Nominate the Games That Defined the Sony PSP

[marurun]

Defining is more than just what was popular (though that certainly has a role). It’s also about what was emblematic or represented the uniqueness of the platform.

[alienjesus]

I think it's hard to really say where to draw the line - I've found it interesting people saying that they felt Dracula X Chronicles or Ys would be defining games in their eyes though.

For me, I figured Ys shouldnt be on the list but I'm not opposed to them being there if people strongly believe they should be.

My reasoning is that the games are pretty rare to find - I bought 3 of them last year and it took a lot of time and effort to track them down. They were released by a niche publisher. They weren't used at any point in PSP advertising and I doubt they were shown as major releases in magazines. They also werent released physically here in Europe, which is apparently (just) the biggest region for PSP in terms of sales: https://www.statista.com/statistics/110 ... sp-region/

So it's a niche game with small sales that didn't come out in all regions and wasn't widely advertised. For those reasons, if I was to choose, I'd put Ys on the hidden gems side of things (although as I noted before, they're not really 'hidden' these days either!).

I feel a similar way about Castlevania - as a series, it's always been far more of a hit with hardcore gamers than the public at large - however, it's often been defining in terms of it's influence on other game designers and it's legacy in the gaming sphere.

I do not think that is true of Dracula X Chronicles - it's an ok remake of a niche game which did unremarkable numbers on a platform that whilst it sold well seems more niche in retrospect. It's certainly a system that had very few best sellers - despite 80 million sales there doesn't seem to be a lot to suggest that there's many games that did big numbers on it. It's true that Dracula X was first release of Rondo of Blood in the west, but the Virtual Console release followed a few years later and I personally remember that being a much bigger deal - a lot of people, even those into the series, weren't aware of the PSP version.

[racketboy]

We definitely have prescient for having a game or two that aren't necessarily "mainstream popular" in the original retail cycle of the system.
With us catering to a retro-minded audience, assuming the library isn't already completely stacked, I do like to bring in one or two titles that either resonated strongly to a niche audience, was gateway drug to a genre that was important to the platform and/or resonated more later one -- kinda like a game that started as a hidden gem, but then transitioned into a hit after the system was discontinued.

Just browsing through some of our past defined guides, here's some examples:
* PS1 we ranked Symphony of the Night pretty highly (although, that one was regarded as a pinnacle of the series and was a best-seller) and we also featured both Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Einhander (tied in with a strong shmup library

* Dreamcast we mentioned Ikaruga along with the shmup library

* Gamecube we included Baten Kaitos, which wasn't really mainstream but held strong with long-term Gamecube fans

* and our Sega Saturn guide, which was also a very early writing of mine and could use some improvement and expansion (so perhaps not the best guide to our purposes here) focused a lot of games that became more popular later. But also, that's kinda how the Saturn was. Other than the Sega Arcade conversions, most of the American-made games that received a lot of advertising and press weren't exactly the ones that resonated and had a stronger legacy http://www.racketboy.com/retro/games-th ... ega-saturn

[Ack]

I have one that's a little different, because it changed a series' direction and also gave us an idea of major changes happening with a big name developer. That game is Silent Hill Origins. I argue that it's a defining game because it's where the series left Team Silent (and where Konami began farming out major franchises to third party developers), and it also showed how horror games could be done relatively effectively on a handheld device.

That I think is an important development, because this is where we see the jump from games being like Resident Evil Gaiden or the GBC Alone in the Dark port to more recognizable survival horror. Of survival horror games that beat it to the punch in that generation, only Dementium: The Ward comes to mind on the DS, and that was just a couple of months before Origins release.

[racketboy]

Thanks, everyone!

I also thought Lumines should be involved somehow -- as a DS owner, it was the one I was most jealous of back in the early days. It eventually got overshadowed a bit until the franchise was brought back, but it was a heavy-hitter in the early PSP days, IIRC.

With that said, I've created a group of Twitter polls to narrow down/prioritize some groups of games.
https://twitter.com/racketboy/status/15 ... 1036737539

After those polls close, I'll try to wrap up a suggested ranking and list (with possibly honorable mentions -- or on-the-fence ones) and then ask you all how you're feeling about the list in general before we flesh out write-ups and such.

Thanks again -- this has been pretty fun so far!

[racketboy]

OK, so after my Twitter polls and some conversations, here's kinda preliminary list.
I have more in the "main" section than I'd like, but seems like this is harder to keep trim than I thought.
I'm willing to budge a bit as I guess the PSP did sell better than I remembered.

Anyway... give this lineup a look and let me know what you think...

Main List:

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories

God of War: Ghost of Sparta & Chains of Olympus

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7

Daxter

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker & Acid

Lumines

Loco Roco

Patapon Series

Monster Hunter series

Jeanne D' Arc

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions +
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles

The Ys series

Wipeout Pure

Ridge Racers

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Honorable Mentions:
* Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
* Secret Agent Clank
* Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
* Silent Hill Origins
* Crush
* Tekken: Dark Resurrection
* Gran Turismo
* Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade
* Burnout Legends
* Valkyria Chronicles series
* Mega Man Powered Up
* Mega Man X Maverick Hunter
* N+
* Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Series
* Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

[nickfil]

I don't have anything to add to the list. Its very good.

I just wanted to chime in and say I played all the valkyria chronicles games a couple years ago for the first time and imho- the psp ones blow the console ones out of the water. They are so much more enjoyable than the clunky console versions.

The console ones always felt like a budget title lacking polish. I forgave the ps3 one beause its a bit old but that ps4 one.... yikes.

The main arguments I found against the psp versions was that the maps are small on the psp. They *are* smaller and smaller areas will link together to form a larger map. But the combat gets really quick because of it. And getting into a new area is exciting. I think people at the time wanted a ps3 experience on the psp and just went happy with what they got. Unreal expectations.

All the extra classes are fantastic in the psp games. The mine clearing hammer class is so fun. The perk systems are great and rewarding. The stories are better.

Yall. Play those psp titles. There's a translation for the 3rd game that only came out in Japan. Well worth your time. I loved it so much I imported the 3rd game even though ill probably never pop it in.

[alienjesus]

You have uncharted on your list but to the best of my knowledge there is no uncharted game on PSP. The only handheld entry is on Vita.

Jeanne Darc feels way too niche to be on the list in my eyes (hidden gem perhaps) but the list is looking good otherwise. If it ends up being the list above, it’ll be a good list.

[racketboy]

You have uncharted on your list but to the best of my knowledge there is no uncharted game on PSP. The only handheld entry is on Vita.

Jeanne Darc feels way too niche to be on the list in my eyes (hidden gem perhaps) but the list is looking good otherwise. If it ends up being the list above, it’ll be a good list.

Oh thanks for the Uncharted note! Somebody mentioned it in the thread and I took the word for it -- oh well, one less entry to write!

As for Jeanne D'arc, it ranked pretty well in the voting I had. I think part of what it had going for it is that it was a pure exclusive vs being a port or spin-off.

[Ziggy]

As for Jeanne D'arc, it ranked pretty well in the voting I had. I think part of what it had going for it is that it was a pure exclusive vs being a port or spin-off.

I think it flew under the radar back when the PSP was relevant though. I think it's more of a hidden gem that people have discovered, so it's become popular these days.