Board 8 > What four games are on the PS2 Mount Rushmore?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Metal Gear Solid 2
Final Fantasy X
Kingdom Hearts II

Gran Turismo 3 has a good argument to be there based on sales but I never saw the hype for it in real life or online (felt like GT was a bigger deal in the PS1 era than the PS2, even if it sold less). Went with SA over 3 because it seemed to have a bigger cultural impact and was huge in scope even if I preferred both 3 and Vice City to it. FFX and MGS2 are obvious. Then KHII as the most significant representative of a huge franchise with a style that was specific to the PS2 era than games like God of War (which was more like a prelude to the sort of AAA-action adventure game which would become dominant next two gens).

What cultural impact did San Andreas have?

FFX
Kingdom Hearts 2
Persona 4
Dynasty Warriors 3

GTA3 was literally Jack Thompson.
like the entire fight of video games as freedom of speech and freedom of expression, fought in court, revolved around GTA3.

that game is one of the most important video games to have ever existed, let alone for the PS2.

It made "all we had to do was follow the damn train, CJ" a meme and lost to Golden Sun.

But seriously, the scale, setting and characters in that game had a style and influence of their own. 3 and Vice City drew on crime stories like Miami Vice and The Godfather, centred mostly on the mafia - basically games riffing on iconic late 20th century films. SA was something quite different, centred on (black) gangsters in poor neighborhoods. And were there all that many games before SA which combined large, dense urban environments and remote countryside, which wouldn't become standarised until much later?

That said, I totally get the case for GTAIII and personally found it more significant - I could probably hand draw most of the maps of Portland and Staunton, which I certainly couldn't for Los Santos. But I can see more SA inspiration in the GTA6 trailer than I do III.

Grand Theft Auto 3 (preferred GTA:SA but will respect the original 3D game-changer in the series)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (my tiebreaker here was which MGS-game would look better on the mountain)
God of War
Silent Hill 2 (this system has SH2 and RE4 but both have so few votes here -- not sure I understand what dynamic's happening here but the genre arguably peaked this generation)

HaRRicH posted...

Silent Hill 2 (this system has SH2 and RE4 but both have so few votes here -- not sure I understand what dynamic's happening here but the genre arguably peaked this generation)

I do agree survival horror peaked at the 6th gen, and I do think Silent Hill 2 can be argued as a decent pick for this Rushmore, it's a definitive PS2 title, but it's important to remember that though SH2 was a commercial & critical success to be sure, it wasn't a blockbuster system seller or juggernaut influence on the industry as a whole.

As for RE4, I think what holds it back from being on the PS2 Rushmore, is the disadvantage of being a port, despite it selling more than the OG GameCube version and containing Separate Ways. All the hype leading up to release was GameCube based, since it was meant to be exclusive of course. It's quite noticeably visually and audibly weaker than the OG version as well.

I mentally associate RE4 with the Gamecube, yeah.

Silent Hill 2 would be on a personal PS2 Top 4 list but I couldn't quite justify including it. Stacked console.

Grand Theft Auto III
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 3
Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts 2
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2

Im honestly really surprised at the lack of arguments for Shadow of the Colossus. I've personally never played it, but I thought it was one of the favorite PS2 games that always comes up in discussion. Plus games as art or whatever.

it's a love it or hate it kinda game and though it does draw distance and scale nicely the PS2 has so many more things on it that i don't even think it cracks the top 10. technically impressive, sure, but so are many others that are way more significant at every level, both then and now. even the art argument, Silent Hill 2 has a better place for that and has been more impactful to gaming. you've got things like GTA3 opening up the sandbox, DMC creating character action games (and frankly God of War votes should be going to Devil May Cry instead) before making one of the best ever in DMC3, Metal Gear showing how to use the new visuals with the new cutscenes in a way that was cinematic like we hadn't seen before, FF showing off pretty new visuals in a fantastic RPG that tied visuals, story, and music together at another level; there's a ton out there for that system. hell, Ace Combat 4 and 5 should get honorable mentions somewhere in there too, though they're far too niche. still quite good sellers though.

