Features

• Internal volume has been reduced by 75 percent
• overall weight has been halved
• thickness trimmed down to 2.8 cm (thickness of current model is 7.8 cm).
• Size is almost as small as a hardcover book, making it easier to carry around and enjoy games and DVD videos anytime, anywhere.
• Equipped with an integrated Ethernet port and modem port for online play.

Reviews (156)

PS3's power puts it in the league of supercomputers
The playstations are no longer just toys.The latest generation PS3 has processing power that puts it firmly in the league of supercomputers.
PS3 can handle 2 teraflops of processing power(one teraflop=a trillion calculations per second).Prior to 2000,only three computers in the entire world had greater than 2 teraflops of computing power.Even upto 2003,there were only 29 supercomputers that would be faster than the PS3.Sony's PS3 is 35 times faster than its predecessor PS2.
The new PS3 will be more than just one step forward for the gaming industry.With high performance graphics card in tow,and unbelievable polygon count,PS3 promises to deliver movie-quality
images for majority of its games.PS3 also comes with a Blu-ray disc drive,the next generation of drives that can store upto 50 GB of information.PS3 is expected to launch in spring 2006.
P.S.-The above info about PS3 was given here in the PS2 section since amazon does not have a link for PS3 as yet.Hope you found the info helpful.

I KNOW....
I know HOW THE PS3 LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE 3 DIFFERENT COLORS! THE COLORS ARE SILVER,WHITE,AND BLACK. I KNOW HOW THE X-BOX 360 LOOKS LIKE AND NINTENDO REVOLUTION! ALSO THE NEW GAME BOY. GAME BOY MICRO! I KNOW HOW ALL THE NEW SYSTEMS THAT ARE COMING OUT LOOK LIKE!!!!

Good product which provides some different feeling.
This is a good product.Why I say different feeling, because although it is another version of PS2, it is different because the loading of the games is quite faster than the old Playstation 2.So that I don't have to wait that long.Good product. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Console (ps2console playstation2console)    6. Controller   

Features

• Third person action gameplay consisting of a series of lightsaber battles against a variety of uniquely challenging enemies including droids, humans and Jedi.
• Live the most exciting moments from the movie and follow the films tragic conflict through the perspective of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Master both the light and dark sides of the Force using dozens of different lightsaber attacks and upgradeable combos.
• Devastating Force powers including Force stun, Sith Lightning and Jedi Mind Trick.
• Battle in over 16 levels across four movie worlds including the planet Corusant, the sinkhole planet of Utapau and the volcano world of Mustafar.

Reviews (30)

One of the best games made for ps2!
I dont know ifyou guys have been compaing this to the other star wars games, but the old games you just randomly fired with your gun, almost no upgrades, but it was online anabled. In this game you acuacly go around as a jedi and kill people with the force battle enimies and kill boses with your litsaber. (I am refering to star wars battle front in my comparison.) If you are questing this game in any way go to blockbuster and rent it then make you deciting.

a gamers addiction
this is one of the best games i have ever played. the graphics are amazing and it is so cool being able to follow along in the footsteps of anakin as he changes to the dark side. I will admit it maybe ruins the movie a little, but we all know the outcome already so who cares. If you want to play a game that keeps you glued to the screen of your tv then this is one for you!!!!

Revenge Of The Sith PS2 game
I really think that Lucas Arts did a great job on this game. All the characters have different ability's. The extra things on this game are amazing like the duels you can play. For the duels you can choose different characters like Obi Wan, Anakin, Darth Vader, Mace Windu and Ben Kenobi, General Grievious and Count Dooku. This is a very good game! The only thing that disappointed me was that they didn't have the Yoda Vs Sidious fight. Plus you can't choose Yoda as a duelist. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Action    6. Adventure    7. Star Wars (Starwars)   

Reviews (2)

new ps2 awesome two award winning games awesome
this new version of the ps2 is awesome smaller and thinner way better than the last it can fit some places the last coulndt so this ps2 is a great idea i have it, its perfect and maches my game room ,ha! sometimes i cant even see it!! jak 2 is a great game, for me its the game of 03-04 its really cool i have beaten it and ratchet and clanck:g.c. is a great game for all ages i love this set real satistfied and its not a waste of money youll like it trust me ,hope this was helpful

PS2 rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The PS2 is slim and smaller,better desing than the old one.JakII and Ratchet and Clank:Going Commando the best PS2 Games.And buy Smackdown vs. Raw. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Console (ps2console playstation2console)   

Editorial Review

Are you searching for a driving game that offers more than just breakneck speed? Look no further than Gran Turismo 4. The most recent installment in this amazingly popular racing game brings realistic driving to a whole new level. With loads of new cars and a vastly improved physics engine, you'll be ready to tackle the roads in your favorite cars from the last century.

The Cars
Automotive history is at your fingertips with Gran Turismo 4. You can select from over 700 cars, dating back nearly a century to the 1915 Ford Model T Tourer. From the United Kingdom's AC to Sweden's Volvo, you'll can choose from practically every car manufactured since 1915.

Beyond the list of cars, GT4 sports a new and vastly improved physics engine. Offering even greater realism than its predecessors, the GT4 engine has been meticulously designed to cover every inch and turn of your driving experience. Using physics to calculate weight, speed, friction, and a host of other nuances, every car delivers performance with its own unique, precise handling and feel.

This game isn't just about the cars, though -- it's also about the competition. The advanced, lifelike drivers compete with fervor unmatched even by some of your video game buddies. Fueled by the latest advances in artificial intelligence, your digital rivals will react to your every move with behavior modeled after actual professional racers.

It may take you weeks to test drive all 700 available cars, but with Gran 4 you'll never truly run out of "new" vehicles. This game is equipped with a multitude of options to customize your favorite cars. Brakes, shocks, and engine components can all be upgraded. You can stylize your car with wings, rims, and color, and you can even change your oil. In short, you can do whatever needs to be done to keep your car tuned and looking hot for the next big race.

The Human Element
Gran Turismo 4 brings something completely new to your gaming experience. In the stands you'll find spectators who comes to life in3D before your very eyes. They react with genuine human emotions to your every move, cheering as you pass, and snapping photographs as you cross the finish line. Your next pit stop will take place as if you were really there. You'll watch the process unfold in real-time as your crew rushes to change your tires and refuel your tank. But that's not all. With the new addition of convertibles, you are truly in the drivers seat. Your drivers will react with precise and fluid motions, and turn just as you would if you were behind the wheel. Gran Turismo has never looked so unbelievably real.

The Courses
Not only does GT4 bring you the rare opportunity to drive hundreds of cars, it also offers you a vast collection of actual racing locations. Rip through the exotic Costa di Malfi in Capri, burn rubber through the urban jungle of Hong Kong, or throw up some serious dust at the Grand Canyon -- no matter where you decide to race, you'll love driving any of the game's fourteen tracks. Feeling nostalgic? With Gran 4, you can even race on some of your old, favorite tracks from previous editions.

