RPGs: Nintendo DS/3DS vs. Sony PSP/Vita

Got a few RPG questions to ask.

1. What all role playing games have you played on the DS/3DS and PSP/Vita?
2. Which games for those systems are your favorite?
3. Between the DS/3DS and PSP/Vita, which do you think has a better selection for RPGs?

That's a no-brainer, the DS' have a massive quantity of RPGs. While there are some big names on the Sony handhelds, I think other genres are the highlights of those machines. Remember, Sony handhelds are DOMINATED by Monster Hunter clones and the odd action-RPG (and personally I only like God Eater and Freedom Wars.) If you're gonna make a high fidelity handheld RPG, it's gonna be based off of that mold. They've got a couple dungeon crawlers and everything that Gust, NIS and Idea Factory put out eventually make it onto the Vita. The DS on the other hand can get by with a bunch of niche turn-based and strategy RPGs with less visual stuff going on.

Honestly though, I haven't found many of these handheld RPGs to be particularly enthralling. I'd say that they're tied in terms of quality.

Unfortunately, big budget RPGs have been kinda limited to Namco for a while. Everything else is being churned out on a yearly schedule and developers have settled into pretty firm niches. Sure there's the occasional black sheep like Gust's lesbian game and Koei Tecmo's Ni-oh, and there are a couple big names on the horizon like Star Ocean 5, Dragon Quest 11, and the new Valkyria game (I guess Exist Archive is also a big deal, since it's Valkyrie Profile's spiritual successor,) but I feel like apart from FFXIII, it's been a while since we're seen a proper console RPG series take off or even continue (WILD ARMS WHERE YOU AT.) Fingers crossed that people were just getting used to the PS4 hardware so that we aren't getting games that look like crippled PS3/Vita titles on our new shiny machines.

It doesn't help that games like FFXV and Persona 5 are taking forever and a day to be developed.


My favourite handheld RPG is probably the same game for both platforms honestly, One Piece: Unlimited World Red which is an action-RPG. This is my answer for now because I'm too lazy to jog my memory.

I think it's unbalanced to lump DS and 3DS together while PSP and Vita together. IMO, PSP has the better library of interesting RPG (and other genres) compared to DS while 3DS certainly has better library compared to Vita, at least the localized ones because everyone hates Vita.

If you ask me which has better selection of interesting RPGs (for me), it's gotta be PSP > DS > 3DS > Vita. Heretic, I know, but I like the other genre more on DS.

Listing all games is kinda overkill though, so I'll list some over the top of my head.

PSP
Ys Seven obvsly, any other than this in the top spot is heresy. I would also list down Chronicles, Oath in Felghana and Ark of Napishtim, but I think those are better played on Steam. Though the Steam version lacks the fabulous Chester voices.

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure is also available on Steam, but well, I don't think it aged greatly on PC.

Nayuta no Kiseki, a.k.a. Zwei 3. It's an import, but it's a stage oriented Action-RPG, you don't need much knowledge on Japanese to play. It's very pretty, it plays slower than Ys but it's not necessarily a bad thing because the boss level design is absolutely creative (compared to Ys Memories of Celceta), and the soundtracks are beautiful. The boss theme is not really as pumping as Ys' but its field theme is great enough. And the final boss theme, whee.

Hexyz Force. A standard chibi turn-based jRPG with a rather non-standard mechanics. The game has two protagonists to play as, with them crossing paths sometimes during the standard gameplay and they band together in the final arc. Really fun, and if you're like me and felt that most RPG nowadays doesn't emphasize too much on the logistic (item/weapon) management, then you're gonna love this game. Really, the game is severely underhyped when it's actually one of the better turn-based RPG I've ever played in recent years.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, easily the best of the command deck KH.

ZHP: Unlosing Ranger Vs Darkdeath Evilman. It's a roguelike-RPG hybrid. Goddamn, for a parody game, the plot can be really heartwrenching at times. I'll just link the trailer so you can judge it yourself.

Patapon 3. Screw it, yes, it's a rhythm game, but you have 4 party members, you can change and level up classes, learn new skills; if that's not RPG, I don't know what is. I honestly like Patapon 2 better than 3, but that's only because seeing tons of spears and arrows flying around is so satisfying. The soundtracks are also really catchy; no one hates a bunch of kids screaming around in a playful but melodic manner.

ClaDun. And Cladun X2. There are several features that really appealed to me in this series, not counting the whole create your own sprite thing. I mean, it's cool enough that you can draw your own character and weapon, but that's not the only cool thing. For starters, I absolutely adore procedurally generated content from a designer standpoint. I know a lot of people think of it as a lazy way out for game designer to not have to design dungeon, but procedurally generated content is an efficient way to increase replayability with very small cost. They only need to specify certain properties beforehand and let the dungeon be populated randomly; it eliminates the need for bigger file size to store pre-bake dungeon design and let them do the whole "no two dungeon is the same!" shenanigan. Secondly, Magic Circle is honestly the best mechanic a dungeon crawler can ever come up with. It's an interesting take on the party system for a one-man dungeon crawler, making the party members a literal meatshield that protects player from the direction of attack. Of course, they're not just simply meatshield, they also provide really interesting, customizable boost to the main character as long as they are alive.

