10 PS Vita Games Still Worth Playing Today

The Katamari Damacy series has long been one of the most beloved and weird cult classics ever since its debut back on the PS2 and is one of the few niche series to continue even to this day. While “Touch My Katamari” doesn’t do too much to differentiate itself from the tried-and-true formula fans are familiar with, it does make use of the Vita’s touch screen and rear touch pad in clever ways. By pinching or pulling on the screen, your little Prince can stretch out his ball of random junk to collect even more items or make your ball narrower for faster movement. Although Katamari has been ported to other handheld devices like the Switch, “Touch My Katamari” is still worth your time for its inventive use of the touch controls and absolutely bonkers story. Plus, well, it’s not gonna touch itself.

Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet series has always been one fueled by the imagination of its audience and manages to recapture the magic of this assembled world, featuring some of the best uses of the Vita’s many extra features. Just like its console brethren, LittleBigPlanet Vita allows players to create and customize everything about their characters and build their own worlds and levels using the same tools as the developers. However, thanks to the Vita’s touch controls, players can pick up objects using the touch screen and even use the touch controls to solve puzzles in the main game’s storyline. Unfortunately, due to Sony cutting off support for the Vita, all your creations will remain your own as there’s no longer any way to share with other players, but having the magic of LittleBigPlanet at your fingertips is still worth taking on the go for fans of the series.

We’re cheating a bit with this entry because it was later ported to the Nintendo Switch, but for fans of Drinkbox Studios' masterful Guacamelee! series, this is one that shouldn’t be missed no matter the platform. Anyone who’s played the Fruit Ninja games will instantly be familiar with the game’s mechanics and combat. Using the Vita’s touch screen, players need to furiously swipe at the enemies as they explore the many dungeons with enemies becoming more resistant to your attacks the deeper you go. Severed has a surprising amount of depth for what initially appears to be simply slashing blindly at the screen as enemies will require you to nullify their debuffs or shields before you can deal any damage and we’re not gonna lie, the swiping can get a little taxing during longer play sessions. However, the game’s gorgeous art style and dark story still make it worth checking out nonetheless.

One of the greatest benefits of the Vita was undoubtedly the second analog stick and it was absolutely one of the driving factors that makes Unit 13 stand alongside its 3rd person shooter console counterparts. Fans of the SOCOM series will find a lot to love about Unit 13 with its cover-based shooting mechanics and objective-based gameplay suited perfectly for the Vita with many missions only lasting a few minutes for those quick pick up and play sessions. Unit 13 routinely switches up the mission structure by debuffing the player with no regenerative health or no checkpoints during certain missions but also encourages experimentation allowing players to approach objectives stealthily or with guns blazing. The story might be nothing more than the thread that stitches each mission together but it’s the gameplay that makes Unit 13 replayable even today.

JRPG fans have always had it good on Sony’s consoles and the Tales series is one of the most consistently solid franchises that has been going strong for almost 3 decades. While there have been portable entries in the franchise over the years, Tales of Hearts R is one of the few to make it out of Japan and has the gameplay and scope of one of its main console entries. The Tales series has always been known for its colorful cast of characters and surprisingly deep real time combat and Tales of Hearts R maintains everything fans have come to expect from the series on Sony’s little handheld that could. With other beloved entries like Tales of Symphonia getting re-releases, it would be disappointing to see this entry trapped on the Vita for good.

The Killzone series might not have been the “Halo Killer” Sony was hoping for but the series remained one of the most solid PFS series in PlayStation’s catalog and Killzone Mercenary’s approach to its familiar formula fits perfectly on the Vita. Instead of playing as the ISA, players take on the role of freelance mercenaries taking advantage of the war and are looking to make as much money as possible while doing it. Melee attacks are mapped to the Vita’s touch screen giving players an up close and personal feel to each kill and Killzone Mercenary rewards players with money for upgrades like new weapons and armor for literally ANYTHING they do in the game, giving this entry more of an arcadey feel as opposed to the console entries’ objective based gameplay.

The Wipeout series has been part of PlayStation since its earliest days as a launch game with the original PS1. Taking place at the start of the Wipeout timeline (I had no idea there was lore either), 2048’s tracks have a much more urban and grittier feel to them than other entries' neon-soaked Tokyo skylines which helps set it apart in the long running series. Series mainstays such as power pads and weapons are all accounted for, and the game prioritizes car combat more than any other entry making races more strategic as players need to choose what type of power ups to focus on depending on their place in the pack. 2048 is unfortunately the last original release in the series - Wipeout Merge doesn’t count - so it’d be great if this entry could be ported to the PS5 and given a speed boost.

Given the success of the Monster Hunter franchise, it’s surprising we don’t see that formula in more games, and with no Monster Hunter game made available for the Vita, Sony’s own Japan Studio took up the challenge of creating their own. Freedom Wars is very much a Monster Hunter style game and thankfully that’s its greatest strength. The gameplay of Freedom Wars is so much fun that even the dystopian world that would make 1984 look tame by comparison doesn’t affect the overall experience. Much like the series that obviously inspired it, players will be combating enormous foes in large arenas and can then use the materials from the fight to upgrade their weapons and equipment to take on even more challenging foes. Battles can get extremely chaotic, but the intuitive camera and surprisingly competent AI companions keep up with the action and help this title stand on its own rather than in a monster shadow.

The Uncharted series is synonymous with PlayStation, so naturally there was an entry on the PSVita and Bend Studio taking over for Naughty Dog managed to create a worthy entry in the venerated franchise despite the hardware limitations. Complete with motion capture like its big brothers, Golden Abyss follows Nate, Sully and some newcomers before the events of Drake’s Fortune. Everything fans have come to expect from the series from its cover-based shooting and climbing work well on the Vita thanks to the second analog stick, even if the game shoehorns in a lot of the Vita’s numerous features to make use of the touch screen, but thankfully these can be turned off for a more traditional experience. While you’re not missing anything major in Nathan’s overall arc by skipping this entry, it’s still another fun adventure with everyone’s favorite treasure hunter.

Originally released for the Nintendo Wii, Muramasa the Demon Blade was resurrected for the PSVita as Muramasa Rebirth and was arguably the superior way to experience this 2D action RPG hack and slasher. Combat is incredibly fast and fluid and in between combat encounters you’ll be interacting with any number of interesting and quirky characters as well as dining on some beautifully delicious meals to upgrade equipment. Muramasa allows players to customize their loadouts with up to 3 different blades giving players more options to approach combat whatever their preferred playstyle but also be mindful of their sword's durability. Vanillaware’s gorgeous hand drawn art style pops on the Vita’s vibrant screen and Muramasa features some of the developer’s best character and enemy designs. Anyone who’s a fan of the developer’s previous games like Odin Sphere or GrimGrimoire will find a lot to love about Muramasa Rebirth.