PSP/PSP minis recommendation

Morran

Hello,

I have a lot of travels up ahead, and plan to re-buy a PSP.

1) Is PSP-3000 the model to get? Any benefits/drawbacks with getting something else?

2) I plan to get the following games. Any recommendations for other, similar games? Especially PSP minis, since I have no idea what has been released in that format, and have also problem finding good reviews for them.

Disgaea 2 (played the first and found it quite good. Never could get into FFT tho...)
God of War - ghost of sparta (played 1st one, loved it)
Little big planet
Patapon 2 (played 1st one, loved it)
Resistance - Retribution

/Magnus

Hahnsoo1

Like Disgaea:
ZHP Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman is a roguelike (in a very pure Roguelike sense, in that you will die many many times through randomly generated dungeons) that uses the Disgaea animation style/engine and has much of the same humor as the Disgaea series (it's also published by NIS, so that's not surprising). Instead of tactical battles with insane damage and funny enemies, you have a turn-based Roguelike with insane damage and funny enemies. The Energy (read: Hunger) system is a bit of a pain (don't Dual Wield, use Spears), but otherwise, it's a challenging and fun game.

Another game that's like Disgaea is Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle. Similar engine, some wacky turn-based tactical RPG play, and it's much easier to get into than ZHP Unlosing Ranger. It felt like a "Disgaea-lite" to me when I played it. It's a port of a game that's already been on other consoles, and a bit of a gem in terms of characters and story.

God of War:
There's a PSP version of Dante's Inferno, if you're into God of War clones. Not nearly as polished or good, but it's there.

There are some Prince of Persia games out for the PSP which have similar combo-based combat. They are essentially decent ports of the console versions of the games, although you'll be doing a lot more pillar climbing/parkour type stuff.

Little big planet:
Erm. Can't think of anything like this. Mega Man Powered Up may appeal to you, though, if you like Platformers. It is the first Mega Man game revamped in a new animation style, but the big features are the ability to play as any boss in the game (a much different experience) and a robust level editor (if you have that sort of LBP level creation itch).

Another platformer (a fairly difficult one) is the Prinny - Can I Really Be the Hero? series. It's old-school difficult (although there are measures in the games to tone down the difficulty if you are having problems), and has all of those lovable Disgaea characters.

Patapon 2:
This is a fairly unique game. I can't think of anything quite like Patapon. If you are into Rhythm Games, then the DJ Max Portable series may be up your alley. It is your usual "press buttons as things come down a track" gameplay, and it has quite a cult following. Lumines is also a puzzle/rhythm type game, and it's fairly fun and addictive.

Resistance - Retribution:
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Logan's Shadow are pretty similar, and they are pretty decent. For more Action Adventure tastes, you may want to try out The Third Birthday (Parasite Eve 3) which just came out. I hear the story is atrocious for those who enjoyed past iterations of Parasite Eve, but the battle system and graphics are pretty good.

I can highly recommend, for anyone with a PSP:
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - This is one of the best Metal Gear games ever made. I'm not exaggerating. If you have any interest in the Metal Gear Solid series at all, or you like playing modern tactical shooters, you need to get this game.
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core - This is an outstanding game. I loathe Final Fantasy 7's story and characters, but even I loved the story and the exposition in this game. It was entertaining all the way through.

I can recommend with reservations:
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite - I've logged about 1000 hours in this game. But it may or may not click with you. It's my only reason to own a PSP, pretty much. Doesn't have lock on, which seems to be the main thing people cry about it.
God Eater Burst - Came out recently, but it's pretty much Monster Hunter-Lite. Has Spiky haired kids instead of (wo)manly dinosaur hunters. Has lock on, which seems to be the main thing people like about it.
Valkyria Chronicles 2 - If you liked the combat system in Valkyria Chronicles, you'll like it again in the PSP version. The story is not as good (It's sort of a bad anime version of Harry Potter mixed with Ender's Game), but otherwise, it's a nice and robust tactical RPG with a lot of content and a great art style.

Do not buy:
Lords of Arcana. Just don't. Square really shouldn't have published this crap. Everything about it is done better in other games.

What kind of games do you normally like on other consoles/systems? That might narrow down some suggestions. Be specific of what in particular you like about those games.

As far as PSP models, get either a PSP-2000 or PSP-3000. The 3000 has a screen that's easier to see in broad daylight, but because of the way the pixels are microscopically arranged (in horizontal rows), some folks notice a "scan line" issue in the screen when playing indoors. The 2000 has a dimmer screen with some pixel ghosting issues. I've never had problems with either model, though. The only other difference is that the 3000 has a microphone built-in (no games use this, afaik). Granted, I still play on a 1000 clunker currently as my main system, but I like the heft and feel of it (don't get the PSP-1000 unless you like not having a UMD cache to speed up UMD read speeds). The Go is pretty nice in terms of screen and form factor (so tiny!), but the lack of the UMD drive is a bit of a turnoff.

