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langdonx

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Ranked: Vita Games

I like the Vita a lot. It my be my favorite platform of all time. Below is a list of every game I've played on the system, ranked by fondness.

I denoted some games as "Best on Vita", which just means that I think the Vita is the best platform to play these games on. The reason will vary between:

  • games you can pick up and make some progress in a short amount of time
  • games that aren't served better by a dual shock or mouse and keyboard
  • games that require demanding timing, but not precise controls

Games 101 and beyond:

  1. Rayman Legends: Even better than Origins, this was a great followup. The music-synced levels were some of the most memorable experiences I've had in games. The Platinum trophy situation is a real pain in the ass, requiring you to play for months to collect points and rank something like top 5 among all players on a speed run.
    Update: After suffering through the online challenges for months to get the Platinum, I hate this game. Legends and Origins used to rank fairly high on this list, but that ordeal truly broke me and I'll never play another Rayman game again.
  2. Rayman Origins: This was my first Vita Platinum and my first experience with Rayman. There is a ton of variety here for a platformer and the stages are so fluid and enjoyable to run through.
  3. ScourgeBringer: ...
  4. Xeodrifter: ...
  5. Dragon Fantasy: ...
  6. Dragon Fantasy: Book II: ...
  7. Kung Fu Rabbit: ...
  8. Iconoclasts: ...
  9. Laser Disco Defenders: ...
  10. Hue: A fine puzzle platformer, though not particularly well polished.
  11. Don't Die, Mr. Robot!: Brutal, but fairly fun twist on bullet hell.
  12. Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight: Burn My Dread is a banger.
  13. Thy Sword: A not-so-great platformer. Perfectly fine, just not great.
  14. Color Guardians: A non-endless runner! Middling fun.
  15. Devious Dungeon 2: Meh, should've stopped after the first one.
  16. Devious Dungeon: Meh.
  17. Warlock's Tower: Surprisingly wonderful! Certainly the most polished and well-running gameboy puzzle game I've ever played. It probably got a bit too hard for me in the end, but the first 80% of the game was exceptional.
  18. Mekorama:
  19. Knightin'+: A fine little Zelda clone, nothing remarkable.
  20. Ghoulboy: A bit of a forgettable platformer.
  21. Demon's Tier+: A bit of a mindless dungeon crawler.
  22. Habroxia: ..
  23. Habroxia 2: A marked improvement over the first game. It ran really well and its non-linear structure made it more interesting to progress though. It had a good challenge overall, and even came with free DLC and bonus trophies.
  24. Fernz Gate: A pretty boring RPG with occasional humor. The load times weren't great on Vita and the combat left a bit to be desired. The trophy grind ruined the game even more.
  25. Pure Chess: A fine chess game, though performance and touch controls are a little sluggish. Would've been nice if it had a mode for teaching.
  26. Metagal: Megaman clone, not a whole lot going for it. The trophies didn't do it any justice (you don't even have to complete the game to earn the Platinum).
  27. Bucket Knight: Basic platformer, nothing special. I beat the whole game w/ the pistol and then bought the extra weapons after it was over for the trophies because I'm a real bad ass.
  28. Gunhouse: It was OK. It was fun figuring out, but ultimately pretty shallow. I played through to day 30 enough to get a good handle on the game mechanics. I stopped there, because I didn't want to play through another 70 days to get the last trophy.
  29. Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken: Did not run great and controlled like hell. I ended up going for the Platinum, but it was an absolute chore.
  30. Foul Play: ...
  31. 99Vidas: I don't think I like beat-em-ups.
  32. Amnesia: Memories: ...
  33. Killzone Mercenary: ...
  34. Luftrausers: ...
  35. Paint Park: ...
  36. Machinarium: ...
  37. Chronovolt: ...
  38. Daggerhood: This is entirely more difficult than it should be. It's made even more difficult by the fact that it seems to run at 20 frames/second on Vita. I S-Ranked every level in the first world and damned if the last level didn't kill me. The trophies are absolutely dumb, it's a 20 minute platinum that can be achieved after beating the first 12 levels. I actually stopped playing when I got to world 2-1, sadly. Partly because of the frame rate, and partly because of the trophy system. It really seems like bad design for a developer to virtually suggest that you don't need to finish their game after the first 12 levels.
  39. Metrico:
  40. Dungeon Punks: I don't know why I played this as much as I did. I guess because the Platinum was within reach. The game is mindless and has virtually no depth. If you're playing alone, you're stuck with AI characters that aren't very good at the game--they take a lot of damage and very often grab and waste items before you're able to get them.
  41. Ultratron: I legit didn't like Robotron, I'm not sure why I played this. I got extra triggered with this because the right stick on my Vita had some drift, which made getting some of the trophies 10x more difficult.
  42. Super Crate Box: Something about the controls/graphics didn't click with me.
  43. Nova-111: Fun little semi-turn-based/semi-action game. Almost felt like chess at times.
  44. Woah Dave!: Mindless but not entirely fun unfortunately. Endless game where you run around collecting coins. Felt like a Super Crate Box knockoff without interesting weapons.
  45. Sigi - A Fart for Melusina: I mean... I got the Platinum, but... it wasn't very fun. It would've been OK, but the frame rate and frame drops were unreal.
  46. Type:Rider: I think the "lore" was more interesting than the physics-based game play. The information you unlock around more modern typefaces (starting with advent of advertising) was fascinating.
  47. PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD: This is not an easy game that I ended up quitting. It was probably my own fault for trying to play every level perfect. I recognize that it's a quality tower defense game, however. I may get back to it some day.

