Bingowings said:

I've entered a new age of Sony gaming and have finally got a Playstation 2.

Any recommendations as to essential games to play and essential games to avoid?

Yay! Sounds like me on here several years back. The PS2 was my reintroduction to gaming after years of having no interest. I asked for recommendations in this very thread, and was suggested some pretty good ones.

-Shadow of the Colossus (highly recommended)

-Ico (if you play Shadow of the Colossus and like it, then this is worth tracking down)

-Giants: Citizen Kabuto (love this game! Original, fun, ridiculous, and usually only a couple of bucks at used game places in the States. PC version is superior, but not for much reason other than censorship, PC was rated M but PS2 version was clipped down to a T)

-Half-Life (If you like first person shooters, this is one of my all time favorites, though pretty archaic today... but then again you did just now finally purchase a PS2)

-Resident Evil 4 (though the GC version has better graphics)

-Bully (I am not a fan of Grand Theft Auto, which is basically what this game is, but with bicycles and school yard pranks, but I still found the game pretty fun)

-Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 (If you are into these kinds of games, these are a lot of fun)

-Two Towers and Return of the King (these are actually really fun slash em up arcade games. Nothing super spectacular, but these are usually a type of game I don't appreciate at all and I really loved these)

-Okami (always highly recommended to me, unfortunately I never bought it until I already had my 360 and have yet to even play it. But, it looks pretty amazing and I've heard no end to reports that it is, so I feel pretty safe in recommending it)