LAN Play
Compete against your buddies with the LAN play functionality of GT4. Connect up to three PlayStation 2 consoles and bring together up to six players in a racing frenzy that pits you against your friends. Each console will need a copy of Gran Turismo 4, the proper connecting cables, and all the standard gaming equipment. Once connected, you'll be ready for a life-like battle of driving abilities and mental toughness. With LAN play, the action has never been more intense or more realistic! ... Read more

Features

• Characteristics of the cars are realistically designed and calculated so that they handle to the real-life physics of that particular vehicle.
• New technology blends real-time action with a photo-fixed background to immerse the player in real-life environments such as New York City, the Grand Canyon and others.
• Players will have access to experience more than 500 authentic automobiles encompassing manufacturers from around the world, with a range from vintage to modern vehicles.
• Gran Turismo 4 offers advanced opponent behavior to capture real-life racing and unpredictability of finishes.

Reviews (157)

Great game, very time consuming and hard
Hey first off, this game is a really good racing simulator.Graphics are much improved and there is a phenominal selection of cars to choose from.Overall the feel of the driving feels extremely real, but cars can very from the performance of past games (for example the RUF cars aren't very fast this time around).
There is however a lot of downsides to this game.To start off, as a prior reviewer already stated, why in the world do you have to do rally racing on this to get your liscense?People don't buy the game to drive on a bunch of dirt, that would be Collin Macree Rally or some other rally game.
Second, this game is extremely long compared to the others, I mean long.That is good and bad.Good becasue you'll probably not get bored playing this for a long time, bad becasue you'll go insane trying to get 100%!Another biggie is some of the endurance races even speeded up (3x's) take more than eight hours!If you can spend nine hours starring at a TV screen never leaving your house then go for it!If not then you are doomed to never complete the game.
Forth problem is that the game if very very hard.At the higher levels goodluck winning, you'll spend forever practicing before you'll even be able to keep up.But with a lot, and I mean a lot of practice its possible.
To conclude this is a really really fun game.If you liked the three prior to this then you will love this game, but probably find yourself a little frustrated with the length and difficulty.I been playing a couple months, and am about 90% complete so it is a doable game, if you have the time and paitence!

Best car game yet
Don't listen to rockethead7 because he don't know what he's talking about. I rented GT4 for the first time last Thursday and I thought it was the best Gran Turismo yet. My first car was a 69' Chevy Camaro ss with a 427.(I think it was a 427) Then I raced in the Camaro races a whole bunch. I got the money for the Camaro by doing that data transfer thing from GT3 and got my A and B license and 100,000 dollars. It makes it a whole lot easier. Then I bought a Buick special, won a Chevelle, a Corvette Z06 racecar 1969, with the corvette I bought. I was really interested in getting this game because of the old cars on it. I played it and got more than I expected. It has the best old cars on it, like chevelles, camaros, corvettes, buick specials, 1915 ford model t, and a pontiac gto to name some of my favorites. Rockethead7 sucks. He don't like old cars, and old cars are the best.

Great game, Do NOT be fooled!!
First of i would like to say that this is a tough game not super hard but hard at some points. i am about 30% complete in about a week and a half. The first thing that you need to do if you can is to get the 2 licenses from GT3 and 100,000 credits if you can. That is what i did. this way you can spend all that money on one car and let that car carry you on to more money and more cars. This game is amazing when accounting for the HUGE selection of cars. I would highly recomend this game to anyone. To me this is no doubt the best racing game for the PS2. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Action    6. Adventure    7. Racing    8. Flying   

Editorial Review

The PlayStation2 is equipped with a 128-bit Emotion Engine processor that enables lightning-fast gameplay and impressive graphics power. The console builds on its home entertainment value by doubling as a DVD player and accommodating most of the original PlayStation's vast library of games. PS2 is known for its excellent selection of titles for the older gamer. ... Read more

Features

• Lightning-fast gameplay
• Backward-compatible with PlayStation games
• Includes console and 1 controller
• Plays DVDs
• 128-bit Emotion Engine processor

Reviews (414)

Don't buy this!
The playstation 2 console is a great machine for video games... until the warrenty runs out!After that it breaks down, has disk error and everything else.Save your money and buy the XBOX 360!!!!!

CRAAAAP mine broke
one christsmas my family received a ps2(yr 2000)it broke for no reason x-mas 2003 its been a yr and a half since then any way after it broke i was crushed I have no clue wy but i abandonded
sony and got a gc (booooo)big mistake i loved it at first for like 2 months but now it just sits there on my shelf (I cant find a good deal to sell the thing)but in the last yr i have been saving up my money i would have bought a ps2 by now but no
I want my return to the loyalty of sony gaming to be big I am going towards a bigger prize im going to get the... the... the... ps3 yes you heard me the ps3 i would have gotten the psp but its games arent doing well i will give it a year before i buy it( the psp) but any way by all the money ill have by then
i am going to get the ps3 one cotroller a memory card(if the rumor about a certain sony hardrive doesnt work out as planned)
the best launch title(s) and the newest in the dynasty warriors series (that is my most favorite game when my ps2 broke i had all characters all secret weapons all forces all secrets all every thing) tip:sighn up for psm its the greatest tells you stuff way before it comes out (I knew of god of war 3 yrs before release and the psp and ps3 3 yrs ago) any way I hope to see you in socom 3( I know from psm) online or on 25 to life or the godfather wich has snoop dogg in it(snoop dogg in 1930's ?) anyway see you losers ive got ps3 cash to earn and and games to get.

PS2 is still the best all round game outthere
Graphics ans sound x-box
Games for the kids g-cube
All aound game play PS2
i agree the ps2 will be maul if not it's game titles , but come on don't make the mistake and have the most powerful systems and just don't have the variety of game to enjoy your system what IS the use having a game console with only two good games???????? Ps2 has great games , reasonable sound, and the graphic is bearable it,s actually not so bad i hope they do better for PS3
I LOVE THE COMPETITION!!!!!!!!

WE THE GAMERS ARE GETTING VALUE FOR MONEY BUY ANY GAME CONSOLE YOU LIKE IT DON'T REALLY MATTER BUT I STILL SAY PS2 IS FOR ANY AND EVERYONE .
LATERZZZZ ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Console (ps2console playstation2console)   

Features

• Read the Pitch with the EA SPORTS Hitters Eye: An all-new visual indicator allows the hitter to pick up the pitch the moment it leaves the pitchers hand. Admire a sweet swing or learn from your mistakes with an all-new enhanced replay that details, analyzes, and provides unprecedented feedback on your last swing.
• Own the Plate: Change your position in the box to adjust to what the pitcher is throwing you, or keep the defense honest with a drag bunt.
• Precision Pitching: Paint the corners or send a message with the Precision Pitch Meter, or catch runners napping with unprecedented pickoff control.
• Big Play Control Reaches a Whole New Level: Make an underhand toss to the pitcher as he covers first, slide around a tag at home, and make user-controlled stretches and dives. While leading off base, exercise your reflexes by beating pickoff throws with an all-new leadoff control.
• Build an Empire: Control every aspect of your organization in all-new Owner mode. Create your line-up based on player progression during Spring Training, or help build player attributes by completing in a variety of different mini-games.

