Picking up from where we left off in PWB this month.
Isn't the Vita still a lovely machine? Best handheld ever made for me, I think: really comfortable to hold, decent sticks and buttons, an amazing screen, trophy support, PS4 remote play, a decent range of titles, PSP and PS1 compatibility… it had, and still has, so much going for it.
Sadly it was always criminally undersupported by Sony who seemed to give up releasing big games for it within a few months of its release. It became a bit of an indie games machine for a while but never to the extent that the Switch has.
There were a few silly decisions taken along the way - the proprietory memory card was ridiculous (but probably helped to keep the cost of the machine down), and the back panel touch controls never really worked - but I still think the Vita had lots of potential that was never fully realised.
I think the key thing that makes the Vita for me is that it's small enough and light enough to hold up in front of you while you're playing - if you try that with the Switch then your arms soon start to ache and you'll feel the need to prop it up on something. It's a different experience. It's got me looking again at the Switch Lite but I can't believe it's got the form factor or comfort levels of the Vita. Also the Vita screen is far less reflective than the Switch so I don't find myself staring at my big stupid face every time the screen fades to black.
Anyway, key Vita games for me. Persona 4 Golden, obviously. Disgaea 3 & 4 (and 1 & 2 via PSP compatibility). Everybody's Golf (every Sony console needs one of these). Unit 13 (criminally under-rated shootyman score attack game that I think only me and cav ever played). Gravity Rush. Virtue's Last Reward. And loads of stuff that I could have played elsewhere but which fitted this machine so well: the FFX remakes, Guacamelee, Spelunky, Dragon's Crown, OlliOlli 2, Rogue Legacy and so on. What have I missed?
I have a Vita. I don't know how to use it because I stole it from a job I worked at that collapsed. I think I have a charging cable for it. I know I have a memory card for it. I want to use it to play retro games on emulators but apparently this is just impossible.
It's possibly one of my favourite consoles, not just handhelds.
You missed the Velocity and Danganronpa games off your list too.
The remote play can be hit or miss, it's never really clear which connection type works the best but I basically did all of Mementos in Persona 5, played all of Life is Strange, did most of the levelling and job quests for Fisher in FFXIV all via Remote Play.
Not sure how I forgot Danganronpa, the second game was the last thing I played on the device. I have Ultra Despair Girls and D3 to play still, so I still have new Vita games to play.
Other games that are elsewhere, but fit perfectly on Vita:
Salt and Sanctuary
La-Mulana EX (I'm biased, I helped put this on there!)
Risk of Rain
FEZ (I love FEZ)
Mercenary Kings
Steamworld Heist
Wipeout 2048
Crypt of the Necromancer
Plus the PSP versions of Loco Rico and Ridge Racer are awesome on it. The Vita-specific RR sucks though.
I also have some great PSOne games on there, like Metal Gear Solid and Alundra. And I was lucky to fall into the very short window where Sony accidentally made non-Vita compatible PSP games available for download, meaning I have Rock Band Unplugged on mine with a tonne of DLC.
Someone mentioned the AR stuff? There was a really clever little box-opening game called Open Me! that reminded me of Suzuki Bakuhatsu, that's worth a look if you can find it.
I’ve still got mine somewhere. It was amazing. The only genuinely pocket-sized handheld console I’ve ever owned. I think you and me may be the only people who bought it, though, Mart. It came out around the time that piracy and custom firmware had completely knocked the arse out of the PSP market.
Everybody's Golf Vita was the best golf game I've ever played. I tried the PS3 version but it didn't have the same magic, for some reason. I also remember really enjoying Uncharted, back when they thought the Vita's role was handheld PS3, and not home of weird indie stuff.
Switch Lite has nabbed the title of 'best handheld eva' for me, but yeah Vita was a bit special.
Everybody's Golf Vita was the best golf game I've ever played. I tried the PS3 version but it didn't have the same magic, for some reason.
Neither does the PS4 version. Shame.
Switch Lite has nabbed the title of 'best handheld eva' for me
To be fair, the Lite does have the hold-ability that the regular Switch doesn't. I'm definitely in the boat of using my Lite portably over our TV-based regular one.
Dunno if the loss of the web store has done something, but the Vita store appears to now operate at a snail's pace. I've been downloading a 500mb now for over 90 mins on a 150mb/s fibre connection, and keep getting dropout errors about it not being able to download halfway through. Gah.
Having to pick what I want on Vita us going to be hard. My memory card is full (I have the biggest one), but looking over my download list has me wanting to regrab things I don't have currently. That's gonna hurt when the inevitable wind-up of the service happens.
