Rediscovering the PS Vita

I had a Vita at lunch and it was the first handheld system I ever bought, the thing just interested me. So I played many games for it for a long while until I stupidly traded it for a 3DS. Played the 3DS for a short while and sold the thing as it didn't gave me the fun I had with the Vita.

Then a year later I just rebought a Vita. First time I do that and it is like getting in touch with a friend you lost track because of adulthood.

It is sad the system didn't caught on in the USA and Canada but it still receive Japanease game which is fine by me.

I'm just glad that the Vita games keep piling up this year too. Personally, I need to catch up on a lot of titles I missed out many moons ago.

It's superior to the 3DS in terms of hardware, but I really struggled to find games to play on it. The library of the 3DS is just incredible. Maybe I should rediscover my Vita. What am I missing?

Depends. What kind of games do you usually play?

Several exclusives aside, JRPGs and indies are the Vita's bread and butter.

@Coco_pierrot:

Vita has actually really gotten me into anime again. I have a memory card packed full of JRPG'S, fighting, and kooky mystery games of the like. And it introduced me to Hyperdimension Neptunia, my new love...?

@tempura13: I'm pretty much doing a catch up.

I just got into Dangarompa ( 3 titles to play ), Zero Escape ( again 3 titles ) and Souls Sacrifice

@itstotallymike: Depend what you like.

I also had a 3DS for a while and didn't enjoy the games that much. I prefer what is on the Vita, more anime stuff that I'm starting to really enjoy

@killered3: Yeah I really enjoy visual novel so far, more than I thought I would and the bunch of JRPG is quite good.

Never heard of the game you talked about, I'll check it out.

@Coco_pierrot: Great list! I should really try out the Zero Escape series some time later too.

I'm currently trying to blaze through KanColle Kai before I go back to Gundam Breaker and WOFF.

Why do I keep playing super grindy games?

@tempura13: I don't know man ! I wonder why I almost only play super long games like jRPG too. I think that sometimes, just not question it and enjoy :P

I have 34 games on Vita but a lot of them are Asian releases, some of them have never even been released in NA. But I'm now running out of games to play, especially now that I have PS4 and all my Warriors games will be on that system from now on...

Survival Horror, JRPGs, Old Skool-style Platformers, and Racing are my favorites but I'm into anything except RTS really. I played Uncharted, Muramasa, World of FF on the Vita and loved them all. I also own Tales of Hearts R, but it's all subbed and harder for me to get into. What are some good ones exclusive to the Vita?

@itstotallymike:

Soul Sacrifice Delta and Freedom Wars are great hunting action games. Story and lore of the former is top-notch while the latter has more multiplayer features (group and individual leaderboards, co-op, PvP). I can't comment if the online communities for the two are still active though.

Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines is a turn-based RPG, but has an interesting mechanic where you foster the lineage of your clan. They're cursed to have extremely short lifespans, so you have to keep making descendants throughout the game. If you also play DRPGs and is tolerant to fanservice, get Demon Gaze and Dungeon Travelers 2.

Killzone Mercenary is a must to any FPS fan, while Tearaway would make you appreciate your Vita more with its fantastic use of the hardware. Get WipEout 2048 for your futuristic racing fix.

Since you like survival horror, you might want to give the Corpse Party series a spin. Not exclusive to Vita, but they're readily available on the PS Store (2 PSP games + 1 Vita). Maybe Yomawari too, which is also available on Steam.

Honorable mentions: Gravity Rush (got a port and the sequel on the PS4), Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (has a PS3 port), Ys: Memories of Celceta (ARPG with an open-world feel), Unit 13 (mission-based TPS), DJ Max Technika Tune (touch-based rhythm game)

Also, Vanillaware games (Odin Sphere and Dragon's Crown aren't exclusives, but portability + they look pretty on the OLED Vita!)

And of course, the obligatory Persona 4 Golden recommendation :P

Do they still make a lot of games for it?

@SoAmazingBaby:

It's still getting plenty of titles this year (localized games + indies), but without a new handheld from Sony, Japanese devs are already transitioning from PS4/PSV to PS4-only titles.

Also, depending on how the Switch performs there, it's either that the handheld developers completely jump ship or release Switch/Vita titles to test the waters first.

@tempura13: that may happen yeah but like in the case of NIS America they don't make that many games for PS3 or PS4, they are quite active on Vita.

Since I have a lot of catching on to do there is still a lot for me.

In Japan the system sold way better than here and it shows

@Coco_pierrot:

Speaking of NISA, I was kinda bummed that they have no plans on releasing Demon Gaze 2 just yet—probably because it's a Vita exclusive compared to Kadokawa's other games (Root Letter and God Wars).

The Ys announcement made up for it, I guess. I was expecting XSeed to do that though :(

I had PSP forever awhile and it was my most favorite device of all time. Like I had GBC and the Gameboy Camera with a printer, so PSP wasn't like my first device to do amazing things. When I picked PS3 over a Wii U, I really want a Vita cause I bought a ton of PS1 classics. Then later I just never got into Xbox One or 3DS like I thought I would. Yes 3DS has "fun" games, and some classics, but most the games are mild and easy, and some are pretty simplistic and crude even if they are considered great games. I only got it cause I picked Xbox One over Wii U and also cause the 3DS was 150$ new.

