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

Burnout Legends
Burnout Legends
see also: burnout dominator
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
see also: vice city stories, liberty city stories
Lumines
Lumines
see also: lumines 2

all-timers for the falling block genre here
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
reunion is different enough. i say stick to the original. better voice acting and the dedicated dodge button is unnecessary
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix
has ports now, but it's too much of a flagship title for me to exclude
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge

Unrated

Black Rock Shooter: The Game
Black Rock Shooter: The Game

Unrated

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light
Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light

Unrated

Carnage Heart EXA
Carnage Heart EXA
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

Unrated

Crush
Crush

Unrated

Dead Head Fred
Dead Head Fred

Unrated

Digimon World Re:Digitize
Digimon World Re:Digitize
expanded port on 3ds

Unrated

Echochrome
Echochrome

Unrated

Gitaroo Man Lives!
Gitaroo Man Lives!
expanded port

Unrated

Grand Knights History
Grand Knights History

Unrated

Half-Minute Hero
Half-Minute Hero
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

Unrated

Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist
Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist
see also: xross impact

both are untranslated beat em ups, but you can play them without understanding japanese

Unrated

Jeanne d'Arc
Jeanne d'Arc

Unrated

Knights in the Nightmare
Knights in the Nightmare

Unrated

Last Ranker
Last Ranker
has a fan translation which currently covers all text that isn't story

Unrated

No Heroes Allowed!
No Heroes Allowed!
see also: the badman series (this is the third game)

Unrated

PoPoLoCrois
PoPoLoCrois
original ps1 version is translated as well and seems to be more highly recommended

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Tales of Eternia
Tales of Eternia
see also: tales of the world radiant mythology, tales of phantasia nariki dungeon x (has a fan patch for menus)

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Tokobot
Tokobot
has an expanded port on ps2

Unrated

WTF: Work Time Fun
WTF: Work Time Fun

Unrated

7th Dragon 2020
7th Dragon 2020
see also: 7th dragon 20202-ii

Unrated

Archer Maclean's Mercury
Archer Maclean's Mercury
see also: mercury meltdown

Unrated

Armored Core: Formula Front
Armored Core: Formula Front
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

Unrated

Brandish: The Dark Revenant
Brandish: The Dark Revenant

Unrated

Buzz!: Master Quiz
Buzz!: Master Quiz
MEET 'N' FUCK KINGDOM, STEVE!

Unrated

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

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Coded Arms
Coded Arms
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

Unrated

Cube
Cube

Unrated

Daxter
Daxter

Unrated

Death Jr.
Death Jr.
see also: death jr. ii

Unrated

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

Unrated

DJMax Portable
DJMax Portable
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

Unrated

Echo Night: The First Voyage
Echo Night: The First Voyage
has a fan translation

Unrated

Enigmo
Enigmo
i had this shit on ios and it slapped for an incredible machine clone

Unrated

Every Extend Extra
Every Extend Extra

Unrated

Exit
Exit

Unrated

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake

Unrated

Final Fantasy Type-0
Final Fantasy Type-0
not ugly as shit like the remaster, but supposedly has a worse translation. pick your poison

Unrated

Frontier Gate Boost+
Frontier Gate Boost+
has a fan patch for menus

Unrated

Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection
Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection
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

Unrated

Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyaku-nen no Toki
Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyaku-nen no Toki
has an english translation

Unrated

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
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

Unrated

God of War: Chains of Olympus
God of War: Chains of Olympus
see also: ghost of sparta

Unrated

GripShift
GripShift

Unrated

Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of the Time
Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of the Time

Unrated

Gundam Battle Universe
Gundam Battle Universe
not officially localized, but the majority of the game is already in english

Unrated

Gungnir
Gungnir
has a switch port but it's only in japanese

Unrated

Gunpey
Gunpey
egoraptor recommends you don't play this game. he claims it "fuckin' sucks balls"

Unrated

.hack//Link
.hack//Link
has a fan translation

Unrated

Hammerin' Hero
Hammerin' Hero

Unrated

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd
see also: project diva, project diva extend

Unrated

Hexyz Force
Hexyz Force

Unrated

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

Unrated

Killzone: Liberation
Killzone: Liberation

Unrated

Kingdom of Paradise
Kingdom of Paradise

Unrated

Kurohyou: Ryuu ga Gotoku Shinshou
Kurohyou: Ryuu ga Gotoku Shinshou
see also: kurohyou 2

Unrated

LittleBigPlanet
LittleBigPlanet
completely different from the ps3 version

Unrated

LocoRoco
LocoRoco
see also: locoroco 2, midnight carnival

Unrated

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
i'd highly recommend the ps1 version, but if you hate working designs and you're content with rpgs playing themselves, there's this

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Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man Powered Up
see also: maverick hunter x

Unrated

Metal Gear Acid
Metal Gear Acid
see also: ac!d 2, portable ops, portable ops plus, piss walker

Unrated

Mimana Iyar Chronicle
Mimana Iyar Chronicle

Unrated

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
hd port on ps3

Unrated

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes
see also: ultimate ninja heroes 2-3, ultimate ninja impact, legends akatsuki rising, kizuna drive

Unrated

Neverland Card Battles
Neverland Card Battles

Unrated

Patapon
Patapon
see also: patapon 2 and 3

Unrated

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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

Unrated

Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity
Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity
see also: phantasy star portable; pretty sure that 2 infinity is the exact same game as 2 but with more content

Unrated

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?
Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?
see also: prinny 2

there's a switch port, but that's exclusive enough to keep this on the list imo

Unrated

Queen's Blade: Spiral Chaos
Queen's Blade: Spiral Chaos

Unrated

Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N.
Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N.
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

Unrated

Resistance: Retribution
Resistance: Retribution

Unrated

Secret Agent Clank
Secret Agent Clank
see also: ratchet & clank size matters

Unrated

Shinobido: Tales of the Ninja
Shinobido: Tales of the Ninja
see also: the sequel on ps vita

Unrated

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
ps2 version is censored

Unrated

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

Unrated

The 3rd Birthday
The 3rd Birthday
i haven't played this but i get the vibe that y'all are just whiny about it - and my gut's usually right

Unrated

Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side Premium 3rd Story
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side Premium 3rd Story
has a fan translation. other games are translated on ds

Unrated

Ultimate Block Party
Ultimate Block Party

Unrated

Valkyria Chronicles 2
Valkyria Chronicles 2
see also: valkyria chronicles 3

Unrated

Wipeout Pure
Wipeout Pure
see also: wipeout pulse

Unrated

Yarudora Series Vol. 1: Double Cast
Yarudora Series Vol. 1: Double Cast
has a fan translation. interesting fmv game

Unrated

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3
see also: tag force 1-2

or don't - apparently they're a lot worse

Unrated

Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3: Kowareyuku Machi to Kanojo no Uta
Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3: Kowareyuku Machi to Kanojo no Uta
better known as disaster crisis 3. has a fan translation

14 Comments


7 months ago

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

7 months ago

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

7 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.

7 months ago

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

7 months ago

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

7 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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