PS2 classics turn 20 in 2026: Final Fantasy XII, Okami, and Bully

Final Fantasy XII, Okami, and Bully all turn 20 in 2026. Put together, they’re a pretty good reminder of what 2006 looked like on PlayStation 2: a late-generation high point, even with Sony launching the PlayStation 3 that same November.

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By then, developers knew exactly how far they could push PS2 hardware, and Sony’s massive install base kept big releases coming. That’s why these games didn’t feel like leftovers from an aging console generation. They felt like milestones. Final Fantasy XII brought together its political story, Ivalice, and the Gambit system, then backed it up with a 92 on Metacritic and 2.4 million first-week sales. Okami hit a 93 on Metacritic thanks to its sumi-e look and Zelda-like structure, then went from modest sales to Game of the Year status and a permanent spot in the “games as art” conversation. Bully had to get past all the pre-release backlash, but landed an 87 on Metacritic, sharper boarding-school satire than many expected, and a reputation later critics argued was more anti-bullying than exploitative.

If you want to go back to the PlayStation 2 at the edge of what it could do, these are still easy picks, and their legacy feels bigger than basic anniversary nostalgia. Remasters, years of retrospective praise, and the never-quite-dead Bully 2 chatter all help with that.

You can still play Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age and Okami HD on modern platforms, while Bully is still one of Rockstar Games’ most requested dormant titles.