Reviews (52)

MVP Baseball Is As Good As Manny Himself
This game is great for any baseball lover. Unless you're a Yankees fan. The game has Manny Ramirez on the cover and talks about the Red Sox historic 2004 season in the previews. It's got great features, such as the Owner Mode, and Mini Games. Both are new to the MVP titles this year. The Owner Mode lets you build your own ballpark and control your team for up to 30 seasons and try to make it the best franchise in the MLB, while keeping finances and fans in mind. Mini Games are a great way to just have fun. Improve on your hitting or pitching, or rack up MVP points to put towards things like, legendary stadiums, and famous players from the past. The game controls are crisp and the graphics are great. The songs get a little old, but they are still creative. The Homerun Showdown is still a hit, but there is still no actual Homerun Derby. I give this game 4 3/4 out of 5 stars for graphics. 5 out of 5 stars for gameplay, and 6 out of 5 stars overall. Yes. It's that good.

Big Inpruvment
Mvp has made a huge inpruvment from last year. Last year you ether strike out or hit a homerun. Now you hit singiles and doubles. The grafices are soooooooo much more deitailed. THe new owner mode lets you start with a begginers park, add seating capasity, restorants, arcads, food stands, ect. You get an inbox and other feachers like hiters eye the ball flashes colors for difforent pitches

da only game
I luv it. period. i luv how u can create players, sim games, play seasons, everything. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Sports    2. Outdoors    3. Video Games    4. PS2 (PSX2)    5. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    6. Playstation2 (Play station2)    7. Action    8. Adventure   

Features

• Over-the-top fighting action.
• Beautifully rendered environments with destructible objects.
• Several new characters join your old favorites from throughout the Tekken series.
• A completely new graphics engine means more stunning visual effects and lush environments than ever before!

Reviews (58)

The King Of Iron Tournament 5
When Hon-Maru is destroyed, Somebody starts The King Of Iron Tournament 5. We all really like games like Tekken 5, But some play GameCube, XBox... Tekken 5 is the latest game or tournament. The characters in Tekken 5 are Nina, Anna, Baek, Xiayou, King, Marduk, Lee, Julia, Ganryu, Christie, Kzuya, Heihachi, Jin, Devil Jin, Mokujin, Wang, Kuma, Panda, Roger Junior, Bruce, Raven, Feng, Asuka, Paul, Law....

The Story Battle is the most exciting game. It tells why these characters enter the Tournament 5. After you defeat, Jinpachi mishima, Heihachi's father, you unlock one of the character's movie. You also earn Fight Money to Cosdtumize your characters.

The Arcade Battle is where the Ranking Matches and Demotion Riskes occurs. All you need to do is fight, fight.... I already became a Tekken Lord by using Nina Williams. Before you will be a Tekken Lord, you have to be promoted to 9th kyu, 8th kyu, 7th kyu, 6th kyu, 5th kyu, 4th kyu, 3rd kyu, 2nd kyu, 1st kyu, 1st dan, 2nd dan, 3rd dan, 4th dan, 5th dan, Shihan, Expert, Master, Virtuoso, Champion, Legend, Sage, Warlord, Conqueror, Deity and Tekken Lord. Very long right?. By the way, You can make your player name.

The Practice Mode is where you do your moves, I always use Nina. They have 3 choices. Defense Training, Vs. CPU, Freestyle.

The game is so perfect. Please buy it.

You should buy
This in every way can be better than the other four. The fighting is better and the character custimazaion is good but not as good as virtua fighter. The characters are all better. There are some strange ones but that dosent matter it's still fun. Also the story is much better. But the boss is extremely diffucult and he is very cheap. But that hust takes a little practise to gt by. Also it adds acade history which fetures the first 3 tekkens. It is a very cool feature. And than Devi wiithin which is sorta like the privious Tekken force modes but it is its own story.

So if you are like me and a huge fan of everything Tekken this will be a great piece to your collection it is worth it.

Great..!
HI THIZ GAME IS REALLY ROCKS THERE'S MANY KIND OF FIGHTING MOVES AND STYLE...BUT THIZ GAME IS TOO EASY FOR ME..EXCEPT THE 'DEVIL WITHIN' VERSION.. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Action    6. Adventure    7. Fighting   

Features

• More than 15 environments across 10 diverse planets including Hoth, Geonosis, Yavin, Tatooine and Naboo
• 20 different soldier types from four factions: Rebel Alliance, Imperial Army, Clone Army and Droid Army
• Single player and multiplayer modes (up to 16 players over the Internet or 32 via a LAN)
• Open-ended multiplayer action game set in the Star Wars universe
• Re-enact the most memorable battles from the films

Reviews (113)

starwars battlefront
this game is awsem u can fight an fight an fight gosh is this game sweet u can fight with luke skywalker to darth vader any jedi or sith u know u can pretty much fight with by ur side any veicle u c is urs so by this game and may the force be with u

You will be not be influential
In virtually every game I have ever played, from the Atari 2600 onward, the player was at the center of attention. In this game, that is by no means the case. You will be one of approximately 200 players on the battlefield (which is a chaotic mess) with no special abilities (beyond being a pilot or sharpshooter, etc...). Depending slightly upon the settings, you can very well win a specific battle without ever leaving the safety of your bases. That should tell you just how important you (the player) is. I bought the game based upon it's rating here at Amazon and with the "Star Wars" name, but it is not to be compared with other games of the the same genre. RENT IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!!

Cool
This game is cool but easy, I played this game for three hours and beat it.There also should be jedi fighting.So if you like Star Wars, get it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Action    6. Adventure    7. Strategy (Strategic)    8. Star Wars (Starwars)   

Features

• Customize dance steps in Edit mode and exercise in Work Out mode
• Links with previous games for special features
• For 1 or 2 players
• All-new exclusive songs, licensed songs and dance hits
• New game modes and graphical interface featuring music videos

Reviews (121)

Much better than seditary gaming!
I love this, I still don't understand how anyone can actually do the advanced levels (seems impossible to me).The thing that I'm not sure about is if it will save info for 2 players?Overall fun and a good workout for body and mind and spirit.

"Patrick Swayze Would have been proud of me"
Last Friday, my aunt Chris and uncle Chris (no joking they have the same exact name; on a side note though, for laughs I like to call uncle Chris aunt Chris, lol)came into town to go to some formal dinner of some sorts with Mom and Dad. I was supposed to go to 9 Mile with Lyle and look at guitars with him but Mom and Dad said I had to baby-sit Chris and Chris's 12 year old daughter (my cousin) Trisha.

