The PS2 has a number of beloved hack-and-slash games, many of which are classics that endure as franchises to this day. Whether it’s the demon juggling of Devil May Cry, the army slaying of Dynasty Warriors, or the brutal destruction of Ancient Greece seen in God of War, the PS2 has plenty of varieties of running into a room full of foes and ripping them all to pieces.
However, these weren’t the only titles from that era. As the genre grew in popularity, a number of developers wanted to get in on the action, but their efforts weren’t quite as successful. Many hack and slash games remain forgotten, whether that’s through a lack of re-releases or modern-day attention, and it might be worth looking back at some of these forgotten titles.
9 Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
Originally an 80s arcade side-scroller, the original Rygar saw players controlling a legendary Greco-Roman warrior wielding a chain weapon with a shield on the end as he battled through hordes of evil creatures. The Legendary Adventure was an attempt to revive the series on the PS2, switching the action to a 3D hack and slash style.
A cursory glance at Rygar might suggest it was trying to cash in on the success of God of War, with its Greek mythology-inspired locations and an extendable chain weapon. However, it was released three years before Sony’s game but failed to capture the same kind of attention at the time. It did get a remake for the Wii, but that was poorly received, and the game quickly faded away.
8 Chaos Legion
Devil May Cry is one of the PS2’s most beloved hack and slash titles, arguably the one that kicked off the whole genre, and one that inspired numerous copycats alongside its own many sequels. One of these similar games strangely came from Capcom themselves.
Chaos Legion is a similarly gothic combo-heavy action game where the goal is to fight off hordes of demons. However, where it significantly differs from Devil May Cry is in the game’s use of the titular legions, creatures that can be summoned to fight alongside the player to even out the numbers. This wasn’t enough to stop the game from getting a mixed reception though, and the game would fall into obscurity.
7 Bujingai: The Forsaken City
Imagine if Devil May Cry replaced Dante with a Japanese pop idol and former Malice Mizer member Gackt. That seems to be the promise made by Bujingai, a hack and slash game set in a demon-infested Chinese city with a story that combined sci-fi and classic martial arts movies. Gackt played Lau Wong, a demon hunter with magical powers defending the last bastion of humanity in a post-apocalyptic world.
It featured stylish animation, interesting environments, and a solid combo system which led to it gaining a decent reception on launch. There was even talk of a sequel and even an MMO based on the IP, but neither of these surfaced.
6 Van Helsing
With all these Devil May Cry clones floating around, it was inevitable that one of these would be a licensed tie-in game. Van Helsing is effectively just DMC but replacing Dante with a poorly rendered Hugh Jackman in a trench coat, as the game was based on the 2004 movie of the same name. Naturally, the protagonist is monster hunter Van Helsing as he travels the world in search of numerous supernatural targets.
While other DMC clones made an effort to differentiate themselves, the Van Helsing game did not, featuring suspiciously similar animations, a sword and gun combo as primary weapons, and similar gothic environments. This worked in its favor, however, as while reviews were mixed, a few deemed it a decent game to fill the gap before DMC3 was released, and many reviewers considered it an improvement on the movie it was based on.
5 Genji: Dawn Of The Samurai
Sony’s 2006 E3 conference is infamous for many reasons, but one of the primary sources of ridicule was the demo of Genji: Days of the Blade, which famously featured a “giant enemy crab” in historical battles “which actually took place in ancient Japan.” For better or worse, this is the game’s legacy, infamous for a meme while few seem to know much about the quality of the game itself.
What’s even less known about it is that it’s actually a sequel to a PS2 hack and slash called Dawn of the Samurai, based on a traditional Japanese epic. It’s also a decent samurai game with combo-heavy combat and a decent helping of magical abilities. It’s just a shame that it’s been overshadowed by poor E3 presentation for its sequel.
4 The Mark Of Kri
God of War was a brilliant PS2 hack and slash, one that won fans over with its brutal combat and Greek mythology stylings, to the point where it soon became one of Sony’s biggest franchises. However, it wasn’t the first attempt by a first-party PlayStation studio to make a solid hack and slash. That honor goes to The Mark of Kri from Sony’s San Diego Studio, which was released three years before.
A much more methodical game than God of War, The Mark of Kri featured a complex combat system, incredible animation influenced by Disney, and a Polynesian-inspired visual style that stood out. It did well enough to get a sequel, Rise of the Kasai, but beyond that, it has since been overshadowed by its first-party stablemate.
3 Bloodrayne
Vampires were a big deal in the early 2000s, so it was inevitable that someone would make a hack and slash about chopping through vampire hordes before too long. Bloodrayne starred a vampire hunter seeking to track down her vampiric father while fighting Nazis.
It did reasonably well at the time, but its visual design and writing were very much of the time, and it hasn’t had a great deal of lasting influence. It is notable for being the first major role for video game voice acting legend Laura Bailey, however.
2 Nightshade
Every studio in the 80s had a ninja game. While Tecmo had their massive Ninja Gaiden franchise, Sega brought their strong challenger, Shinobi. It was a great series that saw a lot of success on the Master System and Genesis but then disappeared for most of the 90s. It returned in 2002, however, with the simply titled Shinobi, which received rave reviews.
Less well remembered, however, is its immediate follow-up, Nightshade. Starring a female counterpart to the previous game’s protagonist, Nightshade continued with similar gameplay and story but failed to attract the same attention as its immediate predecessor. Since then, the series has made few appearances, with the PS2 games failing to get remasters even while the earlier games show up on retro collections constantly.
1 Onimusha
Most games on this list have been forgotten due to an initially poor critical and commercial reception, but Onimusha is different. An early hack and slash for the PS2, Onimusha was initially a hit, leading to three sequels, one of which managed to rope in popular French actor Jean Reno as a second playable character.
Set in feudal Japan, the player fights demons as a samurai, and occasionally as a female ninja assistant. The series was lauded at the time but has gradually faded in significance over time as Capcom has focused its attention on other franchises. Based on its reception at the time, a reboot or revival may be worth looking into on modern systems.