Retro gaming remains a very expensive hobby for most of us. We learned this with a recent look at the rarest PS1 games, and now we’re seeing some similar high prices for the rarest PS2 games currently on the market. Many of the games we’re covering here are available in other formats that won’t cost you hundreds of dollars, so the only people who really need to worry about paying these sorts of prices are PlayStation 2 completionists.
If you’re one of those people, we can only say sorry for the state of vintage video game pricing, and good luck getting the rarest PS2 games for less than a grand.
10. Samurai Western
Price Range: $250+
Samurai Western sounds a bit like a show you might have seen on Adult Swim in the early 2000s. The plot feels that way, too, involving a samurai who travels to the wild west in search of his brother. It’s a fun brawler with some clever twists, particularly as it mashes samurai and spaghetti western aesthetics into something that’s good, if unremarkable once you’ve played it for a couple of hours.
Samurai Western is a third person action game pitting your sword against the guns of the west, and at the very least Samurai Western has some fun with that. You can upgrade your weaponry, and there’s even different swords and stances you can acquire. There’s also a 2-player co-op mode that’s nice to have, as well as unlockable characters.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though Samurai Western made a huge impact on players or critics. The game received mostly average reviews, and it’s not a PS2 game that seems to come up in conversation very often. Its sales reflect just how indifferent a wide audience treated it, although it doesn’t seem likely the game had a huge printing from publishers. These are likely the factors driving up the price of this game to at least a couple hundred bucks for a CIB edition.
9. Xenosaga Episode III
Price Range: $250+
Xenosaga was an essential RPG series on the PS2 for many. Xenosaga Episode III brought the science fiction saga to a close, and it almost goes without saying that you’ll want to have played the other two games before coming around to this one. The plot would be a little difficult to explain at this point, but understand it picks up after the events of the second game, and provides a deep, satisfying, and narrative-driven finish to a game franchise that’s long on slow plot and character development.
Combat and exploration are also enjoyable in Xenosaga Episode III, with turn-based battles featuring either traditional parties or giant mechs. There’s depth to either mode.
Definitely the sort of RPG you’ll be sinking dozens and dozens of hours into for the story alone, Xenosaga Episode III is a great JRPG from this era. However, if you’re the kind of completist who wants to have the PlayStation 2 originals for all three Xenosaga games, keep in mind Episode III is a good deal more expensive than the other two games. A CIB edition is going to set you back by a couple of hundred at the minimum. Episode III just didn’t have as many copies printed as the previous two games.
8. .hack//Quarantine: Part 4
Price Range: $300+
While the .hack series wasn’t a hit with everyone, it was certainly a PS2 RPG series with a passionate, sizable fanbase. Set across four games, the .hack franchise was set within a world that revolved around a sprawling MMORPG and it was this unique setting that gave the series something different from other JRPGs of the time period. If you’re a fan of the genre, and you’re playing through the classics on the PS2, you could do a whole lot worse than at least checking out the first game in the series, titled Infection.
Quarantine specifically finishes out the story, and it’s considered by those who appreciate this series to be a worthy conclusion to this chapter of the .hack saga. However, if you don’t enjoy the first game, it hopefully goes without saying that you don’t need to bother with the rest. The other games received seemingly larger printings and are easier to come by these days, so at least you can start simple before going after this one. You most certainly do not need to pay over $300 for a CIB copy of this game, unless you’re desperate to have all of these titles on PS2 physical media.
7. ObsCure
Price Range: $350+
Evocative in both tone and gameplay like Resident Evil, ObsCure nevertheless finds its own ways to be a little different. The high school setting and characters, with players assuming control of one of the kids investigating strange events at the school. The game does a good job of capturing the atmosphere of a late 90s/early-2000s teen horror movie. ObsCure also makes things very interesting with its two-player option, but the clunky controls and tedious, often uninspired survival horror gameplay makes for a sometimes very uneven playing experience.
While the game is ultimately a lot of fun, ObsCure didn’t seem to go as far as everyone had hoped. The game received mixed reviews, and it would be several years before we ever saw a sequel. The first game didn’t set the world on fire, with mediocre sales and reviews combining with a low print run to create a game that’s not easy to come by. ObsCure and its sequel eventually got a release on Steam, but this game has been seemingly forgotten by a lot of people, and the PS2 version is obscure enough to cost well over three hundred bucks.
6. Michigan: Report from Hell
Price Range: $400+
Michigan: Report from Hell is a survival horror game that at least offers a very interesting premise. This mostly forgotten game from Grasshopper Manufacture tasks players with being the cameraperson in a television film crew trying to capture footage from the aftermath of a mysterious fog blanketing Chicago.
Of course, there’s monsters and viruses to contend with, but the game effectively makes you go through its story by setting you up as the support system for the main character. From a narrative point of view, Michigan: Report from Hell has you established as the sidekick, and the various challenges the game throws at you across its scenarios emphasizes this.
From making sure the camera is pointing where it needs to be, to protecting the news reporter while getting footage and making sure you manage your meager resources carefully, Michigan: Report from Hell is an interesting variant on the survival horror formula, with multiple potential endings to contend with. However, the game never got a release outside of Japan and the United Kingdom, so that might have something to do with its high price tag.
5. Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu’s Dororo
Price Range: $400+
Based on a manga by industry giant Osamu Tezuka, Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu’s Dororo is a very enjoyable action title developed and published by Sega. It’s just not particularly memorable, suffering as it does from relentless camera issues and some frustrating controls. Not without its fans, Blood Will Tell received decidedly average reviews upon release and is today rarely remembered in the action genre.
One thing you can’t fault Blood Will Tell for is its excellent story, drawn directly from Tezuka’s manga. Playing as the hero Hyakkimaru, you and your body made mostly of prosthetic replacements, often weaponized, must recover the 48 missing pieces of your body from the 48 fiends who ran off with everything. There’s a very strong story to be found here, with Sega taking full advantage of the PS2’s power to tell a comprehensive and character-driven narrative that takes a surprisingly long time to finish.
Simply put, if you’re enjoying those elements, the frustrating gameplay will be easy to tolerate. Just don’t think you need to put down $400 at a minimum to play Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu’s Dororo. The game didn’t well, nor did it receive a large printing.
4. Haunting Ground
Price Range: $450+
Not a wholesome cooking sim as the title might suggest, you’ll be surprised to discover that Haunting Ground is a survival horror game. Considered by some to be a spiritual successor, no pun intended, to Capcom’s more famous survival horror series Clock Tower, Haunting Ground received average reviews upon release, and didn’t seem to make a huge impression on PS2 players. Perhaps the game was released just too far into the PS2’s lifespan.
Either way, Haunting Ground wasn’t a huge seller, and today is considered a relative obscurity from a massive developer and publisher. It’s a shame, although the game is a bit repetitive and fairly derivative of games like Clock Tower, with both featuring a physically weak female protagonist and hide-and-chase gameplay. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, and this was something many critics noted in contemporary reviews.
Haunting Ground is still worth a look for PS2 diehards and survival horror fans. It’s a shame the title received reviews that seemingly told Capcom to stop making copies, and it’s quite a rare game today. It’s at least worth a look on your part. The story is excellent, the sprawling 3D environments are rich in horror movie atmosphere, and the graphics are still absorbing to this day.
3. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Price Range: $450+
The fact that many people aren’t even aware that 2009’s Silent Hill: Shattered Memories got a PS2 port in the year of our lord 2010 is probably a big reason why it’s one of the rarest PS2 games out there. Originally released for the Wii a year prior, Shattered Memories received additional ports that seemed very odd given the extreme age of the PlayStation 2 by that point. Its successor had been out for a full four years, and the PS2 was for many taking up space in the closet.
Nevertheless, while most reviews are focused on the Wii version, the PS2 edition by all accounts isn’t bad at all. Most of what made the Wii version a well-liked game in 2009 can be found here, with players taking on a boldly reimagined take on the first game by once again assuming the role of Harry Morgan. Combat is non-existent, with the emphasis being on finding clues, solving puzzles, and surviving any encounters with monsters in a shadowy hell-realm. It’s a lot of fun, and it might just be the last major game released for the PlayStation 2.
2. Rule of Rose
Price Range: $700+
Released to middling reviews in the same year the PS3 was released, Rule of Rose was clearly doomed to obscurity. If you’re someone seeking out a truly different sort of survival horror narrative, Rule of Rose may have something to offer you. For everyone, the appeal is debatable, although let it be said again that the game deserves credit for one of the darkest and most intriguing genre stories ever crafted for the console. Your story begins as young Jennifer, trapped in an abandoned orphanage. You soon find yourself on a bizarre airship, which itself is controlled by a group of sadistic young girls. Things get only wilder from there, with many believing the game to be an underrated PS2 classic for its plot and themes alone.
Not so much the troublesome controls or gameplay, with the game’s emphasis on melee combat making survival in this survival horror easier said than done.
It’s too bad that everything else about this extremely rare PS2 game is unremarkable or worse. Remarkable to consider then that it was the subject of considerable controversy at the time of its release in Europe. A moral panic over the game’s alleged content led to bans, the game being pulled from U.K. shelves, and culminated in the Rule of Rose’s release being canceled in places like New Zealand and Australia.
1. Kuon
Price Range: $1000+
Topping our look at the rarest PS2 games is another survival horror title that seemingly very few remember. Like Rule of Rose, that’s too bad where this game’s unique setting and narrative structure are concerned. The game is set during the Heian period in Japan, draws deeply from Japanese ghost stories and folklore, and will have you playing as multiple characters who all eventually converge on a single fascinating story. It’s an impressive and ambitious effort by developer FromSoftware.
The world and character designs for Kuon are also pretty interesting, leading you to at least the game itself would be fun to play. That’s quite a mixed bag, as contemporary reviews indicate. Your mileage may vary, as the game does have a cult following, with many praising its unique structure and shocking twists. Just steel yourself for illogical, confusing puzzles and bland, sometimes unresponsive combat.
Despite getting a release in most markets, Kuon didn’t find an audience. Due to a combination of low sales with what we can assume was a low manufacturing run, Kuon is very difficult to track down. If your dream is to have a complete PlayStation 2 library, this is the one that will prove to be the most expensive and difficult to track down.
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