2 OLD 4 GAMING

PlayStation
Vita: The End
The conclusion of the unofficial
story of the PlayStation Vita

Sandeep Rai
001
002 PlayStation Vita: The End
PlayStation
Vita: The End
004 Foreword
Colin Moriarty
010 Introduction
012 The Story
044 Interview
Shahid Kamal Ahmad
058 Retrospectives
146 Library
168 Timeline
170 Kickstarter backers
174 Credits and thanks

003
FOREWORD

004 PlayStation Vita: The End

Foreword
by Colin Moriarty
The announcement and
subsequent launch of PlayStation
Vita nearly a decade ago
represents a major piece of
nostalgia for me, mostly because
I was one of the people in charge
of IGN’s PlayStation coverage at
that time, and took my job very
seriously. We covered the Vita
(originally the NGP, as many of
you no doubt remember) from
every conceivable angle, and I
clearly remember that by the time
the unit finally came out in the
west in early 2012, we had reviews
ready to go for every launch
game... although I was rocking
a Japanese kit for a couple of
months by then. Regardless, it
was an exciting era in my long
games media career and in my
three decades-plus as a gamer, a
moment in time I’ll never forget.
Foreword
While the positive energy
surrounding Vita was short-
lived for many, for me it was
permanent and ever-escalating.
Vita became (and remains) a
mainstay of my gaming routine,
joining PlayStation 3 and later
PlayStation 4 as one of my go-to
machines, particularly for the
quirky indie games that it would
soon become so well-known for,
but also for its occasional AAA
game, JRPGs, and plenty of others,
too. It felt great to hold and play.
The battery life was divine. It was
powerful for the time, particularly
for a handheld. And – perhaps
most importantly – the library
was (and is) truly excellent,
vastly underrated and typically
nay-sayed only by people who
never owned or played Sony’s
PSP successor.
005
FOREWORD
But I think what’s perhaps
most special about Vita is that
it almost feels like a piece of
forbidden knowledge: People
either get it or they don’t. They’ve
either played one or they haven’t.
They either own one, or they did
at one time, or they never have.
They’re in the club, or they’re
on the outside looking in. Those
who quickly cast the handheld
aside for its admittedly overpriced
memory cards or its gimmicky
touch functionality made a
huge mistake, though, because
underneath some bad marketing
and peculiar technological
choices rested an ever-growing
games library, and – perhaps
even more importantly – a small
but wildly passionate fanbase
that actively sought out every
release, solicited publishers
006
and developers to consider the
platform for more of their games,
and have somehow kept Vita
alive these last eight years or
so, even when Sony sometimes
seems bent on shutting the entire
operation down. Heck, I’d know
about this better than most:
My first game – Twin Breaker
– just launched on Vita, and it
was the platform we were most
excited to support... including
with a physical copy, which was
nothing short of a dream come
true. We released Twin Breaker
on Vita more than eight years
after the handheld launched, and
thousands of people have played
it there. It’s pretty wild when you
think about it.
So, for me, celebrating
PlayStation Vita just comes
naturally. It’s the Dreamcast of
PlayStation Vita: The End
 the handheld space; a piece of
hardware that didn’t sell great,
that underwhelmed many of
its target demographic, and
yet remains alive and well in
the hearts and minds of those
who found its gravitational
pull irresistible. Of course, such
a reference only goes so far:
Vita has sold more units than
Dreamcast, and is still supported
around the world all these years
later, while Dreamcast only
lasted for a couple of years
before turning into dust. So
when I say that Vita is even more
special and more appreciated
than people realize, it’s true.
It’s a wonderful machine.
I am so pleased to be able to
introduce a book that endeavors
to celebrate PlayStation Vita in
all of its glory, to remind all who
Foreword
turn its pages in posterity that
this device really was all it was
made out to be, and even more. As
I write this, Vita is certainly on its
last legs. But we’ll keep reviving
it, supporting it, buying games
for it, popping Trophies on it, and
introducing more and more people
to it for as long as we can, until
Sony makes it literally impossible
for us to do so. After all, that’s just
how we – the Vita Faithful – roll.
Colin Moriarty
Richmond, VA | August 5th, 2020
007
008 PlayStation Vita: The End
009
INTRODUCTION

I remember watching
Sony’s press conference
revealing the Vita, or
‘NGP’ as it was called
at the time.

I was travelling with work to

the US and woke up around 4am
just to watch the event. I loved
my PSP, and was so excited at the
prospect of another PlayStation
handheld. It’s amazing to think
that just under a decade later
I would have written three books
about the system.
I was unsure for sometime
whether the title, ’The End’, would
work for this book, especially
since we’re still seeing games
released for the Vita. The system
may not be manufactured any
longer, and, as at the time of

010 PlayStation Vita: The End

 writing, we aren’t far off from the
end of physical games, but this
hasn’t deterred the fan base. The
Vita will be remembered fondly
by many, including myself, and
I am glad that I’ve been able
to chronicle the history of the
system over this series of books.
This book recounts the period
in the Vita’s life after 2015, as
Sony wound up its support for
the device, but against all odds
the system continued to have
games released for it. Looking
back at all the releases from 2015
onwards, it’s amazing to think
that publishers and developers
such as Square Enix, Vanillaware,
and Atlus, for example, were still
bringing games to the system
years after first party support
had dried up.
Thank you to all the
Kickstarter backers that helped
make this series a reality. I hope
you find this book interesting,
informative, and enjoyable.

Sandeep Rai
2 Old 4 Gaming

Introduction 011
 The Story

012 PlayStation Vita: The End

014 Can You Kick It?
018 Hacked
022 UnLimited
028 Look Books
030 Going for Platinum
032 The End?
036 It Means Life

013

1 Can You Kick It?
y the end of 2015, Sony had
B given up on supporting the
Vita with new software,
ending their run of titles with
the moderately well received
BigFest in December. The majority of big
third party publishers had long since
abandoned the device, with Bandai-
Namco and Square-Enix being notable
exceptions – the former working on the
device until 2017 and the latter releasing
games all the way up to the end of
2019. While this was disappointing
for Vita fans, the system was still
very much a viable device with games
continuing to be released in the West,
mainly from independent developers
and publishers of localised Japanese
games. Disappointingly, the period
from 2015 onwards was also plagued by
cancellations of games announced to be
Developing for Vita
was a financial risk
given the relatively
small user base
014
CROWDFUNDING
coming to the system, including some
highly anticipated titles. Developing
for Vita was a greater financial risk for
developers given the relatively small
user base compared to other systems,
but if the funds could be secured while
the game was still in development, then
that risk would be reduced significantly –
enter Kickstarter.
The crowdfunding site grew in
prominence in 2012 as tool for video
game developers to raise funds by
allowing fans to support the development
of projects they were interested in.
One of the first big success stories
was point-and-click adventure game
Broken Age, which raised $3 million
in funding, significantly exceeding its
original target of $400,000. A string
of high profile Kickstarter successes
followed over the years, with developers
promising to release their titles on
Vita, however not all those promises
were fulfilled. Mighty No. 9 (helmed by
Mega Man series veteran Keiji Inafune)
famously raised $3.8 million – more
than four times the amount asked – yet
the handheld versions for both 3DS
and Vita never materialised, with no
explanation or announced cancellation
from the developers. This was an
infamous exception among the Vita title
PlayStation Vita: The End
cancellations – most developers at the
very least announced the cancellation
of the Vita version of their titles and
provided refunds to backers, but this
was not the case for Mighty No. 9. Other
high-profile Kickstarter cancellations
included acclaimed titles such as The
Banner Saga, Moon Hunters, Hyper Light
Drifter and Children of Morta. These were
sore disappointments to the Vita fans
that expressly backed the projects for
that version of the game. Vita owners
had a reputation for buying games
and for supporting Kickstarter projects
that promised games for their favourite
handheld; in order to capitalise on this
market some developers promised to port
their game to the system before they
had actually researched whether it was
feasible in the first place.
One of the biggest blows for Vita
owners was Bloodstained: Ritual of the
Can You Kick It?
Night. The title was spearheaded by Koji
Igarashi, who was famous for his role
in developing Castlevania: Symphony
of the Night – considered by many to
be one of the best games on the PS1.
The game raised $5.5 million – the
largest funded Kickstarter project at
the time, and although it was originally
planned for launch in 2017, development
delays meant that it eventually released
in 2019. Although a Vita version had
been promised, in August 2018 it was
announced that that version was
being cancelled (following the earlier
cancellation of a Wii-U version in 2017) –
in a Kickstarter project update, it was
stated that “this decision is largely due
to Sony’s plans to discontinue the Vita
console, ending production of physical
copies and stopping certain online store
support features.” Bloodstained was
eventually released for multiple platforms
015
A selection of Vita games
that were successfully
kickstarted, including
(clockwise from top)
Pato Box, Timespinner,
Shovel Knight,
Cosmic Star Heroine,
and Darkest Dungeon

016 PlayStation Vita: The End

including the Nintendo Switch, however
the Switch version suffered from many
bugs and performance issues, including
one glitch that prevented the game from
being finished if players did not install
an update patch before playing. Given
how the game played on the Switch, it
was likely the Vita version would have
been far worse. The cancellation was
frustrating for many fans of course, but a
Can You Kick It?
sub-par port on the Vita would have been
just as disappointing (if not more so).
When a developer launched a
Kickstarter for a game pledging that it
will come to Vita, they were committing
to not only complete their game, but
that they would then ensure it actually
released on the system and also
delivered on all their promises – after
all that, there was still no guarantee
the game would even be good! It wasn’t
all bad news though, there were some
prominent success stories, such as Slain,
Timespinner, Cosmic Star Heroine, Muv
Luv, Pato Box, and Shantae: Half-Genie
Hero. Two particularly famous crowd
funded Vita success stories were Darkest
Dungeon and Shovel Knight. Neither
game actually promised a Vita version
in their kickstarters, but they delivered
them anyway thanks to fan feedback.
Both were also critical hits and continued
to be supported with additional content
and performance patches up to 2019,
delivering well beyond the promises of
their Kickstarters.
In 2012, Kickstarter was huge. It
seemed like the best place to discover
new and unique titles, it helped
developers make their games a reality
and allowed gamers to directly support
the development of the titles they
wanted to play. Over the years, the shine
has faded and Vita fans in particular
have had to endure disappointment
after disappointment with a string of
cancellations. But for all the frustrations
there have also been successes like
Shovel Knight or Darkest Dungeon that
proved crowdfunding could result in
stellar games being developed that far
exceeded expectations.
017
018 PlayStation Vita: The End

2 Hacked
ony’s first handheld, the
S PlayStation Portable (PSP)
sold close to 80 million units
– successful enough to justify
them launching a successor
system – but for game publishers it
was not a viable platform for releasing
games, particularly towards the end of
its life, due to the ease with which it
could be hacked. In a 2009 interview
with gamesindustry.biz, Sony Computer
Entertainment America’s senior VP
of Marketing at the time, Peter Dille,
confirmed a reported figure that around
50 million PSPs had been hacked. The
result: owners pirated software, which
significantly damaged sales and led to
developers and publishers abandoning
the device prematurely. Dissidia: Final
Fantasy was an example of this – in 2010
it was reported that the game had been
In 2009, SCEA
confirmed that around
50 million PSPs had
been hacked
Hacked
HENKAKU
pirated 5 million times compared to 2
million of sales. Ru Weerasuriya, Creative
Director of Ready at Dawn studios –
developers of God of War: Chains of
Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta
for PSP – stated in 2010 “on the PSP
[piracy is] pretty rampant now all around
the world. It’s getting to the point where
it doesn’t make sense to make games on
it, if the piracy keeps on increasing.”
The damage to the PSP was clear.
To avoid lightning striking twice, Sony
built the Vita to withstand being hacked,
which was one of the reasons they had
opted to use costly proprietary memory
cards, although it’s arguable that the
criticism the device suffered for its
memory cards had a bigger impact on
its success than the risk of hacking.
The PSP was hacked within weeks of
its launch and the ease with which the
system could be exploited was part of the
reason it was so prevalent. Thankfully,
the Vita took far longer for a viable and
easy to enable hack to be made available
– that came in July 2016 when a group
of developers named Team Molecule
released the infamous HENkaku hack.
The group stated that “we carefully
designed HENkaku to be as permissive
as possible for developers to write
homebrew... however, we also made sure
019
Previous page Games
that previously could not
be understood by non-
Japanese speakers, such
as Dragon Quest Heroes 2
could now be patched to
include other languages
Right The SD2Vita
adaptor allowed SD cards
to be used, massively
expanding the storage
Opposite page PSP
games unavailable on
PSN, such as Kingdom
Hearts: Birth By Sleep
were playable on a
hacked Vita
to make it as difficult as possible to re-
purpose our tools to enable piracy. While
piracy is always inevitable, we will not
make it easy.”
The simple installation of the exploit
allowed custom applications to be
installed on the Vita, including emulators
to run games from retro devices. The
Vita became a retro gamer’s dream
system with its ability to play every
legacy system up to and including the
Nintendo64 (although not all N64 games
ran well on the handheld). Even PSP and
PS1 games that were never released on
the PlayStation Network could now be
played on the Vita, including Kingdom
Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Crisis Core:
Final Fantasy 7 – two of the PSP’s best
games that were noticeable for their
absence from the PSP’s digital library.
But retro emulation wasn’t the
only advantage of a hacked Vita. Over
time, homebrew programmers released
many new applications and add-ons to
the Vita. Some of the more famous of
these include:
020
• Overclock – The overclock exploit
allowed users to unlock more of the
system’s CPU providing improved
performance to games. For examples,
games that previously suffered from
slow down would run better, such
as Borderlands 2. However, this did
increase the risk of overheating and
damaging the system’s life in the
long run.
• Video streaming – The Vita did not
have an HDMI slot to play games on
a TV, but a hacked device could allow
users to stream game footage to a PC
via the Vita’s USB charging slot.
• Translations – Many games were
released for Vita exclusively in Japan.
To overcome the language barrier,
translation patches could be installed
for games allowing subtitles to be
displayed in alternate languages.
Western Vita gamers that were
sorely disappointed to not be able
to play titles such as I am Setsuna
or Dragon Quest Heroes 2 could play
and understand them after enabling
PlayStation Vita: The End
 Henkaku on their device.
• SD Compatibility – An exploit could
be installed to allow the use of the far
cheaper and far more widely available
SD memory cards for storage. Using
a specially designed cartridge with a
slot for an SD card, Vita owners were
able to hold hundreds of gigabytes
of data rather than the maximum
storage of 64gb offered by Sony’s own
Vita cards.
As with the PSP, Sony was running a
losing race with hackers by trying to
release patches that closed the system’s
exploits, only to have them broken just
days later in some cases. Hacking a
Vita was not as straightforward as it
was for its predecessor system, but once
the device had been cracked there was
no way for Sony to completely stop the
spread. The first version of HENkaku
required the Vita to be running a specific
firmware version and to email a file in
order to install the exploit. That version
Hacked
of HENkaku had to be reinstalled each
time a system was shut down, however
over time, it became easier to hack the
device with a permanent hack being
introduced and new exploits being
available to download from a PSN-like
store that could be installed directly
on a Vita.
Piracy is wrong. When developers
spend their time and money to release
their game on Vita, stealing that game
is inherently wrong. But a hacked
system could bring advantages and
quality-of-life improvements to players
far beyond piracy. Homebrew developers
were supporting the system with new
workarounds in their spare time and for
no reward, which, in 2018 and beyond,
was more than Sony was willing to do.
For players, it opened up new possibilities
for what the Vita was capable of, and it
provided the device with added longevity
for those willing to take the time and
realise the full potential of the system.
021

3 UnLimited
ew could have predicted that
F one relatively unknown Vita
game, Breach & Clear, would
be the start of a huge and
growing industry of collectible
game releases. Developed by the studio
Mighty Rabbit, Breach & Clear was a
strategy game that was released digitally
in May 2015 to average reviews and
little fanfare. In order to keep the studio
afloat, Douglas Bogart and Josh Fairhurst
decided to produce a small order of just
1,500 physical copies of the game and
attempt to sell them – this was the start
of Limited Run Games. From that first
release, the company went on to produce
and sell physical copies of over 100 Vita
titles, and have also branched out into
Since 2015, there
has been over 150
physical Vita game
releases sold outside
of traditional retail
channels
022
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
releases for other systems and grown
from a two-man operation to a hugely
successful organisation with a devout
fan base in just a few years.
As with most industries, success
breeds competition and the limited
physical game market was no exception.
Numerous competitors have launched
since 2015, which has resulted in over
150 physical game releases for the Vita
sold outside of traditional retail channels.
These releases have been particularly
appealing to the Vita community since
many fans of the system are avid
collectors. While owning a physical copy
of a popular title can seem attractive, like
with most things in life, there are pros
and cons to this market.
One of the biggest reasons in favour
of these limited physical releases is
game preservation. The ‘all digital future’
has been touted as an inevitability for
all entertainment industries, and while
there are advantages in the form of
convenient and easy access to content
and cheaper distribution of games for
publishers, there is a valid concern
that games bought digitally may one
day no be longer available. A famous
example of this was horror demo P.T. on
the PS4, developed by Metal Gear Solid
creator Hideo Kojima. After a falling out
PlayStation Vita: The End
023
between him and his former employer
Konami, the company removed P.T. from
the PlayStation Network, including not
allowing previous owners to download
the game again. Over the years, Vita
games have also suffered a similar fate,
mostly due to publishers losing the
licensing rights to characters in their
games – examples include Digimon Story:
Cyber Sleuth, One Piece Unlimited World
Red, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom
3. Many of these titles were removed
without any formal announcement or
notice from the publisher – fortunately,
however, these Vita games were all still
available to re-download for previous
purchasers of the titles. This was not
the case for PlayStation Mobile titles.
Once the service was discontinued, the
games could no longer be re-downloaded,
even by those who had accumulated a
024
large library of purchased games. For
this reason, having physical versions of
high-profile titles was very appealing to
those that wanted access to them long
after PlayStation Network support ceases
for the Vita.
Being able to release their games
physically has also proved to be hugely
important to developers, particularly for
Vita releases. Due to the small number of
Vita owners compared to other platforms,
sales were of course lower – being able to
release their titles physically as well as
digitally, gave developers an extra income
stream, and therefore more incentive to
port their games to the system.
One of the biggest problems with
these limited releases was the fact that
they were indeed limited! Small numbers
of carts were printed to reduce the risk
of copies being left over and unsold, but
PlayStation Vita: The End
when games have a print run of just
1,000 units and Vita collectors exceed
that number, it inevitably attracts the
attention of those wanting to make a
quick profit by buying and re-selling
these games at an excessive mark up,
also known as ‘scalpers’. Vita games
sold for $25 by the distributor have been
priced far in excess of that in order to
profit from the desire of true fans to have
a complete collection of games. Vita
collectors became used to the stress of
mashing the F5 key on Fridays at 10am
(Eastern US time) when a new release
was going live from Limited Run Games,
in order to try and snag an elusive
copy. It was not uncommon for a new
release to sell out in a minute, to the
great disappointment of many fans that
had missed out.
Limited Run Games has had to deal
with much criticism over the years,
particularly from fans disappointed at
missing out on a game release that they
desperately wanted. They have been
accused of not doing enough to combat
the presence of scalpers, compounded
by the company allowing purchases of
more than one copy per buyer for games
with very small print runs. Frustratingly
for buyers, games have also been sold
Small print runs
inevitably attract
scalpers wanting to
make a quick profit
UnLimited
with bugs – a competitor in the market,
Red Art Games, released the physical
copy of Deer God which ran poorly on
the Vita, while the Vita release of Night
Trap by Limited Run Games drew much
criticism as a bug meant it could not be
completed (it was finally patched, nearly
12 months after the original release).
In March 2019, Sony ended production
of Vita cartridges in the West, which
impacted almost all of the limited
release Vita games sellers. Limited
Run Games staggered their final Vita
releases into 2020, but this left the Hong
Kong-based publisher Eastasiasoft in a
unique position. Their positioning in the
Asian market has meant that they have
continued to have access to new Vita
carts, which has ensured new titles being
signed up for physical runs well into
2020 – and also makes them the only
company in the market able to offer this
to developers. Like Limited Run Games,
Eastasiasoft’s background was game
development – their first release was
Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer on the PS3
and PC, and has more recently expanded
to Rainbow Skies on PS3, PS4, and Vita.
The company moved into publishing
physical and digital games, and released
29 Vita physicals between 2015 and 2019.
While not perfect, it’s undeniable that
Limited Run Games started a spark in
the industry that lit a fire under game
collectors and launched numerous
competitors. While the Vita was already
a system popular for game collectors, the
emergence of these companies was not
only appreciated by fans wanting to own
a physical copy of their favourite games,
but also for developers considering
bringing their games to the system.
025
No limits
Here is just a small selection of the
physical Vita games released by
limited print publishers Limited Run
Games, Eastasiasoft, Red Art Games,
Signature Edition, Strictly Limited
Games, VBlank, Fangamer,
and BadLand

