The 10 Must-Play Games For The Playstation Vita

9. Persona 4: Golden

Persona 4: Golden is an engrossing murder mystery RPG that combines social simulator elements to make one of the tightest, best-written, and most fun to play games Atlus has ever created. The visuals are stunning and take full advantage of the first generation Vita’s vivid five inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display. One moment you could be taking a test in school or having a lovely rooftop lunch with your girlfriend, and the next you’re fighting off deadly shadow monsters in the mysterious and dangerous place known as “TV world”. Persona 4: Golden is so much more than your basic RPG; it’s a spellbinding experience that grabs you by the face and sucks you in, monopolizing your spare time and idle thoughts until you’ve thoroughly beaten it in every respect.

http://www.continue-play.com/2014/05/01/persona-4-golden-retrospective-review/ Source: continue-play.com

8. Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward

The direct sequel to the text adventure game 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward plays on the dynamics of the prisoner’s dilemma. Like 999, nine people are trapped in a facility where they’re forced to participate in a twisted puzzle-solving game in order to earn their freedom. But unlike 999, a new facet of the game is introduced in which your character is forced into deciding whether or not to betray a partner or remain their ally. The partner is also given the same choice while out of communication range. If you both choose to remain allies you each receive two of the nine points necessary to escape the facility, however,  you can get even more point if you choose to betray and your partner chooses to ally. This is where different timelines come in. Every time you come to a critical decision making moment in this game, reality splits and makes one timeline in which you chose to ally, and one timeline in which you chose to betray. The story branches out even further through other decision making moments such as choosing which characters you join in exploring sections of the facility, and each new decision brings with it new parallel universes in which you made the opposite choice instead.

If you’re into great storytelling and or abstract anime, Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward certainly has a lot to offer.

http://zeroescape.wikia.com/wiki/Zero_Escape:_Virtue’s_Last_Reward Source: zeroescape.wikia.com

7. Spelunky

In this open source indie platform game originally created for Microsoft Windows, players control an unnamed adventurer, know as the spelunker, as they try to gather as much treasure as possible while avoiding the enemies and traps found throughout a series of caves.

The fun part of Spelunky is that the caves are always randomly generated, with their own specific set of terrain types, enemies, items, and special features. Each time you die (and you can expect to die a lot) you’ll have to start the cave again from the beginning and figure out a way to traverse the section that gave you problems. Some cave runs might only take 30 seconds to get through, while others can take more than 30 minutes if you get hung up on some tricky terrain. It’s a game that’s incredibly simple to play but also extremely challenging.  The addictive gameplay, pixel-perfect controls, and magnificent level design makes Spelunky a title that is well worth your time.

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2014/11/10/spelunky-update-brings-new-ps4-ps3-ps-vita-features/ Source: playstationlifestyle.net

6. Hotline Miami

If ever there was a game that made savagely murdering people seem trendy, it would have to be Hotline Miami. In it, you enter the neon-drenched world of 1980’s Miami where ridiculous messages on your answering machine seem to be insisting that you commit appalling acts of violence. Of course, the game is full of barbaric atrocities and bone-breaking close quarters combat as you find yourself outnumbered and forced to come up with tricky ways to escape tight situations.

Apart from its fun gameplay and distinct visual art style, the soundtrack to Hotline Miami deserves the highest praise for making you feel like all your ultra-violent murdering is really just part of some fun 80’s techno music video.

http://steamtradingcards.wikia.com/wiki/Hotline_Miami_-_Rooster Source: steamtradingcards.wikia.com

5. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

At first glance, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth might just look like a graphically unimpressive top-down shooter, but don’t let that stop you from playing it. Once you get your hands on it, you’re almost guaranteed to become addicted because the design mechanics and gameplay depth are simply amazing. It’s so much fun that you could probably play it non-stop for weeks and, even after beating it, still continue having a blast with new challenges, different items, and ever-changing randomly generated levels. Like Spelunky, this ranks among the best games you can get for the Vita in terms of replay value.

http://www.co-optimus.com/article/13044/the-binding-of-isaac-rebirth-announced-for-xbox-and-nintendo-consoles.html Source: co-optimus.com

4. Guacamelee!

The story of Guacamelee! takes place in and around a small Mexican village, where the player must travel through alternate dimensions including “The World of the Dead” and “The World of Nightmares” on a quest to rescue El Presidente’s daughter.

