PSP essentials thread
Feb 28, 2022 23:48:47 GMT -5
Post by toei on Feb 28, 2022 23:48:47 GMT -5
So I'd like to play more PSP games. I own one and bought a decent number of games for it back in the day, though not that many were really worth it in the end. But PSP emulation is really interesting - once you put PPSSPP in fullscreen, it doesn't feel like you're playing something that was made for a handheld system at all. I think it may be unique in that regard. But I haven't found that many games I want to play for it. Beyond just me, though, some of us have been on a PSX kick for a while, and the PSP would be an interesting platform to explore a bit more. I'm looking for exclusives (either true exclusives or games that aren't otherwise available in English) or remakes/ports with changes that make them interesting. These are the games I've finished:
Adventures to Go (violently bland RPG with randomly-generated worlds and a deeply boring gameplay loop, no one else played this but me it seems)
Astonishia Story (2D RPG with mini-SRPG battle system, port of a mid-'90s Korean DOS RPG - I actually liked it a fair deal)
Brave Story: New Traveller (3D RPG that was praised, mostly for its production values, I think. It was bland and not particularly engaging, though)
ClaDun (aka Classic Dungeon) (A sort of gimmicky, retro-ish roguelike dungeon crawler- pretty good)
Crimson Gem Saga (3D sequel to Astonishia that was praised a huge improvement - I thought it sucked)
Growlanser IV: Wayfarers of Time (best PSP game)
Gurumin (one of those games everyone finds charming because the lead's a little girl, didn't like it much)
Half-Minute Hero (cool game, unique concept, repetitive to a degree)
Hexyz Force (another one of those bland PSP 3D RPGs lacking soul, but it was the first I'd played that let you fast-forward during battles, so it got a bonus point for that)
Jeanne D'Arc (pretty decent, classic-style SRPG, nothing special though)
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble (action-adventure/beat-'em-up, disappointing due to a stiff and unresponsive combat engine)
Legend of Heroes III-IV-V trilogy (first was decent, second so-so, third bad - all suffered from bad translations that only got worse as they went, though)
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (like the previous trilogy, very text-heavy, but most of it bland and uninteresting fluff. Only sort-of began to take off around the end.)
PoPoLoCrois (awkward abridged mashup of the first two PSX games, apparently, with tons of stuff cut out. Not impressive, but I'd like to try a proper PoPoLoCrois game)
Silent Hill Origins
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (I actually liked both of those somewhat because I played them before the OG SH, but they're highly derivative of them and blatantly lower-quality. SH was probably better because it didn't try to blow your mind with a stupid-ass plot twist that invalidated the whole story at the end.)
Wild ARMs XF (great tactical RPG gameplay, great music, terrible writing)
Ys Seven (overlong, with the worst story in the series up to that point and tedious MMO-influenced gameplay where it takes ten times as many hits as before to kill anything)
ZHP: Absolute Unlosing Ranger or whatever that dumb title was (a decent roguelike, I don't remember much about it though)
As you can see, I was still pretty much in my All-RPG period - the two SH games and Kenka Bancho were early experiments in expanding my horizons in the modern era (I'd played action games as a kid).
These are the games I've picked up to try:
FFVII: Crisis Core (Ex 's praise and my recent playthrough of FFVIII have convinced me to try this one - it seemed corny to me before, but I think it looks cool now)
Shinobidou (a stealth ninja game in a franchise Acquire created after losing Tenchu, EU-only for the English release)
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Tenchu: Time of the Assassins (aka Tenchu 4, Acquire's return to the series and a fan-favorite among the later games, also EU-only)
And of course, the second PSP Yakuza game is on my list.
So what am I missing? I'm open to any genre.
Beyond that, feel free to discuss any of the games mentioned, of course.
Adventures to Go (violently bland RPG with randomly-generated worlds and a deeply boring gameplay loop, no one else played this but me it seems)
Astonishia Story (2D RPG with mini-SRPG battle system, port of a mid-'90s Korean DOS RPG - I actually liked it a fair deal)
Brave Story: New Traveller (3D RPG that was praised, mostly for its production values, I think. It was bland and not particularly engaging, though)
ClaDun (aka Classic Dungeon) (A sort of gimmicky, retro-ish roguelike dungeon crawler- pretty good)
Crimson Gem Saga (3D sequel to Astonishia that was praised a huge improvement - I thought it sucked)
Growlanser IV: Wayfarers of Time (best PSP game)
Gurumin (one of those games everyone finds charming because the lead's a little girl, didn't like it much)
Half-Minute Hero (cool game, unique concept, repetitive to a degree)
Hexyz Force (another one of those bland PSP 3D RPGs lacking soul, but it was the first I'd played that let you fast-forward during battles, so it got a bonus point for that)
Jeanne D'Arc (pretty decent, classic-style SRPG, nothing special though)
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble (action-adventure/beat-'em-up, disappointing due to a stiff and unresponsive combat engine)
Legend of Heroes III-IV-V trilogy (first was decent, second so-so, third bad - all suffered from bad translations that only got worse as they went, though)
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (like the previous trilogy, very text-heavy, but most of it bland and uninteresting fluff. Only sort-of began to take off around the end.)
PoPoLoCrois (awkward abridged mashup of the first two PSX games, apparently, with tons of stuff cut out. Not impressive, but I'd like to try a proper PoPoLoCrois game)
Silent Hill Origins
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (I actually liked both of those somewhat because I played them before the OG SH, but they're highly derivative of them and blatantly lower-quality. SH was probably better because it didn't try to blow your mind with a stupid-ass plot twist that invalidated the whole story at the end.)
Wild ARMs XF (great tactical RPG gameplay, great music, terrible writing)
Ys Seven (overlong, with the worst story in the series up to that point and tedious MMO-influenced gameplay where it takes ten times as many hits as before to kill anything)
ZHP: Absolute Unlosing Ranger or whatever that dumb title was (a decent roguelike, I don't remember much about it though)
As you can see, I was still pretty much in my All-RPG period - the two SH games and Kenka Bancho were early experiments in expanding my horizons in the modern era (I'd played action games as a kid).
These are the games I've picked up to try:
FFVII: Crisis Core (Ex 's praise and my recent playthrough of FFVIII have convinced me to try this one - it seemed corny to me before, but I think it looks cool now)
Shinobidou (a stealth ninja game in a franchise Acquire created after losing Tenchu, EU-only for the English release)
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Tenchu: Time of the Assassins (aka Tenchu 4, Acquire's return to the series and a fan-favorite among the later games, also EU-only)
And of course, the second PSP Yakuza game is on my list.
So what am I missing? I'm open to any genre.
Beyond that, feel free to discuss any of the games mentioned, of course.