Good PSP Games?

[Bologo]

I got some money for my birthday at the beginning of January, and I didn't hesitate to buy a PSP, because I'd always wanted one but they were always too expensive for me. I also never bought one before even when I did have enough money because there weren't enough good games. I bought a second hand one, and it works really well, and I really like the PSP, and there's a decent amount of good games out there now, so I really like the PSP.

Right now the games I have are:

- Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
- Legend of Heroes
- Star Ocean: Second Evolution

The first 2 were impulse buys since there was a 2 for $20 deal where I bought the PSP and I kind of needed a game to play with the thing. I've only actually played Final Fantasy Tactics so far though, since I'm lending Star Ocean to my cousin, and I just haven't tried Legend of Heroes yet.

The games I'm considering buying are:

- Hexyz Force
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
- Final Fantasy: Dissidia
- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
- Phantasy Star Portable 2
- Gurumin

Can anybody give me their honest opinion on any of these games? PSP games can be kind of expensive, and some are hard to find, so I don't want to give a bad game high priority on my list. Heh, to be honest I was really drawn to a lot of these ones because of their awesome anime art, and Gurumin was a strange one, because it sounds like a kids game, but I heard it's actually really good.

Also, I really like top-down vertical shooters (ie. Galaga), and even horizontal shooters (ie. Gradius), but I'm not sure if there's any of those for PSP.

One kind of game I really don't like are first-person shooters or war games. I just don't find them to be enjoyable.

If there's any other games that people would like to recommend, I'll definitely consider them. xD

 

[Chubbs]

All the Monster Hunter games, possibly the best games ever. Hard though. Really hard.
Gran Turismo.
The Disagea games, some of the most fun I have ever had.
Half minute Hero.

I have more, just searching my pirate game collection.

 

[Bug Maniac Marc]

If you are a final fantasy fan at all,
Dissidia dissidia dissidia.
Especially if any of your friends play

 

[CaptainKishimoto]

Don't buy Dissidia, Duodecim comes out in March.

 

[TaiCrunch]

i've heard nothing but good things about Birth By Sleep. definitely look into it.

 

[Firestorm]

If you're a fan of the KH games, Birth by Sleep is supposed to be very good.

 

[Chou Toshio]

I just bought a PSP, just to play 2 games, that I am in freaking love with.

Gitaroo Man Lives!

I was a super avid player of Gitaroo man on the original PS2. These days though I spend so much time travelling and living abroad, lugging around and using a PS2 just isn't practical. Still, I was aching to play Gitaroo man-- if you don't understand why, go read the reviews to find out why this niche-rhythem game is completely epic. It is definitely for a certain audiance, but if you are of that audiance you will love it, and anyone can enjoy it.

Anyway, my impressions of the PSP version-- It's practically the same game, but the "master mode" of the PSP has definitely been severely "watered down" compared to the original . . . and yet the reviews still rant about how difficult the master mode is. That's just a testament to how insane the original was. On one hand, I was disappointed, but on the other, it would probably be too overly frustrating if they hadn't watered it down-- with the screen attached to the "controller" excessive button mashing on the PSP makes hitting the notes much harder. I just wish they had made the dodging easier, not the playing sections. Oh also the two new duet levels were lots of fun!

Still, if you were at all competant on the old game, Gitaroo Man Lives! will be over all too soon-- I cleared all the levels in a day . . .


Macross Ultimate Frontier

I don't think this game is available in English yet, but it is definitely epic. If you are a fan of the Macross series, it's definitely a must-play. Finally a robot game that can accurately and enjoyably emulate the anime movements of the Valkarie fighters (you get the experience of jet fighter, robot "battloid" form, and mid-way "walker" form at blisteringly beautiful freedom). God I love this game, but I'm only now getting into it.

 

[Bologo]

I'm definitely a fan of KH so I'll probably get Birth by Sleep. It looks really good for the PSP as well, the graphics look PS2 like.

And ChouToshio, I agree that Gitaroo Man for the PS2 was awesome. That one was easily my favourite rhythm game for the PS2. Unfortunately, my PS2 doesn't work anymore, but I guess that if it's out for the PSP, then I can definitely look into getting it. I have a feeling that they made Master Mode easier because it would be way too hard with the nub as opposed to the joystick. On the PS2 version, I couldn't get past the 2nd stage on Master Mode though...I don't understand, they made the 1st stage pathetic on Master Mode, but then when the 2nd stage comes it's absolute hell.

About Macross, I've seen some of the anime, but never played the games. Is the game actually based off the anime, or is it just a game with the same name?

I'll probably get both of the Dissidia games. I'm not sure about Duodecim though, simply because I'm not really a Vaan fan, since I think he looks incredibly stupid and needs to invest in a shirt. xD

From Chubbs' list, the only one of those I've heard of is Gran Turismo (since there've been so many of them). I'm not really a fan of Gran Turismo simply because they force you to go through too many tutorials before you can do anything. The other games sound interesting though, I'll look into them.

 

[TaiCrunch]

found this the other day too, the trailer alone makes me want a PSP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CytiY2QYOC0

 

[Nastyjungle]

I'm a big Monster Hunter fan and you can get Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on Ebay for like a buck, so yeah. Definite recommend.

 

[Bug Maniac Marc]

Just found out that the dissidia storyline is apparently included in duodecim,
so yeah, don't buy the first if you can just wait it out a little.