She was kind of spoiled but that's what happens to most only children. Anywho, she brought over this new virtual reality game for the PS2 called Dance Dance Revolution 2. Whereas the point is to stand on these pads and, you guessed it dance. Lyle ended staying over to keep me company while bratty Trisha played with her High Brow toy. She ended up having two of those virtual reality pads so two people could play. When she offered, Lyle immediately stated, "NO WAY, those are strictly for girls and Asian guys", I quickly followed his lead to save face with him (he was a little irritated that we had to skip guitar browsing, so I didn't want to push it).

Around 10:30 Trisha went to bed so Lyle and I watched Black Dog (a great Patrick Swayze movie, by the way), Lyle went to bed right after the movie ended, but I told him I wanted to stay up a little bit to practice my harmonica. After about 15 minutes when I thought he would be a sleep, I kind of betrayed him and turned on Dance Dance. I played and it grew on me really quick. Before I knew it, I was dancing like my feet were on fire. After about twenty minutes I thought how fun it would be to go head on head with someone else. Since I dared not to wake up Lyle or Trisha, I had an ingenious idea.

What I did was I boxed in the second pad with the couch, loveseat, and chairs, then I tied a bog biscuit to a string and hung it from the light fixture above the pad. Then I woke up Morris (my dog) and did a quick grappling bout with him to riel him up. When I found him ready enough I put him in the furniture enclosure and showed him the dog biscuit. The match was on! We played straight for about a half-hour. I danced like there was no tomorrow while he jumped up and down trying to get the treat that was just inches from his grip. In the end I pretty much annilatted Morris, I think he only beat me like once.

In conclusion, Virtual Reality is finally starting to show some promise. It's been a long road for it. I just hope the world can show the future generations of virtual reality the tolerance and acceptance that Morris, Trisha, and I have.

Now at the Review writing section it asked me 2 questions.The first was "How much fun is this game?".Well thats easy.It is a Tuttleman approved 5 stars of fun.The second question was "How do you rate this game overall?".The problem is that I could never admit to Lyle that I actually liked this crazy contraption.Do you know how many cool points I would lose if Lyle knew I was (for one night only) a solid-gold lord of the dance with feet of fire!?ALL OF THEM.So I'm rating it 1 star over-all, just in case Lyle asks me what I rated it.That way I won't technically be lying to Lyle.Later.

DDR Rocks!
This game is fun, addicting, and healthy for you! DDR Max 2 is well worth its price. Although most of the songs in it are not all that common, the music selection is still pretty good and I would recomend this game for any beginners in the world of DDR.

It teaches you the basics and also allows you to choose harder options for those of whom are already hooked to the arcade version. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Classics (Classic)    6. Retro   

Features

• Simple play controlled with analog sticks only; no buttons to press
• Dimensions change drastically as clumps grow; 2-player battle mode
• For 1 to 2 players
• Ball-rolling and object-collecting gameplay with quirky, infectious humor throughout
• Insanely cosmic animations; wacky musical stylings; royally contagious storyline

Reviews (90)

Very original game, if I do say so myself!
At first glance, this game doesn't seem great, but after 5 minutes, you'll find your eyes glued to the screen as you play KD.The object of this game is to build a huge ball of everyday objects to advance through levels.Sounds boring, but you'll find yourself saying otherwise.This is one of the few games that fully require analog controllers.The gameplay itself is original, and the sounds are quite nice to listen to.If you like odd-yet-original games, this one is worth buying.

One of the strangest games...ever
Katamari Damacy is far and away one of the strangest, most original games to come along in years. The gameplay concept, the visual style, the soundtrack, even the backstory are all conceived and executed with such a unique flavor that, when presented as a whole, it's difficult not to be drawn in by all the weird little idiosyncrasies. It's not a complex game, nor is it especially challenging, or long.

Using the analog sticks exclusively, you'll roll the katamari around with tanklike controls. Pushing both sticks up moves the katamari forward, pushing both sticks down moves it backward, and pushing one stick up and one stick down will cause it to turn. There are a few other tricks, such as moving both sticks up and down really fast to gain a quick boost, or pushing in on both sticks to hop on the other side of the katamari and quickly change directions--but this is basically all you'll need to know in order to control it. However, controlling it well is a more nuanced thing. The shapes of the things you collect will affect the overall shape of your katamari, thus affecting how it actually rolls. So, if you roll over a bunch of pencils or a ladder or some carrots, it can make your going a bit more challenging.

It will suprise you how fun this game truly is-
Whoever decided of developing this game, I give them my thanks. I never thought in a million years that rolling around a ball that collects junk would ever be so fun or would demand so much thinking. Then there is the fantastic quirky music and strange cinema scenes. The game is a complete package that will satisfy all ages, both boys and girls. Ironically, it was my older sister who introduced me to this game and she had never touched a PS2 before.

There are three basic type of levels. There are levels where you have to roll up your ball to a certain size before the time stops. Then there are the levels in which you collect specific items to create constellations- the first is crabs for Cancer. The last type of level is you grow the ball until you can collect the larges item of a specific constellation. Here is an example- for the constellation Taurus, you must pick up the Giant Cow to make a bright constellation. If you pick up a little cow, a cow man, a cow cone, a cow vending machine, etc. the level comes to a stop and you have to settle with what you got. These levels may seem impossible, but I have pulled them off.

When I first finished the entire game, it felt very short for me. Then I found out about how I can get falling stars and make my constellations brighter if I do a better job on the levels. I don't know how many times I have gone back and replayed the levels to get everything possible.

Don't wait any longer. This game will surprise you with how fun and funny it truly is. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    2. Playstation2 (Play station2)    3. Action    4. Adventure    5. Video Games    6. PS2 (PSX2)   

Features

• New playable characters.
• Enhanced battlefield stronghold system challenges your strategic decision-making in the midst of combat.
• More characters per screen for an added challenge.
• New fighting moves and attacks.
• Reduced fog and improved draw distance to show more detailed backgrounds.

Reviews (9)

Dynasty REPEAT
DW. 2, 3, 4, all great. But this is the same hack n' slash gameplay we've seen! I'm sick of this game! I could buy DW 4 and save some damned money!!! I'll leave it at this. It's like watching the same movie over and over and over and over and over and over and over again! The camera angles sometime get annoying. If your a DW fan, pick it up, otherwise, this game isn't going to turn you into one.

More dumb fun, but a bit hackneyed now...
CAVEAT: I love the DW series, having purchased all of them (even the original for PS1). I love this game as well, although it seems to be the most shallow of the bunch.

48(!) characters join the fray this time as you once again take control of a personality of the time of the Three Kingdoms and do battle with your nemeses. Each character has their own storyline, complete with events seen only in that character's story (this is a plus, as it was quite tedious to fight through each kingdom multiple times in order to see all the characters in DW4). Weapons no longer need to be upgraded (another plus), and orbs are now rare items found by playing on hard mode. A "chaos" mode has been added, and it is NOT for the faint of heart (the difficulty is more like Very Hard mode in DW3:XL, as opposed to DW4:XL, but no one drops any meat buns!). The graphics are much better in this installment, and True Musou is actually more valuable than Musou in this game.