026 PlayStation Vita: The End

027

4 Look Books
y 2018, new releases for the
B Vita fell predominantly into
two categories: indie titles and
games from Japan. The number
of big budget releases was
diminishing, but one genre continued to
flourish on the system: visual novels.
The history of visual novels dates
back to the 1980s with the release of
The Portopia Serial Murder Case. While
it was itself inspired by other Western
games in the adventure genre, its style
and approach to storytelling established
the template for the genre and can
still be seen in visual novel titles today.
This subset of games is characterised
by text-based, interactive storytelling
with characters overlaid on a static
Language skills, time,
effort, and dedication
are required to
properly localise the
games and bring
them to the West
028
VISUAL NOVELS
background – some may include puzzle
elements, while others offer branching
conversation choices which can lead to
multiple endings.
Over 50 titles in this genre have
been released for the Vita in the West
(that number is far larger if including
Japan-only releases) including popular
series such as the Zero Escape trilogy, the
Danganronpa series, and the Steins Gate
series. Although the majority of visual
novels were developed in Japan, more
recently indie devs have been inspired
to branch into the genre, VA-11 HALL-A
and 2064: Read Only Memories being two
notable and well received examples.
The effort to release these games to a
Western audience cannot be overstated.
While they may not be as complex
from a coding perspective as the AAA,
big budget console games, language
skills, time, effort, and a hell of a lot
of dedication are required to properly
localise the games so that the story
translates effectively to a non-Japanese
audience. It’s not just a case of re-writing
the words into a different language – the
slang, pop culture references, and subtler
expressions need to be carefully rewritten
in order for fans to appreciate the
intricate plots in the best way possible.
The popularity of visual novels on Vita
PlayStation Vita: The End
can partly be explained by the nature of
the genre itself. These titles will include
hours of reading, and while many of
them are available on the PlayStation 4
or PC, it’s not ideal to read the equivalent
of a book sitting in front a TV or monitor.
Visual novels may also have found a
home in Vita due to the system having
less weekly releases compared to other
gaming systems, which prompted owners
Look Books
to experiment and try out some titles
that they may not have otherwise played.
Handhelds have traditionally been the
ideal place for this type of game, as can
also be demonstrated by the success
of the Phoenix Wright series on the
Nintendo DS, and the Vita turned out to
be an ideal system for visual novels with
gamers willing to explore unfamiliar,
niche genres.
A selection of the high profile visual
novels available on the Vita, clockwise
from left: Muv Luv; Danganronpa;
2064:ROM; and VA-11 HALL-A
029

5 Going for Platinum
ayonnaise! Not just a tasty
M condiment, it was also the
theme of the game that started
a trend of PlayStation releases
known for offering easy
platinum trophies.
Trophies were launched on the
PlayStation 3 in 2008 with Super
Stardust HD. They were required to be
implemented on every subsequent PS3
title, giving players a virtual reward for
achieving a specific feat in a game – the
most coveted of which was the platinum,
which would only unlock after all other
trophies had been attained. Trophies
were popular among the PlayStation
community, and so when Sony
announced in 2011 that all Vita games
would also implement the system, fans
were excited for the possibility of earning
trophies while playing on-the-go.
For many years, it was thought that
platinum trophies could only assigned
to retail or high-profile game releases,
but that was proven false, famously so
in November 2016 when developer Green
Lava Studios launched My Name is Mayo
for the PS4 and Vita. The game involved
tapping the Vita screen or PS4 controller
buttons repeatedly, and eventually a
platinum trophy would unlock. This
release seemingly opened the floodgates
030
TROPHIES
for small, cheap, indie releases with
easy platinums, some of which could
be earned in minutes. A community
of fans that sought to improve their
trophy ranking ate up these games with
YouTube videos providing guidance on
the method for attaining these trophies
as quickly as possible.
One company became famous
(or perhaps infamous) for releasing
titles with fast and easy platinum
trophies – Ratalaika Games. The
publisher and porting studio based in
Spain worked with many developers to
bring games to consoles, including the
Vita. These titles tended to be low price
and had trophies that would all unlock
in (potentially) less than 30 minutes. In
In 2019, Ratalaika said
that sales of Vita titles
did not justify the cost
and effort of porting –
but they continued to
release them anyway
PlayStation Vita: The End
Ratalaika Games published dozens of
games for the Vita, including (clockwise
from above) Legend of the Skyfish;
Metagal; Cybarian; I am the Hero; and
Devious Dungeon 2
many cases, the platinum trophy
would even unlock before the game
was completed.
These virtual achievements, when
implemented in the right way, could
be beneficial to a game and provide
an incentive for players to see all
that was on offer, but it could also be
disenchanting to see a platinum trophy
pop up on the screen before the halfway
point had even been reached. Ratalaika
faced criticism, but there was clearly
a demand for games that approached
trophies in this way, and for Vita owners,
the company was responsible for dozens
Going for Platinum
of new titles being released on the
system. While some of their releases were
considered mediocre, between 2018 and
2019 they launched 23% of all games
on the device, across a wide variety of
genres. Notably, they continued to publish
games for the Vita into 2020. In 2019,
the company stated that sales of their
titles on Vita did not justify the cost and
effort of porting them to the system, but
the company continued to release them
anyway, giving Vita owners a steady
stream of titles to play on their favourite
handheld long after other developers and
publishers had given up on it.
031
032 PlayStation Vita: The End

6 The End?
or Vita, the end had been on
F the cards for some time – it
was not a successful system
and its demise was inevitable.
Perhaps the beginning of the
process was in March 2015, when Sony
blamed the Vita and PSTV for a loss of
$93 million in their annual financial
results. For a company like Sony who,
after a number of years of financial
difficulties, were finally seeing success
with the PS4, it seemed that the Vita was
a stain on their record that they preferred
to not talk about. The PSTV was even less
successful than its portable counterpart
and was discontinued in 2016 – just two
years after its launch. PS Mobile, another
failed initiative, was terminated in July
May 2018 was the
start of a constant
and steady flow of bad
news that ultimately
resulted in the Vita’s
discontinuation
The End?
PS MORTE
2015, and PlayStation Now support was
removed from the system in 2017. Sony
ceased talking about the Vita at their
annual E3 presentation after 2014, and
even support for smaller services such as
the Near app (that Sony heavily touted as
their answer to the Nintendo 3DS’ Street
Pass system) was discontinued.
It was May 2018 which acted as a
turning point though, and the start of a
constant and steady flow of bad news
that ultimately resulted in the device’s
formal discontinuation.
On 16 May 2018, Sony announced
that production of Vita cartridges in
the West would end in early 2019. For
game collectors, this was a massive
blow. Limited Run Games and other
Western sellers of Vita games were faced
with the imminent end of a popular
and successful part of their business,
and developers had less incentive to
bring their games to the system, as the
potential for profit was severely impacted
if they couldn’t release a physical version
of their title. Cartridge production
officially ended in the West in March
2019 – yet somewhat fortunately, this
production end was not implemented in
Asia, where the device was more popular.
Eastasiasoft, another seller of limited
print titles, supported the system and
033
sold Vita games via their website, play-
asia.com, beyond 2019 and well into 2020.
Just months later, in an interview
with Famitsu, Sony Interactive
Entertainment Senior Vice President,
Hiroyuki Oda, confirmed that there
Not since Sega’s
Dreamcast had a
major console maker
released a device
with no successor
034
would be no Vita successor. Given the
device’s performance, this wasn’t overly
surprising, although many fans held
out hope that the stellar sales of the
Nintendo Switch would demonstrate
to Sony that there was a market for
portable gaming systems. Not since the
Dreamcast had a major console maker
released a device with no successor to
replace it.
The final nail in the coffin came in
February 2019. Sony announced that
production of Vita systems would cease
before April of that year, and in fact
Sony didn’t even make it that far – on
2 March 2019, Sony announced they were
no longer manufacturing the PlayStation
Vita anywhere in the world.
PlayStation Vita: The End
I Want It Now 035

7 It Means Life
oor sales. No games. Little
P support. It’s a wonder that
the Vita managed to remain
in production for so long and
continue to have new titles
released over eight years after its launch.
For all the talk of Sony’s mistakes, there
were some things they did right that
few can fault them on – namely that
they made a device that’s relatively
easy to develop games for, yet powerful
enough to run high quality games, and is
comfortable for gamers to play. This goes
some way to explain why developers,
particularly indies, continued to release
their titles for the Vita – but it isn’t the
only reason.
Getting noticed
among bigger releases
is difficult for smaller
titles, but on Vita
it’s easier for indie
games to shine and
gain attention
036
POST MORTEM
Sales
Despite having an install base of
less than 15% compared to the PS4,
cross-platform games sales were
proportionately more than 15% on
Vita, resulting in the commonly quoted
reputation that “Vita owners buy games.”
Thomas Altenburger from Flying Oak
Games, developers of Neurovoider, said
in an interview: “Based on all the stories
that we had heard about the [Vita], we
were not expecting a thing [in terms
of sales]. We made the port exclusively
because we could, and because we felt
like the fans deserved it. Ultimately those
stories were proven wrong, because the
game did OK on the Vita [more than on
XBox].” By July 2018, Neurovoider on Vita
had sold 50% of what the PS4 version
had, despite a later release on a smaller
install base. When Fabrice Bretton, of
COWCAT games, developer of Demetrios
and publisher of Xenon Valkyrie+, Riddled
Corpses EX, and Demon’s Tier+ on Vita,
was asked in 2018 if the sales on Vita
justified the effort to bring his games to
the system, he responded: “Vita is still
one of the best-selling platforms for my
games, so it was justified!”
Vita fans were willing to support
developers that put in the time and effort
to bring games to the system – however,
PlayStation Vita: The End
another reason for higher than expected
sales of Vita games is discoverability.
In an interview with Glixel in 2017, Luc
Bernard, from Arcade Distillery, stated
that, “Even if you just release an indie
game on PS4 or XBox, you get drowned
by other stuff”. Consoles like PS4 are
home to big-name, AAA experiences –
2020 alone has seen the release of Final
Fantasy VII Remake, Ghost of Tsushima,
and The Last of Us Part II, and it is not
uncommon for the PS4 or Switch to have
more than 20 games released in a single
week. Getting noticed among so many
other releases is difficult for smaller
titles, but on Vita it has been easier
for indie games to shine and gain the
attention of the system’s owners.
Evgeniy Kolpakov, CEO of Sometimes
You, publisher of over two dozen games
for Vita, stated in 2020 that the “Vita is
A selection of indie games that made
their way to the Vita after 2018, including
(clockwise from right) Plague Road;
Neurovoider; Reverie; and Xenon Valkyrie+
It Means Life
still a good market for indie developers”,
and while sales are not as high as Switch
and PS4, the Vita versions of their games
– in most cases – still exceeds sales on
PC markets, particularly when you factor
in physical sales, which continued to be
popular with collectors up to the end of
the Vita’s life.
Ease of development
While sales of games are important,
developers also needed to ensure costs
were kept under control in order to
turn a profit – fortunately, the Vita was
considered easy to develop games for.
In 2017, Bryan Morrison-Elliott, from
Coatsink, developers of Shu, stated
that no changes to the game’s code
were needed to bring their game to the
Vita: “All the gameplay code present
in the PS4 release is right there in
037
038 PlayStation Vita: The End
the Vita release. The only changes
were graphical.” This was supported
by Luc Bernard, from Arcade Distillery,
developers of Plague Road, who said of
developing this title for Vita, “There was
no extra time or effort put in, our engine
runs on Vita… long story short, it’s easy
to develop for it.”
Thomas Altenburger reiterated this
viewpoint by stating “We already ported
[Neurovoider] to the PS4, so it was a
matter of a couple hours to get the game
up and running” on Vita. He also said
that Neurovoider on the handheld “has
barely any compromise, it runs at 60FPS.”
When asked how it is to develop a game
for Vita and whether compromises had
to be made, Jared from Rainbite,
developers of Reverie, said “It really isn’t
too different from developing on any
other platform. Since we planned on
developing for the Vita from the start,
nothing was compromised. None of the
game content needed to be changed to
make it work on Vita.”
PlayStation support
Although Sony earned itself a negative
reputation when it came to promoting
and releasing games for the Vita, it
seems that the support they provided
developers behind the scenes was
another reason for games coming to the
system. The decision to release Shu on
the Vita came out of Sony approaching
Coatsink to bring their game to the
PlayStation system – a 2017 article
on Glixel confirmed this. In the article
they stated: “While Sony Interactive
Entertainment’s top executives may talk
the device down, many developers we
spoke to sang the praises of the people
It Means Life
on the front line, doing third party
outreach for Sony.” Notably, the Strategic
Content team were particularly effective
at encouraging developers and publishers
to bring games to the Vita, primarily in
the system’s early years – and although
this support seemed to have reduced as
time went by, it is clear that without their
efforts, there would have been far fewer
games on the device.
The community
Vita fans are known for being passionate
advocates for the device. The supportive
community has helped developers get
more attention for their games, and they
show their appreciation to developers
that take the time to release a title on
the Vita. Mike Daw from Infinite State
Games, developers of Rogue Aces and
Don’t Die Mr. Robot, stated: “the Vita fans
are by far the most passionate about
the system, and are also understanding
and supporting of developers... they’re
awesome.”
Slawa Deisling from Behind the Stone,
developers of Sir Eatsalot, agreed with
this sentiment, and added: “We’ve never
The Vita was
considered easy to
develop for, with many
developers stating
that Vita code was the
same as PS4 code
039
seen a community so passionate, friendly,
and jolly about a platform. It’s not dumb
fanboyism, but a real celebration of joy
for this handheld. This very community
was probably the most important reason
for us to keep going.”
So the Vita was easy to develop for,
Sony provided support to developers,
and sales of Vita games did well
compared to their equivalent PS4 release,
but one less talked about reason for
games coming to the handheld was
that publishers and developers were
themselves fans of the system. Brian
Provinciano of VBlank, developer of Retro
City Rampage and Shakedown Hawaii,
said “I’m as in love with the PS Vita
as I was the day [Retro City Rampage]
launched, and will continue to support
it as long as I can.” Ratalaika Games
continued to bring games to the device
well into 2020, despite sales dwindling
over time. Founder and owner, Adrian
Vega, stated that one of the reasons
for this is “because I like playing on
PS Vita myself.” This was echoed in
a GamesRadar article in 2019, where
creators from studios such as Drinkbox,
Nihon Falcom, Aquaria, and Nippon Ichi
Software all paid tribute to the device.
Within just a few months of launch,
it was clear that the Vita was not going
to be the sales success that Sony wanted
it to be, but despite this, the system
significantly exceeded expectations
in terms of its lifespan. The Vita was
manufactured for over seven years, and
had games being released more than
eight years after its launch – and that
was without the help of new first party
releases from PlayStation beyond the
first few years. That ultimately could
040
not have happened without the support
of the passionate Vita community, and
the Japanese and indie developers that
continued to support the system.
Sony have stated multiple times that
they would not release a successor to
the Vita. For fans of the system, it’s
hard to not be disappointed with how
overlooked and under-appreciated the
device was – the gaming community
and media’s reception to it was tinged
with negativity even before the Vita had
been released. Sony made mistakes, that
much is undeniable (ranging from the
expensive memory cards, to the largely
unnecessary back touch pad) but the
Vita did succeed in finding a dedicated
fanbase that saw the potential in the
system, and supported it long after it was
abandoned by the company that created
it. Those that gave it a chance and delved
into its library of games discovered a
device that is perfect for portable gaming
with a superb range of titles, from big
budget console-like games to smaller
indie releases. It was also the perfect
device to experience the history of
PlayStation, with the ability to play PS1
While many wrote
it off as dead within
weeks of its launch,
the Vita proved to be
far more resilient
than expected
PlayStation Vita: The End
and PSP games, remasters of classic PS2
titles, follow-ups and spin-offs of key
PlayStation franchises, and the ability to
remote play PS4 games.
Kazuo Hirai, former CEO of Sony,
famously said “Vita means life”. While
many wrongly wrote it off as dead within
weeks of its launch, the Vita proved to be
far more resilient than expected – and
it will likely be remembered far more
favourably in the future compared to
how it was treated by players and the
games media during its life. Despite
their missteps, few can argue that Sony
had created something special in the
Vita. It was seen as a portable Steam
machine for indie games, the best place
for localised Japanese visual novels,
It Means Life
and a haven for niche RPGs. It led to
a wave of limited print run physical
games, and impressively was a proving
ground for new technology such as
remote play and online game streaming
through PlayStation Now. In some
ways it was ahead of its time, in others
it was doomed by Sony’s insistence
on repeating past mistakes. It set a
new benchmark in terms of console
launch line-ups, and taught the gaming
industry the importance of following up
a hardware release with a steady stream
of titles. It failed to sell the numbers that
Sony had hoped for, but it succeeded in
inspiring gamers and developers who
will no doubt look back on the system
with fond memories.
041
042 PlayStation Vita: The End
043
 INTERVIEW Shahid Kamal
Ahmad
PlayStation
Strategic
Content
044 PlayStation Vita: The End
 It’s not an understatement to say that the Vita wouldn’t have
survived for as long as it did if it weren’t for the efforts of Shahid
Kamal Ahmad and his team. As the head of PlayStation’s Strategic
Content division he successfully brought dozens of indie games to
the Vita. In this interview he speaks about how he ended up in the
role and his personal highlights of the titles he worked on.

Let’s talk about you first. What was your role at PlayStation
around the time the Vita was being developed?
I was in Developer Relations, part of Third Party Relations. My
involvement at that time was mainly sitting in on technical meetings
with R&D, the developer support groups, Mark Cerny and large
developers – we were getting input from the large developers as to
what they preferred to see in something like the Vita. So that was
my very earliest involvement with the Vita. I was on the periphery
at that early stage because I would eventually be dealing with the
same developers who were in those meetings. If you think about the
old model of developer relations – as in the model before I started
Strategic Content – it was very much an operational role. I would just
be supporting developers, particularly larger developers because I was
the account manager for an awful lot of them back then, and that
just meant as they submitted concepts, I would help them get their
concepts through the approval process and act as their point person
within PlayStation. It was very much an operational type of activity.

