Emulating PS2 for my Steam Deck, would love any recommendations!

Ratchet and Clank games

Id look up the GT4 spec II mod. it adds a bunch of features to the game and even the Valencia track from Tourist Trophy

Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 1 and 2, Champions of Norrath, Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2, Burnout 3, Jak and Daxter, Rachet and Clank, SSX3, Twisted Metal Black, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. I am sure I forgetting some other amazing games.

Dance Dance Revolution!

GTA San Andreas (also GTA III, VC, VCS, LCS), God of War 1/2, Gran Turismo 4, Katamari Damacy, SSX Tricky, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Downhill Domination, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3, Ace Combat 4/5, Resident Evil 4, Metal Slug Anthology, Metal Gear Solid 2/3
- How could you forget the best AC? Ace Combat: Zero!

Okami is native on PC, so I'm curious, why not run that? This is coming from someone who does a lot of emulation but I've never seen the need to emulate when a native port was the option. Even bad ports I find are often better because of community made mods that fix a lot of issues. Its possible I havent found the worst port though.

The Simpsons: hit & run, Shinobido, GoW, Destroy all humans.
I spent a ton of time playing the two towers, bit I don't know if it has aged well.
Also, war of the monsters was campy and fun.

Manhunt 1 & 2, God of War

Ace combat 4, 5, and Zero
- <<This twisted [emulator] needs to be reset>>

I’m just gonna say that KH2 on the PS2 isn’t even the best one. The HD remake was better bc it was the English release of the final mix. And you can play that natively through steam. Even with mods on the steam deck.
Play Need For Speed: Most Wanted for the PS2. It’s such a great cops vs racers game. It’s perfect for emulation bc shop should save state before selecting the winning card since there is one with a pink slip every time. Back in the day, we would just need to reset the whole system and make sure we saved before 3 full races, and just redo them. Emulation is the way to play this game! I’m surprised no one has recommended this since it’s the most popular need for speed game.

Silent Hill 2

The first three Ratchet and Clank games (R&C, Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal) were phenomenal. The first feels dated by today’s standards, but 2 and 3 are peak. Deadlocked is a divisive entry; Some players loved it, others hated it. Try it first yourself and see. It’s definitely different than the first 3 games.
Final Fantasy X has already been mentioned in the thread, but I’d suggest trying the PC HD remaster instead. It adds a lot of quality of life improvements.
Final Fantasy XII wasn’t well received at launch, and I initially agreed. But that was largely because it didn’t fit into my idea of what a Final Fantasy game should be. I gave it another try a few years ago with a more open mind, and ended up loving it. The gambit system seems basic at first, but eventually opens up into a very versatile system once you start unlocking new gambit combos for it. The Zodiac version is the definitive version, (it enforces a rigid job system, where each character is locked into a specific ability tree) but the original is still alright too.
If you enjoy the Castlevania series, Curse of Darkness is an interesting entry. It features Hector, who has the ability to summon creatures to fight alongside him. They level up based on which weapons you use in combat, so it encourages you to diversify your play style to level up your creatures in specific ways. The gameplay can initially feel clunky by today’s standards, but that’s true of most 3D hack-n-slash games from that era.
Speaking of clunky hack-n-slash games, I see you already have Kingdom Hearts 2. Do yourself a favor, and play the other games (KH1, then KH Re:Chain of Memories) first. CoM has some radically different gameplay, which many players hated. It seems like one you can skip… You can’t. You will be horribly confused for the rest of the series without it. At the very least, go watch the cutscenes on YouTube. In terms of gameplay, KH1 feels janky by today’s standards. CoM is very different. KH2 is where the series really hit its peak.
Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening. It’s a prequel, so you don’t need to play 1 or 2 first.
Metal Gear Solid. Play 3 (Snake Eater), 1, and 2 (Sons of Liberty) in that order. Snake Eater is an early prequel. Then 1 is on the PS1. Sons of Liberty is the direct sequel to 1.
GTA: San Andreas.

