Published Aug 15, 2026, 5:00 AM EDT
Austin King is the Senior Editor of Gaming at ScreenRant and has been with the site since 2020 with a focus on RPGs and tabletop games. He previously managed content for Geek to Geek Media, and has served as a writer for sites like Nintendad, Geek Fitness, and more.
In addition to his work at ScreenRant, he also hosts the Dragon Quest FM podcast and is the author of several books, including co-writing Nimbus (a #1 bestseller in 2013). His latest is the nonfiction The Dragon Quest Book, available now.
He's written about pop culture, video games, and genre studies over the course of his career. You can find him on BlueSky, X, and at Dragonquestaustin.com
Sony's PlayStation 2 is right up there with the best consoles of all time, and it's still the best-selling. In the 2000s, the PS2 was the reigning king of video game platforms, and it still has one of the most impressive libraries of games ever. And this year, a number of masterpieces are all turning 20.
2006 was a big year for PlayStation 2. Games like Kingdom Hearts 2, Okami, Bully, and Guitar Hero 2 were all released that year. I owned most of those games, ended up playing all of them eventually, and I still remember saving up all my money so I could buy Final Fantasy 12 that year. In honor of these games hitting the big 2-0 in 2026, here are three 10/10 masterpieces that are still worth playing.
3 Final Fantasy 12
Final Fantasy 12 was one of the most critically-acclaimed and commercially successful games to release in 2006. The Gambits system proved to be a bit controversial, but this sprawling epic has become one of the most beloved entries in the entire Final Fantasy franchise. I can still remember getting it for my birthday and then basically ignoring everything around me for the next two months. FF12 is simply amazing.
Square Enix is even selling merch for FF12's 20th anniversary this year, so you can celebrate in style. If you haven't played this RPG before, or haven't in a while, it's easily available thanks to the remastered Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, which includes extra content and a job system that streamlines gameplay a bit more.
2 Okami
Okami released on PS2 in September 2006 in North America, and it became the highest-rated video game of that entire year. Since then, ports and remasters have helped Okami develop even more of a cult following, and there's even a sequel in production now. But it all started here, with a beautifully-animated world and an astounding soundtrack.
The paintbrush elements weren't like anything I'd seen in a video game before, and the action-adventure gameplay definitely kept me hooked. And I'm not the only one: Okami remains one of the most beloved games to release on the PS2, and it's still a standout from all the 2006 releases. Like FF12, this one is readily available to play on modern systems thanks to an HD remaster.
1 Bully
Bully released in October 2006, and because it launched right before FF12, I didn't play until a few months later. For those who weren't sure how Rockstar's GTA inclinations would work in a boarding school setting, Bully proved to be a real gem of a game. Despite some mini-games that are meh, Bully is still a 10/10 game from the PS2 era. If you watched Wes Anderson's Rushmore or saw the video for My Chemical Romance's "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", then you probably felt right at home here.
Bully is one of those games that attracted controversy at launch and may not have sold incredibly well initially, but its legacy remains long-standing since 2006, and fans are still hopeful Rockstar will release a sequel one of these days. From the writing to the characters to the soundtrack, Bully is an incredible experience. It remains one of the best PlayStation 2 games — not just from 2006, but of all time.
Brand Sony
Original Release Date February 4, 2000
Original MSRP (USD) $299
Weight 4.85 lb
English (US) ·