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It was 25 years ago when the PlayStation 2 first arrived on the console market. It was a time of great change for pop culture, but even more so for video games, as the continuing rise of 3D gaming took a strong hold on the industry. Years later, people still look back fondly on the PS2 and the library of legendary games that people loved to play. To many, it remains one of the best video game consoles ever released. As someone who has stuck with PlayStation for a very long time, I often find myself feeling nostalgic when playing through some of the classics that are available on the PlayStation Plus Premium catalog. Luckily for me, and many other fans of PlayStation, the list of classics from throughout the PS2 and original PlayStation libraries continues to grow, with new games being added to the catalog periodically. Here are four games that are in the PlayStation Plus Premium catalog of classics that make me feel nostalgic about the days when I played games on my PlayStation 2. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Hunting in a galaxy far, far away I can make a strong argument that the early 2000s was a time when some of the best Star Wars games were released. While the original Xbox was dropping classics like Knights of the Old Republic and Republic Commando, those PlayStation 2 owners had games like Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. Around the time when the second prequel movie was releasing in theaters, Lucasarts created a game where fans could get some backstory that led into some of the events of the movie. And as a big Star Wars fan back then, it was incredibly exciting to step into the shoes of a bounty hunter named Jango Fett and hunt some of the most ruthless scum and villainy around. While the game was also released on the Nintendo GameCube, most fans like me who already played Star Wars games on PlayStation 2 ended up with this version. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter has players using Jango's jet pack, flamethrower, and a barrage of other weapons to bring down enemies and capture bounties. Some of the game's problems include issues with the camera and some difficulty spikes, most of which were overlooked by everyone back then. Luckily for me and every other Star Wars fan, the game was remastered years later with a bunch of quality-of-life updates that made it better to play. But playing through the original version that's added to PlayStation Plus Premium takes me back to a time when things for the Star Wars franchise were exciting and still very new to a generation of fans. Legacy of Kain: Defiance The epic voice acting There are few series in gaming that have more gravitas in their delivery of dialogue than the Legacy of Kain series. Every line spoken in nearly every game feels like it has the weight of the world behind it, with an almost Shakespearean quality to it, making the story feel super important. This is why when Legacy of Kain: Defiance arrived on the PlayStation 2, many fans were interested in seeing where the franchise would go next. The game is a sequel to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, and continues the ongoing story of the series that first started on the original PlayStation with Blood Omen. Both Kain and Raziel, the two main heroes of the series, are playable and have intertwining stories. The library of the PlayStation has many games that push the boundaries of mature content, often with dark visuals and sometimes gruesome content. But Legacy of Kain: Defiance manages to do so without getting too graphic in most cases. Kain and Raziel still ravage their enemies in combat and break down the boss battles they encounter, but the game never gets to a point where things are too gory. It's almost like there's a sense of class for how dark and twisted the game can get, while still having dignity afforded to the player. The series has gotten more attention lately with multiple Legacy of Kain titles being added to PlayStation Plus, giving more players the chance to experience just how epic the saga can really be. Sly 2: Band of Thieves The gang is going strong One series that was highly beloved by everyone on the PlayStation 2 was the Sly Cooper games. While the first entry of the series, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, was praised by everyone, the sequel is when things kicked into high gear for the franchise. Sly 2: Band of Theives continues the story of the first game, but changes up some of the gameplay from the original. Instead of traveling to locations through small portal-like entrances, Sly and the gang visit multiple hubs where they can complete various tasks related to the story. And Sly Cooper isn't the only one doing most of the work; both Bentley and Murray are more playable this time around. Sly 2: Band of Theives came out at a time when there was a shift in how platformers were made. New ideas were being tested in multiple games for the PlayStation 2, which led to series like Ratchet and Clank and Jak & Daxter becoming very popular. But while those games focused more on weapons and gun play, the Sly Cooper games kept things simple with puzzle solving and clever platforming. Sly and the gang often sneak around and pickpocket guards, use gadgets to get around obstacles, and brute force through groups when things get chaotic. The game is a big step up from its predecessor and sets things up for a third game on PlayStation 2 that was also highly praised. Dark Cloud Throw back to unique RPGs The PlayStation 2 had a number of great role-playing games that helped make the console's library very attractive. But while legendary franchises like Final Fantasy had their own take on the genre, the PS2 library was also filled with action-RPGs that were a bit more niche. One of those games was Dark Cloud, a PS2 classic that gained more popularity over time after its initial release. It was originally planned to be a launch title for the PlayStation 2, but ended up coming out the following year after a short delay. While the game was praised by critics and players alike, it wouldn't be until years later that more people would be able to see how good it was by playing it through the PlayStation Plus Premium classics. It's sequel, Dark Cloud 2, was also added to the service around the same time. The gameplay of Dark Cloud combines aspects of action-RPG combat and world building, with combat happening in dungeons and city building taking place outside them. The mixture of the two styles of gameplay made for a unique approach in the genre, as well as a game that made the PS2 library stand apart from other consoles. The story was something different in comparison to other RPG series going on back then, but the unique blend of gameplay was something that offered variety for role-playing game fans who were looking for something other than traditional turn-based combat. Nostalgia for the PS2 era