Jak 3

Beyond Good & Evil. Legendary, Ubisoft firing on all cylinders. Weird and French and beautiful. HD remaster is also a fine option but I like it on PS2.
Ace Combat 4, 5, and Zero are great. The music in zero is legendary.
SSX tricky
Timesplitters
Final Fantasy X unless you want to do the HD remaster, which is a great way to play tbh.
Devil May Cry holds up incredibly well and IMO is a must-play.
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
LOTR games are good fun.
Armored Core 3 is pretty great if you’re into the series as a whole.
GTA Vice City/San Andreas. 3 is fine but VC is better.
Shadow of the Colossus obviously
- Final Fantasy X unless you want to do the HD remaster, which is a great way to play tbh.
  Yeah, I’d argue that the HD PC port is actually the definitive way to play the game. They fucked up Tidus’ face, but virtually everything else about the game is better. And you can just install a mod to change his face back to the way it used to be.

I don't have a steam deck but I bet Ape Escape would be the perfect series to play on it!

Shadow of the Collossus

Arc the lad 2 twilight of spirits is a cult classic

Gitaroo Man
A unique rhythm game with a phenomenal soundtrack.

Star Wars: Racer Revenge is probably the best racing game I've played to-date. It's very similar to, and often confused with, the N64 podracing game, but it's way more polished, and the driving physics are chef's-kiss perfect. Like, the N64 game, the pod and two engines all move together as one unit; basically a car racing game with a pod racer skin. The PS2's Racer Revenge actually feels like you're in a pod that's being pulled by two distinct engines.
Try playing in 1st-person view and set the controls (if you have a PS2 controller) so the left joystick controls the left pod and right joystick controls the right pod - so to turn left for example, you'd pull back on the left stick to brake the left pod, and push forward on the right to accelerate the right pod; since they're tethered together, the right one arches around the left a bit, and it pulls the pod to the left. It's harder to play that way vs the usual 'press X to accelerate' mechanic, but after the first couple laps you'll have the hang of it, and it feels so satisfying.
Unfortunately, the last time I tried to run a rom of this game, it did NOT emulate well, to the point of being unplayable. That was probably at least 10 years ago though, so hopefully advancements since then mean it won't be an issue for you; but heads up.

Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle in EU) and Legaia 2:Duel Saga are my go to ps2 games.

Not yet mentioned:
Prince of Persia Trilogy (Sands of Time, Warrior Within, Two Thrones)
God of War 1&2
Devil May Cry 1-3
Bully (Canis Canem Edit in PAL)
Killer7
Under the Skin
Viewtiful Joe 1&2
- Definitely the DMC games.

Some good ones that are not yet mentioned
Ribbit King is Golf game with frogs for balls which get strategically shot around a map littered with bonuses and obstacles. Players alternate shots and try to have the most points after both players reach the hole. It's extremely cute and great local multi-player fodder
Stuntman is tough as nails. You are a Hollywood stuntman pulling off increasingly complex stunts for movies being filmed. At the end of each shoot you get to see the movie trailer filled with clips of your own driving.
Black is a big dumb loud shooter, and it has zero reservations or shame in that. That's what makes it so much fun to play
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is excellent 3D brawling. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is excellent 3D brawling with co-op
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy is a 3rd person shooter where you have guns and psychic powers you use in and out of combat.
- The only issue with Stuntman on emulators is it's one the last remaining games not playable on PCSX2. There's been consistent issues with the AI pathing on one of the levels and they haven't been able to patch it after all these years.
  I'm not saying it won't ever be, but it may continue to be unplayable on non-native hardware for a while longer.

No one mentioned the Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank games. Those were my childhood growing up and in my opinion hold up gameplay-wise to this day.
Plus the Jak series have a native launcher called OpenGOAL.
While I never played them myself, I have heard good things about the Sly Cooper series.
- Second the ratchet and clank suggestion. Such a great series overall! I'm not at all ashamed to admit that I own or owned every single game in the series at some point (with the exception of the app which I didn't find out about until far too late)
  
  I am not ashamed to admit it either. I even made the effort to get the PS2 ports of the two games that released on PSP, however I still need to play those.
  It is a goal of mine to have every single R&C game playable on my PC. The only one I'm still waiting on is the PS4 version, and it's only a matter of time with ShadPS4.
  