    Update: I ended up going back to this in 2023 and enjoyed it more than I originally did. It's not my favorite tower defense game, but is pretty decent
  48. Pix the Cat: I never really connected with this... I don't particularly enjoy simplistic retro games (Pac-Man, Q-Bert) where it feels like there's no point (no story to be gained, no satisfying puzzles to be solved). From what I remember, there is a puzzle mode in it and I did play through that a great deal, but never completed it.
  49. Doki-Doki Universe: The game itself is fine, but I don't recommend it on the Vita because the frame rate is abysmal (constant 15 FPS).
  50. ~~~unsorted above~~~
  51. Axiom Verge: I waited for a long time to get this on Vita, and when I finally did, I didn't like it at all. It made me question if I even like Metroidvania games.
  52. Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas: This game really wanted to be Zelda, but in the end, it was pretty generic and had some rough gameplay.
  53. Shutshimi: I just didn't connect with this. Tried again after a year or two and got further, but eh... bullet hell with RNG isn't a good mix.
  54. Heroes of Loot: Just an unremarkable dungeon crawler.
  55. Assassin's Creed III: Liberation: The game looks incredible for Vita, there's no doubt about it, but the game play leaves a ton to be desired, and the story just didn't draw me in.
  56. Oh, Deer!: I picked this up for $0.49 cents before PSM shut down. It was as simple as I expected given the price and the "Alpha" subtitle, but it felt good drifting through turns on the way to grandma's house.
  57. Badland: This started out decent enough, but the controls got really frustrating and ultimately it's just a phone game without a lot of depth.
  58. Quiet, Please: Not great, but I think it was free, and at least it was cute.
  59. Terraria: I first played this game on PC. It's a wonderful game, don't get me wrong, but I can't play it on Vita (or any console), because it desperately needs a mouse and keyboard.
  60. Resogun: Resogun on PS4 was amazing, but I can't recommended it on Vita. It's just not the same game at 30 FPS.
  61. Flame Over: I bounced off this hard. From what I remember the difficulty was brutal... either that or I was just terrible at it. I remember going through the first few rooms either completely unable to finish them or unable to perfect them. I don't think it was the latter.

    I went back sometime in 2022 and suffered greatly. The game isn't very well made but asks a lot of the player. I'm not sure I'm capable of getting the Platinum at this point.
  62. My Name is Mayo: Let's be honest, I paid $0.99 for a load of trophies here, not a game. It's not dead last because it gave me 2 easy Platinum trophies.
  63. Burly Men at Sea: I bought this on sale for $3.99 and even for that price it wasn't really worth the time. It looked nice at times, but the game itself was quite boring and the story didn't draw me in very well because the writing was so quirky.
  64. Proteus: Super boring walking simulator with weird esoteric trophies. I ended up having to beat it something like 9 times to see all the plants for a single tophy.
  65. Actual Sunlight: I just didn't get it. I feel bad for not getting it. I think you might have to suffer from depression to get it.
  66. Lone Survivor: This had no redeemable qualities.

List items

  • I never knew I needed this game. I must have dumped some 160 hours into it, playing it through twice to see everything and get the Platinum. After playing it, I watched the anime twice (I don't regularly watch anime), listened to Snowflakes 150+ times (according to Google Music), played through older Persona games, bought newer Persona 4 fighting games, and probably dreamed of Risette, Yukiko, and and Chie. This game is literal perfection from story, to characters, to voice acting, to game play.