However, this game suffers from the same slowdown issues as the previous games (which is really unforgivable now, as this is the same game engine that has been used for six previous installments of DW). The siege weapons are even more useless here than in DW4 (unfortunate, since I thought that this could add a bit of depth to the strategy portion of this game). The camera is incredibly frustrating (not as much as, say, Samurai Warriors, but it's still pretty bad). Character balance is rather poor, though not as bad as previous installments (Lu Bu and Zuo Ci are incredible, Zhang Jiao and Meng Huo are horrible, the rest are OK). While large battlefields are nice, the game is frustrating until you obtain a horse saddle (another rare item).

All in all, I love the game. Why 3 stars? Well, I'm trying to diminish my bias. The fact is, if you are a fan of these games, you've probably already purchased this. If you didn't like the others, you won't like this one. And if you have never played a DW game before, this is probably the best of the lot. Still, I would have enjoyed a bit more originality and variety in this one (really, it plays exactly like DW2, which is five years old).

Huge leaps and bounds, major improvements in gameplay.
I had most definitely not expected this.I had a love/hate relationship with Dynasty Warriors 4, and Dynasty Warriors 4:Empires was so bad that I popped in for two days and then sold it off.Dynasty Warriors 5, however, seems determined to correct every flaw about the two above games and the results are surprisingly impressive.

DW4:Empires was a stinker to me because of endlessly respawning enemy generals, a tiresome "stronghold" system, worthless allies, and an inability to build up your fighters since they start at Level 1 at every new game.Much to my delighted surprise, all of the above problems were fixed.

PROS:
- The gameplay is now a hybrid of DW4 and Empires where enemy generals stay dead when you kill them (thank heaven), checkpoints and supply bases can be realistically captured without having to wait at one location for 10 minutes to defend it against endless enemies.The system of taking down enemy supply bases works very well; you actually see a marked turning of the battle in your favour as you proceed.
- No more levels where you kill a dozen enemy generals only to have a single, artificially enhanced enemy reinforcement pop up next to your commander to ruin your game.Your commander is no longer a dummy that can die with a poke.Obviously, this allows you to do more fighting and less running around saving your allies' butts.
- Fighter training is back (which was impossible in Empires), though a little more difficult than before because now your weapon doesn't go up in levels at the same time the character does; you have to find these weapon items while playing the levels, and the quality of weapons you find is proportionate to the difficulty of the level.Tougher than DW4, but manageable, and the system is logical enough.
- The biggest surprise:Allied AI became far, far superior.DW4 players will remember this hyper-annoying situation where if you slaughter every one of the enemies except their commander, your allied soldiers will run towards the commander like idiots, not attacking, and pushing the commander around so much that you can't get at him.That is, happily, history.Allied generals are now almost as skillful as enemy generals, and your bodyguard (now only one, rather than a team of eight at once) is now very helpful, aggressively attacking, healing themselves and you, getting you out of jams.About time!
- Happily, they kept the control system from Empires so that now you can fully control where your combos face.This was like a breath of fresh air.Now if you miss a hit, it is indeed your own fault, and not the computer messing you up.
- Marginally better voice work.Some of the changes in voice actors were for the worse -- Zhou Yu, Cao Cao and Lu Bu had good voices in DW4; now they sound silly.And new character Xing Cai is abysmal, sounding like a six-year-old reciting bad dialogue.But the overall quality of voice work has improved, with fewer stiff deliveries.Diao Chan, Yue Ying, Sun Ce, and Lu Meng all sound far better than before, and Jiang Wei's character lost that horrible accent and is now quite nice to listen to.
- Improved graphics.Seems like they added some shadowing, and the look is now more textured, a little grittier.
- Improved map design.You still have to do some running around, but aside from the labyrinthine "Battle of Chen Cang" level, no more levels like that insufferable He Fei map from DW4, where you had to run along the length of the map six to seven times to beat the level.
- The "peons" -- enemy footsoldiers -- are more numerous and less hard to kill.The later soldiers in DW4 were so hardy they were tiresome to fight; no such problem here, at least at Normal difficulty level.

CONS:
- No more duels.I personally don't miss this feature, but I know that one of the top requests from DW4 players was the ability to challenge computer enemies to duels.Instead of refining the duel system, they've dispensed with it altogether.
- No more customized officers of your own design.This was one of the more fun aspects of Empires -- gone with the wind.
- The new Musou Mode will not be to everybody's taste.Now, instead of choosing a side and having all of the officers of that side available to you, you choose a character who has a specific story arc, and you can't swap fighters midway.There are advantages to this -- more varied storylines, deeper gameplay -- but the downside is the inability to switch characters, and now you *have* to master every single character to finish the game.
- Enemy generals do an insane amount of damage.It's just not fun in any context to face an enemy that can take half your life bar with one single combo.It's nice that enemies do less of the "block you to death" trick, but to have to pay for one mistake with half your life bar is excessive.It doesn't ruin the game, but it mars the enjoyment.
- Cao Pi, Pang De and Xing Cai are all pretty unappealing as new characters.Cao Pi's moves are pathetic, Xing Cai is slow and unremarkable (terrible voice, too), and Pang De looks like a nameless general.It's as if they ran out of character-design ideas.Ling Tong's nunchaku are neat, but why not have a character use a mace ("liang ya pang", or "wolf's tooth club"), a whip, a quarterstaff, or tri-sectioned nunchaku?
- Character balance has actually suffered.The new weapons system, where each weapon has a "weight" rating which affects how fast you attack, actually skews the game even more -- the fast, powerful characters become overwhelmingly strong (Jiang Wei is almost unstoppable with the new weapons system), while "alternate", more joke-like characters like Zhang Jiao, Xu Zhu, and Diao Chan are now nearly feeble -- the slower characters are crippled by heavy weapons, short-ranged characters get overwhelmed by the increased number of peons, and slow-moving characters will get pummeled by the insidious enemy AI.They should have given these harder characters a little something to balance the odds.

Overall, this game has successfully restored my faith in the series.It was more appealing to pick up than DW4, and leagues above Empires in design and gameplay.Highly recommended for fans of brawler games -- not perfect, but the best example of this game series I've seen and played yet. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Action    6. Adventure    7. Fighting    8. Strategy (Strategic)   

Features

• Execute synchronized attacks coordinated with other characters to attack enemies
• Lush, fully polygonal graphics, cut scenes, and an orchestral score create a magnificent environment
• Contains all the features of the Japanese Director's Cut version
• Set in SD 772, the hero Fayt Leingod searches for his family and loved ones
• Move through fullly 3-D battlefields and control three characters simultaneously

Reviews (25)

it's official
i got a chance to play this game when i first played it in my friends house. it wasn't the best rpg ever made. but the gameplay is worth playing and the graphics are nice.