  Going Mobile from 2005? That was surprisingly fun. Apparently you can still find it as a JAR file and play it using a Java emulator.
  https://ratchetandclank.fandom.com/wiki/Ratchet_%26_Clank:_Going_Mobile
- I have enjoyed the several Ratchet & Clank games that I have played. I had tried the first two Jak games using OpenGOAL, and they just didn't grab me like every Ratchet & Clank did.
  I know that this thread is about PS2 emulation, but do you know if the HD collection for PS3 is a better way to emulate the original Ratchet & Clank titles nowadays?
  
  I haven't tried the R&C collection on RPCS3 yet even though I have a copy. The compatibility list has it under In Game with some graphical bugs and glitches, but it was last updated nearly 5 years ago, so things may have improved.

Most of the good stuff's been mentioned, so some B-Sides:
If you like JRPGs, the Xenosaga series
NBA Street 2
Don't think I saw Jak and Daxter mentioned, they're great
Freedom Fighters is flawed but so fun
Edit: forgot Zone of the Enders

It's Tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that's right on time It's Tricky...it's Tricky (Tricky) Tricky (Tricky)
SSX. All of them.
- Fuck I miss SSX. I need to make sure I have a good one in my rom folder.
- ...from what I've read and seen in the past, that game can be rather risky on one's thumbsticks due to all the efforts in making yourself look as amazing as possible.
  (sounds worth it, tbh, thanks!)
  
  Luckily since you have a Deck, you can realistically change your thumbsticks should they get damaged.

Try Steambot Chronicles! It's my favorite game of all time by a wide margin, but it's been forgotten by time. It's a really cool adventure game with a ton of different things to do, from piloting a giant robot to playing different musical instruments in a band, to decorating your own little apartment, and a bunch of other stuff! There's a lot of dialogue choices to make too that can affect how people treat you, and lead to a few different endings, including being a hero vs a villain. The graphics and soundtrack are great, too! I can't recommend it enough!
- Oh my god. I have forgotten about this game for a while. I need to redownload it and get it on my steam deck! It’s such a fun game! I played this for a while. I can still hear the first song you play on the harmonica when the girl sings. I gotta get my wife to play this game and see what she thinks. Thanks for the reminder!!
  It really sucks that there won’t be a sequel to this game…
  
  Glad I could jog your memory! Yeah, I even went so far as to email the current owner of the rights to it about a sequel a few years ago, and basically got the generic "Maybe one day" response.

Another one for Jak & Daxter. I've got OpenGOAL and PCSX2, and between them both I have the full Jak series. I was playing Jak 3 when I had a crash, but then I had been playing it like all day.
I've also been making my way through the first three Sly Cooper games (loved the series as a kid, but only ever got to play the third one for myself) and they've been running flawlessly.
My plan is to play through the Ratchet & Clank PS2 games as I never really got a chance to play them when they were fresh or otherwise. I'm excited for those.
Then I might go and play through the Spyro PS2 era games, minus the original trilogy as I have Reignited already.
Aside from those I have a bunch of other classics I've played and loved/wanted to play like the Tak games, Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, Batman: Vengeance, and others.
I would also be open to suggestions. I'm very into 3D platformers and action RPGs.
- If you've tried the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane trilogy, there are a few sequels of differing quality on PS2. I don't think any of them are particularly bad, but none are as good as the original PS1 trilogy (or the N-Sane remakes).

-Dark Cloud (1 and 2)
-Time Splitters 2
-Red Faction
-Grandia 2
-ICO and Shadow of the Colossus
-Shinobi
-Twisted Metal Black
-Ape Escape (2 and 3)
-Armored Core 2
-Dead or Alive 2
-Gran Turismo 3
-Final Fantasy X
-Grand Theft Auto III / Vice City / San Andreas
-Midnight Club Street Racing
-Soul Calibur 2
- You and I would have been friends in 2001. We'd have smoked some weed, and played that stoner game where hou create a story one word at a time......and somehow, that one word always ends up being "penis".
- Listen to this person and also play Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
- The PS2 version of Grandia 2 is the worst one, if I remeber correctly. Better emulate Dreamcast for that one.
  
  What's wrong with it? I enjoyed playing it on PS2.
- You beat me to Red Faction, that was some of the most fun I had in middle/high school.
  
