Determining how intensive a game is

[Raiken]

Is there any way besides testing to determine how intensive a certain PS2 game will be? I understand that a hack and slasher like God of war will be more intensive than a turn based RPG. But I've noticed a great disparity in performance between many turn based RPG's. Star ocean which was first released in 2003 is completely unplayable while Dragon Quest 8 (2004) runs a lot better but still is far from smooth. Ar Tonelico II (2006) runs perfectly however. On that note, recommendations for good RPG's that you know to run well on medium end PC's?

Thanks in advance.

[Scootaloo]

Not really anyway to know for sure until you test it. For example SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom came out in 2001 or 2002, and it takes a fairly good system to play it smoothly with high resolution plus AA. On the other hand we have Kingdom hearts which was released around the same time, but it doesn't require much to be played. IT simply varies.

[jesalvein]

Star ocean which was first released in 2003 is completely unplayable

??? what ???

run well on medium end PC's?

oh, ok, I see what you mean.

which games do you actually own, and what are your pc specs ?

[Koji]

Is there any way besides testing to determine how intensive a certain PS2 game will be? I understand that a hack and slasher like God of war will be more intensive than a turn based RPG. But I've noticed a great disparity in performance between many turn based RPG's. Star ocean which was first released in 2003 is completely unplayable while Dragon Quest 8 (2004) runs a lot better but still is far from smooth. Ar Tonelico II (2006) runs perfectly however. On that note, recommendations for good RPG's that you know to run well on medium end PC's?

Thanks in advance.

3D games are generally more intense than 2D ones (or 2.5D ones like Disgaea or Ar Tonelico). Games with more intense action and effects are usually harder to emulate (but not always). Very early PS2 games can actually be harder to emulate due to being poorly optimized as well.

That said, the only ways to be sure are to either try the games, or ask about them.

Also, what do you mean by "medium end PC". That terms means different things to different people, and indeed over the course of 6 months or more, "medium" can quickly become "low" end.