Sounds interesting.
Not really! Look, I was a maverick. I’m still a maverick. I’ve always
been a maverick. I like to push for improvement all the time. I look at
how things could be and I just want better, and if I think things can
be better, I won’t shut up about it. It’s a blessing and a curse. In an
operational team like Developer Relations it’s a curse. I kept pushing
Jim Ryan (at the time President of PlayStation Europe) for something
bigger, something better, something I could get my teeth into. Where I
could really change things. Try and improve processes. Try and improve
relationships with developers. Try and make PlayStation a bit more
open and more welcoming. Just do more exciting stuff.
I remember being in Developer Relations one evening, it must
have been around 9.50pm because the lights had gone off (the lights
at PlayStation would turn off at around 9.30pm). I was the only one
still there – who else would still be there at such a crazy time? I was
writing one of those Jerry Maguire type emails to Jim. I said, “we
should do this, we should do that”, but it wasn’t in relation to the

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 045

 Vita. It was in relation to how I thought we could apply the model of
indie development for emerging market developers as a test bed. I
was involved with a lot of developers in India as I created the Indian
support program. I helped to host the first ever PlayStation DevStation
event held outside of the UK, in Mumbai. Paul Holman, VP of R&D,
one of my favourite people in the industry; Colin Hughes, one of the
most senior engineers at PlayStation; Zeno Colaço, who was VP at the
time of Third Party Relations; they all attended as well. It was really
well represented by PlayStation. My program was to try and extend
the life of the PS2 and because it didn’t involve money, it just involved
a whole bunch of other things like middleware support, engineering
support and so on, Zeno let me run with it. He was incredibly gracious
about letting me lead. Eventually when it did involve money, I was
given a small budget to help local developers. I extended the life of the
PlayStation 2 in India and we shifted a lot of units by developing local
products. That initiative, however, needed improving because it was
not easy to get developers who were not used to console development
to make games quickly and with a high degree of skill on something
as complex as the PS2 as their first project. I was asking for trouble but
they did a very creditable job. It was impressive that they managed to
do anything at all.

I push for improvement

all the time. I look at how
things could be, and I just
want better, and I won’t
shut up about it

Going back to my Jerry Maguire email, I said to Jim, “look, we can

do this better, we can use an indie style approach to bring games to
PlayStation much faster. Cooler titles with much smaller budgets.” It
was really funny because I thought I’d get a bollocking, but he said
something along the lines of, “could this work in other regions?” That
was all! And in my head I’m going ‘ker-ching!’ Thats what I wanted!
The idea was a test bed for other regions. So eventually I got moved to
Business Development, and that’s when things took off.
The first proper gig I got was PlayStation Mobile. PS Mobile was

046 PlayStation Vita: The End

 about games for the Vita and for Sony Android phones, and it ran on
some C Sharp Mono code, with a simple 2D engine, which was not
massively different to Apple’s SDK. My job was to try and commission
content for PlayStation Mobile. I remember being involved in a lot of
the planning meetings and listening to this big talk and I thought, I
don’t understand a lot of what these guys are saying. I was thinking,
“just let me go out and meet developers and I’ll get you games!” It
sounds ridiculous right? But that’s what I was thinking. I brought a
lot of plain speaking to these meeting and I think people appreciated
it because I had absolutely no tolerance for bullshit. It was around
December 2011 when I got moved to this role and I was working for
Nainan Shah (VP of Business Development at the time), one of the
greatest leaders I’ve ever worked for, an absolute genius at building
teams, leading people, and inspiring confidence. One of the first things
I did was ask Nainan if I could go to GDC. I had been in Developer
Relations for six years before this gig and every time I’d ask to go
to GDC I’d been turned down. I thought, I’m in Developer Relations,
why am I not going to GDC? I said to Nainan “I need to go to GDC.” I
remember he was walking across the floor of the office when I asked
this (you had to catch Nainan between stuff because he was just so
busy), he stopped, turned around, looked thoughtfully for about one
second, and just said “Go.” My jaw dropped. What the hell is this? I’d
never encountered this. I used to write multi-page reports on what
my ROI (return on investment) would be for a GDC trip. I wrote some
really compelling cases, page after page of what I would do, but one
word from Nainan and I was finally going to GDC. That’s when I finally
began to understand the difference between an operational role and a
business development role.
At GDC 2012, I go out with the Vita and I’m meeting developers at
the IGF (Independent Games Festival) pavilion. I’m not doing the, “hey
guys, I work for PlayStation, come work with us” spiel. That would be
arrogant. I had already sent out feeler emails to top tier developers from
an anonymous Gmail account, and I asked them for their feedback on
what was wrong with the console manufacturers. I wanted to know
why they were on Steam and mobile. What were we doing wrong?
The reason I did that was because they’re going to know better than
anyone how to fix us. They would know what was broken about
PlayStation and Xbox. I saw an entire generation of the most creative
talent the industry had ever seen and they were all going to Steam
and mobile because the gatekeeping was practically non-existent. So
all the creativity, all the fun stuff, all the cool stuff, it was all going to
Steam, iOS, and Android, and I thought why the hell isn’t this coming

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 047

 to PlayStation? We are a cool company. We used to do this (collaborate
with developers) back in the PS1 days. Why aren’t we doing it anymore?
And so I went there with the Vita. I showed people the Vita, and you
know what was scary – they didn’t even know what a Vita was!
During GDC, there was a large meeting with about 20 people
from Sony around a restaurant table with people from every region.
Japan was there, the US was there, Europe was there represented
by me. At this meeting we were talking about PlayStation Mobile.
Shiggy (Shigeru Sugimoto) from the Japanese office, one of my
favourite people in the industry, was leading the PSM effort from a
technical perspective and was trying to get buy-in from the regions
for commissioning content. Some of the people around the table were
saying, “we’re gong to speak to EA and we’re going to speak to this
organisation.” It was all large companies and I’m thinking, these
companies don’t give a damn about this little mobile initiative. I kept
my mouth shut because, remember, I’m the upstart. I’m a relatively old
guy, very experienced, but in the world of PlayStation I’m an upstart.
So I kept my mouth shut. Now, we come to the end of the meeting and
there’s been all this argument, people saying, “you’ll never get this
many titles.” People were being really negative. Towards the end of the
meeting and we’re rounding up and I said, “I’ll get you 20!” Everyone
just looked at me. I believe in over-promising and massively over
delivering. I find when you over-promise and try to over-deliver, very
often, you’ll at least get the job done. It doesn’t mean you will always
over-deliver, but it does mean you’ll stand a chance. You give yourself
the frame of reference within which you can get the job done. Anyway,
you’ve got to rememberer my team is two people – me and Lorenzo
Grimaldi, the greatest right hand man I’ve ever had. I spoke to Shiggy
and said, “we’ll get you 20 titles for PSM”, and he said, “how?”, and I
said “independent developers.”
I went back to London and there was another famous meeting
(when I say famous, I mean in my own mind). It was a post-GDC
meeting where we had a whole bunch of execs sat round this table, and
I told them that if we don’t do something now, then the Vita is going
to be dead, because developers didn’t even know what PlayStation Vita
was. Nobody at PlayStation seemed to be saying this loudly enough -
some people may have been talking about it, but no-one was prepared
to put their job on the line – but because I never gave a damn about
any of that stuff, I was prepared to say what needed to be said.
I told them an entire generation of developers was gong to be lost
to PlayStation unless we do something drastic now. So, I was given
PSM and a chance to get some developers, and you know in the

048 PlayStation Vita: The End

 launch window there weren’t 20 titles – me and Lorenzo got 33 titles
for Playstation Mobile! How did we get them? We hustled like crazy.
We were on the phone. We were out seeing people. It was relentless,
morning to night. Every single day. Chasing, chasing, chasing.
Getting all the leads we could. It wasn’t just us two. We would ask
all the people we knew within Third Party Relations and Business
Development who they thought would want to work with us. It was not
a case of we knew best, it was a case of we would put in the work. For
me, the biggest thing was I need to get Vlambeer on board.

I told a bunch of execs that

a generation of developers
was gong to be lost to
PlayStation unless we do
something drastic now

I thought that if we get Vlambeer on board, others will follow.

The PlayStation Mobile version of Super Crate Box was for me, the
best version of that game. I totally loved it and do you know how I
made that pitch? This was a call, late in the evening, again I’m the
only person in the office, with Rami Ismail. It was the first time I’m
speaking to him, and my pitch is that I don’t think Super Crate Box has
been done on the best platform for Super Crate Box. It was quite risky
to say that. I said I actually think it would be best on Vita and “best
on Vita” became my catchphrase, and I started using it with a bunch
of developers. I said to them, “you’ve got this portable, effectively,
Steam machine with an OLED screen. Beautiful controls. Imagine your
stuff on this device.” Imagine, imagine, imagine. Best on Vita, best
on Vita, best on Vita. You know what? Once Super Crate Box was on
there, people started to believe it, and there were loads of other guys on
there: Futurlab was great, Team17 were great (they came through with
a whole bunch of titles). We got a whole bunch of PlayStation Mobile
titles that were really quite cool, and we did 33 games in the first few
months of launch. We smashed our target. PlayStation Mobile turned
out to be a complete and utter failure but it didn’t matter. I knew it was
going to fail. We all knew it was going to fail but it didn’t matter, we
had to do it anyway. What we did though is we built momentum and so

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 049

 the next challenge, because the Vita was in trouble.
By this time, we’ve got all this stuff on PlayStation Mobile, but the
traditional business has failed to get AAA content onto Vita, and they
were struggling. There were a number of reasons for this, and its very
easy to make these reasons appear to be THE reason in hindsight,
and I think most of them were unfair. At the end of 2012, so after PSM
launched, Andy House said to me in a big exec meeting that people
were very happy with the job I did on PlayStation Mobile. At this point
I’d been joined by Robin Maxe. So there’s me, Lorenzo, and Robin, and
we were working on a presentation which I had to deliver to executive
management. This took a while to develop, and it was refined through
the fire of interrogation by Tony Clark (Director, Business Development
and Strategic Content at the time), the greatest boss I’ve ever had,
with Murray Hume, with Nainan Shah, Robin and Lorenzo. Basically,
I polished this presentation into a jewel with their help and the
presentation was probably the most important and the most impactful
presentation I’ve ever given. One of the slides showed how much
content we were expecting on Vita in the calendar year 2013, and it
was just eight titles – five from third parties, and three from first-party.
That was the challenge. I read a lot of the criticism of the work I did,
but you’ve got to remember my scope was limited. I was not in charge
of first-party. I had none of that responsibility. I was not in charge of
third party. I had a business development role, and my role was to try
and stop the Vita from dying in a very, very short period of time.

One of the slides showed

how much content we
were expecting on Vita
in 2013, and it was just
eight titles

So I showed them this slide, and I said, here’s what it will look
like if they approve my plan, and I showed them a new slide with 55
titles on top of the eight coming through 2013 and beyond. And I saw
the shock in peoples faces. I knew the first question I was going to
get was, how the hell would I be able to do this – which is a perfectly
legitimate question. Of course, I had a plan and the plan was, firstly,

050 PlayStation Vita: The End

 I was going to go to the same developers that we had gone to for the
PlayStation Mobile stuff and ask them to redo some of their titles for
the PlayStation Vita natively, then I was going to extend our outreach
to more developers and we were going to fund all of these people a
reasonable amount in order to get their stuff on Vita.
Now this was the clever bit though, or at least I thought it was,
there was whole bunch of AA developers who did not have work to do,
because the AA space had collapsed with the generational shift. On one
hand there were these were extremely competent engineers who didn’t
have work, and on the other hand we had all these indies who didn’t
want to learn to code for PlayStation because it was too complicated.
That needed some of the best programmers around to get the best out
of the systems, and then go through approvals, QA, and all that. The
indie guys didn’t want to do any of that, so the idea was we’d call these
AA developers – I called them ’Session Musicians’ – and the indies
would work in tandem with them to get some of these amazing Steam
games onto Vita. Another leg of the strategy was to go after auteurs.
They would be embarrassed to be described that way, but the idea was
that if we could get them on board it would invite other people, it would
attract other developers.
One other approach that wasn’t mine, but it was imposed on me
because I was told I would not get this past executive management
unless I included this, was that we would try and get a couple of AAA
games – which we did, by the way. I remember coming out of that
meeting, and Robin, who is a remarkably cool, professional Swede, a
very impressive young man, gave me a high five. If you know Robin, you
would know he would never, ever, give a high five, but after the meeting
he saw how it went, and I got the approval.
Then began the most insane hustle in console history! I was
everywhere, because one of the things I asked for was carte blanche
to ride roughshod over the traditional developer operations of the
company. Not in a disrespectful way, but for example not to have to
go through content approval because that didn’t make sense here. I
wanted to be able to loan dev kits to anyone for as long as devs needed
it. I wanted to able fund games a certain amount and in the end the
budget I was given was massive, and that budget grew year-on-year
for the period I was running Strategic Content – I mean in the end it
was so big, it was scary. So that’s how it started. GDC 2012 and nobody
knows what a Vita is, but in 2013 I go to GDC and everybody wants to
meet me. And I’m meeting my heroes, it was really weird for me. “We
hear you’re the person to go to, and you’re doing great things, and well
done for getting this and for getting that,” and I’m thinking, “but I

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 051

 love you!” Everyone was coming on board, and we were helping bring
people on board. We were doing what we could to reduce the friction
between the developers and getting their games onto PlayStation. My
remit for the team was that I expected them to throw their bodies onto
the machinery of PlayStation so that developers could walk over them
to the promised land! You can ask them that, that was what I asked
them to do. They went further than I’d ever have believed possible.
They believed in the mission. They saw it was getting results, and they
were totally spectacular. Things just snowballed, absolutely snowballed.
I was everywhere. I knew if I hustled hard enough, if I believe in what I
was doing enough, and if I give people the support that they need, then
I had a chance.

Did you find people started to believe more in the Vita?

There were two types of people involved in all this: the first were people
who were just relieved that there was stuff coming to the Vita, and
then there was the other group of people who were committed to the
original vision and were just shattered that there was no AAA stuff
coming to Vita. I was never going to win the latter over, and it was
never my job to do that.

So how many games did you secure for Vita?

Hundreds. Directly, well over 100. Indirectly from what we had done,
hundreds. Not just for Vita though. The program was so successful that
my remit extended to the PS4 launch, which was very important for
us. My argument (to management) was that we would have the same
problem on PS4 unless you let us do the same thing. And so they let us
do the same thing! That’s why I ended up on the stage at Gamescom
announcing a bunch of Vita and PS4 console exclusives.

Are there any games you got for Vita that you’re
particularly proud of?
Hotline Miami, Rogue Legacy, and TxK are ones that come to mind.
Super Crate Box was the first because I thought it was best on Vita.
Hotline Miami, I thought was best on Vita. Velocity 2X was an absolute
gem. I think its still sitting at 90% or above on Metacritic on Vita and
it was just as good as the PS4 version. There were tons, too many to
mention. Those I would say are some of the highlights. We were just
playing game after game after game. I really liked Lone Survivor, Jasper
Byrne’s game. That was one we helped to bring. There were a whole
bunch of really nice ports as well. I was proud of Football Manager,
because it was a AAA game that everyone said was not going to

052 PlayStation Vita: The End

 happen. I remember the meeting with Miles Jacobson (Studio Director
of Sports Interactive), where he basically slammed the Vita for the first
15 minutes of the meeting – Miles is a guy that doesn’t hold back. He’s
respected. He knows what he’s doing. He’s an absolute star, one of my
favourite people in the industry, but he’s legendary for not holding
back, and I knew for 15 minutes he’d say the Vita was useless. Once
he’d exhausted all of his complete disregard for the Vita’s chances, I
convinced him that what he’d get out of it could be valuable, and he
seemed to open up, and that for me was a really big moment. The other
was meeting somebody very high up, I’m not allowed to say who, at
Bandai Namco, and getting Tales of Hearts R. Everyone was asking for
JRPGs, and man, those were hard to get. They were really hard to get.
For a start, I was warned not to approach Japanese publishers directly,
so I had to go through the European wings, but I never got far. It’s my
regret I was not able to get more, but we got Tales of Hearts R.

We secured directly well

over 100 games for the
Vita, indirectly from what
we had done, hundreds –
not just for Vita though

Were there any games that got away that disappointed you?
I had so little control, I know it seemed from the outside I had a lot
of power, but really I had a limited area that I could work in, and AAA
was not one of those areas. The amount of push back I got on that
was extreme, you know like people saying “stay in your lane.” We
were hours from announcing Suikoden, which I’d been working on
for months, but the publisher pulled out just before we announced
it. I have no idea why. But the one I really wanted to get for players
was Final Fantasy Type-0. That was one that got away. It was one I
just couldn’t get. Then one day there was an announcement on the
PlayStation Blog.

I remember this!
I read it and I thought, I guess it happened. I thought somebody else
had secured it for Vita, and it had nothing to do with me. Then first

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 053

 I remember people praising me for getting it, but I had nothing to do
with it, and then when the post was taken down due to the mistake
people were like, “you bastard!” but I had nothing to do with it in the
first place. I wanted to get it but I was constantly kind of pushed away
from trying to get it. It was a very political situation, and I was not able
to get as close as I would have liked, but I was hustling and I would
have done anything to get it. I was told in no uncertain terms that it
was somebody else’s territory, so I couldn’t do it. I was sad about that.
I wanted to get that because there were so many players that wanted
it on the Vita.

We had a premium machine

with premium hardware
dedicated to gaming, but
the games on it were too
expensive to develop

After 2015, Sony really stopped talking about Vita, apart from
at PSX. It seemed like they didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Do you think there was anything they could have done differently
to make it more successful, to turn it into the AAA machine
that they wanted it to be?
No. It was a very difficult time. It was a premium machine when the
market for mobile was split into two categories: the first was low cost,
not premium – in other words, Nintendo devices – and the other was
high cost mobile phones, and there was no space inbetween. In terms
of developing software for a Vita, it would take you just as much effort
to get something AAA on the Vita as it would to do something for the
PS3, and the PS3 was a harder machine to program for, but it had a
much larger install base. It (bringing games to Vita) would take as
much effort to make a game for the PS4 – I mean obviously there is
more graphical fidelity on the PS4, more performance, and so on, but
the point being that if it’s going to take you that much effort, then
the opportunity cost is too big. All this meant that we had a premium
machine with premium hardware dedicated to gaming, but the games
on it were too expensive to develop.
Nintendo’s approach was subsequently to create a console which

054 PlayStation Vita: The End

 lets you do both – the Switch. You would have it sit by the TV as a
console, and also have it portable. Its actually mobile hardware, but
they’re making it look like its a home console, so thats how you get the
install base, that’s how you get the sales, and eventually you re-focus
more towards portable, because it was always mobile hardware. That
was their genius. It was a really, really good approach. Whereas we
went premium mobile, and then we went PSTV, and I thought “no guys,
this is too late.” We should have done this long, long ago, and then
of course there was stuff like memory cards, which were proprietary
and way too expensive. I mean I get that proprietary was needed for
security, but they were way too expensive. Having said this, I mean I
love the Vita. I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and I thought for
the stuff we got onto it there was no better device. It’s my favourite
device for playing indie games because it was always with me. I could
play whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted on the most beautiful
screen there was.

Do you remember the first time you saw or held a Vita,

and what you thought about it?
Yeah, premium! It felt solid, the screen was to die for, and the controls
felt great. It just felt like the most beautiful, premium mobile gaming
device you could imagine. Almost an impossible feat of miniaturisation.
I mean it was beautiful. A really stunning piece of equipment.

Do you still play yours at all?

I actually got it out the other day and played some Joe Danger on it. Joe
Danger was another one we got as well, which I was very happy about. I
thought Joe Danger was awesome on the Vita.

Any special memories from your time working with the Vita?
Any highlights being there at that time?
There were so many. I think for me the highlight was Gamescom 2013.
I know I’ve already mentioned it, but the fact that pretty much all of
the games I announced on stage were not just coming to PS4, I mean,
it was a PS4 reveal, but these games were not just coming to PS4, they
were all coming to Vita too. Stuff like Hotline Miami 2, Wasteland Kings,
which would eventually became Nuclear Throne, Volume and all of this
stuff was coming to PS4 and to Vita. That for me was a really proud
time. I remember there was one other event, where around 35 of the
games had come directly or indirectly through Strategic Content. That
was just mind blowing for me, and they were all really, really lovely
games. We got so many developers into PlayStation and changed the

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 055

Some of the games Shahid has helpled bring to the Vita include:
(Top row, left to right) Hotline Miami; Rogue Legacy; Surge; Big Sky Infinity
(Middle row) Football Manager Classic 2014; Frobisher Says; Hohokum; Lone Survivor
(Bottom row) Olli Olli; Rebel; Retro City Rampage; Thomas Was Alone

056 PlayStation Vita: The End

 way that business was done between developers and larger entities. I
mean, since then, the business model that I popularised – really small
contracts, really fair terms – other people have started to do that more
and more. It was funny the deal that Epic announced recently, I mean,
it was pretty much a Strategic Content-type deal. We really changed
the balance at that time in favour of developers. That’s the thing I’m
really proud of. We shifted the balance more towards developers, maybe
not enough, but it shifted towards them, and the developers knew that
I cared about them, and I realised deeply how important they were and
how valuable they were. So much so, I became one myself!