Now that PS4 Pro and PS3 are my main consoles, I 100% plan to get a Vita in next couple months. I think it is whack that nobody bought Vita considering how popular PS4, like do people not realize there is remote play, or that Vita is like the device to give you PS1 BC? If 60 million PS4 owners don't really care about Vita/Remote Play, then what makes Nintendo think anyone would sacrifice all that power just for a lamer version of remote play. I understand in the early days, god knows I wanted one bad, but the cost was so high, hence why I got PS3. But now that they are a solid 199$, it has never been a better time to get Vita, the games are there, even if multiplatform. I think it is 100% for those like me with PS3 and PS4, who loves PS1 classics. My only beef, PS Now is being removed from Vita, and you can't stream/remote play PS Now.

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My recommendation, Go to Play-Asia and look up the Pre-Order/Best Sellers Sections, cause most games I want are often on PS4 as well, or are classics that were on PS3.

-Super Robot Wars V (Japanese comes with English subtitles) (I barely know the franchise, but it is amazing)

-Ys Origin/VIII, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, Gravity Rush, and God Eater 2

-Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1/2 Plus, Metal Gear HD Collection, Disgaea 3, Persona 4, Super Monkey Ball.

^-There are many I plan to get that aren't on here but mostly classics. I get why people say no exclusives, the problem is Gamestop and Game stores don't treat the device like Play Asia does.

@tempura13: Yeah I was surprised when I saw that annoncement

@saltslasher: Like you I gave up on the WiiU and never bought an Xbox brand stuff. But like I said in the OP I got a 3DS too. During that time I also had a PS3 ( still have my PS2 and PSOne ).

So I was really into the WiiU and 3DS for a very short while ( a few months at best ) as those game are way too easy for me or never have something that just grab me. So I sold the 3DS and later I sold the WiiU too and kept my PS3 on which I still played more than the WiiU or 3DS.

Then I rebought the Vita.

Before I sold it I had : P4G, Soul Sacrifice, Tearaway, LBP, Danganronpa, Dragon's Crown and Killzone.

I rebought P4G and Soul Sacrifice. I'll probably replay Danganronpa since I like it a lot.

I also have a few PSOne classic that I did miss back in the day that I may replay on the Vita. I don't feel like I'll don't have enough game for it as I can find many thing that interest me especially in Jrpg and Visual novel.

@Coco_pierrot: Yeah it is odd. NES-SNES, I mostly borrowed and rented cause I mean I was like 3-7 years old, but they were my whole console world, and PC was my thing cause my Mom always had a work computer and best friends dad was a computer guy with 8 computers. PS1 comes, and I'm no longer a little toddler, and actually a Kid, I remember getting PS1 with several games, even my brother got me a PS1 game for Christmas, he never got me anything. N64 came, got like 3 games that Christmas (Mario, MK and Cruisin), and then only remember owning 007, Gauntlet, NBA, Wrestling and Ocarina (friends are ones with Banjo, DK, etc.). Got a GBC for Pokemon Red/Blue, but only remember borrowing games, and getting Gameboy Camera with printer, I probably had Tetris.

PS2 comes, and again I get several games at launch, GT Bundle with racing wheel, and I get a huge collection for it. Xbox comes and I get it, and I mostly remember Halo, but completely skip GameCube. Before 360 launched I had my first personal gaming computer (not my mom's hand me downs or her work computer, something I got with intention of gaming with aftermarket card), but my sister-in-law got me hookup on 360 (like the OGXbox and N64), and my sister had a Wii (which I have now, she spent hundred dollars or more on digital games in it), but for first 2 years I played quite a bit of 360, and with Wii I mostly played Gamecube games on it aka RE0, MGS Twin Snakes, RE1, and RE4. But somewhere during that time I got PSP and I had like 20 games for it, several movies, and dozen accessories.

Well I built my first high end gaming rig during the 7th gen, and bought one of the last new PS2's from GameStop and started collecting PS2, I have like a hundred of them. Then got a PS3 over a Wii U, and bought dozens of digital games on it, and was like first time I ever was pre-ordering and getting collectors edition stuff. Then picked Xbox One with no Kinect, and got 3DS XL, both on super discount. I literally didn't open my Xbox One for a year cause I was still playing PS3 and just got GTA5 for it (with AC bundled games), and 3DS just played Pokemon X for several months, til I got humble bundle, and my brother in law got me MHG/FEA.

Anyways, as much as I've ever thought I was a Nintendo kid or Xbox guy, fact is, I've always, always highly invested in PlayStation products, even if I got 360/One first, all of the Xbox's I got a discount on at launch cause of my family hookup. After SNES, I've mostly only played Nintendo for Pokemon and Zelda. With Xbox, I literally only ever got exclusives cause I always had PC. With PS1 tons of games, PS2 insane amount of games, PSP highly invested in it, PS3 highly invested in it and PS4/Vita, I have plans to invest in them. I'm basically done with Xbox/Nintendo for the foreseeable future. No matter what happens, I always find myself back with PlayStation. Xbox One is my only Xbox regret. Nintendo I didn't actually buy Wii or else it would be a regret.

I agree.....PSVita is superior hardware.But it have a huge list of very good indie games to enjoy.

PSvita is the perfect handheld console for indie games......on the go.But you will need memory cards.

I have a PSVita with the OLED screen.....and i love it.