  • Best on Vita. I picked this up on Vita when it first came out after missing it on PC and 360. I played it for 3-4 weeks and managed to beat Olmec somehow. At the time, having never consulted any guides, I didn't really understand the game, so I moved on. Four months later when I started watching "Spelunkin' With Scoops", everything changed. Suddenly I saw what the buzz was about, I saw the game for what it was, and I got hooked. I spent the next month squeezing every last drop from the game and managed to unlock all the trophies, and (I believe) see everything the game had to offer. It was one of the most thrilling and satisfying experiences I have had in gaming.

  • Tearaway was one of those games where you just can't help but smile while you play. It oozed charm from every pore, and used the Vita in really interesting and fun ways. I'll pull up screenshots from time to and relive some great experiences I had with the messenger.

  • I was pretty certain I wouldn't like this. It had two things going against it -- a steep learning curve, and free to play. Somehow it got its clutches in me pretty good. Its format (short sessions, improve your time) complimented the Vita perfectly. I remember playing this a lot while my kids were getting baths. I ended up buying all the DLC because the loop of beating the track time was so rewarding.

  • Not best on Vita, but damn close. FFX is the second best Final Fantasy game (after VI), however replaying it on Vita nearly convinced me that it was the best of all time... and it may actually be. I've probably finished the game 3 or 4 times in my life (definitely once on PS2, probably twice on PS3, and now on Vita), but I never did much past end game. Trophies gave me a reason to see it all and waste a mountain of my time on my way to Platinum. It was worth it though. Also Blitzball still sucks.

  • TowerFall was the one and only Ouya game I purchased and it was amazing. It's one of the most joyous local multiplayer games out there. When I tried the single player, I was initially put off by the difficulty but sometime in 2023 I went back and had an incredible time with. It runs smoothly, the gameplay is ever exciting, and the difficulty is dialed in to where it feels perfectly fair.

  • This was my GOTY for 2016. It would be a bit higher on this list had the story been anything more than just fine. The game play was fantastic though -- collecting, stacking, and leveling mirages, while going through a vaguely familiar world with remixed nostalgic music. It felt exactly like a Final Fantasy should, both looked and performed wonderfully on the Vita. It made me pine for more triple AAA releases.

  • Best on Vita. I thoroughly enjoyed it this on PC when it came out, but never really obsessed over it. I got much deeper into it when it came out for Vita complete with a Platinum trophy. It controlled so much better (for me) with buttons and a D-pad and its format compliments the Vita so well.

  • I avoided purchasing this when it came out in hopes that it would get a North American Vita release, but Square Enix never made that happen. I finally ended up playing the fan translation on my old Vita, and discovered what an absolute delight the game was. That might seem odd, since it's a dark and depressing game, but I eat that kind of stuff up. The soundtrack (almost entirely solo piano) was the perfect backdrop to a spiritual successor (Chrono Trigger). The story really grabbed me and held my interest the entire time. Every playable character I encountered had a solid back story and well-defined motives. The battle system was exceptional. The performance on Vita wasn't as solid as I'd like, but it was totally playable. I can't recommend this enough.

  • Best on Vita. The first game was so perfect on Vita that I bought the second to play exclusively on Vita. It was certainly more of the same, but as with OlliOlli, nearly everything was polished up and improved. The new gizmos and gadgets made traversal a lot more enjoyable.

  • Best on Vita. I first played this on Steam in 2013 and immediately purchased it when it was released for Vita. The game has such an enjoyable and perfectly crafted reward loop. It really gets its hooks into you almost immediately.

    I returned to SteamWorld Dig in 2021 to finish up some the speed run trophy. I had a blast learning how to speed run the game and how to do the jump exploit. Perhaps taking some credit away from "Best on Vita", I actually ended up speed running it on PSTV, because it was easier to do the jump exploit on a dual shock.

  • Best on Vita. A great follow up to the original with a bit of added polish everywhere and a slight iteration to mechanics.

  • Best on Vita. This game plays so well and is such a novel concept. It's quite difficult as well, which is what stopped me from S-Ranking it (my internal rhythm is garbage I guess). Ranked right along side the sequel because they're so similarly perfect.

  • Best on Vita. I played Salt and Sanctuary when it came out on PS4 and liked it alright. When it came out a year later on Vita though, I ate it all up. I ended up burning through to the Platinum in 4 days and got to fiddle around with some one of the glitches/exploits, which I never messed with on PS4.

  • I played this on PC and bought the physical edition on Vita to get the awesome locket. The game plays great on Vita, although the trophy situation is pretty pointless (you don't even have to beat it for the Platinum). That didn't stop me from doing a pacifist run, which I hadn't done before. I still think it plays best on PC though, because **SPOILER** the idea of crashing to desktop as a game mechanic is still incredible.

