10 PS2 Open-World Games That Felt Big a Long Time Ago

What’s Happening

Let’s talk about If you want to see where the open world genre first kicked off sprouting its roots, here are 10 PS2 open-world games that felt big a long time ago 10 PS2 Open-World Games That Felt Massive Long Before Maps Were Filled with Icons By Adam Braunstein Published Mar 3, 2026, 1:30 PM EST Adam is a lifelong gamer who enjoys RPGs, action adventure games and a healthy helping of VR to boot.

He has written for countless sites in the gaming medium, and you can find him playing the newest souls-like or JRPG. Sign in to your DualShockers account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap PS2 games had a special feel to them that no other system had. (shocking, we know)

The graphics were a bit muddy, but there was a charm to it and something that ASAP told you, “yeah, you’re playing a PS2 game right now.

The Details

” If you weren’t there for it, it’s hard to describe, but so many of today’s big-time games kicked off their blueprint over 20 years ago. The open-world games in particular were special because they were messy.

We didn’t have the clean presentation of today’s open-world games; it was a bit chaotic, and it relied on you to use your brain rather than following objective markers. Related 10 Games that are Still Underrated Despite Being Previous GotY Nominees Games that have gotten recognition, but not enough.

Why This Matters

Posts 1 By Ethan Krieger We’re going to check out some PS2 games that felt big before open-world games were the norm. 10 Shadow of the Colossus The Power of a Barren World Shadow of the Colossus Adventure Action Puzzle dropped ESRB T For Teen // Blood, Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Team Ico Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment Number of Players 1 Platform(s) PlayStation 2 Genre(s) Adventure , Action , Puzzle How Long To Beat 9. 5 hours PS Plus Availability Premium How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs) 21.

This is the kind of news that gets gamers talking across social media.

The Bottom Line

5 hours PS Plus Availability Premium How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs) 21. 5 hours Powered by Expand Collapse Shadow of the Colossus is one of the most remarkable games ever made and one of the original open-world style games.

What’s your take on this whole situation?