Shahid Kamal Ahmad 057

 Retrospectives

058 PlayStation Vita: The End

060 Shovel Knight
066 Ys series
The Legend of Heroes:
076 
Trails of Cold Steel series
082 Salt and Sanctuary
086 Rainbow Skies
Hyperdimension
090 
Neptunia series
092 Persona Dancing series
096 Dragon Quest Builders
100 Romancing SaGa 3
104 Atelier series
110 Papers, Please
113 Reverie
114 VA-11 HALL-A
116 Iconoclasts
118 Severed
Under Night In-Birth
122 
Exe:Late[st]
124 SteamWorld series
130 Timespinner
132 Muv-Luv trilogy
134 World of Final Fantasy
136 Darkest Dungeon
139 Yomawari series
140 Tales of Hearts R
143 Ultracore

059
RETROSPECTIVE THE LAUNCH OF SHOVEL KNIGHT’S
crowdfunding campaign on March 15th
Shovel Knight 2013 was an important moment for
gaming. It was by no means the first
game to be launched on Kickstarter,
Written by
Georgina Young but its success has made it synonymous
with the platform. It reached its initial
humble goal of $75,000 in 16 days, and
by the end of the month-long campaign
almost 15,000 people had helped raise
over $300,000 for the small company.
However, the success of the campaign
is not what makes Shovel Knight
significant – after all, there have been
many successfully crowdfunded games
over the years. Nor was it how 6 years on,
the developer – Yacht Club Games – have
not only delivered, but have in fact over-
delivered, on all of the project’s goals.
It was due to Shovel Knight being one
of the first true masterpieces to originate
Released June 2014 from Kickstarter. A ten out of ten.
Developers Yacht Club Games A perfect game. But we are getting
Publisher Yacht Club Games ahead of ourselves.

060 PlayStation Vita: The End

 2012 saw a boom in terms of the
popularity of independently developed
games. Minecraft, Dustforce, The
Unfinished Swan, Spelunky, Mutant Blobs
Attack, Sound Shapes, Fez, Journey, Retro
City Rampage, and the ever excellent
Hotline Miami, were all released that
year. Games such as Bastion, The Binding
of Isaac, and Stealth Inc came out the
previous year in 2011 – the sheer number
of superb indie games released at the
time was phenomenal. Indies were no
longer considered an inferior product,
and with smaller scale production,
developers were now making the games
they wanted to play – passion projects.
In the wake of this indie boom, and with
nostalgia at an all-time high, there was
no way the Shovel Knight Kickstarter
could fail. As we all know, however, a
successful Kickstarter does not always
mean a successful game. The product
had to follow the promise.
Shovel Knight is best described via
the Yacht Club Games’ FAQ, which asks
“Do you love Mega Man?”, the response:
“Yes.” Shovel Knight is a love letter to the
classic NES series, with better graphics, sound very appealing, but what Yacht
no lives system, and the pogo move Club Games achieved is a masterpiece of
from Duck Tales. Maybe that does not video game analysis. They took all the
things which were great about old school
hardcore NES games, mixed in a little
of what worked from the SNES era, and
Shovel Knight was then took all of the frustrating systems
from gaming in the 1980s and 90s, such
one of the first as getting sent back to the start of levels,
true masterpieces or stutter and lag, and threw them in the
trash where they belonged – refusing to
to originate from let nostalgia blind them.
Kickstarter Shovel Knight was exceptionally well
received, achieving a 92 on Metacritic for
the original PlayStation Vita port, the

Shovel Knight 061

third highest rated game of all time
for the system (behind Odin Sphere
Leifthrasir and Persona 4 Golden), but
critical praise does not always translate
to commercial success. It was also
awarded Independent Game of the Year
at gaming’s most illustrious awards,
The Game Awards, but it was still a low
price, digital-only indie title. Released in
June 2014, by the end of that year Shovel
Knight had sold 300,000 units across
all platforms. Impressive, but not earth
shattering. The numbers did not scream
international mega success. That success
was still to come, and for that, Yacht Club
062
had their KickStarter campaign to thank.
Without it they wouldn’t have made the
promises to fans which ultimately lead to
their 6 year long ‘tail’.
As with most over-funded Kickstarters,
Yacht Club Games made numerous extra
promises to backers. While $300,000
is not a huge amount for a game’s
development, on the original Kickstarter
campaign Yacht Club announced a
number of ambitious stretch goals such
as adding achievements, New Game+,
and a gender swap mode. However, it was
the $115,000, $145,000, and $250,000
goals which were the most important,
PlayStation Vita: The End
and gave Yacht Club Games their much
needed tail in sales.
When we talk about tails in terms
of product sales, we are talking about
how the sales look when placed on a
graph. Most game sales occur around the
release, and while they see new peaks
around the time of promotional offers
and such, usually the graph trails off
with sales decreasing over time until
they are inconsequential. Shovel Knight
is an exception. It never saw decreasing
sales like the vast majority of other
releases because of the way Yacht Club
rolled out updates for the game. I am of
Shovel Knight
The four campaigns
remain an exceptional
package, well worth
the time and money
for 2D action fans
course referring to Shovel Knight’s DLC, or
downloadable content. Yet to be emulated
by other companies, Yacht Club’s
approach felt uniquely counterintuitive
to profits, but the results spoke for
themselves. Profits have in fact increased
over time, despite essentially quadrupling
the original game’s content and giving it
away for free to anyone that bought the
base game.
Shovel Knight’s first expansion,
Plague of Shadows, released roughly a
year after the original as free DLC. Even
if you purchased Shovel Knight after
the release of the expansion, you got
the two campaigns for the price of one.
Shovel Knight’s story followed the titular
knight as he traveled across the land to
rescue his partner, Shield Knight, from
The Enchantress and her eight knights
– the Order of No Quarter. Plague of
Shadows told a parallel story that had
you play as Plague Knight, one of the
bosses from the original campaign. It
featured a completely new story, new set
of skills, new weapons, and new bosses.
Reflecting his erratic nature from the
original, Plague Knight used bombs,
alchemy, and explosions to make his
way through the levels. While changes
063
were made to adapt to the new play style,
levels were essentially the same, playing
through the same number of stages.
Two years later, Yacht Club released
their second DLC: Specter of Torment,
only this time the whole structure of
the series changed. The original Shovel
Knight game was renamed Shovel
Of Hope. Those who had previously
purchased Shovel Knight were still
entitled to get the new expansion for
free, but new players who wanted the
DLC now had to purchase it separately
or shell out for Shovel Knight Treasure
Trove, a package containing the base
game, the two released DLCs, and one
more story yet to come – all for a higher
price. Yacht Club did not only step up
the price for the title though, they also
stepped up their game. While many
stages in Specter of Torment shared the
same themes as the original, they were
completely remade with Specter Knight’s
ghoulish mechanics in mind, such as
slashing through the air and climbing up
walls. It was a prequel to the previous two
campaigns, and along with the new story
there were new bosses and enemies, as feeling uniquely Shovel Knight – but their
well as playable flashbacks. The game most ambitious project was yet to come.
received a complete overhaul while still The final DLC, King of Cards, was
released in 2019, and told the origin
story of King Knight, one of the first
bosses faced in the original Shovel of
Yacht Club Games Hope campaign. King of Cards strayed
even further from the original formula
revealed that 2.5 by creating an open world where stages
million players were much shorter with multiple exits.
King Knight’s mechanics were wildly
received Shovel different again, and there were three new
Knight’s final DLC areas with a multitude of new enemies.
Not only was the platforming completely
different to anything before it, but Yacht

064 PlayStation Vita: The End

Club designed a whole new card game,
Joustus, which blended seamlessly with
the story or could be completely skipped
for those who found the mix of genres
intimidating. Alongside King of Cards,
Yacht Club also released Shovel Knight
Showdown – a 2D multiplayer fighting
game featuring characters from the
Shovel Knight universe. This additional
content was again free for owners of the
original game or those that purchased
the Treasure Trove collection, however
it was not released for the Vita. While
disappointing, the four campaigns
together remain an exceptional package
Shovel Knight
well worth the time and money for fans
of 2D action games.
With Shovel Knight’s original
story now at a close, Yacht Club have
announced that 2.5 million players
received the final DLC for free. Bearing
in mind that the physical release of
Shovel Knight Treasure Trove on Nintendo
Switch released after this date, and that
the Switch version has been their most
financially successful release to date, it
can only be assumed that Shovel Knight
has been a huge success for Yacht Club
Games, and fans will no doubt be eagerly
anticipating whatever they do next.
065
RETROSPECTIVE
Ys series
Ys I & II Chronicles
Released PSP: July 2009
Developer Nihon Falcom
Publisher XSEED Games
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
Released PSP: April 2010
Developer Nihon Falcom
Publisher XSEED Games
THE Ys SERIES IS ONE OF THE
oldest video game franchises in the
world, with the first title being released
in Japan in 1987. This was the same year
of release of another notable gaming
series (Final Fantasy) but unlike Square-
Enix, who went on to release dozens of
titles under the Final Fantasy umbrella,
there have only been 16 Ys games (and
that includes several re-releases of past
games). While the series has not hit
the heights of popularity of Square’s
franchise, Ys has gone from strength to
strength and is (as at the time of writing)
more popular now than it has ever been.
The origins of the Ys series date
back to one of Japanese developer
Nihon Falcom’s earliest titles – Dragon
Slayer, an action-RPG that released in

Ys Seven
Released PSP: September 2009
Developer Nihon Falcom
Publisher XSEED Games

Ys: Memories of Celceta

Released September 2012
Developer Nihon Falcom
Publisher XSEED Games,
NIS America

Ys Origin
Released May 2017
Developer Nihon Falcom
Publisher XSEED Games,
DotEmu

Ys VIII: The Lacrimosa of Dana

Released July 2016
Developer Nihon Falcom
Publisher Nihon Falcom,
NIS America

066 PlayStation Vita: The End

1984. Prior to this, the company had
dabbled in a number of genres but
Dragon Slayer received universal acclaim
and put Falcom on the map – and was
quickly spun-off into a number of other
franchises, namely the still-popular turn-
based Legend of Heroes series and the
action-RPG series Ys. The first entry, Ys
I: Ancient Ys Vanished introduced the
world to the red-headed adventurer Adol
Christin, who has been the protagonist
for all but one of the games in the
Ys series. All of the stories chronicle
his adventures through a series of
books, hence why he remains a mute
protagonist, as the books are recounting
the events and the words of the people
he met along the way. In an interview by
author John Szczepaniak with Toshihito
Ys series
Kondo, President of Nihon Falcom since
2007, Kondo states that Adol is “a young
adventurer and even though in his profile
it states that he later writes over 100
adventure journals, in-game he never
speaks and you can never tell what
type of person he is. This is because
we wanted Adol to portray the player
within the world... he is a very mysterious
character who never speaks, but fans
still have their own interpretations of
[him]... in that sense, he is a character
that has been fostered and moulded by
the players.”
For many years the series was
released almost exclusively on PC, but
that changed with the release of Sony’s
first handheld – the PSP. Four Ys games
were released on the system (five if you
count Ys I and II as separate games,
despite being released in one package)
and it marked a transition for the studio
to supporting consoles as well as PC. The
series was considered a success on the
handheld, and given that it introduced
Ys to a wider and younger audience, it’s
unsurprising that the studio was keen
to support the Vita. Including the PSP
games accessed via PSN, players are able
to play the majority of the mainline series
on the Vita thanks to the remakes of the
older games – only the fifth and sixth
entries are not available, however this
should not put people off from playing
the games, since each title is a separate
tale of Adol’s exploits. The games on Vita
showcase the evolution of the series from
top-down adventure to 3D action, and
while the franchise has not quite found
mass market appeal, it has amassed a
dedicated cult following which grew with
the release of the titles on the Vita.
067

Ys I and II Chronicles
Originally planned to be a single
game, but later split up and eventually
released one year apart in 1987 and 1988
respectively, the plot of Ys II was a direct
continuation of Ys I. A young Adol found
himself washed up on shore on Esteria,
an island that had recently been plagued
by monsters and blocked off from the rest
of the world by the Stormwall. He decides
to investigate the causes of the island’s
problems, and discovers the connection
to the ancient civilisation of Ys. The
gameplay remains as unique today as
it did back in the 1980s – instead of
068
Ys I: Ancient Ys
Vanished introduced
the world to the red-
headed adventurer
Adol Christin, who
has been the mute
protagonist for all but
one of the games in
the series
having an attack button, Adol would
attack enemies automatically by running
into them. Damage would be sustained
when running directly into the front of
enemies, so they must be approached
from the sides or back when attacking
them – this approach to battling, called
the ‘bump’ system, worked surprisingly
well, partly because Adol’s movement
was so fast.
Ys I and II were released in a combined
package multiple times starting in 1989,
however the PSP version (released in
2009) contained the ‘complete’ version
– a remaster of the original titles with
updated soundtrack and redrawn
character portraits. Reviews of the PSP
version were generally positive, with the
primary criticism relating to lack of clear
direction or sign-posting of what to do
next. Players today may find the bump
system takes some getting used to, but
the games have aged well – particularly
from a story perspective.
PlayStation Vita: The End
 Ys: The Oath in Felghana
Although the number was dropped
from the title for this release, The Oath
in Felghana is a remake of Ys III. In the
game, Adol travels with his friend Dogi
to Dogi’s hometown of Felghana, where
the pair discover that an ancient evil is
emerging and must be stopped. Ys III
was originally a side-scrolling action
game, but this remake was altered to be a
top-down action RPG. One of the biggest
changes from the first two games was
the removal of the auto-attack system
from Ys I and II and its replacement
with a traditional attack button, but the
title also added numerous platforming
elements and a skills system that
allowed interesting world traversal,
as well as special attacks in combat.
Reviews were overall favourable, with
critics praising the enjoyable and fast-
paced combat, the game’s soundtrack,
and how well it fit on the handheld.

Ys series: 069
Ys Seven
Set after the events of Ys VIII, Ys Seven
follows Adol and Dogi’s adventure in
the kingdom of Altago, which (as usual)
is plagued by monsters and a(nother)
returning ancient evil force. The game
follows the pair’s journey through the
area searching for the power necessary
to prevent the destruction of the land,
as they encountering numerous new
playable characters along the way. Where
previous titles had Adol acquire multiple
weapons which he could swap in order
to target weaknesses of foes, Ys Seven
used a different mechanic allowing Adol
to travel with two companions which
the player could swap control between.
The different characters had their own
strengths and were more effective
070
against certain enemy types, meaning
experimentation was encouraged
to figure out the most effective
combinations.
The graphics were significantly
improved with large 3D polygonal
character models and detailed
environments, while the music was
some of the best of the series. Another
noteworthy change was the removal
of the jump button – Adol and team
could dash away from danger, but
gone were the platforming sections
in favour of a more pure action focus.
Reviews were generally positive, and
while critics found the plot to be
nothing special, the fast-paced action
and shift to fully 3D gameplay more
than made up for it.
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Ys: Memories of Celceta
Another remake of a previous numbered
entry, Memories of Celceta was an
updated version of Ys IV (which had
previously been released as two separate
titles by completely different developers),
featuring improved graphics, a coherent
story combining both of the previous
versions into one, and the gameplay
systems from Ys Seven. It was released in
2012 in Japan first on Vita, demonstrating
yet again Falcon’s appreciation of
Sony’s handhelds – it was later released
worldwide on both PC and PS4.
This title finds an amnesiac Adol
being hired to map out the mysterious
and dangerous forest of Celceta to piece
together his memories. As with Ys
Seven, Adol is accompanied by other
playable characters that have their own
weapons and strengths against certain or speed. It was well received, with some
enemy types. The fast-paced gameplay reviewers calling it one of the best games
was praised by critics as the strongest available on the Vita at the time of its
element of the game, and it was also less release – it did however receive criticism
‘button-mashy’ than previous Ys games, for its plot, which was considered
as players could trigger a flash guard or predictable, and its graphics, which had a
flash move by timing their guard or evade soft, blurred edge to characters and was
just before they take damage, giving not on the level of other big name games
them a temporary boost to their strength released for the Vita in 2013.

Ys series 071
Ys Origin
First released on the PC in 2006, with a
re-release in 2017 on the Vita and PS4,
Ys Origin was a prequel to the series. Set
700 years before the events of the first
game – after the land of Ys had become
overrun by demons, the two goddesses,
Reah and Feena, raised part of the land
to the sky to protect the people. In order
to reach the people of Ys, the demons
began erecting a massive stronghold
– the Devil’s Tower. One night, the
goddesses mysteriously disappeared,
and so a team of warriors are sent to the
surface to search the Devil’s Tower and
return the goddesses to the floating city.
Ys Origin introduces three new playable
characters – Yunica Tovah, Hugo Fact,
and the mysterious Claw. Players can
work through the game’s three storylines
as each character makes their way up to
the top of the Tower, which was heavily
featured in Ys I and II, and tells the
story from their individual perspectives
(although its worth noting that only
Claw’s story is considered canon).
The Vita version was a remaster rather
than a remake, so the graphics, style,
and gameplay of the original release fully appreciate the references to other
were unchanged. The controls and feel titles, it was considered an enjoyable
of the games were similar to that of standalone experience for new comers
Oath in Felghana, although this was no and Ys veterans alike, the fast-paced
bad thing – particularly in terms of the and intuitive gameplay being cited as
brisk combat that is as satisfying today the highlight. The game was criticised
as it was back in 2006. The graphics for feeling repetitive, as the player would
do, however, look dated by modern need to complete the game with each of
standards. The three characters offer the three characters to see the full, canon
some variety in the way they control, story, and this involved playing through
with Hugo specialising in ranged attacks, the same tower and environments for
and Yunica and Claw utilising melee each playthrough. Despite this, Ys Origin
attacks, similar to how Adol plays. remains a solid entry in the series and a
While fans of the series will be able to great action RPG.