Largely Disappointing
Probably one of the biggest surprises I've ever enjoyed during my years in front of a video game console came when I first tried my hand at an unsuspecting little package dubbed Star Ocean: The Second Story. This old, overlooked two-disc pack for the PSone had been literally gathering dust on my shelf for years before I bothered to even test it out, and I suppose that complete lack of any kind of previous expectation was a big part of why I was so totally impressed and engulfed by what I found within the game itself. Unfortunately, by overwhelming me so effectively in its first American offering, my expectations for the future of the Star Ocean franchise went through the roof. In a way, it's funny; I loved the precursor because I expected nothing of it and received everything I ever could've wanted, and then subconsciously built up the sequel to the point that nothing it could muster would ever be enough to appease me.

To start with, the story is beyond terrible and the characters are even worse. When I first met Fayt and Sophia, the two leads, I couldn't help but grimace. They're so paper-thin, so incredibly dull and intelligence-insultingly bland, I initially mistook them for a heavy-handed satire of the role playing genre in general. This is, honest to god, the most uninspiring cast I've seen since console RPGs were just gaining their footing in Final Fantasy I back on the NES. They'll say and do things that'll just make you stare blankly for a few seconds and then explode into unrelenting laughter. Fayt, in particular, is the very epitome of a stereotype. He has no flaws, and as a result he makes an incredibly boring leader. The characters seem so out of touch with reality that nothing ever seems to carry the kind of magnitude you'd hope for, even when entire worlds are exploding and individual races are being completely wiped from existence. By the time the third act comes around, bringing with it the one really interesting revelation in the storyline, you're forty hours in and have cemented your opinion of the game as a whole. Before that, it's cliche after cliche, with absolutely no originality thrown in to keep things halfway interesting.

Like its predicessor, TtEoT's gameplay is its greatest triumph. The battles have remained every bit as enjoyable and strategically brilliant as I remembered, and the controls are incredibly easy to comprehend. You'll have, at most, three characters in your party at any one time (which is a major gripe I've had with the RPG genre in general for years now... why would six people stand by and watch their three buddies struggle in a fight with monsters, rather than joining in and cleaning house?) and they're all performing individual actions at the same time, to say nothing of the monsters on the other side of the battlefield. At a glance it would appear to be mildly organized chaos, but in action it's really pretty simple. Before, after and during the battle, you can set a specific attack style for the characters you won't be directly controlling, so they aren't wasting all of their strength on a meaningless enemy while a tough boss fight is just around the corner. If you want your weakest character to avoid physical confrontations and concentrate on healing, it's as easy as changing a setting. Usually, two members of your party will be following these instructions at any time, while you'll be directly in control of the third. Yet, despite the seemingly-obvious directions, the computer AI will occasionally find a way to screw up. Whether they're running headfirst into an explosion with low HP or repeatedly casting heal on a teammate who doesn't need it, your comrades will generally leave a lot to be desired. I even ran into a few instances where I'd found myself single-handedly taking on half a dozen enemies while my two teammates stood off in a corner somewhere and cheered me on.

Aside from the cutscenes, this is generally a visually uninspiring game. The characters look about as stale and unexciting as they act, and the environments and spells are nothing that hasn't already been done better by a previous title. To be frank, the Sega Dreamcast could have more than likely produced graphics equal to the ones seen here, and that's a tremendous knock at this stage in the PS2's life cycle. With the PS3 peeking over the horizon, this should be the point in time when game developers are really starting to stretch Sony's aging console to the limits with amazing graphical effects, not leaning back and kicking out weak, flat displays such as this. Occasionally you'll run into an enemy or dungeon that's up to par visually with its contemporaries, but on the large I wasn't impressed. The graphical direction and wardrobe designs are solid enough, but it looks like a lot of the charm was lost in the translation from pen and paper to fully interactive three-dimensionality. As I alluded to earlier, the cutscenes are outstanding, but you'd expect that from a Square-Enix RPG.

This current-gen revisiting of developer tri-Ace's shining star feels like a hollow, emotionless shell more than it does a sequel five and a half years in the making. Rarely have I been more disappointed in a big follow-up title than I was with this one. It's strictly average, with passable graphics, weak voice acting, horrible characters and a mind-numbingly slow story killing any forward progress made by the battle system, which is still quite a blast. I feel dirty for considering this as a contemporary to The Second Story, although I'm beginning to question if even the PSone rendition was actually as good as I remember it. I don't think the ultimate goal of a sequel should be to force its fans to re-evaluate their feelings about the original.

Horrible battle system
The latest installment in the Star Ocean series has a battle system that's unreasonably tedious, insulting, badly-planned and frustrating. The concepts of "fury" and the "battle guage" were bad ideas that slow down the story to a crawl, debilitating your characters in any fight.

Here's how it works: After every single action you take in battle, your "fury" (or stamina) decreases. When your fury is low, your character just sits there panting or doubled over in exhaustion, leaving you vulnerable to being critically hit. I can see how that seems realistic with fighting, but how is that the case with short movement and using items?

Being vulnerable to attacks in this way wouldn't be so bad (after all, none of the battles for the first half of the game are challenging at all) if it didn't break down your battle gauge.

The only method of gaining experience (and thus growing more powerful) is bringing the battle gauge to 100% and gaining the experience bonus from it by initiating attacks in the first few moments of battle. But after all the time you put into raising the battle gauge (it can take hours), it breaks when the character is critically hit- when can happen when your fury is low.

So here's the typical scenario: spend a boring, mind-meltingly tedious amount of time raising the battle gauge in hopes of gaining a reasonable amount of experience. Achieve 100%, use an item, pant in exhaustion, get hit, and the gauge breaks. Repeat process.

The battle system takes away a good chunk of enjoyability from gameplay. Maybe next time, Square. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Action    6. Adventure    7. Role Playing Games (rpg, rpgs)    8. Strategy (Strategic)   

Features

• New multiplayer Medley Mode, new characters, new venues, and more
• Dozens of unlockable outfits and other bonus items
• For 1 or 2 players
• Sing along to 35 brand new songs using a microphone or headset
• Vocal analyzer rates the pitch and rhythm of your vocals

Reviews (18)

This Game Is Awesome!
I think this game is really fun!!! I have Volume 3, and My cousin had volume 1 and now has volume 3, and we both think that this game is really fun. For people who love to sing like I do, This is one of the best video games ever. My friend and I play for hours. I haven't played volume 2 yet, but by looking at the list of songs that are on the game, I think it would bea lot of fun! I REALLY recommend this game!

Not As Good As Volume 3 But Still Fun
I have a few comments.First, I'm quite ticked that they have I'll Make Love To You on the disk.I would have given this disk a 5 out of 5 if it weren't for that one thing. We play this game with a 9 year old and an 11 year old.They do have it censored by saying "I'm going to take off my charm" or something instead of "off my clothes."But it helps little. (Volume 3 I have *no* complaints as far as the kids go for song choice on the disk.)

