Armored Core 2, Armored Core 3, Armored Core: Silent Line

Need for Speed Underground 1 and 2

If you have the time for a JRPG, Dragon Quest 8 is one of my favorite games ever. Maximo is also a cool third person action game.

There are some good PS2 Crash Bandicoot games-- any of the platformers, or the racing ones (I had Crash Nitro Kart and can confirm it's a good time).

You could also try Kingdom Hearts (+ the sequels, Re:Chain of Memories and KH2) if you want to be confused

You have to... No, You NEED to Play Downhill Domination. There is NO WAY you won't have fun playing that, trust me.

Oh! And Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3! You don't have to be a DBZ fan to have fun with that, is amazing and so chaotic!

Also, have you consider trying Devil May Cry 3? (Don't worry about the number, it's a precule). It's kinda hard but so fun and satisfying.

No Final Fantasy because I'm not even sure where to start!

I had the same problem too, but after trying to play them chronologically (and failing), I learned that you can play any FF game at any time, cuz they are very unique and don't actually relate one another.

Final Fantasy X is a great pick, for example, it helped me overcome my despise for Turn-base combat RPG.

And, if you're up to some Big Robot Fight mayhem anime style, Zone of The Enders is Amazing.

edit: AND YAKUZA! HOW COULD I FORGOT YAKUZA!!?? YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE FIRST YAKUZA ASAP!!

(unless you want to play / already played the kiwami version, which may be a better experience)

Just throwing Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero into the mix.

I came here to make sure outrun 2006 is mentioned. Try it!

(Also SC2, Burnout and Gradius V but I saw those mentioned)

Surprised I didn't see anyone mention Persona 3 FES.

The definitive version of Persona 3, before they simplified the combat system for 4, 5, and remakes of 3.

The epilogue of the game, The Answer, has the best story in the series.

Persona series is [almost] totally standalone; no need to play 1 or 2 first.

XGRA: Extreme G-Racing Association

Scifi Racer with motorcycles that go through the sound barrier and weapons

You already have an insanely good library. You could probably play for the rest of the year on those games alone. In addition to what you have here, I'd recommend:

Alien Hominid
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Burnout series
Def Jam: Fight for NY
Destroy All Humans 1 & 2
Devil May Cry
Godfather, The
GTA Vice City Stories & Liberty City Stories (NOT ON PC)
GUN
Hitman: Blood Money
Jak & Daxter series
Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Need For Speed Underground & Hot Pursuit series
Onimusha: Warlords
Psychonauts
Ratchet & Clank Series
Rayman 2
Resident Evil 4
Red Dead Revolver
Sly Cooper 1 & 3 (1 & 3 are probably my favs)
Shadow of the Colossus
Silent Hill 2 & 3
Simpsons Hit & Run
SoulCalibur II
Spider-Man 2 (phenomenal free roam)
Star Wars Battlefront I & II
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Twisted Metal: Black

FWIW, the original PS2 versions of the GTA games that are also on PC are actually better because they removed content as licenses expired. Unless you have the downgraded PC versions - in which case, godspeed.

Even then, I usually stick with PS2 as PC doesn't have support for the analog face buttons that the PS2 had. I don't know if you can emulate that on Steam Deck, but if you play PS2 GTA San Andreas with an OEM controller, pressing the button harder actually does make you go faster. It's magic, and I find it hard to play without now. 😅

I look forward to seeing how the Deck holds up with some of these titles! I'll admit, I've been thinking about getting it to use as a portable PS2 myself.

Persona 4 and Clock Tower 3

I will ALWAYS suggest amplitude (sequel to frequency on PS1). Best rhythm music game ever.

SSX Tricky, and any of the NBA or NFL Street games, they’re all gas, no brakes. If you can get someone else to play two player (don’t know how well that works on steam deck emulation), check out Cookies & Cream. It’s one of the more clever two player co-op puzzle games, and it’s one of the first games my wife and I played together when we were first dating.

I see you've got 007: Nightfire in that list, so let me raise you 007: Agent Under Fire. The single player is not as good as Nightfire, but the multiplayer is spectacular, as it lets you turn on fun modifiers like moon gravity and use gadgets like the Q Claw on any surface instead of just preset spots. They probably toned down the multiplayer in Nightfire because Agent Under Fire's didn't feel very Bond-esque, but Bond or not, it was a ton of fun. The multiplayer is up to 4 players split-screen on Gamecube, but I can't tell if it still retains that on PS2; often times, back then, PS2 games only had 2 player support while Gamecube and Xbox had 4. This was because the PS2 was weaker and also required an extra peripheral called a Multi Tap to hook up more than 2 controllers. Find some friends and play some deathmatch, if you find yourself in a situation where you can dock your Steam Deck or otherwise play on another computer.

