With the impending release of both the God of War Collection (1 & 2) and Borderlands 2 on the
PlayStation Vita, I thought now would be the most adequate time to talk about games that would
not only benefit the system’s game library – but build the appeal of the system altogether. We
Vita fans are very miniscule compared to the rampant 3DS – and because of this 3rd party
developers have had a hard time justifying bringing their games onto the system. This has not
only hurt the sales of the Vita, but has produced a grim outcome for the future of the system if it
continues selling the way it is at the moment.
In saying that, I love my Vita. I think it’s an amazing system that has a lot of untapped potential. If
you have a Vita – you can see that with releases like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush and
Soul Sacrifice. The former two are both in my top 10 favourite games of all time. There’s no
doubting that the system is incredibly powerful and it’s a great little system to play on – sporting
two touchpads and a wonderful OLED screen (if you have the first generation one – unlucky if
not), there’s no doubting that it’s quite a good piece of tech. Combining that with the addicting
PlayStation trophies system and an easy-to-use interface shows that it definitely has a place in a
lot of gamers pockets (if it fits).
I’ve been recently digging into The Sly Trilogy on Vita (which was released last week) and it’s
actually one of the reasons I’ve decided to write this article. It’s an excellent port and the games
are incredibly fun. I actually missed out on the PS2-era of gaming as I had an Xbox instead and the
Vita has been my source of catching up on games like Sly and Jak & Daxter (even though the ports
are rather buggy). On-the-go is an excellent way to play games like those, as they’re incredibly
enjoyable and can be picked up and put down without too much worry. It’s games like these (and
the glorious amount of Indie titles) that make the Vita special to me and a system that is well
under-appreciated by the mass-gamer population.
Blabbering aside, I’ve thought for quite some time and have come up with five specific titles that
would not only benefit the Vita in the long-run, but would make it more appealing to a wider
audience of gamers and have them jump on the Vita bandwagon.
5. Ratchet & Clank (Trilogy)
I think it’s clear where I’m coming from by bringing in the Ratchet games on Vita. Not only are
these incredible games, but they’d be a perfect fit on the hand-held and for on-the-go gaming. I
couldn’t imagine the amount of hours I’d spend playing these titles if they did make the leap to
the Vita – and here’s hoping they do after a retailer had leaked (or incorrectly published)
information about the Ratchet & Clank Trilogy coming to Vita.
4. Pro Evolution Soccer
Say what you want about Pro Evo these days, but it was the actual shin-dizzle back in the PSP-era.
I spent countless hours playing the game’s Master League mode, buying and selling players,
managing my funds and kicking general butt in the league because the game was so good on PSP.
While FIFA has overtaken PES in many gamer’s eyes for the last couple of years – the Vita FIFA is
nothing to be proud of and feels more like FIFA 2010 rather than 2014. Pro Evo would have a spot
on my list any-day if it ever made the jump to the Vita and even if it was just like the old PES
games on PSP – it’d be an instant hit with football (soccer – call it what you want) nuts like myself
that want a quality handheld football game (besides Football Manager).
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
If you had a PSP, you probably would have had either GTA Liberty City Stories or Vice City Stories.
These games were not only great, but they gave an extra dimension to the PSP. Having an
open-world GTA game on a handheld was amazing and I don’t see why the Vita shouldn’t have
one now. It’s much better than the PSP and could really make for an incredible handheld
experience if Rockstar (or another studio) decide to bring over the much loved San Andreas to
the handheld. Heck, we’ve seen that it can run on iOS – so why isn’t it on Vita?
2. inFamous
It’s been widely spoken about for some time and it would be an excellent way of enticing gamers
into the Vita-landscape. A Sucker Punch developed inFamous game. I’m a big fan of the inFamous
series, having played hours upon hours of all three instalments and enjoying every moment of
them – and that would continue on if it did eventually come to Vita. Obviously the system
probably couldn’t handle the PS3 iterations and that’s good as I’d much rather a spin-off to either
Cole or Delsin’s story anyway. It’d also be interesting to see if it did something in the vein of
Uncharted: Golden Abyss and have it lead up to the events of the games already available. The
interface could be utilised well and the systems controls are spot on to handle something of this
calibre. Plus, a AAA first-party game for the Vita wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
1. Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy
Yes, we’ve seen Final Fantasy X/X-2 hit Vita already this year – but like I mentioned above,
wouldn’t a spin-off/original game from either the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy series be a
dream come true for handheld gamers? The 3DS has Bravely Default and Fire Emblem: Awakening
upon many other quality RPG games that have tied gamers to the system for years now.
Something like an original Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy would not only boost the systems
AAA gaming library, but bring in gamers that had previously shrugged off the Vita for the more
time-consuming 3DS (the Vita has some wonderful time consuming games but when the 3DS has
Pokemon and Zelda as well as the others mentioned above I believe it’s a no-contest). This
would be a huge hit for Vita owners and gamers alike and would be a huge step in the right
direction for a fleeting system that really deserves to be shown some love.
Obviously I couldn’t pick everything my heart had desired, and to combat this I’ll make some
honourable mentions to both Resident Evil 4 and Shadow of The Colossus. Both incredible games
that would be a right fit on the Vita. What’s clear is that the Vita’s library is depleted of AAA
games, and there is a feeling in the air amongst many gamers that the system is basically an indie
game machine – which isn’t the case. Sure, you can get A LOT of indie games on the system (and a
lot of them are damn good), but when there are a nice stream of quality titles like Uncharted,
Gravity Rush, Borderlands 2, Persona and God of War 1 & 2 available you can’t doubt that the
system has a sound library of titles that the gamer without a love for indie titles could take to.
The Vita isn’t dead yet, and I feel like this year will be an amazing year for the system. Here’s to
hoping for more big game announcements and (hopefully) a Ratchet & Clank port in the near
future. Don’t count the Vita out yet – it’s here to stay for at least a little while longer yet.