Vita
Playstation Vita
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Toukiden: Age Of Demons
I almost didn’t pick this game up, judging by the screen shots. It looked like a bad Monster Hunter clone with an Eastern mythology skin slapped over the top. In a way, that’s exactly what it is, but it’s so pretty! It is so damned pretty! There is more to a game than just looks, but dammit if this game isn’t pretty. Let’s start with the similarities. Much of the town stuff has a very Monster Hunter feel to it. They seem to have copy/pasted the whole town/mission aspect. They even give you a Poogie of sorts that also functions like the Felyne on the boat in a Fox-like demon…
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OlliOlli
If you were a gamer in the Playstation One era, chances are that you played at least one skateboarding game. Most people fell into the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater faction, but a lot of real skaters found themselves enjoying Thrasher: Skate and Destroy. Even if you didn’t play in in Pro mode, the game had a certain level of authenticity to it that catered to those who knew the mechanics of tricks. If you did play it on Pro, a whole new level of skill was needed; you had to press the square button at the right time in order to land your tricks. Of course, a lot of why…
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Rainbow Moon
Have you ever played a game where every part of the game screamed low budget and cheap, but despite that it was a load of fun? Rainbow Moon fits that bill for me. If you break it down to individual parts, nothing about it should be enjoyable in any way. Put together, it’s an addictive and fun adventure with a battle system that takes some time to get accustomed to.
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Tearaway
Not since Journey has a game’s ending pulled on my heartstrings like Tearaway did. I can’t go deep into detail without spoiling it, but the ending is well worth finishing Iota’s short, but epic adventure. Like Journey, our hero doesn’t speak, but he is very expressive. After a short introduction, you can begin to customize him (or her if you chose Atoi) to your liking with eyes, mouths, and other various things made out of construction paper cutouts you buy or make yourself.
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Caught In LIMBO
Playdead’s LIMBO has been released for the PlayStation Vita, thanks to Double Eleven. For those of us that have already enjoyed this indie title, that’s hardly reason enough to fork over $14.99. However, for those that have yet to play through LIMBO, now is a golden opportunity to experience it.
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PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD
PixelJunk Monsters is a beautifully rendered tower defense game. What primarily separates Monsters from other tower defense games is cursor movement; while most tower defense games feature the player as an omnipresent figure, Monsters provides the Tiki-Man as the protagonist. This adds a unique layer of difficulty because Tiki-Man is not an agile character. Also, any contact with the monsters you’re tasked with destroying ends in a massive loss of coins and more importantly, time.
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Rymdkapsel
Rymdkapsel was first released for the Playstation Vita, but has recently been ported to both iOS and Android smart phones and tablets. When it released for $5 on the Vita, I was quite enthralled by its addicting gameplay that relentlessly gobbled up my days. Now that it’s on other platforms, I find myself playing it even more.
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Big Sky Infinity
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBYhp2K5L3E&w=540&h=304] The sky is indeed infinite and it’s easy to get lost in the space shooter. I’m at a bit of a loss when I think of how to describe this game. You see, it’s hard to not include comparisons to other iconic shooters like Gradius, R-Type, and Raiden. Big Sky borrows heavily from all of these games as well as some more recent shooters like Geometry Wars and Super Stardust. That’s not to say that Big Sky is just a “me too” title. In fact, Big Sky takes bits of each of these games and combines those features into one cohesive unifying experience, with infinite replayability.
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Stealth Inc. Is A Real Bastard
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JyQJARvlR0&w=540&h=304] I hate this game so much. Not because it’s a bad game, but because it’s so frustratingly good. The controls are toddler simple using nothing more than left, right, jump, and duck. It seems so easy at the start, but like any good puzzle game, the simple stages serve as prep courses for things to come. It was about the 4th boss level where I got completely stumped and had to look for a solve on YouTube. My utter incompetence is forever thankful to the internet jockeys who managed to tackle this long before I got my hands on it.
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Murumasa Rebirth
Originally released for the Wii as Murumasa: The Demon Blade, this enhanced edition makes for a welcome addition in the Vita’s slowly growing library. Thankfully, you can edit the controls to suit your desires in almost every possible way. I say thankfully because the default controls are a bit of a mess. The game is simply beautiful and on full display on they Vita’s stunning screen. I find that I play this game more for the graphics than the gameplay. Playing on the easier setting is far too easy while playing on the harder setting takes a lot of work to master. Once you do, instead of being rewarded with…
