GAF, let's post reviews/recommendations of the Vita games we've played.
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
Don't be deceived by the cutesy graphics, this game is really deep, challenging, and has lots of content. There are six golf courses in total. The main challenge mode consists of six ranks, each with five normal events and one VS event. Then the seventh rank has one final VS event. Oh, and every VS event has a harder version you can unlock by collecting crowns.
This was my first HSG game, so I was overwhelmed at first because the game basically leaves you learn to play on your own. But there's plenty of explanations and advice on the internet. It's very much a skill-based game, and it was very satisfying to feel my skills improving after hours and hours of practice.
The difficulty curve is pretty steady, but I did chicken out and started using easy mode in the middle of the fourth rank. Accidentally hitting the ball out of bounds or in the water can completely destroy your chances of winning which is frustrating, but such is the game of golf.
My other gripe is the shop. As you play you earn points, which are used to buy things at the shop. I focused on only buying characters, clubs, balls, and courses, but the prices rapidly outpaced the rate I was earning points. I just feel like it takes too long to unlock stuff.
Overall HSG:WI is great. Compelling gameplay, tight controls, extensive content, pretty much everything I wanted of it. I would definitely recommend this game, it's well worth the asking price.
Lumines: Electronic Symphony
I played the first Lumines alot, so I felt right at home with this game. It's a block-clearing puzzle game with groovy music, vibrant graphics, and stylish presentation.
There's a few new gameplay elements here. Shuffle blocks: at first these seemed annoying, but after they saved me a few times from the dreaded checkerboard pattern, I started to really appreciate them. Avatar abilities: I rarely used these, mainly because I forgot about them. Experience system: as you play you gain XP and level up, which unlocks new skins and avatars. IMO this was a pretty useless addition.
There are some different modes of play, such as voyage (the main mode), master mode (extra challenging), stopwatch mode (fixed time intervals), playlist (custom tracklist), and duel. Unfortunately duel mode is versus CPU or local multiplayer only. No online multiplayer is kind of a disappointment. Just online leaderboards.
Overall Lumines ES a decent entry in the series. Gameplay is solid as usual, but I was left wanting more from it. If you're looking for a fun puzzle game, this is it, but try to find it at a lower price.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
I freaking love Disgaea. It's a SRPG series with usual grid movement, turn-based battles, and standard RPG elements. But IMO, other SRPGs tend to feel "tedious", while Disgaea is fun, fast-paced, easy to dive into, and it's just as deep and expansive. The series also features a few unique gameplay elements like lifting/throwing and geo blocks, which allows for map designs that are creative and puzzle-like. Oh, and it has a quirky sense of humor, and is chock full of references and parodies.
This game is mostly a straight port of the PS3 game, but with all the DLC content included, plus some new content, and some gameplay tweaks. So it's well worth the $40 price tag.
The biggest improvement to me is actually that post-game grinding is now way easier. You can obtain one of the best pieces of equipment pretty early in the post-game, and maxing out the item's stats is really straightforward. Disgaea is known for its intricate gameplay systems and endless grinding possibilities, but this game is much simpler to grasp and faster to reach stat caps.
If you're new to Disgaea, don't worry. Beating the main story doesn't require that much grinding or understanding of how things work. Afterwards, you can start to figure things out from there.
If you've played the PS3 game, I think you'll have to decide for yourself whether you want more of it. But if you haven't played the PS3 game, I would highly recommend D3:AoD. Probably the best SRPG the Vita will ever get.