I really want to try out a Switch Lite, but obviously with lockdown that's not been possible. I should in theory love the Switch but I can't get on with it: in docked mode it's just an underpowered console and in handheld mode it's just plain heavy and uncomfortable. I even bought the Hori Split Pad in an effort to make it more comfortable to hold and I guess it does but it's bigger and heavier than ever now. If the Switch Lite genuinely gives Vita-style comfort then I'd buy one tomorrow, but I'm not willing to double-dip on a console I don't like without trying it (and there's a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that Nintendo are going to announce a more powerful Switch soon too, anyway).
ANYWAY Vita talk - web store seems OK for me, it was always fairly slow but then the Vita because of its age only supports 2.4GHz wifi and never ran that fast anyway. I take it you've unticked "Use Wifi in Power Save mode" because if you've got that ticked, it does everything at a crawl…
I've been playing Everybody's Golf on PS4 this week actually, it's pretty good but no Vita version. I noticed there is Everybody's Golf 2 for Vita on the store for about six quid, I must go see if that was any good, I had no idea there had been a second one. (EDIT: it's the PSP version). And there are a few games on Mart's list there I'm not familiar with that I need to check out.
I've remembered another one: Grand Kingdom. Kind of SRPG-type thing that came out on PS4 as well but was very well-suited to the Vita. I'm going to have to go through my download list and see what I've got, I've got a right load of rubbish on there at the moment and I'm also slightly concerned that at some point soon Sony will just chop the whole lot. I wonder how much physical releases go for these days…
Grand Kingdom was excellent, though that really needed an internet connection to get the most out of it from what I remember, can't see them having the servers on any more.
Physical games are silly expansive for Vita from the few games I've searched for.
Worked out my connection problem: the Vita was hooking itself up to the temporary shit house internet point I was using when I moved in, not mine. Fixed!
And oh god, I totally forgot that my Vita was once my Zen Pinball 2 machine. I love Zen Pinball. While I wait for ZP4 which is supposedly in development, I might have to reinstall it…
Final Fantasy 1 up to 10-2 can be played on the Vita, including stuff like Tactics, at one point my memory stick held all 11 games at once with me. IMO that's kinda insane, and a nice little series playthrough right there if you want a taste of history. :p
I guess Wev can claim this for the PSP nation if he wants(though it's better on PC) but I played Trails in the Sky SC last year and imo if you count it on Vita due to availability, it challenges Persona 4 for best RPG on the system. (Well, Cold Steel 1 and 2 are Vita games too cough)
Tales of Hearts R is sorely underrated, not only one of my favourite Tales games (might even be like, 4th?) but one of my favourite Vita RPGs.
@Garwoofoo Seonaid bought herself the Switch Lite to play Animal Crossing and it is nice enough, it's exactly what you are looking for as long as you don't mind it feeling plasticy and a little cheap. I guess that helps reduce the weight though.
I bought a PSPGo. Lovely console. Still have it as a hacked unit for PSP games and PS1 emulation.
I still also have two Vitas, one on a US account and one UK back when…. I can't believe I'm going to write this…. it was worth having a US and UK PS+ account. Anyway - the US one is where I started P4G (which I'm tens of hours into but haven't fully finished) and remains basically a box for just that game. The UK one I played on a bit recently and like Gar I was stuck by how good it still was. The form factor is better than the Switch (but still awkward), though I have a nice grip for it which makes it more comfortable. And as mentioned in the PWB thread it's only clunky online and UI aspects (and the slightly lo rez screen) that really give it away as a product from years ago.
I still think it's the best go to platform for Jax and Daxter and the Sly Cooper games. Sly Cooper 3 in particular remains a technical marvel on it. Everybody's Golf is wonderful. I still rate Unit 13 and Killzone as great examples of repurposing shooters into a more bite sized focused score attack experience. Loads of great RPGs and that Monster Hunter clone I can never remember the name of. Just a great machine.
I guess Wev can claim this for the PSP nation if he wants(though it's better on PC) but I played Trails in the Sky SC last year and imo if you count it on Vita due to availability, it challenges Persona 4 for best RPG on the system. (Well, Cold Steel 1 and 2 are Vita games too cough)
I had a quick look on the Vita store as the PSP section in particular has been completely decimated.
Trails in the Sky 1 isn't on there any more but SC is. Both of the Cold Steel games are there and have about a million bits of DLC each.
I'm actually fairly sure I've got TITS 1 (that's its official name now by the way) in my download list, I remember buying it years ago but not actually really playing much more than the first hour.
You're going to tell me these are all worth buying while they're still available, aren't you?