There's also Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, a third person shooter where you play a robot who can take over other robots. It's quite challenging, it's got a sense of humor, and it's probably one of the best games of that era to not get remastered in a modern port. Once again, we've got the multiplayer issue rearing its head, but I'd strongly recommend the single player for this one, too. I also played this on Gamecube back in the day, so just play whichever version is rated best for compatibility in your emulator of choice.

You might also want a Burnout game in your library. Most people seem to prefer Burnout 3: Takedown, but my Burnout of choice was Burnout Revenge. Both great. I wish we got more racing games like these today. Local multiplayer is a dying breed in this genre.

You've got Tony Hawk's Underground in that list, but for my money, the best game in the series is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

The first three Ratchet & Clank games on PS2 have not been topped by their later entries, as far as I'm concerned. Ever since the fourth game, Deadlocked, the best they've been able to do was to remix ideas they've already used.

Midnight Club 2

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was pretty close to the peak of the series if you ask me, and the PS2 version was the superior one. THPS4 also came out on the Playstation 2. I see you already have Underground on there.

If you'd like something you can handily use to consume the rest of your entire life, Disgaea and/or its sequel will probably do you.

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are also legendary. I haven't tried in ages, I have no idea if modern emulators can get the latter to run at a non-crap frame rate. It'd be a lot nicer if so.

Odin Sphere is an often overlooked 2D action sidescrolling fighting thing wherein you Norse In The North and beat the shit out of absolutely everyone. Its sequel, Muramasa: The Demon Blade is much the same thing except therein you Ninja In The Night instead. The latter stayed locked to the Wii to my knowledge but the former was on the PS2.

The PS2's library is quite vast. I'm not going to go looking this up to prove it right now, but I'm pretty sure it's got the most titles ever released for a home video game console (i.e. not the PC) in history. Even just trying out unknown games at complete random, it's likely to be able to keep you entertained in one way or another basically forever.

I would recommend those that doesn't have a remaster version on current systems. Personally I'd recommend:

• Armoured Core 3
• Armoured Core 3: Silent Line
• Armoured Core 3: Last Raven
• Front Mission 4
• Zone of the Enders
• Zone of the Enders 2
• Another Century's Episode
• Another Century's Episode 2
• Another Century's Episode 3: The Final

Road Trip Adventure is one of my favourite racing games. It's like Disney cars before then. You get to drive around a world doing side quests outside of races.

Driving can feel clunky and it feels really bad in the beginning, but most of it is due to the fact you start off with bad parts. As you upgrade your car the game starts to feel better and better as it goes on. Eventually you get parts to fly and go under water.

...

Also when it comes to final fantasy, there is no one place to start, each game unless a direct sequel (like X-2) they are all completely standalone. None of them are in the same world or universe. They share similar themes but that's it.

As others have said, Ratchet and Clank series is fantastic

One I did not see in the comments is Test Drive: Eve of Destruction.

Highly recommend playing 'Forbidden Siren', but WITH A WALKTHROUGH. Amazing and scary story, but for a slow gamer.

I'm bias, but Sly Raccoon is such a great series. I thoroughly enjoyed it growing up. I see you have Sly2 in your image. I would suggest starting with the first game and move up from there.

Dark Cloud 2 is a super unique dungeon crawler RPG. I absolutely love that game.

The original Yakuza games! Yakuza and Yakuza 2. There is a patch out now to for the original Japanese dub for the first game

I'll recommend Kinetica. It's a one-of-a-kind racing game where you race through gravity-defying tracks as a person in a kind of iron-man negligee with wheels while listening to old-school techno.

Shadow of the Colossus is one of my favorite games ever, battling entities big enough that you run around on top of them, subtle storytelling, an enormous map for the time it was made, and fairly large even by modern standards.

The Tenchu games are also good: ninja stealth assassination.

Dark Cloud 2 is a kind of fun game. Smack your way through dungeons with a wrench and use the bits to build villages for your allies.

Bloody Roar is a favorite for fighting games. Fight to BIOS energy then transform into a wilder form, like a mole, a bear, etc. and you can kick people through the edges of the arenas into new areas to fight.

Devil May Cry is a classic.

Ratchet and Clank, classic.

Time Splitters is reminiscent of even older games.

Red Faction 2 wasn't a bad little shooter.

Seconding someone else's suggestion of Psi-Ops - a really cool game that I think flies under the radar a little bit.

Gun is also really cool.

The early Red Faction games are also fun but a bit dated.

It depends on whether piracy is in the mix. If it is, that opens up assorted unofficially translated games. Super Robot Wars: Original Generations, for instance, if you are into strategy mecha games.

Metal Saga might appeal if you are into sandbox RPGs and a lover of tanks. Also, dogs with rocket launchers on their back.

NBA Street Vol 2 or V3. Never found another sports game that's as much fun.

Games only last a few minutes and there's no concept of seasons or anything. It's just casual streetball where no rules matter - including the rules of physics.

The legend of dragoon