Also, if you liked FFVII or God of War,
maybe consider crisis core and chains of Olympus respectively

 

[Chou Toshio]

Woot!! Another Gitaroo fan :D

And ChouToshio, I agree that Gitaroo Man for the PS2 was awesome. That one was easily my favourite rhythm game for the PS2. Unfortunately, my PS2 doesn't work anymore, but I guess that if it's out for the PSP, then I can definitely look into getting it. I have a feeling that they made Master Mode easier because it would be way too hard with the nub as opposed to the joystick. On the PS2 version, I couldn't get past the 2nd stage on Master Mode though...I don't understand, they made the 1st stage pathetic on Master Mode, but then when the 2nd stage comes it's absolute hell.

Actually, the playing parts have been pretty easy from my experience. No problem with the nub. In order to succeed at master mode though, you have to be really good at button mashing. My weakened forearm muscles can't handle long play like they used to. There's nothing worse than seeing a dodging pattern you're not intimidated by, but your forearm spasms or just gives out. :S It doesn't help when the screen is shaking as you mash, making it harder to discern the timing of the notes.

Yeah, master mode is definitely a huge step up, especially on the PS2-- I made it as far as the skeletons (San Bone Trio). "Flying to your Heart" (level 2, flying saucers) is indeed tough coming off normal mode, but it's a pretty good intro to the pace of Master Mode, with levels like Bee Jam and San Bone being a whole 'nother level (I can consistently get A/S rank on Flying to your Heart).

San Bone in particular is just ridiculous on the PS2-- much more "beatable" on PSP, though the dodging sections are identical. What's different is that the playing parts are easier and your attacks do more damage per hit.

About Macross, I've seen some of the anime, but never played the games. Is the game actually based off the anime, or is it just a game with the same name?

It's based off all the Macross anime series. You can play through all the important battles of every anime series and every movie, which is pretty epic considering the music that also goes into the macross series. Last night I completed the arch from the movie, "Do You Remember Love?" (愛を覚えていますか). It's an awesome song, an even more epic movie, and the PSP game hits the nail head on.

 

[Morm]

found this the other day too, the trailer alone makes me want a PSP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CytiY2QYOC0

holy fuck I now want a PSP...and I HATE those types of games!

 

[AkSilvers]

Honestly? Get a PSN card and DL some of the older Squaresoft RPGs (FF7-9) or Suikoden, Wild Arms, or Arc the Lad. My Psp rarely sees any action that isn't an old RPG. Though I've been playing a lot of Dissidia and Choas makes me want to break the world. YOUR NOT KEFKA QUIT GETTING BACK UP LIKE YOUR A TRANSCENDANT DEMI GOD I ALREADY USED MY MATERIA

 

[Mizuno]

Crisis Core is one of my favorite PSP games. The story is nice, graphics are great and the music is amazing.

I also enjoyed Kingdom of Paradise. Was a lot of fun to play and I was very surprised by it since I had no idea what it was about at first.

I have heard good things about Persona 3 and MGS:Peace Walker, so you can look into those.

If you like anime-style RPGs, and one that is a little different than usual, you should look into Riviera. It was originally released for the GBA and then "remade" for the PSP (same game, but better sound mostly).

 

[vonFiedler]

If you're a fan of FF7, that's a very shitty reason to get Crisis Core. It is a decent portable game though.

Metal Gear Portable Ops and Peacewalker are both good, so is the Castlevania Rondo of Blood Collection or whatever it is called.

Dissidia is a very intriguing game, it's also very stupid storywise but that is par for the course for Square these days. You should just wait for Duodecim though because Dissidia could have improved on a few things, and Duo will be adding alot more than just Vaan (who is poor character choice really, if we absolutely needed another FF12 character you'd think they'd add Balthier or Ashe).

 

[Chubbs]

Nah, Vaan is the best. After all he IS a fucking sky pirate in a world where most people are still killing each other with swords, and he has fucking massive LAZOR OMG WTF LOLZ canons on his ship. iirc anyway, fairly sure he uses them at some point in the FF12 on the DS.

 

[Bad Ass]

PATAPON

 

[Limewire]

PATAPON

Don't forget Patapon 2. The third game is coming out as well, though I have no idea when.

 

[bombiron]

PATAPON AND LOCOROCO

 

[cookie]

THE PSP HAS NO GAMES

 

[cookie]

wait wrong console my bad

 

[vonFiedler]

cookie, the xbox wasn't portable, it was barely even carryable. I don't understand this mixup.

 

[TsukasaSIGN]

Any of the god of war psp titles
Any of the KH psp titles
Any of the Disgaea psp titles

 

[Kikuichimonji]

Definitely buy Persona 3 portable if you don't already own the PS2 version. In fact, it may be worth getting even if you already own the PS2 version, as P3P fixes a lot of the gameplay issues that the original suffered from. (You can now directly control your party member's actions, instead of letting the AI decide what they do.) In fact, I think that Persona 3 portable is probably the best Persona game to date in terms of gameplay, though its story is weaker than Persona 4's.

Valkyria Chronicles 2 is a PSP game, and worth checking out if you like tactical role-playing games.

Half-Minute hero is a small, low-fi game that I've found to be tremendously fun (and a delightful parody of typical JRPGs); worth picking up if you can find a copy for cheap.

Project Diva (and its sequel) may interest you if you have an interest in Vocaloid and action rhythm games. You'll have to import them to play them, however.