Pocket Gamer's Top 10 Games of the Year 2012 - PS Vita Edition

@arosbooks | 10:24 - 10 January 2013

LittleBigPlanet Vita is brilliant, can't believe it's not mentioned. It's perfect for portable play and the community levels people are coming up with are jaw dropping.

Vita has an absolutely amazing amount of great games for a system that's been around less than one year! Compared to the 3DS for which i've picked up 2 games in as many years it's unbelievable how many wonderful games are on the system.

gamezer0 | 05:53 - 5 January 2013

It was a great year for Fighters not just on home consoles but, the handhelds especially the PS Vita.
Street X Tekken
Mortal Kombat
BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Playstation All-Star Battle Royal

@xeroxeroxero | 19:48 - 1 January 2013

@Squarezero Uncharted isn't quite the full package is it? But my argument is that the core play remains intact, and that's what counts. Most of the humour comes through, and the characterisation is decent, but I do agree that it's a bit lacking when compared with the massive budget home console counterpart.

@Tiel Package contains MGS2 and 3, but not MGS1 (though it should be on the Store for download as a Classic. You don't NEED to have played 1 to appreciate 2, and the second is kind of a retelling of the first (it's complicated...), but if you CAN experience a version of MGS1, I would do so. They're still great too, I thoroughly recommend them.

@MesozoicPrinny The system definitely needs more RPGs, but Persona 4's out soon, which should satiate the appetite, there's Disgaea already (as you mention), and it's only a matter of time before even more make their way to the platform. But yes, absolutely gagging for some more Vita RPGs.

@JLai44 Persona 4 isn't out in the UK yet, so we haven't reviewed it. But thanks for your constructive input anyway.

@rafaelaseixas I'm not biased buddy, just looking back on a great year for the device.

@rafaelaseixas | 16:39 - 31 December 2012

Too biased. Vita has no games. Only fanboys think that this crap has games.

Tiel | 06:58 - 31 December 2012

P4G isn't released in Europe until Feb. Generally these lists do not include imports.

JLai44 | 01:32 - 31 December 2012

Where is Persona 4 Golden? The fact that it isn't mentioned makes this list a joke.

ub_username = 'ub_username = ''MesozoicPrinny'',', | 21:32 - 30 December 2012

What, no mention for Disgaea 3?

Only joking.

Well, not exactly joking. That whole 'no decent games' thing is probably the collective rumbling of people like me. Drowning we were, in the deep pool of excellent PSP-RPGs, and now we're gasping in the next-generation drought. We feel betrayed. We want our precious, precious next-gen portable RPGs, and we won't stop moaning till we get it.

Maybe you think 'betrayed' is too strong a word, but I say nay nay. Dungeon Hunter Alliance was the only RPG at launch, and at a price that was nothing less than a kick in the balls. A good hard kick it was too. Still makes my eyes water just to think of it.

You show me a console where 'Everybody's Golf' was RPG of the year, and I'll show you a console with no decent games.

Mauritz Nordlund | 20:28 - 30 December 2012

If you want to play Golden Abyss on a Vita. Remember that PSN+ offer it for "free". Just that game pays for a year subscription. (I traded in my original Golden Abyss and got almost one year payment of PSN+)

Tiel | 17:50 - 30 December 2012

This list shows why vita lured me away from ios gaming on the go.
Question, though.
I never got into MGS first time around. Without the rose tinted specs and nostalgia-is this a game that stands up by itself in todays market.
Am I perfectly placed to enjoy it for the first time, or will I wonder what all the fuss is about? Is it MGS 1 and 2. If not, is there something I need to have played first?
Thanks.

jeffb01 | 17:14 - 30 December 2012

LittleBigPlanet was my vita game of the year. The fact that you didn't even give it an honorable mention makes me think you forgot about it...

@TheOmarBeltran | 17:03 - 30 December 2012

Honestly, I think LittleBigPlanet should be on this list. The Vita does a great job with the game.

squarezero | 16:20 - 30 December 2012

I'm usually a live and let live gamer, but I find it hard to understand how anyone actually enjoyed Uncharted Vita. It's one of the few games that has made me feel disrespected as a gamer -- it's provides an utterly casual experience masquerading as a hardcore one. Like most Zinga games, it requires little or no skill, and you simply cannot fail (except in sequences that are purposely gimped by the developers, like the rope-hanging shootouts). The puzzles are garbage, the platforming requires no timing or spacial sense, and the shooting is repetitive and, frankly boring. Worse of all, the melee is so ridiculously overpowered (and easy) that it makes the okay enemy AI pointless -- you can basically one-shot kill any enemy that makes it's way to your cover. The story is a nonesensical rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark (it even has the Marion and Prof. Ravenwood characters, as well as the same McGuffin), and the final boss fights are the lamest I've seen on a full-price console game.

You could argue that many of these faults are there on the other Uncharted games. Without the set pieces, though, Uncharted Vita makes the problems stand out in a way that overwhelm the nice graphics and the competent voice acting. In a way, Uncharted Vita is the perfect example of why the Vita is sputtering as a platform. The device promises console-level gaming on a portable platform, but what it delivers is a watered down version that feels underwhelming and overpriced. The fact that Vita owners seem impressed by the game only compounds the problem: we should be demanding the real deal from Sony.