PSP Games recommendation wanted

[Whoracle]

Greeting, Playground.
I am currently in Japan and I'll be buying a PSP on friday.
And since I'm quite a bit out of touch with current games I'll need recommendations for my first game.

Things I enjoy:
- jRPGs in the vein of Final Fantasy until IX / Secret of Mana / Chrono Trigger
- Action games that are not FPSes (Love FPSes, but definitely NOT on a handheld console)
- Story heavy games
- Crazy stuff a la Kindom Hearts
- Horror games

I don't know any japanese, so bear in mind that I'll be buying games available in english only.
Apart from that the game should keep me interested during my 11-hour flight home plus some time before/afterwards, so I'm looking for roughly 15-20 hours gametime.

I was thinking about Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
What games would you recommend?

[Ogremindes]

Persona for PSP is good, if you don't mind a fairly old-school first-person dungeon crawler. There's Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea and Disgaea 2 on the tactical RPG front. That's about all of the PSP games I have that I'd readily recommend. Also, it's not out 'til the 7th of June 6th of July, but Persona 3 Portable should be one to buy. (I <3 P3)

[Terraoblivion]

Have you played Persona 3 on the PS2?

If not get it once the English version is released in July. However, it might be tricky getting your hands on in Europe, i supposed. It is a story heavy JRPG with what i consider the second best writing in the genre, only beaten by Persona 4. The gameplay is quite good, but not excellent, but the writing more than makes up for that, it has a complex plot with simply incredible characters.

Similarly once Valkyria Chronicles 2 gets released outside Japan i would recommend it. From what i can tell Japanese reviewers considered it as good as the first one which i consider to be the best game of the current generation. It is a tactical RPG that breaks the usual rigid grid structure of the genre and includes some realtime elements. It is also stunningly beautiful with the watercolor graphics, though of course the PSP cannot pull off as good graphics as the PS3. I don't know about the quality of the plot for the second one, but the first one had an excellent, well-written plot very light on originality. That last part is a shame of course, but there should be plenty of plot to keep you entertained.

Beyond this i cannot say much, however, as i don't actually own a PSP and is just recommending games that i either loved or loved the predecessor of on a different platform. They should be worth looking into at least.

[Drascin]

- Action games that are not FPSes (Love FPSes, but definitely NOT on a handheld console)

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Awesome game, and you'll get easily a few hundred hours out of it, not twenty :smalltongue:. Word to the wise, though - it's a bit harder than we've come to expect of recent games. And if you're an RPG player, the whole equipment creation thing is likely to drink you up :smallwink:.

Other than that...

-Disgaea 1 and 2 are still as good as they were in PS2, which is very much so. If you like tactics RPGs definitely give them a try.
-Tokobot is a little unknown game that is more or less a Zelda clone but with a mass of little robots that have different orders, instead of weapons and tools. Fun little game.
- Half-Minute Hero. How does beating an RPG in 30 seconds sound? What about a half-thousand of them? Half Minute Hero is more or less a huge parody of every fantasy RPG cliché in existence, with absurd but fun gameplay and characters, and graphics in the most classic NES style.
- Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? Basically, a Ghosts&Goblins platformer with hilarious dialogue, beautiful sprite graphics, and chew-toy snarky exploding murderer penguins as the main characters. And if that doesn't convince you, I just don't know what else you want.
-Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. Did you play the original Valkyrie Profile? If yes, give the remake a pass. If you haven't, and you like RPGs, for the love of Freya, get this.

[Whoracle]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'll definitely look into the games.
But I should have clarified in my first post that I'm currently looking for one game only that'll save me from death through boredom on the flight home, and am not too sure about crisis core.

So, to reiterate: If you could recommend exactly one game as a must-have, one that was already released in europe or stateside, or is going to be released before May, 31st what would that be?

Keep the other recommendations coming, nontheless. I'll check them after I' back home.

[krko]

-Disgaea 1 and 2 are still as good as they were in PS2, which is very much so. If you like tactics RPGs definitely give them a try.


Disagree. They are far better than they were in the PS2 version :smallbiggrin:. They've added a lot of small things that make playing the game much more enjoyable and far less frustrating.

[Daremonai]

My personal recommendations given your linguistic restrictions would be simple & fun things like LocoRoco, Monster Hunter and Katamari Damacy (Maybe Dissidia?), but you're probably going to have a hard time getting anything rpg-like if you don't know Japanese.