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. You could probably get the mobile version since I heard they fixed the framerate issue.

Wild Arms XF is also another Tactic-style game. But they have hexagon instead of square like the standard Tactics game! That's awesome.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. Also 2 and 3, but those aren't localized, but PSP is region free anyway. Everyone seems to hate the Descender (mute self-insert character), but I actually like that part the most in Radiant Mythology games.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, though you should rather get the Steam version.

Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition is basically FF1 and 2 remake, but with really gorgeous sprite and reworked gameplay I think? I'm pretty sure spells use MP instead of limited number of use per spell tier.

Dissidia Duodecim, well, it's more of a brawler than RPG, but it still has RPG-ish mechanics and even world map in the sequel. Just get the sequel than the first game because everything in first game is in the second. They kinda nerfed Dodge Cancelling in the second game though.

Adventures to Go. This game is pretty whack. Standard dungeon exploring turn based RPG with very standard setting. Guy wants to be adventurer, guy enlist in adventurer guild, and shit. Still fun timewaster. The fact that I remember it now is testifying enough of the fun I had.

Brave Story: New Traveler. One of the earliest RPG on the system. Still fun and pretty.

Persona 3 Portable because it's Persona. Really optimized for mobile platform.

Honorable mention: Half Minute Hero because it's more puzzle game than RPG for me. But it's an RPG parody. HMH Second Coming is more of an RPG though.
Unhonorable mention: Crisis Core FF7. I hate it, but everyone else seems to like it. Play it yourself I guess.


DS
Megaman Starforce. And 2 and 3. One of the main reason I bought DS in the first place. It's a little lackluster compared to Battle Network, but is still great nonetheless. As with Battle Network, you have a deck of Battle Cards to customize with that serves as your main damage dealer in a fight, which you can get by defeating viruses quickly in battle. See the synergy of gameplay there? You have to collect good cards to get good cards. The game has no levels so grinding is only done to get multiple of cards that you want to use for your battle, so you can focus your effort in getting better steadily. Most of the cards have hidden properties that you have to experiment with to know which combination would yield awesome result. Bosses are really fun if you exploit the weaknesses and use seemingly worthless but extremely potent cards. Like this one card - Earth Thunder, it summons electric balls that paralyzes from holes and only from holes in the battlefield. So what do you do with it? Break open every panels on the field and spam! Or you know that Fire does double damage on grass panel and Break does double damage on frozen opponent, what do you do with a card that has both properties? Freeze them on grass panel and quadruple damage them! Caution headphones user.

Pokemon Black 2 and pretty much the other Pokemon games I guess. Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/Heart Gold/Soul Silver/Black/White/White 2. Only reason I chose Black 2 (or White 2) to put here is because of Pokemon World Tournament. Specifically monotype tournament. Damn, I really love monotype.

Digimon World Dawn/Dusk. The testament for this game addictiveness is during my first year of college. Me and my friends camped 7 days straight in the same position in my room, really devoted.in digivolving/fusing digimons. Me on the couch, a friend on my bed, another on the floor. We only stopped for food and sleep, and yeah we skipped class. Another friend.of mine can just shake his head with pitying gaze whenever he stops by.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates. I like the idea of Action FF. Nuff said.

The World Ends with You. Quirky mechanics, awesome collectible pins that changes the gameplay, pretty sprite based game, and a rather confusing but engaging storyline. Good game.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Pretty ugly, but it's the closest to KH2 that we had for the spinoffs. The tetris customization panel is actually pretty fun to play with.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 As much as I dislike the kiddifying of FFT premise on Nintendo handheld, the game is rather solid and still fun. I had fun playing the tons of sidequests that I just somehow realized I haven't actually progressed much in the storyline 20 hours in.

SMT: Devil Survivor and Devil Survivor 2. But mostly Devil Survivor because the survivor part is more emphasized in the first game. You literally have no idea what's going on and has to camp outside and scavenge for food while in 2, you pretty much gets the support of some really rich organizations right from the first day iirc? That's downplaying the crisis factor.

Golden Sun Dark Dawn I guess?


3DS
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, and X/Y/OR too I guess. It's pretty much the system seller, so it's a no brainer.

Bravely Default is the old school RPG that is not at all old school. Pretty graphics, really good gameplay and stuff. There's option to off random encounter or decrease/increase the amount and automated battle, that's really great if you want to grind or simply play the story.

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance simply because Flow Motion is an interesting mechanic. Dream Eater too, if only they aren't unnecessarily colorful.

