It’s rough but in an extremely charming way! The wiki is extremely helpful for pretty much every piece of info you need on the game. The MHoldschool discord is also a great resource for questions & general help - along with going online & asking folks.

https://wiki.mholdschool.com/mh2/

Most people use emulators! There’s a weird bug on actual PS2 hardware that only lets 3 people do a quest at a time, plus having a keyboard for the chat at all times is really nice.

There’s a full english translation that works perfectly, no issues from my playthrough

https://break-arts.com/projects/mh2dos/

Hope you enjoy when you get to it! Highly recommend playing online alongside the single-player. Makes the grind more manageable & a lot more fun

If you’re interested in playing Monster Hunter Dos, join the community! Playing online feels like experiencing a slice of the old internet & online gaming. The server is full of kind, uplifting people excited to see others hunt alongside them!

https://mholdschool.com/viewtopic.php?t=120

I absolutely loved Persona 5, especially playing it at a politically turbulent time in my life when I was still figuring out what my values were and who I wanted to be. The whole message of doing something, anything resonated with me a lot. I also love the atmosphere of Tokyo they captured here. Being able to see foreshadowed events months in advance by talking to ordinary NPCs was so fun on a replay.

I’m in a weird spot where I actually prefer the Vanilla ending over Royal (while still greatly enjoying the additional Royal palace). The pacing of the vanilla ending gave me such an inspired “put the game down and go change the world for the better” feeling that Royal’s more melancholy tone didn’t capture. Also like some other comments mentioned some of the writing regarding Ann’s arc & others (like adult women getting romantically involved with a high schooler) rubbed me the wrong way. If I revisit the game again, I want to try out the Rose & Violet (Kasumi as protag) mod as I’ve heard really good things about it

Signalis is fantastic, it blends the careful resource/inventory management of classic RE with the somber psychological storytelling of Silent Hill (specifically inspired by SH 1-3).

The basic premise is that you’re an android named Elster searching for your lost human co-pilot after crashing your ship. The environments range from industrial machinery, to hellish twisting labyrinths, to dense urban corridors. The game is surreal, has an incredible soundtrack, and tells an emotional non-linear story. Highly recommend it.

Signalis tank controls are optional btw!

Hope you enjoy! Lost Legacy has a slower start but my favorite finale in the Uncharted series

God Hands a great choice! I throw it on when I want something that I can engage with my whole focus on

• Monster Hunter World
• Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix
• Hitman WoA
• Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion (toss-up with Skyrim)
• Titanfall 2 (with populated servers)
• Shadow of the Colossus
• Yakuza 0
• Marvel’s Spider-Man
• Elden Ring
• Tabletop Simulator

It’s interesting because only a couple of these I would call my “favorites”, but they’re the games I can keep coming back to and enjoy. Yakuza 0 has so many games within itself that I could get so much enjoyment from just playing Outrun. Similar to Tabletop Sim where mods could keep me engaged for a long time.

In terms of games I actually play all the time, Monster Hunter & KH2 are up there. In theory I actually prefer Bloodborne, but Elden Ring offers so much more exploration and variety that it feels like the better choice for this kind of list.

As for my village, here are some highlights!

• Favorite villager is Cousteau, a frog with a curly mustache who says “Oui Oui” and is a night owl like me.
• Villager I most avoid is Candi, a mouse with a screeching greeting noise. Trying to get her to move out ASAP.
• Mayor Tortimer is on Vacation at the moment, so I’ve been turning on the lighthouse for him at night, so fun to hear the mechanism spin up.
• Mailing Fossils to identify them threw me for a loop, but with only 25 fossils in the game it’s not that big of a deal. The mod allows Blathers to identify once you have 15 fossils donated too.