Best PS2 Game??

Well, obviously the best PS2 game is Star ocean: til the end of time, after all, it is an amazing game that combines all the successful elements of a square enix RPG with real time fighting.

i gave up on this game after 10 minutes - will play on it later (hopefully)

the onimusha series is good

Really depends on what you're into. I raided the 3 for £20 at my local game shop and found Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2, and one called Chaos Legion. I played the first two Broken Swords on the PS1 and loved the cartoon graphics and humour. I'm enjoying Sleeping Dragon, but would rather have low-tech, excellent cartoon graphics than poor 3D rendering. For some reason, I just can't appreciate the humour so much when it comes from characters that the creators have clearly tried to turn into sex symbols! For some reason, 3D equates to firm, masculine jaws, or exaggerated curves in the case of women.
Blood Omen 2 serves to complete my collection of Legacy of Kain games. I couldn't possibly recommend a series more highly- the plot absolutely stunned me to silence. Wish I was being hyperbolic, but it's a truly beautiful thing. I just wish to hell that I knew whether or not the makers are going to wrap it up or just leave it hanging. Not one for a satisfying conclusion.
No idea what Chaos Legion is like. Sounds like a strategy game. Never played one before, so it could be interesting.

And that, Dr Bradley, is why my dissertation is so bad.

Chaos Legion isn't all that great to be honest. Its fairly good i suppose, and its got some interesting elements to it, but overall there are far better games.

Another excellent game on PS2 was actually primal which had a nice complicated nature to it that was achieved using a blend of adenture style puzzle solving and a nice 3rd person fighting system.

That sounds a little like Vagrant Story in regards to muddled genre. Loved the plot of that game, but the battle system irked me too much for me to finish it

From what I've heard, they've got a little too full of themselves recently. They seem to have come to the conclusion that anything they release will be snapped up by queues of adoring, blind fans.
Don't get me wrong- I'm a FFVII obsessive! But VIII really disappointed me. IX redeemed it slightly, X was good but not exactly compelling. Ehrgeiz was an embarrassment. Vagrant Story was the type of game I could've fallen into an obsessive stupor over, if it wasn't for the awful RISK system! It seemed like a cheap way of making a long game longer.
I haven't played Kingdom Hearts due to my immune system breaking into hives at the mere possibility of cuteness (I'm itchy now at the sheer thought). I also felt a shudder of coldness at the thought of Cloud standing alongside Goofy. Disney- another company which could once release any old garbage and get acclaim. People have started to wise up to them now.
I fear for Square!

Have you seen the trailers for FFXII!! you cannot condemn square for releasing sub standard products when they take so much time and effort making things look good. A good a reason as any that square still has it is Star Ocean: til the end of time, I mean I am playing it through for the third time at present simply because I want to unlock more game features (and try to unlock the hardest difficulty setting.

Hate to be antagonistic, but pretty graphics do not a good game make! The same goes with anything- don't judge a book by its cover and all that.
My first thoughts of VIII were of how pretty it looked. Then I realised the plot was dire and I felt cheated. Sometimes so much time and effort can be poured into appearances that the substance is forgotten.

Not that I'm saying the new FF game will be pants! There are ALWAYS exceptions, but don't get excited based on images!

Better games for pennies?
The cover looked pretty, I needed a third game, and I'm a magpie when it comes to shiny boxes. What sort of thing do you like? I haven't the cash to buy newer stuff, so I'm always interested in older PS2/1 games.