Hi there guys! Long time
First of all, sincere apologies for taking so long! It was the Vita's birthday recently - its FIFTH! - and it was another fantastic year for the system despite its limited backing. Skip the next few paragraphs if you're not in the mood for a quick yearly review:
It was a year with something for everyone - particularly JRPG fans. Stranger of Sword City, Ray Gigante, Shiren the Wander, Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel 2, MeiQ, Mystery Chronicle, Criminal Girls 2, Superdimension Neptune VS SEGA Hard Girls, Exist Archive...the list goes on. Even Square Enix did the unthinkable and brought over a few Vita games - World of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest Builders and Adventures of Mana! Bandai Namco provided a handful from Digimon Story, God Eater 1 + 2 to Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS Force and Asterisk War. One of the PS2 gems has also been updated to superb effect for the Vita in the form of Odin Sphere Leifthrasir.
Even fans of RPGs with a different flavour can check out the deliciously dark and brutal Darkest Dungeon or the romantic sci-fi RPG that is Alone With You.
Puzzle fans had options as well, from Dreii and Lumo to Hue and one of the latest lovely additions to the Vita library - Lara Croft GO.
Action gamers had much to celebrate as well - with new entries in Samurai Warriors, One Piece, Senran Kagura, Attack on Titan, as well as new IPs like Valkyrie Drive and Neon Chrome.
Of course, one of the most celebrated genres on the Vita - the adventure genre - did quite well in 2016 as well. Updated classics like Day of the Tentacle; the thrilling climax to the zero escape series - Zero Time Dilemma; The anime based Psycho Pass; The updated version of Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters; the hidden mobile gem Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Men; the mysterious Root Letter; the much anticipated Steins;Gate 0 and the comedic Demetrios, among others.
Strategy aficionados had some lovely picks from Xcom Enemy Unknown, Civilization 2 Plus, Risk of Rain, Grand Kingdom and Steamworld Heist. Fighting fans got a taste of Skullgirls as well as classics like Last Blade 2 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
Platforming fans? Assassin's Creed Chronicles; the big hit Axiom Verge; Lego Star Wars Episode 7. Type: Rider. Mutant Mudss Deluxe. Exile's End. Volgarr the Viking. Slain.
Unique games like Gal Gun (in an odd way), Downwell (addictive) and Severed (in the best way possible) hit the system as well, alongside a few horror gems from the psychological Neverending Nightmares, to the silent hill-inspired Claire, to the cute but oh so deadly Yomawari: Night Alone.
Shooters like Paranautical Activity, Rocketbirds 2 and Space Overlords helped pepper the system with variety. Music fans got to enjoy Hatsune Miku Project Diva X. SHMUP fans were able to enjoy Delta Strike and Sky Force Anniversary. Tower Defense Fans had Castle Invasion, Iron Sea Defenders, Keeper of 4 Elements and Battalion Commander. Even fans of running games had options like Panda Run or Corridor Z.
Long story short for those who don't want to go through all the details above - the Vita had a very solid year with a wide variety of games.
As 2017 is creeping up to us, I'll be preparing the 2017 thread quite soon so we can start the new year discussing the new stuff (and enjoy whatever exposure the thread can get in the main forum before returning back to our familiar and lovely community section). Updates below aside, I have cleaned up the new releases section on the main page.
Sorry for all the talk, and apologies for taking too long again. Love you guys, enjoy the updates:
*
SaGa: Scarlet Grace - recently hit Japan. No word on an English version yet.
New trailer detailing the game's system.
*
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - Japan is getting Danganronpa-themed Vita models on January 12 next year. Here's the latest Japanese
TV ad. Also, for those with Japanese accounts, the demo is out now on the Playstation Store. For those who missed the announcement of the English trailer (due out next year),
here it is.
*
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star will hit North American regions on January 17th 2017 and 3 days later in Europe. Here's the
latest trailer of Xseed's fighter.
*
God Wars: Future Past - Kadokawa Games' strategy RPG has been delayed in Japan to spring 2017. The game is still set for release in English in early 2017 for now.
*
Valkyria Revolutions - Some of us are still in shock that this title will be hitting the Vita in English in Q2 2017. Those who have Japanese accounts can download the Vita demo on December 26th.
*
Touhou Genso Wanderer - Here's a new
trailer. This roguelike will be out digitally on February 7 (NA) and Feb 10th (EU), thanks to NIS America.
*
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey now has a release date for the English versions - March 7th in North America and March 10th in Europe, both digitally. Another good looking entry in Gust's JRPG series.
*
Blue Reflection - Gust's JRPG should hit Japan on March 30th.
*
Accel World vs. Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight -
new trailer. Launches on March 16th in Japan.
*
The Legend of Heroes: Akatsuki no Kiseki is coming to the Vita in Japan. It's an online story RPG from Userjoy Japan.
*
Minecraft on the Vita is releasing a Fallout DLC soon. Here's a
trailer
We have a trio of new games out today for the Vita, including the much anticipated Shantae & the Half Genie Hero!
NEW ATTRACTIONS
Shantae: Half Genie Hero -
Trailer here
Dex -
Trailer here
Air Race Speed -
Trailer here
As for the games coming soon:
Spheroids
Xenoraid
Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea
I also added some newly announced games in both the Japanese and English sections.
The newly added games for the English section are:
Windjammers
Ys Origin
Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy
Rose & the Old Castle of Twilight
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey
Valkyria Revolutions
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers
ClaDun Returns: This is Sengoku
Mary Skelter: Nightmares
Hakuouki: Kyoto Winds
The Deer God
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
Asdivine Hearts
Defender's Quest DX
Siralim 2
The newly added games for the Japanese section are:
Winning Post 8 2017
Kamaitachi no Yoru: Rinne Saisei
Desire: Remaster Version
Gun Gun Pixies
Kenka Bancho Otome: My Honey of Absolute Perfection
I really enjoyed the new update man and I can't believe you quoited my Neptune vs. SEGA Hard Girls review in the update! Thanks man! I really enjoyed my time with that one, so hope you guys consider giving the game as shot. Keep up the great work and I hope more great vita announcement's happen.
Bandai-Namco just pissed me off honestly and I feel really annoyed with how they dealt with Digimon post-announcement. Screams 'we don't give two ****'s about the Vita audience' and that disapontements me after past successes (and continue to have with SAO coming out next month) on Vita.
As for Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters, the game released in NA a few weeks ago and I published my review on that a while back too.....but I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping .
Sorry for the late response friend!! Glad you enjoyed my last update. I would gladly quote your reviews bro
Thanks for writing them! Enjoy today's update as well and hope you look forward to plenty in 2017!
It's a great shame Bandai Namco didn't budge with regards to Digimon Story: Next Order.
I wanted to give Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters a shot back then but then I saw how it has a lot of strategy gameplay that didn't look appealing for me :[
Great job as always Fady, loving the recent updates.
Don't forget Defender's Quest DX and Siralim 2!
Thanks my friend! Appreciated as always! Sorry for the late reply and taking forever on this update. Please enjoy it ^_^ I added Defender's Quest DX and Siralim 2 thanks to you
On the off chance that Fady reads this, is there any chance of a 2017 thread? I realise it's a huge task to go through the list and weed out the released/cancelled/MIA ones and add in the new ones, so am just asking if it's a possibility
I make sure to search every page to not miss out on any messages old friend ;D You'll be happy to hear that I am going to preparing the 2017 edition before the end of the year
! If you noticed any games that needed to be weeded out, do let me know please and i'll happily oblige in removing them