My top Vita games (2018) – 75 – 41

(Editor’s note – please check out my newest, up-to-date list of the 100 best Vita games ever made!)

In what I hope will become a yearly list I publish until I’ve played every game that interests me in Vita’s library (alongside all backwards-compatible PSP & PS1 games), I decided to look back over the best titles I’ve played on my Vita since I bought it and compile a ‘top 75’.

I’ve been a Vita owner since December 2012 thanks to getting a LittleBigPlanet bundle for my birthday that year and it’s pretty much been my main console ever since – in fact, I now own two additional consoles (a black LCD model and a white LCD model) and it’s safe to say it’s among my favourite gaming consoles ever.

Please bear in mind – this list is only comprised of games I’ve played. I have a backlog like you wouldn’t believe of PS1; PSP and PS Vita games that I’m hoping to whittle down throughout 2018, though with the rate releases are continuing to come out I’m not sure I’ll ever be finished!

The list has expanded to 75 games this year with the additional titles I’ve played (I intend to make this up to 100 games next year). So without further ado, here is the first part of my list, games 75-41:

 

75. The Unfinished Swan

A smart first-person adventure with a unique gimmick, The Unfinished Swan is ported over perfectly to Vita by Armature Studio. It might be on the short side and with a few too many mish-mash ideas, but it’s still very much worth playing through – check my review of the game here.

 

74. Dynasty Warriors Next

A fantastic launch title filled to the brim with content and looking absolutely beautiful to boot, Dynasty Warriors Next suffers a little from being too reliant on gimmicky features like the front and rear touch pads. Still, it more than makes up for it and is a great jumping-in point to the franchise – check my review of the game here.

 

73. Paranautical Activity

Roguelikes have found a great home on Vita but few of them have been as ambitious as Paranautical Activity – also mixing in some fun first-person shooting mechanics and a unique underwater theme. While it suffers from performance options, it’s still a very enjoyable time – check out my review here.

 

72. Superdimension Neptune vs. SEGA Hard Girls

Neptune and gang have a big presence in my top 75 and shooting up the rear is their crossover with the SEGA Hard Girls. It’s an experimental title, taking the template of the Re;birth games and expanding on it in interesting ways while including a fantastical time-travel story – check out my review here.

 

71. The Last Blade 2

One of the Neo-Geo’s finest games gets a beautiful port to the Vita from Code Mystics. It’s a deep fighter, filled with a number of different mechanics to master (and good luck playing online!) all the while looking gorgeous thanks to the intricate pixel art. It’s worth always keeping on your memory card – check out my review here.

 

70. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz

So it’s hard as nails and can be incredibly frustrating at times, but at it’s core Banana Splitz is still the same incredibly addictive puzzle-adventure game the series has always been. It’s colourful; cute and with more mini-games than you can shake a stick at, making it among the Vita’s most enjoyable titles. Check out my review here.

 

69. Bastion

Following the Kid as he ventures through the strange, post-apocalyptic world of the Calamity, Bastion is a wholly unique and unforgettable adventure that fits Vita like a glove thanks to a brilliant port from Blitworks. It’s a great action-adventure with some incredible aesthetics and loads of replayability – definitely worth trying.

 

68. Code: Realize ~ Guardians of Rebirth

The first otome game I’ve ever played ended up being one of the most memorable titles available on Vita – a tale of political intrigue; supernatural mystery and interesting historical characters taking place in a beautiful cyberpunk Victorian setting, the dating aspect was just an extra bonus. Check my review here.

 

67. Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy

At times it’s incredibly obtuse, with dozens of different systems at play with little explanation; while the story is a bare-bones ‘teenagers have special powers’ anime affair. Yet in spite of its flaws there’s an incredibly enjoyable DRPG here (with tonnes of content to boot) – check out my review of the game here.

 

66. Lichtspeer

Beneath the German-inspired aesthetic design (which works extremely well by the way, especially given the neon-soaked colour-palette) lies an addictive high-score chasing arcade title all about throwing spears. There’s nothing more to it than that, but there doesn’t need to be – it’s great. Check my review here.