He plays through everything in a week though, he has the same level of quality control when it comes to RPGs as a dog does when it comes to piles of vomit.
People say the first is slow but I believe you've said as much yourself before so you know what to expect, SC is (as Kiseki sequels like to do apparently) pretty much raring to go from the start. As for Cold Steel the PS4 remasters are way too good to tell someone to go Vita over them, but the first two Cold Steels were in fact Vita first/exclusives and as much as they just barely run I still think that's really cool.
TITS 2 introduces the Ouroboros, my favourite 'kooky boss squad' since MGS1 Foxhound!
Right so I've been through my massive unsortable downloads list and installed a few goodies from this thread - Trails in the Sky, Sly Racoon 2 (only ever played the first one) and Hohokum. Got no idea what that last one is but it's got the Mart seal of approval so got to be worth a go, right? Already got La-Mulana and Fez on there as well as a load of other titles both good and bad.
I'm actually slightly amazed at how many games there are on this thing I want to play, or replay. (Tactics Ogre is every bit as good as I remember it).
Also I'm absolutely astonished at how much shit there is for the Vita in my download list. I'd kind of forgotten that Sony continued giving away games for it on PS+ until very recently, and the amount of stuff I've just acquired without even looking at it is quite amazing really. I bet there are some hidden gems in there somewhere.
There's a certain atmosphere to climbing that tower in Ys Origin that hits just right. Combat feels smooth as butter and the bosses are a fun and fairly significant challenge inbetween your mostly uninterrupted dungeon crawl.
I have yet to play them but Ys I and II are on there too, and feature a combat system that simply involves running into the enemy at an angle. You can practically hear the PSP scream 'MY SLIDER WAS MADE FOR THIS' as we speak.
Also, the 2D fighters were also pretty good - Blazblue Continuum Shift for example.
When I was playing Tekken Tag Tournament 2 back in the day I downloaded PSP Tekken 6 purely for training mode.
Undertale is on there and it's one of the best RPG's I've ever played…
It's got a sequel now, on Switch no less but I really enjoyed what I played of Dragon Quest Builders on Vita. Take Minecraft, put it in the Dragon Quest world and give yourself missions to do and you have this really charming building/defense game. At certain points you will be attacked and it really is satisfying to see those DQ monsters break themselves on your personally made defenses. If nothing else it's a series people should look into, there's a demo for 2 out now at least.
Also, the 2D fighters were also pretty good - Blazblue Continuum Shift for example.
As much as the games might have been good, the one failing of the Vita was the precision of the controls. Hitting diagonals successfully was a chore, because the D-pad wasn't up to snuff and the analogue sticks weren't much better. Any game that requires precise inputs at speed was pretty much fucked. I remember being really excited for Dustforce coming out (yeah, I know) and the Vita version being nigh-on unplayable because the inputs just couldn't hack it. Hmm.
I have a Vita. I don't know how to use it because I stole it from a job I worked at that collapsed. I think I have a charging cable for it. I know I have a memory card for it. I want to use it to play retro games on emulators but apparently this is just impossible.
Not done it myself but that is easier than possible at the moment I believe according to my mate - He sent me this link as this is what he used. I haven't done this yet myself as similarly can't find my charger!
Onto Chapter 2 of Tactics Ogre - already feel a little underpowered, probably need to go read a guide!
It's a lot harder than I was expecting. I'm stuck on (I think) the third map, where you have to defend an NPC from an enemy horde. Unfortunately that NPC is (a) on the other side of the map and (b) a complete moron, and there seems to be no way I can get to her to heal her before she inevitably suicides by running straight into a load of enemies. Even my one fairly competent winged character can only make it 75% of the way there before she dies and I get a Game Over.
I must have done this level back in 2011 or so when I first played it so I know it can be done, but…
I don't know where mine is, currently. Improbably, the multi-plug extension lead next to my bed, where my phone charger is plugged in, still has my Vita charger plugged into it. I've never been able to put it away, because every time I go to unplug it and store it in a drawer or the warehouse from the end of Indiana Jones, I think, "I should dig my Vita out again."
The download list became the biggest problem with the console, in my opinion. Early on in my ownership of it, I bought a DLC pack of a ton of extra cars and bits and pieces for a top-down racing game, and ever since, every piece of that DLC sits in the list as an individual entry. Literally hundreds of them. It takes several minutes to scroll past them all, and of course they're near the start of the list. It makes installing anything, or even browsing what games I have, an unbelievable chore. You have to settle in for 10-15 minutes of scrolling, no exaggeration. Try it - that is a long time to spend just scrolling.
Wasn't there also an issue with how it handled save games? If you wanted to delete games and keep the save files, you had to connect the console to a PC and copy the files onto the PC, is that right?