072 PlayStation Vita: The End

 While fans of the series will be able
to fully appreciate the references to
other titles, Ys Origin was considered
an enjoyable standalone experience
for newcomers and veterans
alike, the fast-paced and intuitive
gameplay being cited as the highlight

Ys series 073
Ys VIII: The Lacrimosa of Dana
While Memories of Celceta was also
developed as a native Vita game, Ys VIII:
Lacrimosa of Dana was a huge step up
from the rest of the series in terms of
graphics and polish, and played like a
modern action RPG.
The game begins with Adol and
Dogi on a ship, the Lombardia, when
the boat is attacked by a large sea
monster. Adol awakes on the mysterious
island of Seiren, where it is rumoured
that no one that comes to the island
ever leaves. From there, he embarks
074
on an adventure to explore the island,
reunite the survivors from the ship, and
ultimately find a way off of the island,
while simultaneously having dreams of
a mysterious blue-haired girl he’s never
met before, named Dana.
The gameplay was similar to
Memories of Celceta: you have a party
of 3 characters and can freely swap
between controlling any of them as they
run, jump, dodge, guard, and battle the
island’s monsters. As with pretty much
every other Ys game, the fluid gameplay
and intuitive battle system was praised
PlayStation Vita: The End
as the title’s strongest element. Getting
to grips with the controls was simple, and
it did not take long for players to become
proficient at stringing together attacks
and special moves while contending
with the huge monsters that populated
the island.
As more of the ship’s passengers
were located, they returned to a base
camp and can assist Adol by providing
items, upgrades to weapons, and
equipment. Each character’s personality
was fleshed out, and Adol could develop
and improve his relationship with them
by completing side quests. There was
also a tower defence mini-game that
would periodically unlock, that had the
player protect the camp from waves of
enemies. All in all, there was a great deal
of content available (including a fishing
mode) and completing the side quests
could add many hours of gameplay.
Ys VIII was an impressive title on the
Vita, but it was not without its issues.
The Japanese release in 2016 was marred
with bugs and performance issues,
although these were resolved by the
time it launched Worldwide a year later.
The Western version did however suffer
from translation issues that resulted in
sometimes comically bad use of phrasing.
The publisher, Nippon Ichi Software (NIS),
reworked the translation ahead of its PC
and Switch release, and the patch was
released for Vita and PS4 in February
2018. Most controversially, however, was
that content was missing from the Vita
version that appeared on other platforms
– Ys VIII was developed first for Vita, and
while other versions did benefit from
enhanced graphics and framerate, they
also benefited from the inclusion of new
Ys series
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of
Dana was a huge step
up from the rest of
the series in terms of
graphics and polish
dungeons and additional story elements
focused on Dana’s past.
Despite the drawbacks of the Vita
version, it was still hugely enjoyable, and
the missing content, while frustrating,
did not spoil the overall experience. The
graphics quality were some of the best
on the system, the action was satisfying,
and the soundtrack perfectly suited
Adol’s island adventure.
Ys VIII was to be the final title in the
series to be released on Vita – the ninth
mainline entry came out in 2019 in Japan
as a (for the time being) PS4 exclusive.
Thankfully, despite its initial niche
appeal, the franchise has been growing
– in an interview with Dual Shockers
in 2017, Toshihro Kondo discussed the
reasons for the series’ popularity: “One
[reason] would be Adol, a compelling
and interesting main character. Also, the
action is simple. I’m using simple in a
positive meaning, the game is easy to
pick up and play. I feel these contribute
to the popularity of the series.” Over its
more that 30 year heritage, the titles
have become incrementally better, and
the Vita is the perfect system to see
that progression and to experience this
superb series of games.
075
RETROSPECTIVE AMONG THE MYRIAD OF TOP TIER
JRPG developers, many will struggle to
The Legend recognise a small Japanese company that

of Heroes: happens to be one of the longest serving

in the industry: Nihon Falcom – a video

Trails of Cold game developer who has been around

since 1981, and are lauded as the pioneers
Steel series who paved the way for the modern Action
Role Playing Game (ARPG).
Back in 1984, Nihon Falcom created
Written by their first flagship title, Dragon Slayer,
The Kiseki Nut
which featured dungeon crawling
aspects, real time combat, and inventory
The Legend of Heroes: management – elements that were later
Trails of Cold Steel refined by beloved franchises like The
Released September 2013 Legend of Zelda. Dragon Slayer, along
Developer Nihon Falcom with its main competitor Hydlide, was a
Publishers Nihon Falcom, massive success, and spawned various
Xseed Games, NIS America sequels, with the likes of Dragon Slayer
II: Xanadu and Dragon Slayer: The Legend
The Legend of Heroes: of Heroes being some of the best known
Trails of Cold Steel II examples. Eventually, many of these
Released September 2014 series broke away from the Dragon Slayer
Developer Nihon Falcom name, and started to branch into their
Publishers Nihon Falcom, own narrative. The Legend of Heroes
Xseed Games, NIS America series for example took on the alias of

076 PlayStation Vita: The End

the Gargharv trilogy for its third, fourth,
and fifth titles. Notably, the second title
in the series, Prophecy of the Moonlight
Witch, would inspire a young university
student to create a Falcom fan page,
which would be the first step in him
becoming the future company President.
With the Gargharv trilogy complete in
1999, Falcom wasted no time in following
this same interconnected model to
create a new sub-series under the Legend
of Heroes name. The sixth game thus
became known as The Legend of Heroes:
Trails in the Sky, known in Japan as Eiyuu
Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki. This became
the first title of one of the current major
IPs in Falcom’s library, and would give
birth to the so-called Trails series, where
a number of sub-stories take place on
the same fictional continent of Zemuria,
a grand neo-political state with complex
political issues, fantasy elements, and
wide-ranging narratives.
What sets the Trails series apart
from its more well-known peers is not
related to gameplay, graphics, or other
similar tropes – it’s in the complex and
rich world-building where the games
truly shine. Within the series, there are
currently nine titles, broken down into
the aforementioned Trails in the Sky arc,
consisting of three games, the Crossbell
Nihon Falcom –
arc, with two of its own, and finally the developers of the
Trails of Cold Steel, comprised of four
games. The nine titles take place in
Trails of Cold Steel
the same world of Zemuria, and share a series – are lauded
grand overarching narrative that is, as
at the time of writing, over 15 years in
as pioneers who
the making. If we were to compare this paved the way for
to a modern film franchise, you could
say it’s akin to The Avengers of JRPGs,
the modern ARPG
as story elements and characters start

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series 077

to interconnect from one arc to the next.
Thus, it’s no surprise that when someone
gets hooked on Trails, they truly do It’s no surprise that
become enamoured with the series, and
get invested in the grand story being
when someone gets
told. It can’t be understated that it is very hooked on Trails,
unlikely something like this will ever
happen again in gaming.
they become truly
In regards to the Vita, Trails of Cold enamoured with
Steel was the first Trails game to come
directly to the platform in the West,
the series and get
releasing concurrently on the handheld invested in the grand
and PS3 in September 2013. With Cold
Steel, the series broke away from the
story being told
‘public servant’ theme seen in the two

078 PlayStation Vita: The End


previous arcs. Instead, we join a young
man named Rean Schwarzer, son of
a minor baron, who has joined the
prestigious Thors Military Academy –
a school which aims to mould students
into the future shining lights of the
Erebonian Empire, one of two super
states of the Zemurian continent. It’s not
long before Rean is assigned to a special
class of students, chosen based on their
unique backgrounds, known as Class
VII, tasked with various field studies
combined with a traditional curriculum.
As the story progresses over the school
year, Class VII starts to realise first hand
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series
the true face of the Empire, and the
problems beneath its powerful exterior.
Events compound themselves and follow
into the narrative of Cold Steel II, which
again sees Class VII take on a prominent
role after being left on a cliffhanger in
the first game. As such, it wouldn’t be
entirely inaccurate to say that Cold Steel
as a sub series of Trails is split into two,
with Cold Steel I and II representing the
first half, and III and IV representing the
second half after a notable time skip.
In terms of gameplay, the series
started to take on a more unique
approach from the traditional narrative
structure used in the previous arcs.
A more modern visual aesthetic was
implemented using Sony’s game
development tools, the PhyreEngine.
The games were split into so-called
‘free days,’ where the player was able
to explore the campus and surrounding
area, partaking in extra tasks à la
Persona; and the main ‘field study’
exercises, which would advance the story.
The player could also opt to take part in
events as part of the newly introduced
‘bonding system’, whereby players
could choose who to talk to, in order to
enhance their relationships with other
characters and have a more tailored
experience. If they wished to see the full
narrative, then unlimited ‘bonding points’
were locked behind New Game Plus.
Alternatively, the player could also load
various save files from specific points to
see all the events on offer. Needless to
say, this approach was controversial for
long time fans of Trails, as it hampered a
key strength of the series, that being the
development of the characters through
the game’s progression. Additionally,
079
 some story elements were locked behind
bonding events. Despite this, Cold
Many dedicated Steel maintained this same structure

Trails followers started throughout the arc.

Though the underlying structure had
the series in their undergone a transformation, combat

late teens or early for the games maintained the same

turn-based style that had been used in
twenties, and will likely previous entries, with the player choosing

finish the narrative in attacks, crafts, or arts to defeat their

opponents. However, Cold Steel made a
their mid-forties few adjustments to make the combat
fresh, while maintaining grounding in
the series’ original mould. The biggest
change was the introduction of the
link attack, which allowed characters
proficient in a certain weapon style to
capitalise on an enemie’s weakness
and draw on the strength of their
allies to inflict greater damage, while
Cold Steel II took this even further
with the introduction of an ‘overdrive’
mechanic, which allowed a more ‘all-
out’ attack option. Despite this, the
core of the combat remained the same,
which allowed the series to maintain a
consistent identity.
Nowadays, the likes of Cold Steel I
and II have started to take on a more
unique role within the series, acting as
an introduction for many prospective
new players due to the wide array of
ports available (PC, PS4, PS3, Vita). A
long running issue with Trails is that
the barrier to entry is significant due to
the number of interconnected games.
Cold Steel I in particular bridges this gap
by keeping the plot more isolated to the
land of Erebonia, rather than drawing
on events from previous games too
heavily, allowing both experienced and
new players to enjoy the journey. This

080 PlayStation Vita: The End

approach has likely contributed to the
commercial success of Cold Steel I and II,
and the latest English release, Cold Steel
III, available on PS4, PC, and Switch.
The Trails games have been a niche
series for many years. Despite English
localisations for the likes of Trails in
the Sky and Trails of Cold Steel I and
II by Xseed, the games never had the
promotional backing to truly break in to
the mainstream market. Nowadays, with
the greater resources of NISA, who have
localised Cold Steel III, the series is finally
starting to gain traction in Western
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series
markets, as evidenced by the growing
market share seen in Falcom’s October
2019 financial reports.
Many fans started this series in their
late teens or early twenties. They will
likely finish the narrative in their mid-
forties – a mind-boggling thought! The
games have some of the most dedicated
followers of any JRPG series. It’s likely
that come the closing curtain on
Zemuria’s story, many more passionate
players will have joined the ranks, and
that will be thanks in part to those that
discovered the games on the Vita.
081
RETROSPECTIVE IN 2008, FROM SOFTWARE
released the cult classic action-RPG
Salt and Demon’s Souls. It was a breath of

Sanctuary
fresh air compared to consoles games
releasing at that time, many of which
were considered linear and criticised
for their tendency to hold the player’s
hand. Demon’s Souls re-wrote the rules
of gaming by returning to a bygone
era that emphasized an unforgiving
difficulty and a brutal penalty system
for dying. It also created a new genre
of video games, dubbed Souls-like that
spawned numerous games that tried to
ape its style and mechanics – Salt and
Sanctuary was one of those games.
Developed by the two person team,
Released March 2016 Ska Studio, the developers managed to
Developer SKA Studios translate the controls, mechanics and
Publisher SKA Studios systems of Demon’s Souls, as well as its

082 PlayStation Vita: The End

spiritual sequel Dark Souls, to 2D. Even
the atmosphere and style took inspiration
from From Software’s titles, including the
dark graphics, muted colour palette, and
intimidating bosses that made players
feel the weight of the game’s difficulty.
With so much clearly taken from Demon’s
& Dark Souls, it’s a wonder that it wasn’t
heavily criticised for lack of originality –
however it the world and gameplay were
so well designed that it was positively
received by both players and critics.
Before starting the game, the player
chooses one of eight classes of character
based on their preferred play style – for
example those that preferred dodging
and speedy movement could choose
the agile thief, players that liked to play
defensively could choose the knight that
used a strong sword and shield, or players
that preferred ranged attack could play
as the magic wielding mage. Once a
character had been chosen, the game
started off with the player on a boat
transporting a princess to her marriage
– the boat is attacked and destroyed, and
the player washes up on the shore of a
mysterious island full of deadly enemies
and ruled by powerful lords. Players head
off to find and rescue the princess from
Salt and Sanctuary
Players had the
freedom to build
a character that
perfectly suits their
play style
the horde of monsters that populate
the island.
As enemies are fought and killed the
player acquires salt and gold. Gold can be
used to buy new equipment, but salt is
the key currency of the game and is used
to level up the character and equipment.
If the player dies, they drop the salt
they are holding and must return to the
spot of death to reclaim it – however, if
the player dies again before retrieving
the salt, it is lost forever. Like the Souls
games, there is a risk and reward element
to holding too much salt – it may be
helpful to accumulate salt to buy more
upgrades, but Salt and Sanctuary is a
challenging game and the next death is
never far away. Upgrading the character
is based around a levelling tree that
offers a huge amount of choice for how
to develop the character. Players could
plot a course along the tree focusing
on enhancing their strength, defence,
stamina, or their proficiency at using a
specific weapon type – all this choice
provides players with the freedom to
build a character that perfectly suits their
play style. Through the upgrade tree,
the player can be transformed from the
slow, lumbering novice at the start of the
083
game, to an agile warrior, able to jump
off walls, wield heavy axes, or unleash
powerful magics against the island’s
massive bosses.
Boss battles are considered one of
the highlights of the Souls series, and
the developers of Salt and Sanctuary
ensured that would also be the case in
their game. The island’s powerful lords
were varied in both their art design and
attack style, forcing players to adopt
different strategies in order to defeat
them. When approaching a boss, the
084
game has a marker of a large candelabra
that would give a cautious player pause
in anticipation of the challenge ahead.
The level design was particularly
impressive in how the map was planned
out with areas interconnecting. There
are many times when a player will be
exploring a new area only to find a
secret passage leading to an area visited
hours earlier. Unlike the Souls series, the
environments in Salt and Sanctuary were
not especially varied, and the dull, dark,
grey colour palette of the graphics was
cited as a negative by some reviewers,
although this stylistic choice by the
developers was likely made to set the
foreboding atmosphere and elicit feelings
of hopelessness in players struggling
with the challenge posed by the game.
Salt and Sanctuary was positively
received by critics. Practically every
review identified the ways it copied the
Souls games, but the gameplay, style,
controls, and enemies were so well
designed that reviewers forgave the game
for imitating so much of From Software’s
games. The Vita version played smoothly,
although it was noticeably inferior to the
console versions with a lower framerate
and in terms of graphical fidelity. While
this is to be expected when comparing a
handheld to a console, it was clear that
the Vita version was not the best version
to play – the developer did deserve praise
however for bringing the game to Vita at
all. It was initially announced that Salt
and Sanctuary would simultaneously
release on PS4 and Vita, however
development of the handheld version
proved to be more complex, and so the
Vita version was delayed by just over a
year and had to be ported by a third party
PlayStation Vita: The End
 studio. Fortunately the game was cross-

Although some write buy, so players could buy the PS4 version
and automatically own the Vita version
it off as just a Souls when it eventually released.

clone, it perfectly Salt and Sanctuary was an example

of a tiny indie studio creating a gaming
translates to 2D while experience on par with big budget

retaining the best console releases. Although some may

write it off as just another Souls clone,
traits of the games it’s an undeniably good one, that

that inspired it perfectly translates From Software’s

classic series to 2D, while retaining the
best traits of the games that inspired it.

Salt and Sanctuary 085

RETROSPECTIVE DEVELOPERS SIDEQUEST STUDIOS
and publisher EastAsiaSoft were early
Rainbow supporters of the Vita, porting their

Skies strategy RPG Rainbow Moon to the

Released June 2018
Developers SideQuest Studios
Publisher EastAsiaSoft
platform in 2013. It was moderately
well received with reviewers praising
its gameplay and scope, but there were
complaints about it being overly difficult
and having a shallow plot. The developers
took on this feedback and improved on
the formula in every way for the game’s
2018 sequel – Rainbow Skies.
Rainbow Skies begins in the floating
city of Arca with two young warriors, the
arrogant Damion and the know-it-all,
Layne. After an accident causes them to
fall to the ground below they meet the
novice sorceress Ashley, who mistakenly
casts a binding spell on the three of
them. This results in them being bound
together by magic and sending them
on a journey initially to find the reverse
spell, but as the game unfolds the plot
develops in ways that are unexpected
and with far greater consequences.
SideQuest Studios significantly improved
on the story for Skies compared to Moon,
with more emphasis on humour and
character development, although there
was still some criticism that the story
takes too long to really get going and the
attempts at comedy fell flat at times.
Gameplay is split into two parts –

086 PlayStation Vita: The End

walking around the overworld map simple battles that helped give a feel
and battles with enemies. The world of for attacking and using abilities, before
Rainbow Skies was impressively large really ramping up the difficulty. It was
with colourful, varied, and beautifully not uncommon to enter battles with
drawn environments. Players encounter over 15 enemies on screen, and since
NPCs to interact with, towns to visit,
dungeons to explore, optional quests to
complete, and enemies to battle. Combat
takes place on a grid and follows a
similar system to other popular turn-
Sidequest Studios
based strategy RPGs – party members took the feedback
are moved around the battlefield to get
into the optimum position to then attack
from Rainbow Moon
enemies with melee weapons or magic. and improved on
New powerful attacks could be bought
and unlocked over time, although player
the formula in every
positioning is key in order to maximise way for the sequel –
their effectiveness. The basics of
battling are easy to grasp and the game
Rainbow Skies
eased players into the mechanics with

Rainbow Skies 087

 The world of Rainbow Skies was
impressively large with colourful,
varied, and beautifully drawn
environments. Players encounter
NPCs to interact with, towns to visit,
dungeons to explore, optional quests
to complete, and enemies to battle