  Fuck yeah, making rocket tunnels connect from across the map.

All the GTA games (GTA III, GTA VC, GTA SA, GTA LCS, GTA VCS). There are some good Need for Speed games too, and a bunch of great Tony Hawk games. TimeSplitters, SOCOM, and Red Faction are great too.

Katamari Damacy
Mercenaries
DOA 2
- Katamari.
  
  Do your best.
- Mercenaries GOAT
  love seeing it mentioned

One of the weirdest games I've ever played: Okage: Shadow King.
Think Final Fantasy gameplay + Zelda: Majora's Mask level of being genuinely bizarre as all hell.
Fair warning, the music will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life.

The Simpsons Hit and Run is a solid GTA style game and is considered to be one of the best Simpsons games ever. The Simpsons Road Rage is a rip-off of Crazy Taxi but is still a solid game. The Simpsons Game is also a good game that kinda does it's own thing. Don't bother with the Simpsons Skateboarding, that one sucks.

How is XIII via emulation? Would love to try that on my Steam Deck.
- That's what this image is from! PCSX2 via the configurator. I use RetroDECK on my Steam Deck.
  It runs perfectly! Absolutely perfect. I also use some HD texture packs, replacing the vanilla textures to make it look extra fancy :)

Crazy Taxi, GTA Vice City, Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, Gran Turismo 4, ICO, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Midnight Club, Midnight Club II, Odin Sphere, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, Shinobi, SSX, Star Wars Bounty Hunter, Time Splitters 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.
That's my PS2 collection sitting on my shelf. Some of these have been remade into arguably better versions on later consoles, but the originals are still good.
- Crazy taxi got quite a bit of attention, and it deserved far more. Great gameplay loop
- Thank you!!!
  I'd be pretty tempted by Tony Hawk's, but the recent news that 3+4 will finally be getting remade makes me hesitate to play. Since the experience will probably be better there!
- For anyone who wants to play Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, don't forget about Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, which was a PS2 port of the GBA game. It's integral to the very wild and wacky story of the KH franchise, you'll be (even more) lost if you skip it and go straight to KH II
  
  But the HD remakes of the game are so much better. They’re the English releases of the final mix versions, which adds a lot of new abilities and extra content.

How's PCSX2 performance on the Deck? I somehow get much better performance on my Ryzen 5 4500U laptop than I do on my Ally and that makes absolutely no fucking sense.
- It's perfect!
  Performance is tied to framerate, or at least was a loooong time ago. I notice a lot of users on EmuDeck write about this. Like...a lot! Not your issue, but I read a lot who think the game is playing in super slo-mo, but this is all tied to the framerate. Keep it at 60 Hz or above, and all is fine.
  PCSX2 has a huge range of tweaks you can make, but there's also HD texture 'packs' you can download and apply, which re-do all the textures (yeah, I know you guessed that). Some of these can be huge like Silent Hill 2's coming in at 29GB, and some can be teeny-tiny like MGS2's which only re-textures the HUD and menu (because PCSX2 can upscale the native game's resolution well enough on its own!)
  Long reply, for me to say it performs perfectly for me!
  
  It's not perfect. Most games emulate absolutely fine, with only minor slowdown. One game I can point to which absolutely does not work fast enough to play is The Getaway which gets about 6 fps.

Some racing recommendations:
Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition
Enthusia
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (the PS2 version is the best one)
Burnout 3 Takedown AND Revenge, both are stellar
Tokyo Extreme Racer 3 and Drift 2
- This person knows what they are talking about.

...so grain of salt, cuz the name of this one doesn't sound right, but the screenshots look correct: Gradius V?
Side scroller arcade-y jet fighter - I remember it being good.
I just don't remember it being called Gradius >_<

Any of the Suikoden games really. Legend of legaia 2
Ephemeral Fantasia for an extremely underrated gem.

Try out Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2. It's one of those JRPG games with a lot of mysteries and loose threads and every single one of them end up solved by the end.

I absolutely loved KH1/2 FM

Chrono trigger and cross are both good on the SD.

