PlayStation 2 still has one of the most exciting and extensive libraries ever

Today, October 26, 2025, PlayStation 2 is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Below, we will remember the diversity of its library, the qualities that transcend it, and that are unique to that moment.

From one perspective, gaming is more widespread than ever. Forums like Itch promote gaming crazes and niche subcultures, and give aspiring developers a place to share their work. Steam has a wider variety of games than on any home console. Gaming diversity in these places is under direct threatbut by no means defeated.

However, if you want to experience everything the medium of video games has to offer on one platform, the PlayStation 2 may still be the best option.

The diversity of the PS2 stood in stark contrast to similar products released at the same time. The Nintendo GameCube has its fair share of true classics, but most of them were developed in-house. You'll never know more about Microsoft's original Xbox, which was the source of Halo-powered college LAN parties and the Xbox Live hangout for just about any other game you could play.

The PS2, on the other hand, hosted a series of video games that stretched beyond its borders and somehow felt almost disconnected from the console that originally housed them. It makes Grand Theft Auto the largest video game series in the world. In my opinion, this console is closely tied to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, even though those games also appeared on the GameCube and Xbox. This is where Kingdom Hearts originated. It launched Persona's popularity in the United States and Europe, paving the way for Metaphor: ReFantazio. It's hard to underestimate the PS2's role in popularizing the gaming medium and setting the direction for its future growth.

It also hosts unusual and unique events. Rule of Rose remains one of the strangest and most profound survival horror games ever made, standing out from the competition at the time, which included unimpeachable classics like Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil 4. It's home to Drakengard, a disturbing and grueling journey through dark fantasy hell. “ICO” and “Shadow of the Colossus” remain a shadowy influence on “The Last of Us” and “God of War” (2018). Yet there's a grandeur and magic to them that those games just can't capture, a poetic ease that's deeply tied to the PS2's architecture. If you played Shadow of the Colossus on the original PS2, you could feel the weight of the console's ambitions on display. This fact enhances its majesty but does not stifle it.

On the PS2, Katamari – a gonzo, existential toy – might have found a massive audience, while Silent Hill 2 and Fatal Frame 3: Tormentor pushed the medium to a maturity that's still elusive. Long before BioShock and Spec Ops: The Line experimented with metafiction, games like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty questioned the foundations of the medium. Of course, the PS2 is the descendant of everything that came before it. Still, the breadth of its setting and expectations is astounding.

Yet all of this takes for granted my current distance from this period. I'm not reading about those fun games from Japan that will never be ported. I don't stroll into my local store only to find the shelves filled with cheap companion games and money-making sports games. I'm not an aspiring game developer trying to break into the industry and discovering how difficult it is to make something that's truly yours. Most of the PS2 games I've played have been played by borrowing them from friends, buying them cheaply from mom-and-pop game stores, or playing them through illegal means. I can now play English versions of games that never came to the US. My wistful utopian gaze on the PS2 is a side effect of revisiting it now. A lot of what I know about the video game industry stems from the PS2. As I type this, a unique and shocking sight appears with just a click of my mouse. Why do you feel nostalgic?

The PS2 is far from the last great video game. But this was the last time mainstream gaming felt like it was actively and collectively pushing new frontiers beyond pixel count.

One reason is that the PS2 represents an era when few console games are eager to take over your life. The lack of ubiquitous internet connectivity on consoles means that only a handful of consoles can offer consistent online updates. Massive online sagas like Final Fantasy XI and Phantasy Star Online are the exceptions that prove the rule. Even they didn't have the countless appeal to your wallet and your life that free online games do now. Of course, its roots lie in computer games. But now it's everywhere.

The PS2 also became cheaper over its lifetime. For a while, the PS2 was cheap enough to become ubiquitous. It remains the best-selling console of all time, Sales still exceed 1 million units In the fourth quarter of 2012, just months before it was discontinued, it was in the final stages of its life. Years later, games like “FIFA” and “Final Fantasy XI” are still regularly releasing new games on the PS2. This is Still one of the most popular consoles in Brazilwhen modded models running pirated games reigned supreme. This fact makes Sony's move to expensive, premium hardware with the PlayStation 3 all the more confusing and heartbreaking.

In short, the PS2 was a relatively cheap device with a large and diverse library, and it was on the cusp of the new Internet age it predicted and avoided. The PS2 is far from the last great video game. But this was the last time mainstream gaming felt like it was actively and collectively pushing new frontiers beyond pixel count. For much of the PS2's lifespan, even mainstream games felt vast, strange, and bold. This is a cause for celebration and a cause for mourning.