I'm not sure you really need to delve into the world of PSP minis. They are a bit like Flash games. Some of them are quite complicated and "large" for being a mini, but it sounds like you already have a long list of non-mini games to play. I haven't found any mini that was worth the money or the space on my memory stick.

Morran

Hello,

Thanks for detailed answer!

More information about my exquisite tastes...

Likes:
Tactical/strategic games. Starcraft, Advanced wars, Warcraft
Adventure games, Zelda likes: Zelda (duh!), Beyond Good and Evil, Outcast, Little Big Adventure,
Action: well designed action games, like Halo, HalfLife 1/2, Mega Man (the old ones, have not played since NES/SNES...). Super Mario, God of war, bionic commando (NES and XBLA remake)
RPG: Only western ones: fallout 1/2, planescape torment
Puzzles: Crush was good. Loved limbo and Braid.

Dislikes
JRPG - Never could stand the story of any FF game... Stopped playing FF7 after one hour or so. Might give FF7 CC a shot, eh?
Too complicated SRPG (like FFT - just too much stuff to learn and keep track of)
Too "grindy" games (no rouge-likes)
Too "old-school hard as nails games". I just don't have the time/energy to spend a lot of time "training" to get good on a game before enjoying it...

Hahnsoo1

You realize, of course, that Disgaea is a JRPG, right? *grin* I don't like Final Fantasy 7, but Crisis Core was still a LOT of fun for me. The story is paced well, and the several parts of the story come together at the end, while still remaining engaging throughout the beginning. The action mechanics are smooth and engaging. Most of the complaints seem to be (unfounded) superstitions that the level-up mechanic is random (since you seemingly get level ups from a slot machine wheel interface), but the background mechanic for leveling up is based on a hidden earned XP stat.

Phantom Brave has some unusual, but not complicated, mechanics, and it's very similar to Disgaea in terms of play and feel (it's easier than Disgaea). You can give it a pass, though, if you are on a budget.

Field Commander is the flagship turn-based series for Tactical/Strategy games on the PSP. I've never played it, but folks who have played it seemed to like it.

The Warhammer games (NOT the card game, for the love of god, don't get the card game Battle for Atluma) are fairly decent for the PSP. They are tactical/strategic, for the most part. I would give those a pass if you are on a budget as well.

A decent remake of Tactics Ogre just came out, but I'm afraid it's a lot like Final Fantasy Tactics. If you don't have the patience for FFT, you probably won't have the patience for Tactics Ogre.

There are no Infinity Engine/Fallout games or games even remotely like Infinity Engine games on the PSP that I'm aware of. Dungeons and Dragons Tactics is similar, but it has a terrible story and isn't fun at all unless you like a near-perfect simulation of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition (I enjoyed it for what it is, although it is definitely NOT a good RPG story). Unless you are in love with DnD 3rd or 3.5 edition, do not buy DnD Tactics.

Pixeljunk Monsters is also available on PSP. It's a Tower Defense game, and I've yet to meet someone who hasn't liked it (or any Pixeljunk game for that matter). Even folks that I know who hate Tower Defense ended up liking Pixeljunk Monsters for some reason.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is a great addition to the Kingdom Hearts series, and a great action game. It's heavily invested in both Disney and Final Fantasy, though, so it may be annoying to you if you don't like either (or JRPGs/Kingdom Hearts in general). The game gets genuinely challenging if you play it on harder difficulties, which is something I really appreciated about it.

Apparently, Patapon 3 comes out in a month, too. That's definitely a game that's like Patapon 2. *grin*

Slash hasn't updated the Slash signal PSP page for a while, but there's a list of good PSP games there:
http://slashsignal.wikispaces.com/Playstation+Portable

I've played most of them, if you have any questions about any title in particular.

EDIT: I can heartily recommend any Ratchet and Clank game, and Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters is the game that got me interested in the franchise. It's light-hearted, well-designed, and a lot of fun. Most like a 3D Zelda game, but its personality and humor are far better.

Echochrome is a unique puzzler. If you like MC Escher, and wanted to know what would happen if you took his House of Stairs and made a game out of it, Echochrome would be right up your alley. Has a string quartet soundtrack that's very good, if you are into string quartets.

It's interesting that you say "grindy" and "roguelike" as being similar. Rogue-likes, in my experience, have been the least grindy of RPGs, generally because you die in a single sitting or playthrough. There are exceptions (ADOM, for example... you can spend months playing ADOM), but those tend to be games on a much larger scope than a typical rogue-like. ZHP Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman does have some grind elements, but those are on par with a Disgaea-like game (which you are purchasing) and are unnecessary to complete the story. It's more of a "Disgaea with only one character", with all of the grind and humor of a Disgaea game.