But despite these idiosyncrasies, what an amazing machine.
Wasn't there also an issue with how it handled save games? If you wanted to delete games and keep the save files, you had to connect the console to a PC and copy the files onto the PC, is that right?
Yes. Again there's that phone influence coming through. Delete the game and it cheerfully throws all your save files away with it. Not fun when you're working with a relatively tiny memory card and swapping things in and out all the time.
They did partially fix it though - now there's a PS+ option at the top of each game's UI screen (the screen you press Start on, after you've tapped the bubble) and from there you can either manually back up your save online, or set the game to automatically upload the saves once a day. It's not perfect - you still need to manually switch it on for each game, and it doesn't work for PSP titles - but it's a lifesaver really.
The download list is baffling though. It can't be sorted, or even filtered to "stuff I can download on this machine". It has to show you everything you've ever bought on every Sony machine up to and including the PS3. It's supposed to be in purchase date order but half my stuff has been given an arbitrary date of April 2020 so it's effectively random. You'd think this would have been an easy software fix but no.
Woah, hold on, am I thinking about Sly 4 on Vita not 3?
Yes, I think I am. Thieves in Time is the one that pretty much was identical between home console and Vita and all the more astounding for it. But the entire Sly Collection is great, you can see them slowly nailing the formula and ironing out less successful mechanics. I even quite like the characters and story (for what it is).
In terms of installing on the Vita - is it still possible to go to the PS webstore and force a Vita install from there? I seem to remember doing that to bypass the download list mayhem on the device itself.
All Vita (and PS3) stuff has been taken off the web store so no, you can't do that.
You can still do it via the store on the device itself though and it's often the quickest way - however it obviously won't work for stuff that's been taken off the store (mainly PSP games I think). For those the only way is download list hell.
I've got Thieves in Time in my download list for both PS3 and Vita and I'm damn sure I never bought it. Did they give it away on PS+ at some point? I did buy the Sly collection (1-3) though and can only find 1 and 2 in my download list, however I can force install 3 from the store. This is all a massive shambles really.
I also have a game in my list called "Whoa, Dave" which I'm going to install just to see if it can possibly be as terrible as I think it's going to be.
Can you still back up Vita games in their entirety to a PC? I think you used to be able to do that but using some odd Sony proprietary program that probably doesn't exist any more. I can see at some point I'm going to want to back up everything I own on Vita because it's all going to disappear before long.
Onto Chapter 2 of Tactics Ogre - already feel a little underpowered, probably need to go read a guide!
I must have done this level back in 2011 or so when I first played it so I know it can be done, but…
Equip your priests with a Lobber. Or give the winged guy a scroll of healing. I don’t think he can actually cast a heal spell but he can read a scroll.
It’s a recurring mission style - just done one in a swamp, and I’m two levels bellow learning to Wade!
I sold my Vita a while back*, and now I'm sad I can't play Sly 4 again. If only the PS3 version would work on PS5; makes you appreciate Microsoft's approach.
*Despite being an adult with disposable income, for some reason I always sell my old consoles to make new consoles Free Via Martonomics. And I always, without fail, regret it.
I did not sell my Vita, but I have no idea where I put it. Still, consensus here largely seems to be that it was a great JRPG machine, and those were never really my jam.
I did like Uncharted, though, and "multiplayer" aside, ACIII Liberation was a great little game (and miles better than mainline ACIII).
Man. That is a real kick in the balls, especially as they were giving away games for the thing on PS+ only a year or two ago. It's not like the Vita supports big cheap memory cards either, so backing stuff up to a PC is going to be a major undertaking.
EDIT: I've seen it suggested that this probably refers to the Store only, i.e. you won't be able to buy any new games but your Download List will still be accessible to allow you to download previous purchases. It would be good to get some clarification!
If this isn't a sign to stop flip flopping on Persona 2 I don't know what is. (It's like 25 pounds and we can't even play the second part in EU legally, come on)
I'm weirdly invested in this because of a blanket move to digital when I got my PS3 slim after the fat one died & I sold all my boxed games. Sony are going to clarify things in an announcement at the end of this month (the specific date was included in the thing I read but that was earlier today).
I sort of did this from the PS3 and Vita too, only because so many of the games I played were in PS+, it's left me with no real idea of what games I actually own.
Anyway, having a games collection is kind of futile when servers can be shut down or game-critical updates not maintained. My PSone Wipeout 3 disc stopped playing in my PS3 at some point in the last few years.
There comes a point when it's more reliable to just buy old games on eBay or emulate them when you actually want to play them.
