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00:00 [Major League Baseball theme]
00:10 "I would have waited an eternity for this."
00:13 Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today, we're getting console blocked as we can't experience these games anywhere else but the PS2.
00:21 [Major League Baseball theme]
00:23 "Giddy up!"
00:24 [Major League Baseball theme]
00:27 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:33 [Ding]
00:34 Extermination
00:37 "Did they tell you anything about this place?"
00:39 "No."
00:40 "This place looks like a battlefield."
00:42 "What the hell?"
00:44 "This looks bad. Just doesn't feel right."
00:47 Extermination is not only one of the earliest survival horror titles on the PS2, but tragically, one of the most overlooked.
00:55 Released in the early days of the console, Extermination has many of the familiar tropes you would expect from the genre.
01:01 Limited resources against overwhelming odds, as well as a ridiculous narrative to tie it all together.
01:06 Where Extermination deviated from the norm was in its mechanics.
01:10 While the game featured the usual standard run-and-gun gameplay, it also featured a surprising amount of customization for the player's main weapon,
01:18 which could augment not only the weapon's abilities, but also convert the weapon into a one-man arsenal.
01:25 The game also featured a unique system in which if Sergeant Riley becomes infected by the virus he's combating,
01:30 he can eventually succumb to a game over if left untreated.
01:34 "We're more than just a unit. Never forget that. Your pain is my pain."
01:43 Onimusha 2 Samurai's Destiny
01:47 "I won't forgive you. Prepare yourself!"
01:51 The Onimusha series originally began life as a ninja version of Resident Evil, before becoming its own successful series,
01:59 and while the first entry was beloved, especially its protagonist, Samunosuke, the second entry is treated as the black sheep.
02:06 Samurai's Destiny sought to differentiate itself even further by offering not only numerous playable side characters, but also a branching storyline.
02:15 The game largely featured the same familiar combat and puzzles for players to solve, but has since been mostly forgotten by the fanbase.
02:23 The series' final original entry, Dawn of Dreams, has also only ever seen a release on the PS2, and remains even more forgotten than Samurai's Destiny.
02:32 "I didn't know you survived."
02:38 Transformers
02:40 "They're calling to other Minicons on Earth."
02:43 "We'll track it from HQ. Roll out!"
02:47 Years before the stellar High Moon Studios' Transformers games, the best way to experience robots in disguise was on the PS2.
02:55 While those later titles would allow players to experience both sides of the Autobot and Decepticons conflict,
03:00 Atari's Transformers game focused on only the Autobot story.
03:04 Primarily, Optimus, Red Alert, and Hot Shot, and their search for the Minicons, which could be used to augment the Autobots with various abilities and power-ups.
03:14 Their quest would have them cross paths with fan-favorite Decepticons such as Megatron, Starscream, and even Unicron.
03:22 Players had the ability to transform at the push of a button to quickly cover ground between conflicts, or simply ram into their opponents.
03:29 And the transition was especially impressive given the limitations of the PS2's power.
03:34 Sadly, with all the Transformers games recently becoming delisted from storefronts,
03:39 and Atari's Transformers never receiving a port, the robots in disguise just might be hiding forever.
03:46 "Megatron!"
03:49 "Pride!"
03:51 "You don't even know when you've won!"
03:56 Champions of Norrath
03:58 "Men and women of strength and bravery, who can turn aside this tide of hate that threatens our kingdom and all of Norrath."
04:07 Long before Diablo found its way to consoles, EverQuest was bringing cooperative hack-and-slash action to PS2 players with their Champions of Norrath spin-off.
04:16 Building off the already wildly popular EverQuest series, Champions of Norrath allowed players to fully customize their character
04:23 before setting them loose to dish out all manner of pain across the land, as well as the game's mini-dungeons.
04:29 The ability to team up with friends in the early days of online multiplayer also helped set the game apart from its couch co-op contemporaries,
04:37 and the servers remained active all the way up to 2013.
04:41 Sadly, both Champions of Norrath and its sequel Return to Arms have never been ported off the PS2.
04:47 And with the servers being permanently shut down, the only way to experience one of the best dungeon crawlers is with a friend literally by your side in your dusty old PS2.
04:57 [Music]
05:02 Rumble Racing
05:04 "Stick and rudder!"
05:09 The PS2 was the golden age of arcade racers, but unfortunately, that also meant that many absolute bangers were overlooked during the deluge of classic racing titles.
05:20 Rumble Racing took the arcadey nature of the genre and added power-ups and stunts, as well as a bevy of interesting and original vehicles, to create something wholly unique for the time.
05:31 Goated on by the announcer, players would race around numerous tracks performing stunts for speed boosts.
05:37 The more impressive the stunt, the better the boost.
05:40 Players were also given several power-ups akin to a kart racer, albeit a bit more realistic than something you'd find in a Mario Kart.
05:48 With inventive mechanics, as well as track design, and an announcer who is genuinely funny to listen to,
05:54 it's a shame more players won't get to experience this arcade racer designed just for the sake of a good time that also sadly never received a follow-up.