088 PlayStation Vita: The End


encounters are turn based, players could
be forced to sit and watch as the health
of their party members drained as each
enemy performed their individual attack.
In order to survive the punishing
battles, players have to ensure they
regularly upgraded each character’s stats
and enhanced their weapons. Blue, red,
and yellow tokens were earned from
battles, which were used to upgrade hit
points, magic points, strength, defence,
speed, and luck. All stats need to be
upgraded, although speed was the most
critical in order for the player’s team to
have the chance of acting before they
Rainbow Skies
could be overwhelmed by a large team
of enemies. Grinding for tokens and
upgrading stats is therefore essential,
however to balance the difficulty,
monsters can also be recruited to the
player’s team. While Layne, Ashley,
and Damion are the standard party
members, enemies would occasionally
drop eggs, which could be hatched to
make monsters that would join the
player’s squad. Having an additional two
party members was extremely useful in
being able to endure the tougher battles,
although these characters also required
upgrading in order to be useful, which
could be difficult to balance in light of
the limited number of upgrade tokens
available.
Despite the difficulty, the game
tried to make the mechanics as easy to
learn as possible and give players many
options of how to approach it. Although
Ashley started off as a sorceress, she
could take on battles in an arena to
unlock her ability to learn different
move sets – the same applies for Layne
and Damion (all three could be made
into sorcerers, archers, or warriors if the
player wished). The freedom to play as
you like was cited as a positive by critics,
as were the vibrant graphics, adjustable
difficulty, and huge amount of content,
taking the playtime well above 100 hours.
The game was criticised, however, for the
difficulty spikes, the time taken for the
story to really get going, and the feeling
of repetitiveness after playing for dozens
of hours. On the Vita, the game played
well and the bright and colourful world
looked impressive on the Vita’s screen.
For fans of the strategy RPGs, this was an
enjoyable and lengthy entry in the genre.
089
RETROSPECTIVE
Hyperdimension
Neptunia series
Written by
McDoogle
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth
Released August 2014
Developer Compile Heart
Publisher Idea Factory
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2
Released January 2015
Developer Compile Heart
Publisher Idea Factory
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 3
Released June 2015
Developer Compile Heart
Publisher Idea Factory
090
THE FACT THAT THERE’S EVEN A
history of the Hyperdimension Neptunia
franchise to speak of is inexplicable –
this JRPG by Compile Heart and Idea
Factory launched for the PS3 in 2011
to poor ratings, garnering a mere 45%
on Metacritic. The game was criticised
heavily for its outdated graphics, clumsy
combat systems, and obscure inventory
management, among other issues. Yet
somehow the game managed to find
itself a cult following, prompting two
sequels over the next two years. This is
largely due to the incredible character
design work of Tsunako, the primary
artist of the franchise, as well as a
writing style grounded in anime and
video game humor which gained traction
in online communities. In addition,
the voice cast is comprised of an A-list
team of Japanese voice actresses, which
bolstered reception.
In 2015, Hyperdimension Neptunia
Re;Birth for the PS Vita was released,
PlayStation Vita: The End
and it absolutely lived up to its title.
Everything about the title had been
completely reworked and it felt like
an entirely new game. The graphics
were overhauled, the inventory system
was rebuilt from the ground up, and
the writing shifted toward a much
more comedic tone. This became the
flagship title for the franchise on the
Vita, garnering a more positive 69
on Metacritic and a user score of 7.7.
Following the release of this game,
numerous iterations and spinoffs were
produced, including a rhythm game, a
tile-based RPG, beat-‘em-ups, and more.
These include Re;Birth 2 and Re;Birth 3,
Vita remakes of the two sequels which
originally appeared on the PS3.
The actual gameplay of the core
Neptunia titles is that of a classic JRPG.
Your party roams around levels and
initiates turn-based fights with monsters
upon making contact. There are various
aspects of the gameplay that change
with each main series entry, including
the magic and EXE Attack (essentially
ultimate attack) systems, but the basics
remain the same. The storylines span
several multiverses but are ultimately
Hyperdimension Neptunia series
about the titular Neptune and her friends
getting up to all kinds of hilarious – and
yet sometimes serious – trouble.
One of the more unique elements
that makes this franchise so appealing,
however, is the overall quirkiness. Even
the name has history: in Japan, the
franchise is called Choujigen Neptune, but
the producers worried about trademark
issues in the US and opted to use
Neptunia instead. In addition, many of
the franchise’s characters are based on
existing companies and brands in Japan,
and thus have experienced localized
name changes to match the Western
market. For example, a recurring villain
named マジェコンヌ (Majekonnu) is based
on a Nintendo DS piracy flash cart called
the Majikon which was sold in Japan. Her
name was changed to Arfoire for western
markets due to the higher popularity of
the R4 DS cart there.
The relationship this franchise has
with the Vita is quite special, as to this
day it remains the best place to play the
core trilogy of Re;Birth games. There are
PC ports available on Steam, but they’re
widely considered janky due to some
keybinding and graphics optimization
issues. In 2018 an enhanced Japan-only
port of Re;Birth was released on PS4
and PC, but no such announcement has
been made for the sequels. The Vita
would remain the primary home for this
franchise until the fourth game in the
series, Megadimension Neptunia VII, was
released on the PS4. From there the
franchise has evolved ever onward with
its latest iteration coming out on the
Nintendo Switch and PS4, but Neptunia
fans will always have a special place in
their hearts for the Vita.
091
RETROSPECTIVE
Persona
Dancing
series
Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Released September 2015
Developer P-Studio
Publishers Atlus, Sega
Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
Released December 2018
Developer P-Studio
Publishers Atlus, Sega
092
PERSONA 4 GOLDEN IS GENERALLY
considered to be one of the best games
on the Vita, and is also one of the
handheld’s most commercially successful
titles, so it was no surprise when
publisher Atlus announced that a spin-
off title, Persona 4: Dancing All Night,
was in development for the Vita. In an
interview with the Verge, Kazuhisa Wada
(the game’s director), said: “The Persona
series’ music has always been highly
regarded by the players... that’s why we
had been thinking for quite some time, it
would be nice to make a Persona music
game”. At its release in 2015, Persona 4:
Dancing All Night sold 94,000 units in
Japan, and also resulted in the Vita being
the best selling console of the week –
one of the few instances of the console
selling more than the Nintendo 3DS. That
was the power of Persona.
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 Dancing All Night was a complete this time round they could only be beaten
departure from the RPG it took its roots by the power of dance! Each character’s
from. This was a rhythm game that had dance style reflected their personality –
players tapping buttons to the beat of the for example, Chie incorporated martial
music, and the better the player could arts, and Yukiko’s moves were inspired
keep to the beat, the higher the score by ballet.
– failing to consistently hit the buttons While a new story with the same
at the right time would result in game characters fans knew and loved was a
over. While the gameplay was easy to big part of the game’s appeal, the music
understand, mastering all the tracks at
the higher difficulty levels was anything
but simple – as a result, it was extremely
satisfying being able to reach the top
rank, ‘King Crazy,’ on a challenging song.
Dancing All Night
The cast of Persona 4 Golden returned was a departure
for Dancing All Night in a new story and
setting – this time, the team needed to
from the series RPG
help find the missing members of the pop roots – this was a
idol group, Kanamin Kitchen. The same
monstrous shadows they faced in the
rhythm game
first game must again be defeated, but

Persona Dancing series 093


Atlus found the
formula worked,
and two years later
announced two
new rhythm games
was also hugely influential in making
this game a success. As Wada stated,
the music from the Persona games is
highly regarded, with the soundtrack
for Persona 4 considered by many to be
the best in the series. Dancing All Night
featured remixed tracks from the original
game and from the fighting spin-off title,
Persona 4 Arena. Players could complete
094
each track as they progressed through
the story or play any song they wished in
the Free Dance mode.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night was
generally well received. Critics praised
its accessibility, the music, gameplay
and the story, which fans of Persona 4
and Golden would find charming and
nostalgic. Atlus clearly found the
formula worked, and two years later
they announced they were developing
two new rhythm games: Persona 3:
Dancing in Moonlight, and Persona 5:
Dancing in Starlight, based on other
entries in the franchise.
Both games released in 2018, and
stayed true to the gameplay established
in Dancing all Night. With Persona 5
having only released a year and a half
earlier in the West, fans were craving a
new game in this universe, and while
PlayStation Vita: The End
Persona 3 may not have been as familiar
to newer fans, it was arguably the most
beloved entry as it ushered in the current
era of the franchise.
Unlike Dancing All Night, there was
no story mode to complete. Players
would complete songs in order to
unlock new tracks and dialogue scenes
with characters from the games. After
completing 5 interactions with a
character, a mini-game was unlocked
where the player could explore their
teammate’s bedroom and learn more
about them. In an interview with
Newsweek, Kazuhisa Wada (who
had taken on the role of Producer
for these two games) expressed his
desire to “create something that’s a bit
lighthearted and fun, like a traditional
rhythm game, while also being
something entirely different from the
Persona Dancing series
more serious tone seen in Persona.
By dancing, talking about music, and
having fun like normal high school
students normally would, I hope players
can experience a different side to
these characters.”
While the gameplay remained
enjoyable, the removal of the story
mode was not well received by fans,
and neither were the reduced number
songs in the base game. Although the
titles released on both the PS4 and
Vita, the combined sales of the two
games across the two platforms were
less than Persona 4: Dancing All Night
on Vita alone.
The missing story mode did detract
from Persona 3 and 5 Dancing, but for
fans it was nonetheless enjoyable to
return to those worlds and interact with
these characters they’d grown to love.
095
RETROSPECTIVE THE INFLUENCE DRAGON QUEST
had on the games industry cannot be
Dragon Quest understated. The first title in the series

Builders
released in 1986 in Japan and provided a
template for turn-based RPGs that went
on to inspire the creation of popular
gaming franchises such as Final Fantasy,
Pokemon, and many others. Impressively,
in the three and a half decades since
the original game’s release, much of the
development team of that first title is
still involved in the series. Dragon Quest
games have not generally been massive
hits in the West (although that has
changed more recently with the release
of Dragon Quest XI) but in Japan, the
Released October 2016 series is hugely popular with numerous
Developer Square Enix books, anime, and spin-off titles
Publisher Square Enix releasing outside of the eleven mainline

096 PlayStation Vita: The End

titles. The PS Vita received two of these
spin-off games: Dragon Quest Heroes II
(a musou style action game) and Dragon
Quest Builders. Unfortunately Heroes II
was not released outside of Japan, to the
disappointment of many fans (especially
considering the quality of the gameplay
and graphics) but Dragon Quest Builders
did release on the handheld worldwide.
The story of Builders was a direct
continuation of the first Dragon Quest, but
with an alternate ending where the evil
Dragonlord had triumphed. The world of
Alefgard became plagued with monsters
and it’s up to the player to rebuild the
world. Builders took some cues from the
larger series, including the bright and
cheery graphics, recurring monsters, and
a remastered soundtrack featuring music
from the first Dragon Quest game, but the
gameplay was entirely different. Instead
of the traditional turn-based battles and
a world full of towns and dungeons to
explore, Builders was a sandbox action
game with building mechanics inspired
by Minecraft, and while that influence
was clear to see, Builders was designed
to be far more friendly for new players.
Short and straightforward objectives
helped players to learn and understand
the mechanics, for example: find sticks
in the world and craft them into a torch. The first title in
The game held the player’s hand to help the Dragon Quest
them experiment with building objects,
weapons, and food, while also allowing series released
players to become familiar with battling in 1986 in Japan
and exploring the world. The entire area
was open and exploration was rewarded and provided
with new and unique materials or tough a template for
optional bosses.
The game was split into four chapters turn-based RPGs
with similar goals for each one: to explore

Dragon Quest Builders 097

 Critics praised the
accessible building
mechanics, charming
characters, and the
variety of activities
available to the player.
There was some
criticism that the
combat was simplistic
and repetitive, but
overall Square Enix
was complimented for
successfully creating
a JRPG version of
Minecraft

the map, collect materials, build walls
and rooms to create a settlement for
survivors to gather together, complete
quests for the settlement’s residents,
and then protect them from attacking
monsters – where the game changed
to an action, tower defence style game.
Each chapter started the player on a
new map to explore, new quests to
complete, and a new settlement to build.
This approach was criticised by some
reviewers, as all the items, weapons,
and buildings created by the player
were abandoned each time the player
progressed to the next stage, although
the game did offer a mode named Terra
Incognito, that provided open maps for
the player to apply their creativity and
build freely without needing to worry
about completing quests. This mode
also allowed players to share creations
online and to take on waves of enemies
in Terra Gladiatoria.
Dragon Quest Builders launched on
PS3 and PS4 at the same time as Vita,
and was later ported to the Nintendo
Switch. While the Vita version was not
on the same level as the other ports
in terms of graphics and frame rate
(which is to be expected given the age

098 PlayStation Vita: The End

of the handheld compared to the other
systems), it nonetheless played and
looked superb on the device, especially
considering the scope of the game and
size of the maps. It sold 370,000 units
on the week of release in Japan across
the three PlayStation platforms, selling
best on Vita at 176,000 units, compared
to 138,000 and 56,000 on PS4 and PS3
respectively. Reviews were positive, with
critics praising its accessible building
mechanics, charming characters, and
the variety of activities available to the
player. There was some criticism that the
combat was simplistic and repetitive, but
Dragon Quest Builders
overall Square Enix was complimented
for successfully creating a JRPG version
of Minecraft.
In 2010, Satoru Iwata, former President
of Nintendo, explained why he thought
Dragon Quest had such widespread
appeal in Japan. He said the games are
“made so that anyone can play... and
anyone can enjoy it depending on their
different levels and interests.” Although
Dragon Quest Builders was a departure
from the gameplay of previous entires
in the series, it retained the core design
philosophy of being made so that
anyone can play.
099
RETROSPECTIVE GIVEN HOW SUCCESSFUL
Romancing SaGa 3 was in Japan, it’s
Romancing surprising that it was not released in

SaGa 3
the West earlier. This Super Famicom
classic launched in 1995 and sold 1.3
million copies in Japan, making it the
36th best-selling SNES game of all-time,
despite being released in just one country
– 24 years later, it was made available
worldwide for all major consoles,
including the Vita. It was pleasantly
surprising for fans of the handheld
that Square-Enix would be releasing
a new game for the device so late into
its life, years past the point when Sony
themselves had given up on bringing
Released November 2019 titles to the system. As a final game
Developer Square for the handheld from the publisher, it
Publisher Square Enix turned out to be quite a hidden gem too.

100 PlayStation Vita: The End

 The game begins with a cutscene
setting up the story: every 300 years
there is a devastating event, where
everyone born in the year of the event
dies – apart from one special child. The
first time it happened, the child grew
up to be evil and conquered the world;
Players can have
entirely different
experiences
depending on the
decisions they make
Romancing SaGa 3
the second time, the child grew up to
be the world’s saviour; the third event
happened around 20 years ago, and so
now that special individual is an adult
who will choose their path. Choice is
an important aspect in this game – as
soon as that initial cutscene ends, the
player is given their first choice: pick
their main character from 8 options,
each with different strengths. This has
an immediate impact on the story path
and dialog – even within the first two
hours, players can have entirely different
experiences depending on the decisions
they make, whether consciously or
unconsciously.
The game provides almost no
direction on what to do next and where
to go. After being let loose on the world,
101
players visit various towns and cities,
and interact with the NPC inhabitants
to learn about new quests and new
locations to visit, and slowly the world
unfolds with new locations popping up
on the map. It can take hours to even
discover the first clues of the overarching
story – to defeat the four Abyss Lords.
Actually discovering all their locations
and being able to defeat them will take
far longer due to the level of difficulty the
game poses, but learning to overcome
the challenge is part of what makes
Romancing SaGa 3 so satisfying.
In terms of gameplay it’s very much
102
an old school, turn-based JRPG. In
battles, players have the usual options
of attack, magic or special skill, and
defend. New party members can be
recruited through the game, and as each
character uses a particular weapon, their
proficiency of using it goes up and new
skills associated with that weapon-type
are unlocked. Unlike many other JRPGs
from the 1990s, there isn’t an experience
bar or clear levelling up system – it was
one of the criticisms of the game that
levelling and learning new skills could
feel random at times. Character health
is restored after each fight, but each
PlayStation Vita: The End
member of the party has a set number of
life points (LP) that deplete when their
hit points fall to zero. If all LP are lost
then they are removed from the party,
although it’s game over if the main
character’s LP is depleted.
Players found Romancing SaGa 3 to be
a daunting experience due to the lack of
sign-posting of what to do next and the
lack of clear objectives. There are side
quests waiting to be discovered in every
location, and unexpected consequences
depending on how they are tackled, this
includes other missions and new party
members being entirely locked out if
Romancing SaGa 3
Romancing SaGa 3 is
a deep and complex
RPG that, despite its
age, feels surprisingly
fresh and unique
the player completes tasks in the wrong
order. Even seemingly small decisions
can have significant and unexpected
consequences – for example, accepting a
new party member may seem like a good
idea, but some cannot be removed until
their quest line is completed, preventing
new and more powerful teammates from
being recruited.
Notably, the Vita port looked and
performed on par with the other console
ports, and included cross-save with the
PS4 version – although the title would
have to be bought twice since cross-
buy was unfortunately missing. Loads
times were short, saving was practically
instantaneous, and the text was large
and easy to read. All in all, Square-Enix
did an impressive job at bringing the
game to the handheld.
It may have taken 24 years to arrive
in the West, but for fans of old-school
JRPGs, this was well worth the wait.
Some may find the lack of clear direction
overwhelming, but for others, Romancing
SaGa 3 is a deep and complex RPG that,
despite its age, feels surprisingly fresh
and unique, particularly in how it
handles consequence and choice better
than many modern games.
103
RETROSPECTIVE SOME VIDEOGAME COMPANIES
seem defined by one franchise – think
Atelier Capcom with Resident Evil, Konami

series
with Metal Gear Solid, or Square
with Final Fantasy. A much more low-key
example – although, some would argue,
Written by equally as important – is Gust, a small
Adam Cartwright Japanese developer who created a low-
budget role-playing game named Atelier
Marie in 1997 that led to the creation of
a franchise that would be going from
strength to strength more than two
decades later – including a spree of
releases on the PlayStation Vita.
Atelier Totori Plus It’s worth explaining what Atelier
Released November 2012 actually is: a combination of dozens of
ideas which have been slowly refined
Atelier Meruru Plus over the years. At the heart it all is
Release: March 2013 alchemy, the mystical art of combining
ingredients and using a bit of magic
Atelier Rorona Plus to create new and powerful items. How
Release: November 2013 these items are used differs based on
which entry you’re playing, but they’ll
Atelier Ayesha Plus usually be integral to the main quest
Release: March 2014 undertaken by the (likely) young female
heroine, who will encounter various
Atelier Escha & Logy Plus characters who assist her with the turn-
Release: January 2015 based combat. Then you have exploration
to gather ingredients; time management
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the elements; economics of buying and
Mysterious Book selling, as well as a host of other ideas
Release: November 2015 that all mesh surprisingly well to make
an addictive whole that has kept gamers
Atelier Shallie Plus engaged across multiple titles.
Release: March 2016 Despite debuting on the PS1,
the Atelier franchise has always been
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the platform-agnostic, appearing on
Mysterious Journey SEGA’s home consoles and Nintendo’s
Release: November 2016 handhelds, as well as Sony’s portables
– usually in self-contained duologies or
Developer Gust Co. Ltd. trilogies with minor links between each.
Publishers Gust Co. Ltd., NIS America The PSP received numerous entries, of

104 PlayStation Vita: The End

which only one ever made it to western
shores: Mana Khemia: Student Alliance,
the first in a duology starring a young
hermit named Vayne who is invited to
the Al-Revis Academy to learn alchemy.
Notable for being one of the most beloved
entries in the series, this handheld port
The Atelier franchise
would be going
from strength to
strength for more than
two decades
Atelier series
suffered from unfortunate slowdown and
performance issues on its UMD release
– thankfully the digital version, which is
backwards-compatible with Vita, resolved
these problems.
The release of the PlayStation
Vita presented a new opportunity for
Gust – a fresh piece of hardware with
capabilities in the same ballpark as
the PS3, which had been the home
of the Atelier franchise for a number
of years. They took advantage of this
within the first year of the console’s
life by releasing Atelier Totori Plus, an
expanded version of the second entry
in the Arland trilogy, which proved
to be a resounding sales success in
Japan, quickly being followed up
by Atelier Meruru Plus and the more
105
106 PlayStation Vita: The End
meaty Atelier Rorona Plus.
The Arland games were Gust’s first
foray into the 3D gaming space, and
suffered from some teething issues
– the first entry (Rorona) released in
2009 to plenty of acclaim for its unique
medieval-inspired setting, quirky
cast of characters, and fun alchemy
mechanics, but received criticism for
its basic 3D graphics and punishing
time management system. It was
unsurprising that they chose the much
more beloved Totori as the first Vita
entry, which starred the adorably upbeat
titular protagonist on a quest to find
her missing adventurer mother, which
struck an emotional chord with gamers
and critics alike. It brought back fan-
favourite characters from Rorona such
as the loveable Esty or the stoic Knight
Sterk, while continuing to expand on the
kingdom of Arland.
The trilogy was capped off
with Meruru which managed to bring
things full circle, following a Princess of
the kingdom of Arls as she works to grow
her hometown into a thriving metropolis
so that it can merge with Arland. It
remains a firm favourite among fans
thanks to the addition of city-building
mechanics, while also providing cheerful
closure for many of the characters
gamers had grown to love. However,
this wouldn’t be the last Arland title to
land on Vita, as it was followed with a
full remake of Rorona that featured new
graphics, tweaked elements, and an
epilogue taking place after the ending
to Meruru featuring Totori and her
apprentice travelling back in time – a
lovely way to bookend the sub-series.
Buoyed by the success of
Atelier series
The Arland games
were Gust’s first foray
into 3D gaming, and
suffered from some
teething issues
their Arland releases on Vita, Gust
quickly worked on bringing their next
trilogy – Dusk – to Sony’s handheld,
which would again feature expanded
content to encourage fans to double dip.
Unfortunately, gamers were beginning
to suffer from franchise fatigue thanks
to the bi-yearly release schedule,
and the first release, Atelier Ayesha
Plus, opened to relatively poor sales
in Japan at just over 11k (compared
to Totori’s 27k). Still, this was quickly
followed up with Atelier Escha & Logy
Plus then Atelier Shallie Plus, the latter
of which provided new content which
answered questions regarding the
whole Dusk series.
Compared to Arland’s whimsical
world and more laid-back nature,
the Dusk games focus on a dying world
and the steps taken by a series of
alchemists to help keep it alive. It went
for a much more muted palette – browns
and oranges rather than blues and
purples – making it feel intrinsically
different than the titles that went before.
Changes were also made to simplify the
alchemy system alongside adding extra
depth to the combat, but the biggest
alteration was relaxing of the strict
107
 The franchise
flourished on
Sony’s handheld,
and for a niche
franchise from
a tiny Japanese
studio, Atelier
provided Vita
gamers with
hundreds of hours
of role-playing fun
with characters
that fans
developed strong
attachments to

time limits which had defined Arland –
from Escha through Shallie, tasks often
became open-ended, which somewhat
changed the dynamic that had defined
the series up until that point.   version pulled respectable sales numbers
This was a mantra which Gust took
into their next trilogy, Mysterious,
which started in 2015 with Atelier
Sophie. Again focusing on a duo of
protagonists (Sophie and Platcha), the
title did away with time management
elements altogether, while featuring full
3D camera movement and a world that
felt closer to the whimsical elements
of the Arland trilogy. It was also one of
the higher-effort ports on Vita, with
high-quality graphics and effects, plus
a simultaneous release across PS3, PS4,
and Vita. This meant the handheld
in Japan, and led to a quick overseas
release. It seemed the future of Atelier on
Vita was bright.
The next entry, Atelier Firis, again
shifted things up substantially by
offering a pseudo-open world that
players could explore at their leisure,
although this brought with it a
number of technical issues which
meant the Vita port suffered from