The songs to choose from for karaoke competition are as follows:
Song List (all below are "originally by"):
1) Baby One More Time (originally by Britney Spears)
2) Born to Be Wild (originally by George Thouroughgood and the Delaware Destroyers)
3) Every Breath You Take (The Police)
4) Friends in Low Places (Garth Brooks)
5) Genie In A Bottle (Christina Aguilera)
6) Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis)
7) Here Without You (3 Doors Down)
8) Hot Stuff (Donna Summer)
9) I Believe in a Thing Called Love (The Darkness)
10) I Will Survive (Gloria Naylor)
11) Irresistible (Jessica Simpson)
12) It's My Life (No Doubt covering Talk Talk's version)
13) Jessie's Girl (Rick Springfield)
14) Lady Marmalade (Patti LaBelle)
15) My Girl (The Temptations)
16) Papa Don't Preach (Madonna)
17) Rock and Roll All Nite (Kiss)
18) Sittin on the Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding)
19) Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
20) The First Cut is the Deepest (Sheryl Crow)
21) Toxic (Britney Spears)
22) Virtual Insanity (Jamiroquai)
23) We Are Family (Sister Sledge)
24) White Flag (Dido)
Those are the songs listed on the back.Also included on the disk:
25) Cry (Waterfront? Kim Marsh? I don't know)
26) Drift Away (Doobie Brothers)
27) I Hate Everything About You (Three Days Grace)
28) I'll Make Love To You (Boyz II Men)
29) I'm With You (Avril Lavigne)
30) I've Got You Under My Skin (I have no idea. So many artists have covered this.)
31) Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye)
32) Miss You (Aaliyah or Mariah Carey??)
33) Perfect (Alanis Morissette I *think*)
34) The Joker (Steve Miller Band)
...And I think I'm missing one because the back said 35 songs. Oh well.

Sometimes we let our 9-year-old be on the Easy level, and that helps him to do just as well as we do."Adjustable difficulty levels ensures that anyone can be a karaoke star," it says on the back of the box.And it's true.

The songs were recorded as close to by the original artists as possible, and they did a great job with that. The First Cut is the Deepest is pretty much the only song that really, really doesn't sound like the original artist (Sheryl Crow). But it still sounds pretty good.You sing along and choose how loud you want your own voice versus the recorded voice to be.It works really well that way.Sometimes I wish I could hear my own voice more through the speakers, but I think that is our own setup.

I do indeed recommend this product to others.Volume 3 is the best, though!! :)

Fantastic concept, just not for me
As a big fan of the Bemani series of arcade music games (such as Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freaks and Beatmania), I was pumped when I heard about the first installment of this game.It's basically DDR for your voice.

However, as I soon found out, my voice apparently doesn't work as well as my feet, and even though I didn't have too much trouble passing songs, hearing my own voice through TV speakers was more than a little discomfiting.

Still, when KR2 came out, I decided to give it a second chance.I was sorely disappointed at the lack of new material, though.All the songs are new, but there's not much in the way of interesting genres... only pop, a few country songs, a few oldies and a stale rock song or two.More troubling, there's only a few new venues - the rest are repeated from the first game.

The first game has an option to load an expansion disc.This game should have been made an expansion disc and we all could have saved $20.

But don't listen to me.If you love singing, you will love this game, and you'll play it all night like I play DDR.If you don't like singing - don't bother trying. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. PS2 (PSX2)    3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    4. Playstation2 (Play station2)    5. Classics (Classic)    6. Retro   

Features

• An extensive experience system features over 100 different skills to customize characters to the players preference.
• A new and improved complex battle system utilizes team combination attacks, a refined boost system, double team attacks and a zone attack/break system. The turn-based battle engine requires even more strategy and provides a deeper challenge.
• Shion, KOS-MOS and other favorite EPISODE I characters return with more mature,refined character designs and all new mechs.
• Hours of dazzling cinematics are complemented by high quality English voice acting.Complex philosophical themes add depth to an already sophisticated, dramatic storyline that could stand on its own as an intricately woven masterpiece.

Reviews (31)

Playing this game is like channeling saidin.
The story is Good.The movies are always entertaining, and the story is always interesting.It never reaches the emotional depths that the last game did.There seems to be a greater emphasis on making the whole thing more...unrealistic.The first game presented a believable future - all the technology was explained, things behaved realistically, etc.That's all thrown out in this game...it might sound strange, but it seems to be more "Japanese" than Episode 1.Characters now swordfight in a Samurai style and shout things in what sounds very similar to Japanese.They shoot lasers out of their swords (and it's never explained why).There's even a character that wears samurai-ish robes.It destroys any believability this universe had.

Also, I'm personally disappointed that the game focused so much on Jr. (couldn't stand him from the first game), and not so much on wonderful KOS-MOS, who's not even present in the first half, and barely says two words in the second.And this is a Very Good Thing, because some of the voice actor changes were not for the better.Shion's VA is improved, but KOS-MOS's was a huge downgrade.

The music is also terrible compared to last game's.Episode 1 marked the first time I ran out and bought the soundtrack to a game.The beautiful orchestra and haunting chorus from that game have been replaced by forgettable boppy tunes, with maybe one decent melody in the whole thing.

Now, one to Dark One's taint = the gameplay.The battle system is easily the worst I have ever seen in any RPG.Ever.They aren't random - the enemies are onscreen.This is the One and Only Good thing.When you do touch an enemy, it takes a strangely long time to load.Your characters appear, one-by one.Then the monsters appear, one-by one.Sometimes, you'll be surrounded by the enemy.Other times, you'll surround the enemy yourself.This is Completely Random.Even if you attack an enemy from behind, you won't start the battle at the enemy's back.Which is too bad, as Back Attacks do more damage, and every time you enter a battle, you'll be desperate to scrape up as much damage as possible.

There's no such things as Powerful Moves here.You're forced to hit an enemy in specific "zones", which you do by hitting Triangle or Circle (did I mention the moves you do have no titles?Bye-bye, Moonlight Serenade or Spell Ray).Hit Triangle/Circle in the right order, and you get what's called a Zone Break.Now, you have to Boost your other characters in so they can damage the enemy while it's in this "break" stage.You boost the other characters by having them sit there and Not Attack during their own attack phase.

You are FORCED to do this - while some enemies do have special weaknesses, they're not exactly mind-blowing helpful for the majority of enemy types.Instead, you have to do the Zone Break, or all of your moves will do about 20 damage...to a creature that has 5,000 HP.And there's still 3 other creatures in the battle, all with 10,000 HP each.

Sound fun to you?Admittedly, once you DO get an enemy's weakness down, and get a Zone Break in, then Boost all of your characters in a row to take advantage of the enemy's weakness and the zone break, you can rack up huge damage.Sometimes it's even enough to take a single enemy down - and it only took 10 minutes to build up!

So, yes, the battle system will corrode your soul.Expect every battle to last at least 5 minutes, and that's if you're quick and know what you're doing.Meaning that you've already fought this enemy before and have either memorized it's Zone Break and weaknesses, or you've taught one of your characters a Memory skill.

