Gaming
Gaming
Long live last gen: 10 PS Vita games we want now
Playstation Portable may have left the limelight, but there’s lots to come for Vita owners.
We’ve had some good years with the Sony’s handhelds. The original PSP was a breath of fresh air for mobile gaming, and Sony has pushed the boundaries even further with the PSP Go and recently, the PS Vita, bringing quality games like Minecraft, OlliOlli 2 and The Swindle to our bus journeys, plane rides and toilet breaks.
The rise of smartphones and the tremendous stamina of the Nintendo 3DS means the PS Vita has often been overlooked; even Sony itself seems to have shifted its marketing focus to the Xperia phone range and Remote Play to carry the torch for years to come. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to consign your portable Playstation to the back of a drawer somewhere – there’s still plenty of quality gaming on the way for Vita owners. Just check out these 10 games still to come.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night
It’s already out in Japan, but Persona fans in Europe will have to wait until November 6 to play this Persona 4 spinoff on PS Vita. As the name suggests, Dancing All Night is not the standard JRPG-fare you might expect from a Persona title – when the Persona crew are dragged away into another world, where shadowy enemies must be tackled through the power of, er, dance. The gameplay is a matter of simple timed button presses for the most part, but teamed with a thoughtful plot and lots of fan service, this is worth a look for RPG fans.
Samurai Warriors 4-II
If Samurai Warriors 4 marked the beginning of the tenth anniversary celebrations for Koei Tecmo’s hack and slash series, 4-II marks the end, and perhaps the start of a slightly new direction for the franchise. Although a few old faces will return in Samurai Warriors 4-II, the new game will focus more on developing a host of new characters, and includes new local and online co-op modes, as well as a few tweaks to the camera and the AI.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Legend of Heroes is another popular Japanese RPG, but it hasn’t made the jump over to Europe yet – at least, not until now. Xseed Games has announced that Trails of Cold Steel and Trails of Cold Steel II will both be localised and released in Europe, with the first of those appearing this year. Wondering what to expect? Vintage turn-based, JRPG-fare by the looks of things – just check out the trailer above to see what we mean. It even has a catchy J-Pop soundtrack.
Lego Marvel’s Avengers
The Marvel hype-train just keeps chugging along, doesn’t it? The second instalment of Lego’s Marvel adventure will stay faithful to the recent films, sticking close to the plot laid out by The Avengers and Age of Ultron as well as using audio from both movies. And with over 100 playable characters alongside the Avengers we all know and love, this is lined up to be another classic Lego title. Look out for it on January 26, 2016.
Superbeat: Xonic
Anyone remember DJ MAX Fever on PSP? It was a more-than-decent music title back in 2008, but if you missed out, don’t worry: developer PM Studios is coming back with a follow-up. Superbeat: Xonic throws over 50 pounding EDM beats your way, and you’ll have to time your button presses and screen taps to stay in the game, with everyone competing on the worldwide leaderboards for the title of ‘Top DJ’. Sound like your kind of thing? It’s due out later this year.
WRC 5
Rally fans have had lots of cheers about this year. First there was Dirt Rally courtesy of the racing game gurus at Codemasters, and that will be shortly followed by WRC 5 – another fully licensed rally title from developer Kylotonn. Heard of it? We thought not, but WRC 5 is in expert hands nonetheless, with a team that has lived and breathed the sport for years. WRC 5 screeches onto dirt, tarmac, snow and gravel on October 28, so mark it in your calendar.
Super Meat Boy
Cometh the hour, cometh the Meat Boy. As if we haven’t spent enough years of our life throwing Meat Boy to his death, Team Meat will be bringing its infuriating platformer to PS Vita later this year. The game stayed away from Playstation platforms for years, as it was tied to Microsoft’s ‘Gamefeast’ promotion, but five years after it first left us gently sobbing in the corner of our living rooms, PS Vita and PS4 owners will finally get their hands on the game, with PS Plus subscribers even getting it for free. Thank you kindly.
Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space
The Earth Defense Force series first came to Europe when Global Defense Force arrived on PS2 back in 2007, and has drip-fed us with a steady supply of third-person shooter action ever since. That’s set to continue with Earth Defense Force 2 – actually a remake of Global Defense Force, which was originally called Earth Defense Force 2 in Japan. Yes, that is pretty confusing, but all you need to know is that there’s an army of bugs to splatter, and Earth will need defending at the end of this year.
Mighty No. 9
When Keiji Inafune left Capcom, it was seen by many as the end of the line for Mega Man as we know and love him. But Inafune and his fans had other plans, starting a Kickstarter project for Mighty No. 9, and funding it in just two days. Take a look at the video above, and… it looks a lot like Mega Man, doesn’t it? Well, your new characters are called Beck and Call (get it?), and they’re an android tag team, battling through a virus that has infected the rest of their robot pals. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks fantastic, though we’ll have to wait until next year to get our hands on it.
Zero Escape 3
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (VLR) was an unheralded game of the year candidate in 2012 – a slightly silly but incredibly compelling visual novel adventure, where nine individuals are trapped by a mysterious figure, and forced to escape life-or-death situations in order to survive. With a massive variety of paths through the game, and over 20 possible endings, VLR was packed with replayability as well as a sturdy plot and brilliant cinematic pacing. There’s not much info on the ground for Zero Escape 3 other than a summer 2016 release date, but if the last was anything to go by, it’ll absolutely be worth the wait.