108 PlayStation Vita: The End

poor framerate, slowdown, and stutter,
making it a sub-optimal experience.
It seemed that gamers weren’t as
attached to this world as they had been
with Arland and Dusk, and sales numbers
plummeted in Japan, meaning the final
entry in the trilogy (Atelier Lydie & Suelle)
was the worst-selling yet. To add insult
to injury, this became the first Atelier on
Vita to not make its way West – instead
landing on PS4, PC, and Switch, meaning
gamers who had started the trilogy on
Sony’s handheld couldn’t finish it there.
Gust capped off their PlayStation
Vita support with Nelke & The Legendary
Atelier series
Alchemists – a compilation title designed
to celebrate the long-running franchise,
but this one again only released in
Japan and skipped a Western Vita
release – a real shame, given how much
the franchise had flourished on the
console and how attached gamers
would be to these characters. Still, for
a niche franchise from a tiny Japanese
studio, Atelier provided Vita gamers
with hundreds of hours of role-playing
fun, and it’s something I’m personally
grateful for since it introduced me to
a series I now adore and will likely
continue playing for decades to come.
109
RETROSPECTIVE BACK IN FEBRUARY 2014,
independent developer Lucas Pope said
Papers, that he was considering bringing his

Please
critically acclaimed passport control sim
game, Papers, Please, to the Vita. Things
went quiet for years until December 2017
when fans were pleasantly surprised to
find the title had almost stealth-dropped
on the PlayStation Store. It had been
released on PC in 2013 but this was the
first time the game had been released
on a console and the Vita’s touch screen
made it the ideal system to play on,
as the game utilised a combination of
traditional and touch controls.
In Papers, Please, players take on the
role of a depressingly poor border control
officer for the country of Arstotzka. The
gameplay essentially comes down to
checking the passports and visas of
people wanting to enter the country,
and ensuring that nobody gets in that
shouldn’t be there. It may sound quite
dull from the high level description of the
game, but there are many mechanics to
Released December 2017 learn and an unexpectedly compelling
Developer 3909 LLC narrative. The start of the game has
Publisher 3909 LLC players only really looking at whether the

110 PlayStation Vita: The End

passports have expired, but as Papers,
Please progresses there are new rules
brought in to complicate the review of
the documents – including needing to
check visa descriptions match what
the characters are saying, checking
x-rays of people for weapons, looking at
fingerprints to ensure everyone is who
they say they are, and much more. When
the correct decision is made the player
receives 5 credits, which is needed to pay
for rent, food, and heating for them and
their family. If the player goes into debt
then it’s game over – make an incorrect
decision and players get a warning,
after three incorrect decisions 5 credits
is deducted each time thereafter. The
game pushes players to get through as
many people as possible to earn as many
credits as possible, and the time pressure
to do this adds urgency and excitement
to the game. This may still all sound
boring, but many fans were quickly won
over with its oddly addictive gameplay. thus ensuring their family can be fed?
On top of the document checking Should a woman be let in so that she
nature of the game, there is a story that can be with her husband? Should the
is drip-fed to players and moral dilemmas player help a to rebellion overthrow the
to be navigated. Should the player accept corrupt government? Should people be
a bribe to let someone into the country sent to prison unnecessarily because
the prison warden is offering a bribe
for having more prisoners? Should the
player sacrifice their family and let them
Papers, Please die so that they can follow the rules and

may sound boring, live their life as a border control agent?

There is so much going on in the game
but many fans and a lot to remember and think about,

were quickly won alongside the time pressure of getting

through as many people as possible.
over by its oddly There are 20 possible endings in the

addictive gameplay game and an endless mode that can keep

players entertained long after the story
mode is completed.

Papers, Please 111

 The game’s graphics look quite
basic, but are used to highlight the
On top of the grim reality of life in Arstotzka and
document checking the player’s role as a border agent.
The sound is in the style of a computer
nature of the game, from the 80s, which suits the
there is a story game perfectly.
On the Vita, Papers, Please feels
that is drip-fed to very intuitive as you move documents
players, and there around with your fingers, however
a common criticism was that some
are moral dilemmas of the text is very small on the
to be navigated handheld’s screen. Since the player will
be examining documents by clicking on
and comparing words, it’s easy to click
the wrong word and waste precious
seconds as the text is so small.
Additionally, the whole screen can get
overtaken by documents, making it
hard to see things or even scroll up
and down – staying organised and
establishing a methodical process for
reviewing the documents is essential.
These negatives did not, however,
prevent players from enjoying Papers,
Please – it’s a deep game that tests the
brain, memory, and morals, and offers
an entirely unique experience.
Papers, Please does not have
a Metacritic score – by the time of
its release many gaming sites had
unfortunately stopped reviewing Vita
games completely. Nonetheless, it is
a game with an ardent and dedicated
fan base – speaking about the Vita
release in comparison to sales on other
platforms, Pope said “I released the
game about a year too late, so the sales
weren’t exceptional. My main goal was
to fulfill the promise I’d made two years
earlier, so in the end I am happy to
have it on Vita.”

112 PlayStation Vita: The End

RETROSPECTIVE

Reverie
Released April 2018
Developer Rainbite
Publisher Rainbite

IN REVERIE, PLAYERS CONTROL

Tai, a young boy visiting his grandparents
on the island of Toromi, off the coast of
New Zealand. He soon discovers there are
malevolent spirits haunting the islanders,
and he must find the source of the evil
and put an end to it. The gameplay was
inspired by the top-down Legend of Zelda
games, with a similar look and style
to the SNES title Earthbound. There’s
an open world to explore, dungeons to
conquer, and equipment to find that
unlocks new areas.
Reverie was developed by three friends
from university that went on to start up
the studio Rainbite. When asked why
they wanted to release a title on the Vita
in 2018, Jared Trail, one of the studio’s
founders stated: “It was pretty much the
first decision we made when deciding to
create Reverie. Our team acquired a love
for the console throughout university
and we wanted to make sure we made
something for the Vita.”
Although not particularly long or
difficult, Reverie was well received by
players for being fun, charming, and
well designed, with excellent retro
pixel graphics.

Papers, Please | Reverie 113

RETROSPECTIVE ALTHOUGH VA-11 HALL-A FIRMLY
sits in the visual novel category of
VA-11 HALL-A gaming, its setting, style, and execution
set it apart from other titles in the genre
– the developers, Sukeban, have termed
it a ‘Cyberpunk Bartender Action’ game
(the word ‘action’ may be considered
misleading, as it is actually a thoroughly
relaxing experience). Set in a dystopian
future with sentient robots, intelligent
talking animals, and even talking brains
in jars, players see the world through the
eyes of bartender Jill as she converses
with the variety of patrons that enter the
titular bar, VA-11 HALL-A, and she hears
all about their lives. It is through these
conversations that the player learns
about the fascinating world outside
– imagine a future like Blade Runner
or Ghost in the Shell, but the player
Released only experiences the world through
November 2017 interactions with other characters.
Developers There is little gameplay to speak of –
Sukeban Games, Wolfgame customers will request a drink, the player
Publisher will choose the right mixers to make it,
Ysbryd Games and Jill will talk to them.

114 PlayStation Vita: The End

 There’s no optional dialog, therefore the
only means of affecting the conversation
The developers is through the drink given to the patron
describe VA-11 HALL-A – for example, if too much alcohol is
put in their drinks they will get drunk,
as a ‘Cyberpunk or if the wrong drink is made they will
Bartender Action’ become annoyed at Jill. If the right
drink is made, a bond will form with
game – though it the patrons and they will reveal more of
is actually a their personalities – and it is here that
the game shines, as the characters were
thoroughly relaxing intriguing and the title has received
experience much praise for how the story unfolds
with sprinkles of information that keep
the player wanting to know more.
The team behind Sukeban Games
hail from Venuzuela, which heavily
influenced the design of VA-11 HALL-A.
One of the developers, Christopher Ortiz,
explained this in an interview with Kill
Screen, when he stated that the title “is
based in our experience of living in a
third world country, where it’s natural to
look for a place where you can be happy
without the constant bad news… so we
came up with a set of characters who,
in the middle of this disaster, try to go
on with their lives and be as happy as
they can with what they have”. A demo
was originally developed to be entered
into the Cyberpunk Game Jam of 2014,
however, the team realised they had
created something special and decided to
turn it into a full game.
Some reviewers criticised the lack
of interactivity and choice, but overall
VA-11 HALL-A received praise for being
a relaxing experience with fascinating
characters. There’s no stress, no worry
about high scores or killing enemies – it’s
just the player slowly discovering this
unique and intriguing world.

VA-11 HALL-A 115

RETROSPECTIVE
Iconoclasts
Released January 2018
Developer Joakim Sandberg
Publisher Bifrost Entertainment
116
WHEN PEOPLE LOOK BACK AT
gaming in the 2000s and 2010s, it will
likely be considered a golden age in
independent game development. Titles
such as Braid, Spelunky, Stardew Valley,
and Undertale were exceptional releases
that demonstrated what individual
developers were capable of. Iconoclasts
sits among them as another stellar game
created by just one person – Joakim
‘Konjak’ Sandberg. This story-driven 2D
action-platformer was released in early
2018 for the PS Vita, as well as the PS4
and PC, and was in development for
over seven years. Not only did Konjak
write the story and script, program the
game, and design the art, he also created
the game’s soundtrack. It was clear to
see why a game as impressive as this
required so long to complete.
In Iconoclasts, players take on the
role of Robin, a mechanic living in a
world controlled by an oppressive regime,
the One Concern. This mysterious
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organisation becomes interested in Robin
after she takes up her father’s role as
a mechanic following his death. She
embarks on a journey to escape the One
Concern, help others being tormented by
them, and learn more about their origins.
The game takes Robin on an adventure
filled with dark twists and turns as the
player discovers more about the One
Concern and Robin’s past – many players
were caught off guard by the serious and
thought provoking plot due to the bright
and colourful pixel graphics.
The controls and gameplay were
praised by reviewers for being natural
and easy to get to grips with, particularly
for fans of 2D old-school platformers.
Although it would not be considered
a metroidvania in the strictest sense puzzle, testing how well the player had
due to the game’s linearity, there are mastered each of Robin’s abilities.
some elements of the genre present in Iconoclasts was praised for its
Iconoclasts, for example acquiring new beautifully detailed graphics, fleshed
weapons and abilities to help unlock out characters, complex story, and fluid
previously inaccessible areas and to gameplay. A common complaint was
defeat enemies. Speaking of enemies, the the game’s length – around 15 hours to
game featured 25 bosses that varied from complete – which some felt was too long.
lone human fighters, to giant creatures Despite being the least powerful system
that took up half of the Vita’s screen. that the game released on, the Vita
Each boss fight was almost like a mini version ran perfectly and was on par with
the other console ports. In August 2018,
an update added a ‘relaxed’ low difficulty
mode for players that were interested in
Not only did Konjak focusing on the story, as well as a boss

write the story, rush mode, allowing players to fight each

of the game’s bosses back-to-back.
program the game, Seven years is a long time to be

and design the art, focused on one project, however the

passion and dedication shine through
he also created the and the expertly crafted balance of

game’s soundtrack platforming, combat, puzzles, and story

have made Iconcolasts one of the stand-
out indie titles on the Vita.

Iconoclasts 117
RETROSPECTIVE CANADIAN DEVELOPER DRINKBOX
Studios was founded back in 2008
Severed by programmers Chris Harvey, Ryan
MacLean, and Graham Smith, as a new
studio rising from the ashes of Toronto-
Written by
EdEN based Pseudo Interactive. The studio
actually started its life known as Not
a Number Software, which was later
changed to become the Drinkbox we all
know and love. Their first release was
Tales from Space: About a Blob, a 2D
puzzle platformer for the PlayStation 3
that came out in 2011. The game featured
a race of insatiable alien blobs that found
themselves stranded on Earth, so they do
what they do best: absorb things to get
bigger! The follow up, Tales from Space:
Mutant Blobs Attack, was one of the
PlayStation Vita’s launch titles back in
2012, and later came to the PlayStation 3.
Drinbox’s next release would
go on to become their best-known
franchise: Guacamelee! The studio did
Released April 2016 an outstanding job in bringing this 2D
Developer DrinkBox Studios action-platformer-brawler metroidvania
Publisher DrinkBox Studios to life, with a colourful look and a story

118 PlayStation Vita: The End


Like Guacamelee!, the
studio’s previous game,
Severed featured a
rich color palette and
superb art style
based on the Mexican Dia de Los Muertos
(Day of the Dead) festival. Guacamelee!
captivated Vita owners when the game
was released in April 2013. It was later
ported to the PlayStation 4 and the
Nintendo Wii U in 2014, and even getting
a Nintendo Switch release in 2018 as the
Severed
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship
Edition – a very tongue-in-cheek name
referencing the Street Fighter II series.
While fans were eager to hear any news
of a potential sequel to Guacamelee!, the
team had something different in mind…
In April 2014, Drinkbox announced
Severed, a metroidvania that, like
Guacamelee!, featured a rich color palette
and superb art style. The twist was that
Severed would be a first-person dungeon
crawler featuring a female character in
the lead. Drinkbox managed to meld two
genres – first-person dungeon crawlers
and metroidvanias – to create something
fresh and unique.
In Severed, players take control of
Sasha, a fierce warrior with one arm, who
goes on a mystical journey to save her
119

Touchscreen games
are often criticised
for being simple, one
note, experiences, but
Drinkbox delivered
a hardcore gaming
experience that was a
must-play on the Vita
family. At the start of the game, players
find Sasha in her destroyed home, staring
into a mirror at her bloody reflection,
when an otherworldly being materializes
and presents her with a peculiar weapon
bearing a very large eye on it. It turns
out that Sasha has traveled to another
dimension in search of her family, and
must find them before it’s too late.
The game’s combat was handled
entirely on the Vita’s touchscreen, with
players fighting enemies by swiping
back and forth to perform attacks. Fights
start out easy, but throughout the game
the difficulty ramps up at a steady pace.
While a flurry of quick attacks might
seem like a good idea, longer swipes
deal far more damage. Players also
need to pay attention to an enemy’s
weapon, as when they flash, that’s the
cue to attempt to parry by swiping in
the direction of the enemy’s attack, to
counter it and give Sasha a few precious
seconds to attack back. If the angle is
off, however, the enemy will land a strike,
120
dealing considerable damage.
Later in the game, the action becomes
hectic as players go up against several
enemies at once, requiring them to
quickly change the point of view around
Sasha to keep tabs on all opponents,
parrying and counter-attacking as
needed in order to survive. Add to that
enemies blocking attacks, forcing
the player to time their offense to be
angled from a specific direction, as well
as enemies that must be sliced in a
particular way, resulting in a challenging,
but fun and addictive, battle system.
In addition to referencig Sasha’s
lost limb, the game gets its name from
the combat ability, Sever Mode. When
the player maxes out the focus meter,
achieved by landing several hits in quick
succession without getting hit or being
blocked, it triggers Sever Mode – after
defeating an enemy, Sasha can swipe
a specific pattern shown on screen to
sever some of an enemy’s body parts.
This must be done before the time runs
out, so that as many parts as possible
can be cut. This is an essential mechanic
as the different parts the player collects
are used in the game’s upgrade system,
allowing Sasha’s stats to be boosted.
Players can increase the time that Sever
Mode lasts, increase slash damage,
reduce the damage she receives, increase
the damage of long slashes, convert
some of the damage dealt into health to
heal wounds, and other upgrades.
This wouldn’t be a Metroidvania
without returning to areas that couldn’t
previously be reached, doors that can’t
be opened until the right special skill
is collected, or without items to boost
Sasha’s overall health. These abilities are
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obtained by defeating the game’s bosses,
and significantly aid players in battle
as well as opening up the way for new
areas to explore. For example, a mask
reward for defeating the first boss allows
the player to open doors marked with
an eye, as well as use the mask’s power
to reveal new paths in dungeons. When
Severed
used in battle, the mask’s gaze will blind
enemies in place, allowing the player
to dish out extra damage without fear
of being blocked. Once the player has
access to these skills, they will also be
searching for pieces of brains in order to
boost the magic meter after consuming
them!
Due to its heavy use of the
touchscreen, Severed was only ported to
other systems with a touchscreen display
– that meant no PlayStation 4 release.
Severed hit iOS and the Nintendo Wii U in
September 2016, followed by a Nintendo
3DS version a month later. It released on
the Nintendo Switch in August 2017.
The Vita version of Severed has a
solid 82% on Metacritic. Reviewers
praised its dark tone, distinct art style,
and unique use of the touch screen that
exceeded expectations of what a game
with touch controls can achieve.
Severed ended up getting a gorgeous
limited run physical release thanks to
Eastasiasoft and Play Asia. Along with
the game on a Vita cartridge, the special
edition, which was limited to only 3,000
copies, also included a full-colour printed
manual, the soundtrack on CD, and
an individually numbered collector’s
certificate, all inside of a collector’s box.
The game won the Award for Best
Handheld Game at the New York
Videogame Critics Circle, and its
soundtrack ended up winning the award
for Best Musical Score at the Canadian
Videogame Awards. Touch control games
are often criticised for being simple, ‘one
note’, experiences, but Drinkbox delivered
a hardcore gaming experience that
appealed to players and was a must-play
title on the Vita.
121
RETROSPECTIVE ON THE SURFACE, UNDER NIGHT
In-Birth Exe:Late[st] (or UNIEL for short)
Under Night is a complex 2D fighter, but it also

In-Birth
contains a large visual novel describing
the events that lead up to the game’s

Exe:Late[st] main plot. The story is set in a universe

where humans with special powers called
Existence (EXS) are targeted by monsters
called Voids. Once a month on the Hollow
Night, Voids will enter the world to
feed on humans with EXS. If a human
Released survives an attack, they can become an
February 2018 In-Birth, a human able to control their
Developers EXS power. The primary protagonist,
French Bread, Hyde, is an In-Birth in possession of the
Arc System Works legendary Insulator sword and, alongside
Publishers his mentor Lynne, must defeat a powerful
Aksys Games, PQube demon called Paradox.