 

65. Akiba’s Beat

Acquire have to be one of the Vita’s most under-rated developers – while their titles always lack a bit of polish, they tackle a variety of genres and are always fun to play. Akiba’s Beat is their take on the Tales of formula and it packs in some great character development on a geeky Japanese journey – check out my review here.

 

64. Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart

The first game I ever reviewed for this site and the second Neptunia game on this list, Noire’s spin-off does have its fair share of problems – the combat is a little simple; the self-insert protagonist is annoying etc. Yet the range of self-referential characters; cute aesthetics and just everything else about it works brilliantly – check my review here.

 

63. Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force (Full Frontal Assault in North America)

It’s short yet incredibly satisfying during the time it lasts – Q-Force is a brilliant spin of the traditional Ratchet & Clank formula featuring custom-built levels designed around tower-defence elements. Building up your base then defending it in third-person is so enjoyable, I’d have loved to see more of it from the series. Check out my review here.

 

62. New Little King’s Story

One of the hidden gems of the Wii’s library (which is also now available on Steam) gets an expanded port on Vita that despite technical shortcomings manages to be a brilliant time. Expand your kingdom; go out on quests into the world to get treasure and view the game’s many endings with various heroines – it’s all enjoyable and works perfectly for handheld play. Check out my review here

 

61. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment

While your interest in the game will likely come and go thanks to the enormous amount of slightly grindy content here, there’s just so much to love about Hollow Fragment that it’s difficult not to include on this list. An offline-MMO following an alternative story to the anime, it’s well worth checking out whether you’re a fan or not. Check out my review here.

 

60. Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom

Another anime game but this time following the story of the manga very closely, Attack on Titan differs from the standard musou formula that Omega Force have been known for by its breathtaking movement mechanics that makes flying around the future wasteland in style like second nature. Check out my review of the game here.

 

59. Atelier Rorona Plus

Just like Neptunia, this is a series that features heavily on this list. Atelier is a brilliant franchise that on the surface seems like cute girls doing alchemy, but a whole host of other systems are at play from turn-based combat to enjoyable world exploration. Rorona is arguably the weakest of the series on Vita yet it’s still an absolutely brilliant ride. Check out my review here.

 

58. Velocity Ultra

Originally a PlayStation Mini that was among the best on the platform, Velocity‘s status has only grown in recent years as more people have discovered its brilliant mix of fast-paced space exploration with a unique teleportation mechanic that leads to some fantastic puzzle gameplay. Check out my review here.

 

57. Minecraft

It was a phenomenon on PC and continues to be on Vita where it provides a fantastic sandbox full of new things to do at every turn (helped by constant updates even as of the date of this article). It’s as big as your imagination can be and works really well with friends too, making it among the best games on the platform.

 

56. Civilization Revolution 2 Plus

While it may be dumbed-down compared to the full-fat PC versions of Civilization, Revolution still provides an enjoyable dose of portable strategic gameplay designed around building and managing your resources while similarly attempting world domination through diplomacy or war.

 

55. Octodad: Dadliest Catch

It’s a bonkers idea – playing as an octopus pretending to be a family man by controlling him in everyday situations via each of his limbs – yet it manages to pull it off to be an enjoyably crazy adventure game. The fact it weaves in such a sweet and touching story just makes it all the more special. Check out my review here.

 

54. Tachyon Project

Vita has plenty of twin-stick shooters but none attempt to tell a story quite like Tachyon Project, while also mixing in plenty of traditional gameplay with interesting new ideas to shake things up. It’s not perfect, but makes for a brilliant portable game encouraging ‘just one more go’ to beat your high scores. Check out my review here.

 

53. DanganRonpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

A horror-shooter spinoff in the popular high school murder simulator series, Another Episode misses occasionally with its clunky boss fights and story that doesn’t quite hit the mark, but everything else about it is brilliant – from the gorgeous visuals to the enjoyable puzzle-solving gameplay to the lovely relationship between Komaru and Toko. Check out my review here.

