the PSP shortlist

larry, what the fuck is this shit?

it's unfortunate that the PSP gets as much flak as it regularly does. lots of people seem to think of it as a lesser vita and not even the vita gets enough respect - but that's another list entirely

the truth is there's a lot of cool PSP games and the purpose of this list is to put a spotlight on the console's most interesting titles. not everything here is an endorsement - i don't give two shits about psp god of war - this is more of a general resource. if i feel it has an audience, then on it goes

notes will be for recommendations and clarifications. one entry per series - i don't want to artificially clutter things. games with multiple ports will be included if the other versions are either on DS or they're significantly less accessible in general

i haven't played this but i get the vibe that y'all are just whiny about it - and my gut's usually right
see also: 7th dragon 20202-ii
see also: mercury meltdown
see also: the other armored core portable games (i don't know why you'd want to play them over their ps2 counterparts though)

there's a few different versions of formula front. the english release includes direct control (which is dumb given the concept of the game, but it's there) and the 'international' release is the one with the most content
see also: burnout dominator
MEET 'N' FUCK KINGDOM, STEVE!
if you're familiar with armored core formula front, then think of this as a significantly more hardcore form of that

it's a sequel to a niche ps1 game that's all about mecha programming. if that sounds cool to you, then give it a look
see also: coded arms contagion

i find this series especially noteworthy for being the only(?) fps on psp that figured out how to not control like absolute piss. face buttons to move and thumbstick to aim works perfectly
reunion is different enough. i say stick to the original. better voice acting and the dedicated dodge button is unnecessary
see also: death jr. ii
expanded port on 3ds
see also: the other games. i don't feel like listing them. bear in mind some of the international versions have a shitty autocorrect feature. go for the jp releases where that's applicable

you're probably better off playing respect or trilogy but hey - these ones are much easier to access
has a fan translation
i had this shit on ios and it slapped for an incredible machine clone
not ugly as shit like the remaster, but supposedly has a worse translation. pick your poison
has a fan patch for menus
see also: generation of chaos, aedis eclipse

cool real-time-with-pause gameplay which is not found in the rest of the series

don't get to see that very often outside of the growlanser series
when you're a fan of this series you kinda have to take what you can get. if you're on a real psp with cfw, then you can rebind the controls with the right plugin (see my note for 'coded arms')

if you're on an emulator this is obviously less of an issue. just bind the face buttons to a stick if you want. the game's designed in a way that's clearly aware of its clunk, but it still feels pretty shitty
expanded port
see also: ghost of sparta
see also: vice city stories, liberty city stories
not officially localized, but the majority of the game is already in english
has a switch port but it's only in japanese
egoraptor recommends you don't play this game. he claims it "fuckin' sucks balls"
has a fan translation
has expanded ports on 360 and pc, but they're a little different. balancing changes and a few missing quests prevent this from being invalidated
see also: project diva, project diva extend
see also: xross impact

both are untranslated beat em ups, but you can play them without understanding japanese
has ports now, but it's too much of a flagship title for me to exclude
has a fan translation which currently covers all text that isn't story
completely different from the ps3 version
see also: locoroco 2, midnight carnival
see also: lumines 2

all-timers for the falling block genre here
i'd highly recommend the ps1 version, but if you hate working designs and you're content with rpgs playing themselves, there's this
see also: maverick hunter x
see also: ac!d 2, portable ops, portable ops plus, piss walker
see also: ultimate ninja heroes 2-3, ultimate ninja impact, legends akatsuki rising, kizuna drive
see also: the badman series (this is the third game)
see also: patapon 2 and 3
see also: p2 innocent sin (play that first), p3 portable, persona 1

this is the best version of p2ep now that the fan translation exists. spare yourself the painful maya and tatsuya voices from ps1
see also: phantasy star portable; pretty sure that 2 infinity is the exact same game as 2 but with more content
original ps1 version is translated as well and seems to be more highly recommended
see also: prinny 2

there's a switch port, but that's exclusive enough to keep this on the list imo
see also: rengoku 1

roguelike action game. vaguely reminiscent of armored core in the sense that you're actively changing out your mech's parts
see also: ratchet & clank size matters
see also: the sequel on ps vita
ps2 version is censored
see also: tales of the world radiant mythology, tales of phantasia nariki dungeon x (has a fan patch for menus)
has a fan translation. other games are translated on ds
has an expanded port on ps2
see also: valkyria chronicles 3
see also: wipeout pulse
has a fan translation. interesting fmv game
see also: tag force 1-2

or don't - apparently they're a lot worse
better known as disaster crisis 3. has a fan translation

14 Comments


6 months ago

Love this list - Just started playing Burnout Legends and have been looking for more PSP titles worth checking out

6 months ago

hard vouch for half minute hero but is there a problem with its pc port to include it here

6 months ago

@apocynadeae i kept it for a combination of it being especially significant to the system + the windows version being different, rebalanced, new art, etc.

6 months ago

forgot to write a note specifying that though, which i just did

6 months ago

God I remember Buzz being everywhere in the late 2000s. Not sure if it ever had a ps3 entry or not.

6 months ago

Also since you have Mercury on here, I highly recommend you check out Archer Mcleans Pool for the Gamecube. Haven't played it yet myself but it's one of the few "hidden gem" gamecube games that is still relatively hidden.

6 months ago

My only gripe with the PSP is the little nub stick. I think it was last year, I bought Medal of Honor heroes, and trying to play it with that damn nub was painful.

6 months ago

the three original project divas should also be here, most of them are fire

6 months ago

gitaroo man lives its also a must on the console

6 months ago

Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy is a must-have. Valkyria Chronicles 2+3 also deserve a mention due to 1+4 being the only ones readily available on most platforms.

6 months ago

@toasterninja pool's not at the top of my interests but i'll give that a look sometime. thanks

@postwar added all of those. gitaroo man was left off on purpose as it's a ps2 game, but i didn't realize live was an expanded version with some new content

@hooblashooga thanks - i had both of those open in separate tabs and somehow forgot to add them. good eye

6 months ago

yeah the 30MH thing makes sense, I never played the original version but I put a lot of hours on the pc port and its multiplayer; one of those games I forget about but when reminded I can really reccomend it.

For Knights in the Nightmare id probably put a note for Gungnir since it's only got a japanese-only switch port iirc alongside Knights's, and the psp has every Dept. Heaven game making it the best version for all of them (Yggdra's pc port aside but theyre negligible differences)

6 months ago

@apocynadeae good call - i just gave it its own entry. i know dept. heaven is technically a series but i'll consider it more akin to final fantasy since nothing seems to be directly connected and they're not numbered. i feel that'll prolly minimize confusion

6 months ago

(not that ff games aren't numbered - but x has nothing to do with xiii, so on so forth)


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