FFX
MGS3
GTA Sam Andreas
Silent Hill 2

I considered SotC. It's definitely in the top ten, but top 4 was a bit hard to justify.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

What cultural impact did San Andreas have?

As a non-GTA player, San Andreas felt like a bigger deal to me than GTA3. It had the "Welcome to the Jungle" commercials all over the place in late 2004. It had the highest praise. It had the best gameplay. It was considered the peak of PS2. It had the Hot Coffee mod. It signaled the end of an era.

Shadow of the Colossus
Grand Theft Auto 3
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 3.

FFX
MGS2
shadow of the colossus
gta 3

Shadow of the Colossus
Silent Hill 2
Ratchet & Clank
kami

KamikazePotato posted...

That's FFX + FFX-2 + the HD collection. I was talking about just the PS2.

13 million just on PS2 is pretty good as well!

MacArrowny posted...

13 million just on PS2 is pretty good as well!

Well yes. I was using it as a reference point to the other guy saying that Gran Turismo outselling God of War was a knock against God of War, when Gran Turismo outsold everything that wasn't GTA.

Grand Theft Auto III
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 3
Kingdom Hearts

Final Fantasy X
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
God of War

I feel like Naughty Dog deserves some representation. And Jak and Daxter was the first open world game without loading screens.

Finny the Fish and the Seven Waters
FFX
Katamari Damacy
Kingdom Hearts

GTA III
MGS 2
Silent Hill 2
God of War

Nominate: video game designers.

Grand Theft Auto III
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Kingdom Hearts
Katamari Damacy

I'm really surprised by the results here. Granted, the PS2 is maybe the hardest console to do this with because it had so many games in different areas that represented the apex of their respective series. I guess I think of these Mount Rushmore things as not just being about the top four games but about trying to broadly represent that console's landscape and identity. FFX sold better but Kingdom Hearts felt inescapable and I think it's had a louder legacy, and Katamari Damacy is the biggest success story from the PS1 and PS2's niche low budget scene which spawned so many cult classics.

Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy X
Silent Hill 2
Kingdom Hearts

Okay I gotta say it: I know Kingdom Hearts was a huge deal especially with kids, but is it really PS2 Rushmore worthy? It would make other system Rushmores but there is some very stiff competition here.

Wanglicious posted...

DMC creating character action games (and frankly God of War votes should be going to Devil May Cry instead) before making one of the best ever in DMC3

DMC is great but GoW is the one that really took off as a franchise, plus when you think of Sony consoles, Kratos is more associated with it rather than Dante.

Kingdom Hearts vs FFX is pretty fair. It was a Disney game by Square which was pretty huge by itself, then it was an FF crossover game before that became a thing. I'd still give the nod to FFX though, as people do still respect and care about it as opposed to going "yeah the first sucks on both gameplay and level design, the story is still but not a total mess yet, but the idea is cool and music is good." Even at the time, that was the opinion.

Meanwhile FFX was popular enough to get a sequel that made everyone go wtf I'm playing dress up, this is disasterific. Then continue to secretly enjoy it and the songs.

lordjers posted...

DMC is great but GoW is the one that really took off as a franchise, plus when you think of Sony consoles, Kratos is more associated with it rather than Dante.

If this was the PS4 I'd agree but the PS2 not so much.

Yeah I unironically and at my best attempt to be unbiased think DMC3 is a better choice than GoW on this console even if GoW is the much bigger franchise overall. I think DMC3 just did more for proof of concept of the genre in like the mechanics.

Grand Theft Auto III
Kingdom Hearts
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 2

LightningStrikes posted...

Okay I gotta say it: I know Kingdom Hearts was a huge deal especially with kids, but is it really PS2 Rushmore worthy? It would make other system Rushmores but there is some very stiff competition here.

The concept of a Square/Disney crossover was a big deal. I think most people got KH fatigue at some point, but KH1 and KH2 were huge deals.

I wouldn't put them on here over FFX because I think its reputation has endured and KH's has waned, but it was an important game on the system.