  • Best on Vita. Titled "Stealth Inc.". I had such a blast going through and S-Ranking all the levels in this game. The platforming was just as satisfying as solving the puzzles were. A super unique and enjoyable experience.

  • Who know a game about simple shapes could be so wonderful? The narration really made it something special.

  • Chasm is an awesome game. This is a somewhat stark comparison to all of the tepid reviews that the game received. However, since I didn't Kickstart the game, and I didn't play all the Metroidvanias, and I think there's plenty of room for games that use animation priority, and I had no expectations going in... I was utterly delighted by everything Chasm had to offer. I initially played it on hard, and found it to just be just the right balance for me. I loved discovering little tricks along the way (attacking while backdashing, and jump+late attack+land+attack) and figuring out each enemies patterns to avoid getting hit. The game did a great job with character progression as well, such that by the end I felt unstoppable.

  • I doubt that this game holds up, but I had a blast playing it at launch.

  • This plays great on Vita, but not necessarily best. I played it on PC back in 2011, and it's still just as great on Vita in 2017. I do think the atmosphere is probably better served by a larger screen and real sound system.

  • I played this because SNES RPGs, but didn't realize until I started it that it was so similar to Chrono Trigger. The story left a bit to be desired -- I never connected with the characters the way I did to Crono, Lucca, Marle, and Frog. The battle system however, was wildly unique and fun. I played on the 2nd to hardest difficulty and didn't really have much trouble with it, but did end up grinding a level or 2 and won a good number of battles with only 1 character remaining.

  • Twin Breaker is great for what it is. I did find it a little frustrating that you have to rely on RNG t S-Rank some levels, but that didn't stop me from S-Ranking all of them and having a blast doing it. The co-op made it that much better, as I played through the game in its entirely in 1 sitting with my daughter.

  • I played this when I was trying out some of the free PS Plus games I picked up over the years. Rogue Aces was a real hidden gem. It was hard as hell at first because I had no idea how to control the plane, but as I figured out the game, I had a blast unlocking all the game modes and collecting all the trophies. Once you realize your worst enemy is the ground, it gets a lot easier. Plus you can save scum your way through the trophies. :D

  • Reverie was a very simple, but fun Zelda clone. I was totally charmed in the early game being introduced to the island and the characters, but it didn't feel like that charm existed toward the end game. Nevertheless, the dungeons and puzzles kept me engaged the entire time. I'll definitely be on the lookout future titles from Rainbite.

  • Super Time Force Ultra* was pretty fun, but got really chaotic in a non-enjoyable way at times. It got kind of hitchy here and there, but was quite playable for the most part. I imagine it might have been a smoother experience on PS4, but never booted it up there to find out. Playing on hardcore mode was a lot more enjoyable than the standard game. It's a shame that that mode was locked behind the normal game.

  • I really like Sudoku and originally got way into it on PSP with Carol Vorderman's Soduku. This version of Sudoku is a very very good Sudoku game (mechanically speaking).

  • Flower is a terrific and unique title on any platform. It's such a good vibe of sound and visuals. It runs perfectly on Vita, but not best on Vita because of the smaller screen and since you're moving the thing you're looking at.

  • Catherine: Full Body was the second fan translation game I played on my hacked OLED Vita (I Am Setsuna was the first). I played it on PS3 back in the day and still have my physical copy. I had a good time going through the game again and seeing the new content. I didn't get a very good ending, but it wasn't worth playing through again, so I watched a few of the alternatives online. :D

  • I didn't enjoy this as much as the original. I would much rather just go through and S-Rank a list of levels than unnecessarily play through levels to find... levels. The gameplay remains great and has new gadgets and incredibly interesting level design. S-Ranking levels and saving all the clones remains wonderful.

    I started this in 2018 and circled back to finish it in 2021. Frustrated by the game surrounding the test chambers, I ended up just going through the end of the game to unlock all the chambers, which let me play the game how I wanted to play it (just S-Ranking a list of test chambers).

  • Jet Set Radio was unbelievably good when it came out, but the year 2000 was a different time and you could get away with bad controls in a 3D game. This version of the game is very much identical to what came out years ago, but as stated, the controls didn't age well. That didn't stop me from going after all the trophies. Still a blast, and even better when you finally get a handle on the control scheme.

  • A completely kompetent version of MK9. I always wished the trophies weren't such a disaster, but I had a good time unlocking the whole crypt.

