIC. Its turn based combat was shaken up by the fantastic "Judgment Ring" system, which required rhythm and reflexes. Honorary mention goes to Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts: From the New World, which were also awesome, but not quite as epic (still, Frank the way too old American Ninja trained in a secret Brazilian jungle Ninja castle, and whose master is a giant CAT, is the series' best character, and he was from New World).