Downhill Domination is... honestly stupid as all hell, but by design: it's a lot of fun :P
It's a downhill mountain bike racing game with a combat system, and it's ridiculous. You start being able to punch the bicyclists next to you; once you knock enough of them off their bikes you upgrade to being able to kick; then iirc you eventually get a stick or something lol. Otherwise, it's just another get-from-point-A-to-B-as-fast-as-possible game that doesn't require a lot of thought.

- YOU FOUND IT!
  
  It was never lost!

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. If the first three Fast and Furious movies tickle your fancy, it’s the go to game
- You know I was never a car girl...for the most part. But the last 12 months or so I have become obsessed with rally racing: the games, and the history (Group B!). From there I ended up watching general car movies, like Le Mans (or is the title The 24 Hours of Le Mans? I never remember), and finally...yes, just finished watching the original two Fast and Furious movies just last week! I think I like the second one most, it is cringe, but in a fun nice way!
  Thank you, this looks perfect!
  
  When you race Roy, tell him fuck you from me
  
  Also, if you ever end up playing Forza Horizon 5 to scratch your rally itch please add me because none of my friends like rally and I’m getting tired of looking at pavement.
  This invitation is open to anyone, my Steam and Xbox profiles are both “tekeous”. Add me and let me know you came from Lemmy
  
  Midnight club 3 dub edition was THE game my brother and I played to the point the disk stopped reading eventually. That was a sad day.
  If you're getting into motorsports in general and you liked rally I might recommend checking out the isle of Mann tt. It's the single most deadly motorsports event held each year. It averages more than two and a half deaths every year. Last year was super rare in that nobody died. Last time that happened was like 2012 I think. The most insane race car drivers in the world will tell you that nobody is more batshit crazy that the Isle of man riders. Even rally drivers look at them and think they are nuts.
  https://youtu.be/ciPgQ1096Tw

Future Tactics: The Uprising
its a turn based shooter.

Need for speed underground 2, this is my favourite racing game of all time. I sunk so much time into it.

My personal favorites on PS2, as someone who did not own a PS2 while it was still being manufactured and sold as new. This does not include remakes/remasters or games that have better ports on other platforms (for example, Soul Calibur 2 on GameCube, Dead or Alive 2 on Xbox, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 Another Cases on PSP, or Need for Speed Underground 2 on PC).
Haunting Ground
Kuon
CyGirls (Both discs are fun but I prefer disc 1)
Drakengard 1 & 2
Ico
Lifeline (requires microphone, very underrated)
- Nooo, wait who actually plays Drakengard? I love that game to bits, but I would never tell someone to play it. Was I just bad? That game is truly awful, haha.
  
  Its one of the games I like. I would never have followed the story if I didn't play the game. OP doesn't have to follow my list.

Gotta play the Time Splitters games. (3 of em).
Whatever Gauntlet games they ported from Arcade.
- Thank you, Timesplitters looks lovely! The art-design of it looks just perfect!

I’m with the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus stans, but I’d be curious how your emulation handles the light effects. PCSX2 struggles in my experience.

ICO.

Soul reaver
Grand teresmo
Rayman 2
- Soul Reaver did NOT age well, but fuck was that a good series for its time.
  
  I herd they are remastering it. Hope so.
- Rayman 3 Hoodlum Havoc is where it's at. I consider that peak Rayman. Would love another game with that vibe.
  
  Me too. Such a great series.

Crash Nitro Kart and some of the PS2 Crash platformers are pretty good. The Kart one has a boosting system that I like better than mario kart (and better items and vibes tbh)

It’s my wife’s favorite game. She has a small shrine to it in her library!
- Damn, there's like $900 worth of PS2 games in this image
- HEY THAT'S AMAZING!!!
  Must be sad to be so in love with a game which seems to be mostly forgotten, but I love her shrine :)
  
  Well, if nothing else, it’s on my Steam Deck too, and the decks seem to make the game more accessible to people who don’t have an eight-hundred dollar bill lying around.

Frequency & Amplitude:
The originators of the modern "rhythm game" genre.

The Soul Reaver / Blood Omen games have not been recommended yet. Though, as a warning, last time I tried to do the Soul Reaver 2, there was a strange bug with the sound that made it so that you couldn't pass a certain puzzle.