  • I tried this on a whim after finishing a great RPG on Vita (Jeanne D'arc) and it was a good transition because it's a simple stealth puzzle game that didn't get too frustrating (like some of them can). The collectibles were fun to find, but figuring out the damn safe codes was a bit too cryptic (I cheated some).

  • Shakedown Hawaii felt a lot more enjoyable for me than Retro City Rampage. While I still didn't enjoy the story/humor much, the 16-bit gameplay was very well polished and satisfying. I'm a little disappointed, I didn't figure out the alternative driving controls until the very end when I was going for the gold medal on the boat challenge where it's basically impossible to do with the default controls.

  • A fun metroidvania, *heavily* inspired by Symphony of the Night, but it lacked anything exceptional (story, characters, mechanics, etc) to be great. The orb system was neat, but not enough to set it over the top.

  • Do you like Sudoku? I do. This is a really good version of that.

  • Played as part of Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, visual novels aren't necessarily my thing, but a lot of the dialog and ideas expressed in 999 were super intriguing. The puzzles weren't mind numbingly difficult, but certainly offered some challenge. I'm looking forward to going back and playing Virtue's Last Reward at some point.

  • The Drinkbox original. A reasonably enjoyable platformer. It doesn't stand out as much as Guacamelee but it's certainly a good time.

  • I love Tetris. I love Dr. Mario. I love Taisen Columns, etc, etc, but damnit if I wasn't just completely useless at Lumines, which affected my enjoyability of it. Maybe I'll go back one day.

  • One of the launch (or launch window) titles, Escape Plan was extremely unique as it made use of a lot of what the Vita had to offer. The levels were a good deal of fun to 3-star, but ultimately the physics and controls were too wonky to be an exceptional title.

  • Despite the questionable level design, the platforming feels really good and it's nice to go through the history of games in a single title. The level design felt almost very trollish at times, forcing me to play each level multiple times, experiencing all the surprising traps before I could actually complete the level. It got pretty tough as well with the special levels, but I stuck it out and got the Platinum after (sadly) 19 hours.

  • The game is legendary. Not sure if the Vita is the best platform for it though. ;)

  • OK little puzzle/platformer. The physics engine was kind of janky at times which made it frustrating at times. The chase scenes and boss battles were pretty fun.

  • Galaga clone, middling fun.

  • A decent little 8-bit GTA-clone (Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2) that ultimately felt a little shallow and missed the mark for me on the humor. The gameplay was enjoyable enough to keep me going through to the end plus some time to grind trophies afterwards.

  • Not really a game but still awesome for a period.

  • ===== Everything below this point has yet to be ordered, sorry =====

  • Best on Vita.

  • Titled "Another World" on Vita.

  • Best on Vita.

  • A relic of its time. I played it for the trophies using a guide. The humor was dated and classic adventure game mechanics are dull and frustrating.

  • A super fun platformer that shows a lot of promise. It was one of the final Vita games released for the platform and because of the deadline, it's more of a beta or demo. I'm really looking forward to see what the final product on Steam looks like. I enjoyed it so much I even wrote a trophy guide for it:

    https://psnprofiles.com/guide/12772-witchcrafty-trophy-guide

  • Released just before the final batch of Vita games in 2021, Astro Aqua Kitty is an extremely well polished 2d space shooter RPG (sorta). With all the Unity garbage that came out on Vita towards the end, Astro Aqua Kitty was a bright shining light and example of how well a modern indie game can run on Vita... and maybe it was made in Unity as well, but you couldn't tell by the way it played.

  • Brutally difficult, quite ugly, sluggish. I quit after the first boss, but I might go back.

  • This is the first Vita game I quit. While I love strategy games like this, the story/dialog were just too over the top and the battles were too long and sluggish from what I recall.

    Update: I went hard on this game, putting 150-some-odd hours into it over the course of a month and a half. I can't say exactly why I was so addicted to it, but I couldn't help myself grind levels, reset my characters, grind more levels, reverse pirate, and whatever the hell else that game made me for all the trophies. In the end, I skipped 100% of the story, and just enjoyed the strategy gameplay, which was pretty decent and makes you feel good later in the game when you can just trounce everything. I kind of want to play another Disgaea, but not sure I'm up for the time commitment.

  • s well liked as this game seems to be, I did not particularly enjoy it. I'm not sure if it was because I was bad at it, or what, but it felt very button mashy and too chaotic to really enjoy. Maybe if I played it with friends, it would have been different.

    Update: I went back in 2023 and put a ton of hours into this. I finally got it and was committed to put the time in as necessary to finish it. It left a much better taste in my mouth the second time around (even playing solo again). I really want to pick up Odin Sphere Leifthrasir now.