I'm living in the past. The most current-gen piece of equipment I have is a onyx ds lite. The PS2 is my trusty console of choice. Without considering my huge list of unfinished PS1/PS2 games, I still think the PS2 can fulfill my home gaming needs for 2008.

I've never been an early adopter, so this is the norm for me. Plus, sometimes a given system's finest games come out after the spotlight has already moved on....

So here are some PS2 games I'm looking forward to, in no particular order:

Baroque (Atlus)

This is a self-described "hardcore" dungeon crawler, complete with old-school difficulty. Nothing about this game has blown me away just by looking at screen shot, BUT... Baroque was developed by STING! These are the guys who made Riviera: The Promised Land and Yggdra Union for the GBA. I immensely enjoyed these two titles; truthfully, they blew me away. Thus, I have a lot of faith that Baroque will follow in the goodness.

Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis(NIS America, Gust)

Ok, so it's another alchemy/questing type game from these guys, a la the Atelier Iris series, but I'm looking forward to this for a few reasons:

1. I like the school context instead of fantasy land.

2. I like the artwork and 2D sprites.

3. I played and loved Ar Tonelico, another Gust game, and I really enjoyed the relaxed pacing and difficulty level. I'm anticipating another chill-out game here, where I can just appreciate the artwork and tinker with alchemy.

So, obviously, this game may not appeal to a lot of people, but for this technophobe, it works fine.

Arcana Hearts (Atlus)

Wow, I'm really happy about this. I've recently gotten into 2D fighting (in the last few months I've bought KoF XI, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Street Fighter Alpha Anthology, and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core) and I was considering importing this game. Seriously, who wouldn't want to play a fighting game with an ALL GIRL CAST? At a bargain price, what's not to like?

LEGO Indiana Jones (LucusArts)

This lies a little outside my usual gaming interests, and I know there will be better* versions of this game on other consoles, but for some reason, this title piques my interest. I had fun with the LEGO Star Wars, so I am expecting more blocky adventure with this one. Now only if the would make a LEGO rpg based off of their Castle collection.

More to come, have to go work....

(edit)

Ok, here comes another one to look forward to...

Chaos Wars (Idea Factory) (D3 in America?)

If you can't tell from the list, I like RPGs and SRPGs a lot. Here's another Japanese strategy game a la Disgaea. However, this game is kind of like a Marvel v Capcom or SVC where it brings together a bunch of universes. From the Japanese website one can tell it contains characters from games by Red Entertainment, Idea Factory, Atlus, and Aruze. I'm not going to say I recognize all of the cameos, but I did recognize some Growlanser characters in the trailer. So if you like over the top strategy games with JRPG elements, this game should be right up your alley.