10 Rarest PS2 Games And How Much They're Worth

Summary

• Horror games are the most valuable, with titles like Kuon and Rule of Rose fetching close to $1,000.
• Even obscure games like Blood Will Tell and Haunting Ground are worth checking out, if you can find them at a good price.

The PlayStation 2 has one of the most stacked libraries in all of gaming. From the smash hits to the cult classics to the hidden gems, there's so much on offer, but those final two can be an issue when it comes to pricing.

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PlayStation 2 games have generally been pretty expensive over the past couple of years, especially when it comes to horror games. Most of the rarest PS2 games come from the horror genre, as it's one of the most popular when it comes to retro gaming and consistently has high demand, leading to these absurd prices.

All values are based on PriceCharting's complete price at the time of writing.

10 Rock Band Special Edition - $229.99

The Rarest PS2 Rhythm Game

If you're familiar with game collecting, seeing a complete in-box rhythm title among the rarest games on this system shouldn't be a surprise. The Xbox 360 has a ton of them, and while the PS2 was near the end of its lifecycle around the time the rhythm game boom started, it managed to eke out one rare rhythm game. That would be the complete in-box Rock Band Special Edition.

The first title of the most critically acclaimed rhythm series of all time demands well over $200. It might seem weird that Guitar Hero 1 and 2 aren't rarer than this game, but it makes sense considering that more copies of those are out there in the wild, compared to Rock Band 1, which most upgraded to a new console at that point.

9 .hack//Quarantine - $254.99

Hard To Get Complete

Like other systems of the era, many of the rarest games are super niche, leading to high prices, and a perfect example would be .hack//Quarantine. .hack is a Japanese series that also includes anime and manga, with a premise similar to Ready Player One, focusing on an MMO game called The World.

It's niche to Western audiences, but you might be surprised that almost all the .hack PS2 games are well under $100. Only Quarantine demands such a high price, which is typically a sign of a very low print run. Quarantine also includes an anime DVD, which makes finding a fully complete copy even more tricky.

8 Obscure - $303.17

You Couldn't Have Made A More Fitting Title

One of the more obscure horror games on the PS2 and Xbox would be Obscure. Despite the fact that maybe you've never heard of this game, it actually did well enough to get a sequel, which is dirt cheap on PS2 and Wii.

Only the first game is wildly expensive, and considering it must have sold decently, it has to be a very rare PS2 game to find out in the wild. If you want to play this game, you, thankfully, don't need to cough off $300, as you can buy it on Steam. Other horror games on PS2, sadly, don't have that luxury.

7 Futurama - $320.81

An Oddball Of A Rare Game

Another title that's wildly expensive on both PS2 and Xbox is Futurama. If you're not in the game collecting scene, you'd probably be baffled by this game's rarity, as none of the era's Simpsons or Family Guy games are very expensive at all. However, you must look back at the August 2003 release date.

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At this point, Futurama was already cancelled, and it wasn't the white-hot show it would eventually become. The game is actually rare, at least in North America. PAL region copies are fairly cheap for PS2, which could signal that the game sold better there than in the States.

6 Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo - $351.18

The Most Obscure Game On The Console

Even for people in the know about rare PS2 games, Blood Will Tell often falls by the wayside. It's that obscure. For one, it's an action game, not a horror title, which means it has less appeal, but second, Blood Will Tell just doesn't have the cult status of other rare PS2 games.

Even for retro action game communities, Blood Will Tell rarely gets discussed, and it's unfortunate. Made by Sega and based on a manga, Blood Will Tell is a definite PS2 hidden gem that's worth checking out if you can find it at a good price.

5 Haunting Ground - $355.75

The Best Rare Game On The PS2

Out of all these rare PS2 games, Haunting Ground is the title most deserving of a serious recommendation if you have the money. It's one of the best horror games on the console, with heavy, mature themes, a great, memorable cast of characters, fascinating tech, and unique gameplay with your dog companion.

Sadly, Haunting Ground didn't start receiving a lot of notoriety in the PS2 scene until fairly recently, as it was an obscure hidden gem for a long time. As it sold poorly, the amount of copies is pretty scarce, and with newfound appreciation, the demand's high as well. At least you can always find copies for sale online, which you can't say about every rare game.

4 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - $377.50

The Rarest PS2 Silent Hill Game

The Silent Hill series has to be the most in-demand batch of titles for the PlayStation 2, as they're the definitive ways to experience the games. As a result, each title will cost you over $100, with the rarest SH game being Shattered Memories. This title was built from the ground up on Wii to make use of its unique controls, but Konami ported it to PS2 and PSP as well.

Some prefer these versions due to the traditional control scheme used. Shattered Memories on PS2 was dismissed for a long time, as almost everyone played this game on Wii, but that only allowed the price to skyrocket to the level it's at now.

3 Xenosaga 3 Lenticular Cover - $446.59

A True Legendary Item Drop

Not many things are nastier in the game collecting world than a rare variant of an already rare game. The standard edition of Xenosaga 3 already costs over $200, as its super niche game that launched near the end of the system's lifecycle, but it gets worse.

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Exclusively at Best Buy, the game came with a lenticular cover that actually looks pretty cool. It shows off two different cover arts, but nobody besides diehard collectors or Xenosaga fans should spend $200 extra on a fancier cover.

2 Rule Of Rose - $624.79

Now You're Dealing With Some Serious Amount Of Money

The two rarest games on the console are both forgotten horror titles that have ballooned in price over the past decade. Rule of Rose is generally considered the weakest out of the breakfast club of rare PS2 horror titles.

It has a very interesting story, but combat that ruins the experience for many. Still, a rare game's a rare game, and this one costs more than a new PS5 for crying out loud. To be fair, the box art is gorgeous and looks great on display. It's better than the game itself.

1 Kuon - $928

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Coming close to $1,000, and often selling for that price, would be FromSoftware's 2004 horror game Kuon. Taking place during the Heian period, Kuon is another Japanese-themed horror title similar to Fatal Frame. If you love Japanese-themed horror titles, you'll probably dig Kuon, but frankly, no matter what situation you're in, this game ain't worth nearly a grand.

No doubt, a big reason why Kuon is the rarest on the system has to be the one-two punch that this is a forgotten horror game and a FromSoftware title. Most of FromSoftware's catalog from before it became famous has drastically risen in price, and Kuon is the biggest offender of them all.

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