 

52. Cel Damage HD

An under-rated Xbox classic that gets a lovely HD update for Vita, Cel Damage provides a dose of vehicular combat mayhem in the absence of Twisted Metal that’s every bit as addictive and enjoyable. The Saturday-morning-cartoon graphics and zany characters just add to the fun – check out my review of the game here.

 

51. Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;birth 2: Sister’s Generation

The first of the mainline Neptunia entries in this list is the Nepgear-fronted second release, which makes a number of refinements to the formula of the original game as well as adding a whole host of new characters and locations. It’s not quite as memorable, but it’s still a brilliant game on the Vita.

 

50. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Featuring more focused design than its sequels leading to a number of brilliant platforming challenges alongside some brilliantly gorgeous cartoon-esque characters and locations, Sly Cooper feels right at home on Vita thanks to a solid porting job from Sanzaru Games – it’s definitely the best part of the Sly Trilogy. Check out my review here.

 

49. Borderlands 2

While the stories you’ve probably heard about the quality of the port are true (it’s not the best), the ability to have this classic FPS on a portable console is worth the concessions. There’s a metric tonne to do and the loot-based gameplay means you can just keep coming back for more, plus the plot and cast are among the funniest in gaming.

 

48. Demon Gaze

Experience Inc’s first DRPG release on the Vita is still their best, an enjoyable gridder with an eclectic cast; some lovely visuals and a brilliant demon-capture-and-raising gameplay system. It’s one of the easier games in the genre to get into too, meaning it’s a great jumping-in point for newcomers.

 

47. World Trigger: Borderless Mission

Artdink are well-versed on Vita and their take on the World Trigger IP is a successful one – an Earth Defence Force-esque alien-shooter with a great movement system thanks to the character’s enhanced trion abilities. It’s easy to understand even in spite of the language barrier and is well worth playing – check out my review here.

 

46. Earth Defence Force 2017 Portable

A fantastically simple yet enjoyable third-person shooter based on killing swarms of alien invaders, Earth Defence Force 2017 Porable is a brilliant handheld entry in the franchise. Sure, it’s mindless, but there’s an insane amount of content here and the progression of levelling up and grinding new weapons keeps things interesting – check out my review here.

 

45. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions

It was brilliant on the Xbox 360 and it’s even more brilliant here – it’s a frantic, enjoyable game featuring brilliant level design; enjoyable twin-stick shooter gameplay and some gorgeous visuals. It also works fantastically well on Vita, running at a solid framerate with some great bite-sized levels.

 

44. Ridge Racer

So there’s no doubt this is a disappointing entry in the long-running arcade-racing series – it’s bare-bones and lacking content, making up for it with expensive DLC which still doesn’t add a proper career mode. Yet in spite of this it’s still a fantastic game – looking gorgeous on the Vita’s screen and playing superbly, meaning it’s well worth playing in spite of its flaws. Check my review for the game here.

 

43. Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;birth 1

The first entry in Compile Heart’s flagship franchise receives a gorgeous makeover for Vita, throwing out the dull gameplay of the original and bringing up to speed with modern games. There’s some great turn-based combat here alongside an amusing story and hilarious cast of characters – check out my review here.

 

42. Steins;Gate 0

Failing to match the simplistic brilliance of its predecessor, Steins;Gate 0 nevertheless tells a beautiful tale exploring the timeline of an Okabe that failed to achieve his goal at the end of the original. It’s gorgeous, with a chilling soundtrack and plenty of time-travel thrills and emotional storytelling – check out my review here.

 

41. Uncharted: Golden Abyss

The showpiece title of the Vita’s launch relies slightly too much on the handheld’s gimmicks, but is still a brilliant example of console-quality on the go. Drake’s origin story sees him travelling through lush jungles and exotic foreign lands and taking place in some hectic third-person shooting – it’s still a fantastic game to this day.

 

Numbers 40 – 11 coming up tomorrow!