And here's another embarassing part of the game.Every single character can learn every single skill.This completely destroys any individuality the characters had.KOS-MOS still has a couple special skills only she can use, but they're not nearly as impressive as the classics from the first game.Instead of being awed by what your characters are capable of, you cooly assign specific skills to each character based on what attributes you want in each battle.If that sounds fun to you, it's not.Many of these skills are useless, and characters will repeat skills that are helpful.

It's possible to "unlock" new skills and Double Attacks (two characters team up to attack) by undergoing the torture that is the game's sidequests.You run around, doing good deeds for people.These good deeds are very loosely explained, and very often involve playing fetch from place to place.I didn't even attempt it.

Other things that will leave you a blackened husk inside when the game is done: The puzzles in the dungeons.Oh how I wish my mind could let me forget them so I could live again.Unfortunately I can't, and so I will always remember shooting boxes to form a bridge, shooting boxes to clear a bridge, and shooting boxes of a specific color that explode other boxes of the same color around them.To form a bridge.

In conclusion, let me just say that I hope Episode 3 is better, or I will go insane.Or the Red Ajah will come for me in the form of Final Fantasy XII.

Nothing on the original game!
Xenosaga Episode I Der Wille Zur Macht, was a breakthrough in gaming!It had deep characterization, a deep storyline, innovative battle system and a soundtrack that blew you out of this world!It was a plot driven game with an intoxicating storyline.Episode II doesn't compare to the original in very many ways at all.Things have been changed that shouldn't have been changed, and in all essence, it's more like watching a season 2 of a declining TV series.

Xenosaga Episode II isn't a bad game.It's actually really good!It's just that it suffers from the sequel syndrome.The first one hit a level that was so high, and now this one has to compare.Either you'll be quite surprised by where it goes, or quite disappointed.

The game opens up with a flashback of Chaos being sent to Miltia with a realian named Canaan to see why all the Realians have gone berserk.Chaos and Canaan meet up with only one who still seems to be in control of himself.General Jin Uzuki, and to prevent spoiling more, let's just the say we rejoin our main cast from the first game in mere moments.

Where as Xenosaga Episode I put an emphasis on storyline, Episode II seems to put an emphasis on character development.It does a fairly good job too.You'll learn more about these characters, and be able to cope with them.Unfortunately, if you haven't played the first game yet, it's all mysterious to you.

A few things about the gameplay have changed.The battle system is refined just a bit.Now enemies are in "zones".Either Zone A, B, or C.Depending on the zone they're in they could take a lot of damage from your attacks.You can also knock them in the air, or down on the ground.You can also link attacks together to perform devastating combinations.Characters attack using points.If you decide to "stock" (by defending) you can attack more times in one turn.

Xenosaga Episode II is not an easy game.You can't just mash down on buttons and expect to win battles.There does need to be strategy involved.Without strategy, you'll more than likely lose.

The character raising is different.In the first game, you had Ether Points (Magic), Tech Points and skill points.In this one you only have ether points to improve your magic skills.Truthfully, that's sad since all your characters learn the same skills, and once you've learned everything (being that there are no Tech points and Skill points in this one) you'll have a bunch of Ether Points sitting around begging to be used, and they never will.

The graphics in the game have been updated from the first one.I personally didn't think this was neccessary.They tried to make the characters look more "human" and I personally thought the anime look of the first game was just fine.Some of their actions look a little strange, mostly because the dubbing of the game to English was terrible, but otherwise, the graphics are smooth and rich.KOS-MOS looks the nicest out of all the characters.

The voices, for whatever reason, have also changed.I was not too fond of this.The voices from the first game were perfect. These voices are either superb, or they're terrible.MOMO for example, has a terrible voice actor, while Chaos has a fairly good one.

The music is no where near as good as the first game.Actually, to be truthful, the music in this game is forgettable, and you won't care too much for it in the end.It's not the first one.

There aren't as many cutscenes as the first Xenosaga, and while the story is intriguing, the cutscenes don't flow quite as well.Also, it's sad to see this game isn't as long as the first one, and there aren't as many secrets.I thought the game would have more secrets than what I got.

It's also very disappointing with what you get from having a save file at the end of the first Xenosaga.Just a bunch of skills and whatnot.Nothing more.No impact on the story or anything.Really, the save file is useless.

Xenosaga Episode II does work, but it's sad that it can't live up to the first game.It had potential to live up considering how long it was in development, and what the first game gave it to go with.I just wish it could've fallen through.

If you loved the first Xenosaga game, pick this up.You won't regret it, but you probably won't remember it as well as the first game either.

Well Done
I thought the first game was so-so; the 2nd much better.The combat is simpler to understand but more complicated to use - you start with all the fighting techniques you're going to get.Its up to you to figure out which characters and combinations of attacks work well in a given situation.Its a bit confusing until you get the hang of it. Bosses are a bit more complicated - you need to mix up the attacks of more than one character to be effective.There's always one major weakness to be uncovered.

As far as the series - well, the story doesn't end here - if anything, it gets more complicated.Only a few loose ends are resolved, and several new ones are added.

After the game ends, be sure to save - then continue using saved data.The game continues with a huge side quest that's not series related but has a story all its own.

Over all - there's room for improvement, bt I'd say its better than FFX2. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Strategy (Strategic)    2. Video Games    3. PS2 (PSX2)    4. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2    5. Playstation2 (Play station2)    6. Action    7. Adventure    8. Role Playing Games (rpg, rpgs)   

Features

• Free-Roaming City: Explore a massive city divided into five distinct, interconnected neighborhoods, ranging from serpentine suburban hills to an intense downtown grid. A complex series of drivable freeways connect the neighborhoods together.
• Emergent Gameplay: Want to make a name for yourself in the underground? Youll need to find it first. Races can happen anywhere and at any time and as players encounter rivals on the street theyll be clued into where they can buy the hottest upgrades or enter the most elite events.
• New Gameplay Modes: Three new gameplay modes are added to last years circuit, drift and drag competitions, challenging gamers to hone their skills in a number of driving disciplines.
• Performance Tuning: Tune every aspect of your cars performance with hundreds of licensed aftermarket performance upgrades and then fine-tune everything from the gear ratio to the suspension for the ultimate ride.
• The Hottest Cars: More than thirty of the most sought-after tuner cars are available from the hottest manufacturers--from Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, and Toyota to Ford and Volkswagen, if theyre hot on the street, theyre in the game.

Reviews (78)

Such A Bored game...
YEAH2 I KNOE THE OTHER GAMER SAID THIZ GAME GREAT AND ALL THAT...BUT TO ME THIZ GAME SI BORED BECOZ THERES NO COP,NO SUN,AND THE MOST I HATE ABOUT THIZ IS...ITZ TOO EASY...

No cops?
Need for Speed: Underground 2 delves into the world of the street racer scene "The Fast and The Furious" style. There is only one thing missing from most of the previous