Although it may not be actively sold in the markets today, Sony’s PlayStation 2 still holds its dominance as the best-selling video game console of all time, selling over 155 million units in its 13-year life cycle.
In spite of being discontinued back in 2013, PlayStation 2 popularity continues, thanks to its impressive library of titles. Needless to say, these titles have become extremely rare to find now.
Among the several other rare titles from the PlayStation 2 library is a horror hit that no horror game genre fan can afford to miss.
Kuon: A Japanese horror treat
Kuon is a Japanese horror game developed by the famous game studio FromSoftware. The studio is well-known for its fan-favorite and challenging games. Kuon was released in 2004 and is set during the Heian period of Japan, which lasted from 794 to 1185.
The game features several characters and narratives of Japanese folklore. Players get to explore Fujiwara Manor via three separate characters as they are involved in puzzles and fighting mechanics. The game’s narrative and storytelling are all very commended.
While some fans thought that the game lacked gameplay, especially with its combat and puzzle system, others found it to be a perfect blend. Interestingly, Kuon’s Japanese storytelling was so rich that the makers wished to maintain the original design as much as possible, and thus only a few English dubs were released.
Additionally, it wasn’t even marketed as much, which is why not many players know about it. As the studio advanced and released the hit Souls-like games such as Elden Ring, Kuon’s popularity also skyrocketed to the top of collector’s lists.
After that, it has continued to the top of the charts of PS2 games and continues to be one of the top to date. It has a rating of 57 on Metacritic.
Other horror games on PlayStation 2
Apart from Kuon, PlayStation 2 also has a host of other impressive horror titles such as Rule of Rose developed by Punchline, Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu’s Dororo, Haunting Ground, developed by Capcom, Silent Hill, .hack//QUARANTINE, Obscure, Futurama, and Xenosaga Episode III to name a few.
Besides these, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is also one of the most liked horror games on the PlayStation 2 console. It is the third and final entry in the fighting games developed by Spike. The game, released in 2007, is actually based on the popular Dragon Ball manga series.
The game is heavily built on gameplay as compared to the first two entries. It also stood apart from other fighting games in terms of 98 different characters, which turned out to be the largest at the time.