Fire Emblem Awakening. I don't like the older FE much, but I really like this one. Yeah, I'm pretty much the filthy casual fan with hard on for waifu simulator that is plaguing the FE community nowadays.

SMT IV because SMT. I dunno, any RPG list is not complete without SMT somehow.


Vita
Ys Memories of Celceta, because none shall ever take the top spot than Ys.

Tales of Hearts R duh, this is Tales forum after all. I may not like certain parts of Hearts R, but I love Tales series in general after all.

Persona 4 Golden is Persona. Self-explanatory.

SAO Lost Song I guess? Pretty lacking in content though.

Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God ROGUELIKE! Or Roguelite? Anyway, the title sounds dumb, but if there's anything ZHP taught me, dumb sounding title has the best gameplay. And yeah, the game is fun as hell.

Demon Gaze. Well, tbh, I don't really like first person dungeon crawler with static image in battle, and I probably won't buy this game if it's not because of the really cheap price I get. But after trying it, it grows on me and I had a blast playing it to completion. Really hard and requires a rather intensive planning to play.

Vita also has Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, which I really appreciate since I never had a PS2

There's also the Etrian Odyssey games on the 3ds, Untold 2 is a beast.

On that note, the Vita has a few 1st person dungeon crawlers. Operation Abyss is great but also has Wizardy-style bullshit like enemies stealing your levels or several traps combinations. The new artwork is pretty but you can also choose the classic options to fully customize your characters AND the weapons/armor you equip is also reflected on their portrait. It's fun.

Speaking of traps, Deception 4 Nightmare Princess (Vita/PS3). It's an action-RPG where you play as a daughter of THE demon king, you fight by placing several traps on the room and baiting heroes/mercenaries/poor bystanders into those traps to start a chain of slaughter. Yes, there's blood everywhere but it's not overly graphic (they get cut by a guillotine but their in-game model is still in one piece). It's surprisingly fun~

King Cat's list is pretty expansive and I agree with the games listed all great reasons for the platforms. I honestly forgot how much I used the PSP, so many quality games. The DS also has Radiant Historia which a close friend had raved about nonstop. Both the PSP and DS had a large amount of RPG to choose from they are about equal for me, however, the Vita, I find, is mostly used for enhanced ports and remakes, so if you played the games on PS2 or DS there isn't really much new. They are definitely worth playing, but if you're craving new experiences it may not be the system for you.

Vita does however have some super positive points, one being the PSN store, you can get a lot of classic PS1 RPGs so if you are too young to have been able to experience those fully or its been so long that they will feel new that's a huge positive. Another is that it has some RPG-esque games, IE they have some great stories, like (from what I hear) Gravity Rush, as well Dangan Ronpa (1 and 2) if you're into it (people either love it or hate it I find, I'm quite neutral it was just okay). Digimon Cyber Sleuth will also be arriving this winter!

The 3DS's recent bunch of games have been pretty high quality and pretty popular so there is plenty of people to play with if you like online activity. Not all the games you'll find on the 3DS are RPG, but the RPGs it does have are pretty good and for the most part original stories. But it is largely just the popular franchises and their offshoots, Fire Emblem, SMT, and Pokemon. It is getting Final Fantasy Explorers this winter which is MMO-ish but also looks super interesting and fun to play!

Txn wrote:

The new artwork is pretty but you can also choose the classic options to fully customize your characters AND the weapons/armor you equip is also reflected on their portrait. It's fun.

Now this sounds interesting. Well, at least as interesting as you can get with still images I guess.

I'll probably try it out later since I've apparently gotten over my aversion to DRPG.

Txn wrote:

Speaking of traps, Deception 4 Nightmare Princess (Vita/PS3). It's an action-RPG where you play as a daughter of THE demon king, you fight by placing several traps on the room and baiting heroes/mercenaries/poor bystanders into those traps to start a chain of slaughter. Yes, there's blood everywhere but it's not overly graphic (they get cut by a guillotine but their in-game model is still in one piece). It's surprisingly fun~

It's for PS4 as well and yes it is quite good. A very weird twist on the puzzle genre.

King Cat the Sixth wrote:

Now this sounds interesting. Well, at least as interesting as you can get with still images I guess.

I'll probably try it out later since I've apparently gotten over my aversion to DRPG.

Just to note, this game IS hard. In a way. Mostly because there's no proper indication about where you should go, specially near the end of the first half. I'm still lost in that dungeon. Btw, it has a note system just like Demon Gaze but since you have to backtrack a few times, some of those notes can be misleading since they'll be hints further ahead in the story.

Also, did I mention "first half"? Oh yes, Operation Abyss: Neo Tokyo Legacy is a remake of two games, Generation Xth: Code Hazard and Generation Xth: Code Breaker. In the first half of the game, you have a level cap of 15. After starting the second half missions, it gets lifted.

If you played (and liked) old-school 1st-person dungeon crawlers before, this may be interesting. And definitely not recommended as your very first dungeon crawler.