Hell, looking at the collection on my shelves, unless you memorise the cover art or have someone to help you, even finding the games in a shop might be an issue - the titles of all mine are written in Japanese script.

Edit: My advice is based on the idea that you'll be wanting to buy games for it before you come back. Also, Crisis Core is quite text-heavy. I'd recommend it in English, but not in Japanese.

[Winter_Wolf]

You know, I just really need to ask this: are you going to run into any region restrictions buying a Japanese PSP then using other countries' games? I use custom firmware so I don't know if region locking is something that PSPs have. What I do know is that every unmodified console I've ever had doesn't play games for other regions.

What I mean is, if you're intent on playing games in English, you'll want to make sure before you buy the PSP that you have proof that you can play the games you're looking at getting. A sales person saying "oh sure, of course you can" is NOT proof. Like I said, it might be a non-issue, but don't get it then find out you outsmarted yourself after the fact.

Game recommendation wise, do you consider car racing games as "non-FPS action"? 'Cause if you do, then PSP Need for Speed Carbon is actually enjoyable. Need for Speed: Most Wanted is borderline and probably not worth it if you're not a huge fan of racing games. Midnight Club DUB edition/LA Remix might be worth it.

Otherwise the only games I have are Tekken and a bunch of Japanese games, so can't really recommend anything in your interests.

[jamroar]

You know, I just really need to ask this: are you going to run into any region restrictions buying a Japanese PSP then using other countries' games? I use custom firmware so I don't know if region locking is something that PSPs have. What I do know is that every unmodified console I've ever had doesn't play games for other regions.

AFAIK, no PSP games are region-locked. Videos UMDs are, however.

[Daremonai]

Really? I had no trouble playing Japanese movie UMDs on my UK PSP - but then the UK and Japan are the same region number for DVDs (barring PAL/NTSC differences)

[Flickerdart]

Wipeout Pulse is wonderful, Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core is as well. From more recent games, Half-Minute Hero is one of a kind and provides excellent bursts of fun to play on the bus between stops or something.

[Drascin]

So, to reiterate: If you could recommend exactly one game as a must-have, one that was already released in europe or stateside, or is going to be released before May, 31st what would that be?


If I need to recommend one single PSP game, I stand by my first recommendation. Freedom Unite is basically the best bang-for-buck ratio the console has, easily, when it comes to playtime and sheer stuff.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Although I must admit I haven't played it myself, I'm going to get a PSP for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZXdCunDe_A) alone. It's already out in Japan. Watch that trailer, see if it's relevant to your interests.

[Hunter Noventa]

I'd have to recommend Disgaea 1 for PSP myself. Hilarious and fun and plenty time-consuming.

FFT : War of the Lions is also good, though the graphical slowdown makes those who played the original FFT, like me, irritated.

Also, there are plenty of PS1 games availble for download onto the PSP via the PlayStation Network. You can get some classics like Suikoden, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, and FF7 downloaded right to your PSP's memory card.

I of course, assume you're not buying a PSP Go.

[ZeroNumerous]

FFT : War of the Lions is also good, though the graphical slowdown makes those who played the original FFT, like me, irritated.

I endorse this endorsement.

[tonberrian]

I'd have to recommend Disgaea 1 for PSP myself. Hilarious and fun and plenty time-consuming.

FFT : War of the Lions is also good, though the graphical slowdown makes those who played the original FFT, like me, irritated.

Also, there are plenty of PS1 games availble for download onto the PSP via the PlayStation Network. You can get some classics like Suikoden, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, and FF7 downloaded right to your PSP's memory card.

I of course, assume you're not buying a PSP Go.

I agree with everything here, except one item.

I haven't played the original FFT, but the graphical slowdown irritates me too.

[Hunter Noventa]

I agree with everything here, except one item.

I haven't played the original FFT, but the graphical slowdown irritates me too.

The really sad part is, you can play the original FFT on the PSP, either via PSN or hacking, and there's no slowdown at all. Which basically means they had to have done it on purpose. Which is just kind of :confused:

[arguskos]

Wipeout Pulse is wonderful
I preferred Wipeout Pure, personally. Pulse was fun, but Pure was just like 50ccs of straight Wipeout goodness to the heart. It was distilled joy in game form. :smallbiggrin:

[Arutema]

For oldschool jRPGs, let me recommend Lunar: Silver Star Harmony.

God of War: Chains of Olympus did a good job of preserving the action from the PS2 games, but it's just not very long.