06:03 "You win! You get all the prizes, minus tax, who am I to blame for being such a friend?"
06:09 .hack//Franchise
06:11 "I have a feeling you're going to be okay."
06:14 "Somehow."
06:16 "Well, see you around."
06:19 There was no shortage of anime tie-in games for the PS2, but few were done on the scale of the .hack// series.
06:27 Tied directly to the anime, it dropped players into an offline MMORPG-style game in which they investigate the world,
06:35 a game within a game, and why some players have fallen into comas while playing.
06:40 The series saw the entries "Infection", "Mutation", "Outbreak", and "Quarantine" all released within mere months of one another,
06:47 and allowed players to carry over all their progress from the previous titles.
06:51 The entire concept was unprecedented for the time, as fans of the anime found a way to continue their adventures in the games,
06:59 and fans of the games were drawn to the anime to expand the universe.
07:03 The .hack// series continued for nearly a decade after its inception, but to date, only the sequel .hack//GU has seen a re-release on modern consoles.
07:13 "The remaining will quarantine the operation area from other areas. That is all."
07:19 Downhill Domination
07:21 At the peak of extreme sports games, where most other titles were focused on combo building,
07:33 Downhill Domination took a decidedly more violent approach.
07:37 The concept was simple; race down the mountain to the finish line as quickly as possible.
07:42 However, players were given numerous ways to hinder or obstruct their opponents from doing the same.
07:48 Not only could they kick rival racers, they could also hurl objects to take them down and claim victory.
07:55 That's not to say tricks weren't still in the game, however,
07:58 and there were bonuses for landing stylish tricks such as increased attack power that could, in turn, be used against your fellow cyclists.
08:05 While racing was still at the heart of the game, the sheer joy of knocking an opponent to the back of the pack with a well-timed kick
08:12 remains one of the most gleefully satisfying moments in any extreme sports game.
08:17 "The new digger!"
08:19 "Ah, keep it together!"
08:21 Wipeout Fusion
08:24 Whereas Nintendo had F-Zero for their hyper-fast futuristic racer, PlayStation had Wipeout.
08:30 Unfortunately, both series have been dormant for far too long.
08:34 Although all the PSP and Vita titles were recently bundled together in the Omega Collection on PS4,
08:41 the series' best entry remains locked to Sony's second console.
08:45 Wipeout Fusion took the series to even greater speeds thanks to the boost of the PS2's processing power,
08:51 and the sense of speed whipping around the tracks as your speedometer reached near speed of light was exhilarating,
08:57 and the techno soundtrack perfectly synced with the futuristic vibes of the title's many tracks and neon-soaked cityscapes.
09:04 The sense of speed as players zipped around the tracks remains unparalleled,
09:08 and not only has Wipeout Fusion been lost in the past, but the entire series might have just crashed and burned.
09:15 Rad.
09:16 Robot Alchemic Drive
09:18 The PS2 era was the peak of experimental game design,
09:29 and while many developers were creating mech games that gave players the biggest robots possible with the biggest weapons at their fingertips,
09:36 Robot Alchemic Drive had a different approach.
09:39 Instead of putting players in the cockpit, players control their mechanized monstrosity from ground level,
09:45 and must then control the mech from their viewpoint.
09:48 With fully destructible environments, the story can be shaped by which buildings you inadvertently destroy while trying to protect the city,
09:56 and some missions will be permanently locked off if the building is suddenly gone.
10:01 Far more complex than a more traditional mech game, Rad was seemingly designed specifically for the die-hard giant robot fans,
10:09 with a unique approach to not only combat, but also control.
10:13 Rad was a brilliant concept that modern audiences unfortunately have no real way to experience.
10:19 Xenosaga Trilogy
10:28 "That settles it. Let's get started."
10:31 "Alright then, but if anything happens, I'm gonna shut it down from here."
10:37 "So don't press your luck."
10:39 Xenogears remains a cult classic of the PS1 era, and has been ported numerous times to Sony's follow-up platforms.
10:47 The same cannot be said, however, for its spiritual successor, which remains one of the biggest sagas on PS2,
10:53 even with its originally planned six games cut down to a trilogy.
10:57 Leaning even further into the themes of religion and humanism,
11:01 these heavy themes likely turned off many players looking for a more traditional JRPG,
11:06 though the series did find a loyal fanbase.
11:09 However, the series was considered far too ambitious for the time, and saw diminishing returns with each subsequent entry.
11:17 The Xeno series continues today with the Xenoblade Chronicles,
11:20 however, the Xenosaga Trilogy remains a relic of the past, and not only would players need to dig out their PS2,
11:27 they would also need a small loan just to buy the complete trilogy,
11:31 as copies have become highly in-demand collector's items.
11:35 "I will emit an expression such as sadness only when that response is deemed necessary."
11:41 "However, the emotion module of my program has determined that this is not necessary at this time."
11:47 Which PS2 game would you like to see finally escape the clutches of the two-decade-old hardware for modern consoles?
11:54 Share your picks down in the comments.
11:56 Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips for mojo plays,
12:00 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
12:05 [music]