The game is part open-world platformer and part brawler, taking much of its inspiration from traditional Mexican folklore and featuring many interesting characters. At times it blurs the line between platforming and fighting because many of the moves you can perform are useful for both traversing levels and laying the smack down on enemies. Everything about Guacamelee! is very finely-tuned and oozing with polish — from the brightly colored, highly stylized visuals to the rock-solid controls and smart level design. This game is a great choice for just about Vita owner, regardless of your personal genre preferences. It also helps that Guacamelee! is genuinely funny.

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/guacamelee-psvita/ Source: playstation.com

3. Tearaway

You’d be hard pressed to find a game more perfectly constructed for the Vita than Teraway. At it’s core, the game is essentially a 3D platformer, but it’s set in a world that appears to be made completely out of construction paper. The interesting thing is that you, as the player, exist outside the game world and the only way you can interact with characters inside the game is through the Vita’s various interface features. The system’s front-facing camera streams a feed of your face to the game world that acts as their sun and whenever you use the touch screen, the impact of your fingers is reflected on the game’s terrain. Teraway is an incredibly unique gaming experience that makes even some of the most innovative Nintendo games seem unimaginative by comparison. While you can pick up the remastered edition, Tearaway Unfolded, on the PS4, you owe it to yourself to experience the Vita release if you own the handheld.

http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1443646/tearaway-unfolded.jpg Source: ibtimes.co.uk

2. OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood

The sequel to the madly addictive skateboard platformer OlliOlli, OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood  takes players from the generic city streets of the original and places them in a number of iconic locations found in blockbuster Hollywood movies. Flip tricks and grinds are still the primary tools in your skater arsenal, but the introduction of the “manual” allows players to string together trick combination indefinitely and opens up the possibility to beating entire levels with one single incredible combo.

Although OlliOlli2 has a learning curve that seems like it could extend to infinity, the increments in which it scales up difficulty are masterfully judged and even after attempting the same challenge over 30 times, it doesn’t get boring or frustrating because you always get the sense that you’re improving with each run. OlliOlli2 is everything that a sequel should be; it takes the already proven formula of the first game and kicks it up a notch with new game mechanics and play modes. That being said, only pick this one up if you’re prepared to have it instantly consume any free time you might have lying around.

http://www.twinfinite.net/2015/08/11/olliolli-2-welcome-to-olliwood-pc-review-2/ Source: twinfinite.net

1. Velocity 2X

Blending together two classic gameplay formats into one elegant experience, Velocity 2X features both excellent top-down shooter mechanics and some of the best platforming action on the Vita. While at first glance you might think it to be a pretty standard vertical-scroller, once you start moving faster, tele-dashing, and throwing smart bombs all over the place, it becomes a completely novel game experience. As the name implies, Velocity 2X is all about speed, so fluid and responsive controls are essential for navigating the levels, which can sometimes resemble a tangled, incoherent mess of knots. Thankfully, the game doesn’t attempt to hit you with everything at once. Different gameplay elements are added with each successive level until you find yourself performing complicated maneuvers almost effortlessly. There’s also quite a bit of puzzle-solving in the game that becomes really addictive if you’re someone who constantly tries to better your previous scores.

When you roll all the gameplay elements together and combine them with some polished visuals and a cool progressive house soundtrack, what you’ve got is one of the most fun and innovative games to play on the Vita, or any other console for that matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLsSvDq0oM Source: Youtube