122 PlayStation Vita: The End

 The game was praised for its deep
and satisfying combat system, although
players less familiar with the genre may
find the mechanics overwhelming. The
visual novel story mode was considered
by some a positive for developing the
UNIEL has some flaws,
but it’s a solid fighter
with stylish graphics
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]
plot and lore of the universe, but this
mode was purely reading with no combat
to break up the scenes, which was
considered a negative by some reviewers.
UNIEL may have some flaws, but it
is a solid fighter with beautiful, stylish
graphics, and a catchy soundtrack. It
released simultaneously on the Vita, PS4,
and PS3, but impressively the developers
had the game running perfectly on the
handheld despite it being the weakest
of the three systems. It was arguably
best suited to the Vita as players are not
restricted to reading the 12 hour long
visual novel in front of a TV.
123
RETROSPECTIVE INDIE STUDIO IMAGE & FORM WAS
founded in 1997 by Brjánn Sigurgeirsson,
SteamWorld but didn’t start out as developers of

series
videogames – it was originally a graphic
and web design company, which goes
some way to explaining the name. After
the September 11th terrorist attacks in
America, the company was suffering
due to loss of business and were barely
able to scrape by, until they were
approached by a games publisher to
SteamWorld Dig make a children’s education game series
Released March 2014 named Josefin. Image & Form worked on
the series for seven years, but everything
SteamWorld Heist changed in 2009.
Released June 2016 At that time, the company was in
discussions with Josefin’s publisher to
SteamWorld Dig 2 release a title for the Nintendo DS, and
Released September 2017 had begun planning for this, but the
publisher reversed their decision. The
Developer Image & Form studio found it now had the talent to
Publisher Image & Form release games on Nintendo’s handheld

124 PlayStation Vita: The End

 working title was Something Tower
Defense until they had the inspiration
By 2011, the to make humans the villains, with the

reputation of player controlling a group of robots – an

inversion of the evil killer robots trope.
mobile games was It released as a download-only title, and

souring due to significantly exceeded expectations

both critically and commercially. Their
the avalanche of second title was the mobile game Anthill,

free-to-play titles which turned out to be an even bigger

success – in one of the company’s The
with aggressive Engine Room podcasts, Brjann said “with

monetisation Anthill, suddenly we knew something

but no game to release – so they
designed a new game from scratch,
which would become the first title in
the series synonymous with the studio,
named SteamWorld Tower Defense. The
that we never knew before: that Image &
Form actually had real potential to make
really great games.”
By 2011, the reputation of mobile
games was souring due to the avalanche
of free-to-play titles with aggressive
monetisation, which didn’t interest
Image & Form, so they started work on a
new game – SteamWorld Dig.

SteamWorld series 125


SteamWorld Dig
The first SteamWorld entry centred on
the mechanical protagonist, Rusty, who
ventures to the robot settlement of
Tumbleton to claim a mine he inherited
from his uncle. Although Rusty initially
travels down into the mine looking for
precious ores for the town, he discovers
much more lurking down below in the
depths of the earth.
126
SteamWorld Dig is a metroidvania
game with a procedurally generated
map that tasks players with digging
downwards, defeating enemies, solving
puzzles, and acquiring new abilities and
upgrades in order to progress further
through the mines. Although there
were some complaints about the short
play time – approximately four hours –
reviews were generally positive, praising
the game for having controls that are
easy to get to grips with, addictive
gameplay, innovative design, and great
graphics.
SteamWorld Dig was the title that
put Image & Form on the map – it was
featured by Nintendo on the day of
its release on 3DS in August 2013, and
went on to be released on all major
platforms, including the Vita. It wasn’t
necessarily destined to be a success
however – Brjann admitted that for a
significant portion of its development,
SteamWorld Dig was flawed and could be
beaten in just a few minutes! It wasn’t
until they designed the systems to
make it a metroidvania with different
equipment and pickaxes to break through
tougher rocks, did the game start to
really come together.
Following the release of Dig, Image
& Form had to decide upon their next
release. They didn’t want to be restricted
to making games in just one genre,
but they wanted to continue with the
SteamWorld universe and create a
completely different type of gameplay
experience. Most of the team were
playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown around
the time, which turned out to be the
inspiration for their next release -
SteamWorld Heist.
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SteamWorld Heist on the system. Reviewers praised
Heist is 2D turn-based strategy game, the deep, satisfying, and addictive
where players control a team of combat, charming characters, and a
steambots in space, led by smuggler- fascinating look at a new era in the
pirate Captain Piper Faraday as they SteamWorld universe. There was some
loot ships and battle other bots on disappointment that Image & Form
their journey through the galaxy. had not released a sequel to Dig, but
Missions involve boarding an enemy those complaints were quelled with the
vessel, exploring it, completing a announcement of their next game -
specific objective (for example stealing SteamWorld Dig 2.
some treasure), battling enemies, and
escaping in one piece. Each ship’s map is
procedurally generated which, combined
with the short length of each mission,
gives the game great replayability.
The inspiration for the gameplay
originated from a disagreement in
the Image & Form team over whether
XCOM’s design could be translated to
2D. The inspirations from XCOM: Enemy
Unknown were clear to anyone that had
played it – players have a turn to move
their squad, attack enemies, use special
abilities or support items, or position
the team behind barriers to reduce the
chance to getting hit, and then the
enemy takes their turn. One aspect of
XCOM that could be frustrating to players
was the percentage probability of landing
an attack on an enemy – it could feel
random and unfair at times when bullets
missed an enemy since it was based on
luck rather than skill. In Heist, players
had to aim their shots and could ricochet
bullets off walls or objects to damage
an enemy. It turned out to be a hugely
satisfying system, particularly when
the player is able to make a tricky shot
bouncing a bullet off multiple objects.
SteamWorld Heist on Vita attained
a Metacritic score of 90%, making
it the joint fifth highest rated game

SteamWorld series 127

SteamWorld Dig 2
In an interview with Tech Raptor, Brjann
said that the team felt tired after working
on Heist for two years and they wanted
to follow it up with a smaller title that
would only take eight or nine months
to complete. Ironically, Dig 2 ended up
needing over 18 months to develop
and was their biggest game up to that
point! It was certainly significantly
bigger than the first SteamWorld Dig,
which was reflected by the fact that the
development team had to almost triple in
size to work on it.
It was announced in February 2017
128
during a Nintendo Direct video, and
released later that year in September.
Image & Form were quiet on the Vita
release and only announced that it would
be coming to the PlayStation handheld
on September 4 2017 – just 21 days before
its release.
SteamWorld Dig 2 picks up soon after
the first game. Rusty, the protagonist
from Dig, is missing, and it’s up to
Dorothy (an NPC from the first game)
to find him. Dorothy’s journey takes
her through a variety of caves, digging
downwards to find her missing friend
– along the way, she meets other bots
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from the town of El Machino, who are all Dorothy’s pickaxe to break rocks and
concerned with the recent earthquakes make a pathway down to the objective.
that have been plaguing their homes, Along the way, a variety of new abilities
not realising the dangers that lay deep with upgrades became available to buy
beneath their feet. using the gems that could be found
Like the first game, Dig 2 is a 2D while digging through the caves. There
metroidvania, although unlike Dig which were also hidden, optional caves with
had a procedurally generated map, there challenges to beat and secret items to
was one fixed game world, which allowed obtain, some of which were very difficult.
the team to design it to challenge The controls are where the game
players with some tricky platforming and shone: straightforward to learn, and
puzzles, and to also take advantage of all intuitive and natural, even when
the abilities Dorothy would later acquire switching quickly between the variety
in the game. Like Dig, players would of Dorothy’s abilities. By the end of the
travel downwards for the most part using game, players were running, jumping,
grappling on cave ceilings, and even
flying! There are some 2D platformers
where the jumping and running just feel
The controls are right, and SteamWorld Dig 2 is one of
those games.
where the game Reviews were overwhelmingly
shone: straightforward positive, and there was barely any
criticism at all! Despite the Vita being a
to learn, intuitive weaker system than the Switch or PS4,
and natural – by the it ran perfectly and looked exceptional
on the handheld’s screen – a testament
end of the game, to the talent of the development
players were running, team. It was, however, the last game
Image & Form would release for Vita.
jumping, grappling In The Engine Room podcast in April
on ceilings, and even 2020, Brjann responded to a question
regarding whether their next game,
flying! There are some SteamWorld Quest, would be ported
platformers where the to Vita: “I think the Vita community
is fantastic... they’re all about games
movement just feels and they’re really passionate about
right – SteamWorld the platform, but when we look at the
sales figures it would be so hard.” While
Dig 2 is one of this was a disappointment, Image
those games & Form brought three superb games
to the system which was thoroughly
appreciated by fans of the Vita.

SteamWorld series 129

RETROSPECTIVE TIMESPINNER IS YET ANOTHER
example of a successful Vita Kickstarter
Timespinner project – even though it took more than
four years to release following the end
of the campaign, it was most definitely
worth the wait. Developed by Lunar
Ray Games, Timespinner started out as
a project for the studio owner’s (Bodie
Lee) university game-programming class.
After years of working in the games
industry, he decided to work full time
on Timespinner and finance the game
through crowdfunding, which led to a
successful campaign with thousands of
backers (more than 350% funded).
Players control Lunais, a timekeeper,
who travels through time to avenge
the murder of her mother. The
developer talked about being inspired
by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,
and that influence is clear to see –
particularly in terms of the gameplay.
Lunais will run, jump, and attack
Released September 2018 enemies with her spinning, magical orbs
Developer Lunar Ray Games across 2D maps, with massive bosses
Publisher Chucklefish to defeat and new abilities to learn in

130 PlayStation Vita: The End

order to unlock new areas, making it a
true Metroidvania. Players will discover
new types of orbs that offer a variety of
attacks – for example, there are orbs that
generate axes, shoot bullets, or send out
pulses of electricity. Two different orb
powers could be equipped at any time,
allowing a great deal of customisation to
the player’s attack style.
The game takes place over two
timelines, set in the present and 1000
Reviews were positive,
and cited the game’s
pixel art, story, and
gameplay as highlights
Timespinner
years in the past, and players will be
navigating the same map in those two
timelines with changes to an area in
the past affecting the same zone in the
present. For example, burning a vine in
the past removes them from the future,
allowing Lunais to access a new area.
The pixel art and soundtrack were
praised by reviewers, but there was some
criticism at launch for performance
issues on the Vita – thankfully these
were quickly patched out. Overall, reviews
were positive, and cited the game’s story
and gameplay as highlights.
While the Vita has no shortage of
Metroidvanias, Timespinner stands out as
one of the best. It’s not an especially long
game, but the beautiful pixel graphics
and intuitive controls make it yet another
fine example of the quality of indie
games available on Sony’s handheld.
131
RETROSPECTIVE THE HISTORY OF THE MUV-LUV
trilogy dates back to the original 2003
Muv-Luv PC release of the first two games in

trilogy
the series: Muv-Luv Extra and Muv-Luv
Unlimited. It was the third title however,
Muv-Luv Alternative, that really put the
series on the map, becoming the highest
rated visual novel on VNDB (Visual Novel
Database). This runaway popularity
explains why the Kickstarter for the
English translation of the series was
such a runaway success, becoming fully
funded in one day and receiving backing
for over 500% of the original funding
amount. The campaign included a release
of the trilogy on the Vita, and while
the games themselves are held in high
regard, the handling of the Kickstarter
left a bad taste in the mouths of backers.
The three games are told from the
perspective of the teenage protagonist
Takeru. In the first game, Muv-Luv
Extra, he is in high school and has to
Released June 2018 choose between having a relationship
Developer âge with Meiya, a mysterious daughter of a
Publisher PQube millionaire who appears one day in his

132 PlayStation Vita: The End

 2018), but the Vita version ended up
getting a physical release published by
While the games PQube in June 2018 – before backers
are highly regarded, (who had supported and paid for the
game years earlier) received their copies.
the handling of the The additional physical rewards were
Kickstarter left a bad cheaply made, including an art book
that was more like a mini-magazine,
taste in the mouth and a collectors box that was thin and
didn’t even fit the Vita game case. Add to
that months of no communication and
backers were left thoroughly frustrated.
bed, or his childhood friend, Sumika. The The Muv-Luv series tells a unique,
next game, Muv-Luv Unlimited, goes in well executed story with pay-offs for
a completely different direction – the even small events that happened in the
romantic elements remain, as do many previous games – it’s reputation may
of the characters from Extra, but Takeru have been tarnished by the poor handling
now wakes in an alternate world where of the Kickstarter, but it was ultimately
aliens are trying to take over Earth still a treat to have these all-time classics
and humanity is fighting back with land on Sony’s handheld.
giant mechs. The final game, Muv-Luv
Alternative, takes Takeru back in time
to alter the events of Unlimited, and
sees him attempt to change the fate of
mankind. Critics praised the storytelling
between the three titles, particularly for
Alternative, which builds upon the plot
of the previous games and then totally
subverts expectations.
Unfortunately for Western fans, the
management of the Kickstarter and the
delivery of the game to backers was a
particular disappointment. The three
titles were split into two releases, with
the release Muv-Luv containing Extra
and Unlimited and Muv-Luv Alternative
containing that game alone. They were
originally scheduled to release on Steam
in November 2015 and then on Vita the
following year – not only were these
timelines missed (the Vita version was
eventually shipped to backers after July

Muv-Luv trilogy 133

RETROSPECTIVE SQUARE-ENIX WERE ONE OF THE
PSP’s biggest supporters, releasing
World of Final numerous titles including new IPs,

Fantasy
remakes of previous games, plus spin-
offs and sequels to popular console
titles – but up to 2015, their Vita support
was lacklustre at best. It was therefore
a pleasant surprise when at E3 2015
the company announced they would be
releasing World of Final Fantasy for the
system. Impressively, despite the Vita
having a much smaller install base than
the PS4, their week one sales in Japan
were almost the same, with the home
console version selling 53,000 compared
to 47,000 for the handheld port.
This spin-off title to their hugely
popular RPG series was made to appeal
to the nostalgia of existing Final Fantasy
fans, with appearances of characters
from across all the main line titles, while
also attracting younger newcomers to the
series. It featured two new protagonists
Released October 2016 (twins Lann and Reynn) and took players
Developer Square Enix on an adventure to reclaim their lost
Publisher Square Enix memories and find their family. The

134 PlayStation Vita: The End

twins discover they have the ability to
tame monsters in their world (named
mirages), and have the creatures join the
pair on their journey.
The gameplay was similar to old-
school Final Fantasy titles: players
navigate a map, and every minute or so
will face a random encounter battle. The
battle system is turn-based (where time
stops and allows the player to choose an
action continuing), although it could be
set to active (where time flows as normal
and enemies can continue to attack, even
if the player does not choose an action)
if the player prefers. The battle options
included attack, magic, and defend (as
is standard for JRPGs), but the game had
more layers than many other titles in the
genre due to the ‘stack’ mechanic. When
mirages are captured they can form a
stack with Lann and Reynn – essentially
two or three characters standing on top
of each other, allowing them to combine
abilities and stats. The magic and
abilities available depend on the abilities
unlocked for each mirage, and players
could swap up their stack at any time
outside of a battle. When faced with new
enemies, players could try to capture
them or kill them – capturing wasn’t
always straightforward however, as some
mirages required certain conditions to be
World of Final Fantasy
met (for example, poisoning the enemy
or dealing a lot of damage in one hit) in
order to unlock the potential of capturing
them. Trying to stay alive, triggering
the right conditions, and capturing the
mirage could be tough to balance.
Throughout the game players will
encounter characters from previous Final
Fantasy games, and short ‘intervention
quests’ could be played, which added
more story content to each of the
characters – these were particularly
enjoyable for fans of previous entries in
the series. While the humour and cute
‘chibi’ art style appealed to a young
audience, the plot was surprisingly dark
– particularly in the final act of the game,
with some unexpected twists on the way.
The game received generally positive
reviews, attaining a Metacritic score
of 77%. It was praised for its unique
gameplay and charming characters and
world, but drew criticism for some of the
protagonists, that could come across as
annoying, and for an overly long play
time. The Vita version also suffered
from slow-down, long load times, and
downgraded graphics compared to the
PS4 version. Despite these complaints,
the Vita version was still very playable,
and given the length of the game and
the grinding required to overcome some
of the tougher bosses, playing on a
handheld while on-the-go or multi-
tasking was arguably better for players.
In 2018, an updated version called
World of Final Fantasy Maxima was
released. Owners of the original game on
PS4 could buy the upgrade to Maxima,
but this was not available to Vita owners.
While this was a shame, it did not detract
from the quality of the original release.
135
RETROSPECTIVE VIDEOGAMES ARE AN ESCAPIST
fantasy for the most part, designed to
Darkest make the players experience what it feels

Dungeon
like to be powerful and to be the ‘hero’
– but this was not the case in Darkest
Dungeon. Players will inevitably feel
frustration, disappointment, and anxiety,
but every now and again, when things
go right, there is a feeling of satisfaction
and relief that few other videogames
can match. It doesn’t place players in
the shoes of some legendary, prophesied
protagonist – rather, the player takes a
group of four fighters, picked from over
a dozen different character classes, into
dungeons searching for loot and facing
off with hideous enemies. These are
flawed individuals, and entering the dark
and foreboding passages filled with traps
and dangers can create stress (a central
mechanic in Darkest Dungeon) and reveal
their inner failings. Seeing a teammate
die to a vampire may cause a negative
affliction, for example for the character
becomes hopeless, paranoid, or even turn
Released September 2016 insane, reducing their effectiveness in
Developer Red Hook Studios battle and potentially leading to them
Publisher Red Hook Studios turn their weapon on their teammates.

136 PlayStation Vita: The End

Some warriors may rise to the occasion
and become more courageous in the
face of hopelessness, and it’s at these
moments a player may dare to feel a
glimmer of hope themselves.
Before venturing into a dungeon,
the player will choose four warriors to
face the level, and buy provisions – for
example, bandages to stop a character
bleeding; food to regain health; shovels to
remove obstacles; or torches to stave off
the ever-encroaching darkness. Entering
the level, the party will have an objective
to complete and numerous foes to face
along the way in turn-based battles,
Darkest Dungeon
utilising each party member’s unique
skills. If successful, the survivors will
gain experience and become stronger
– ultimately, the player must defeat the
four floors of the Darkest Dungeon, which
can be tackled at any point, but without
first levelling up a group of warriors
sufficiently, defeat is certain.
The game saves constantly and
death is permanent. New warriors can
be recruited between each level, but
taking on an inexperienced rookie
feels like a hollow substitute to losing
an experienced hero – knowing you
spent hours training and developing
137
 a character only to see them die is
extremely demoralising.
This is a game made to be played with
the lights off and the sound turned up.
The hand-drawn gothic art, combined
with the extremely realistic audio (the
sound of knife slicing game into one of
your party members can cause a player
to flinch!), and the narrator whose
foreboding voice describes the unfolding
events, bring the horror to life.
Darkest Dungeon is another example
of a successful Vita Kickstarter project.
The developers, Red Hook Studios, not
only delivered the game, but also all of
the promised DLC of new dungeons, new
enemies, and new playable character
classes, alongside a release on Vita and
PS4 in September 2016. Unfortunately,
at launch the handheld version was full
of bugs and glitches – crashes, slow
down, and unintuitive control mapping
made this a sub-par experience at first.
However, Red Hook continued to release
patches, resulting in Darkest Dungeon
on Vita running perfectly, and eventually
including all the DLC content released
for the game.
The sequel to Darkest Dungeon
Players will feel was announced in February 2019 and
frustration and anxiety, although it will not be released on
Vita, the original is still one of the best
but every now and games on the system, and is both unique
again, when things go and memorable. You feel the elation
of landing a critical hit, but also the
right, there is a feeling demoralisation of being cut down by
of satisfaction and an enemy blade or the horror of
accidentally stumbling on a battle with
relief that few other a strong boss. It’s long and punishing,
games can match but the sense of relief and achievement
for finishing a tough level makes it
all worthwhile – trust me!

138 PlayStation Vita: The End

RETROSPECTIVE
Yomawari series
Yomawari: Night Alone
Released October 2016
Developer Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher Nippon Ichi Software (JP),
NIS America (NA/EU)
Yomawari: Midnight Shadows
Released October 2017
Developer Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher Nippon Ichi Software (JP),
NIS America (NA/EU)
HORROR GAMES TRY TO EVOKE
feelings of isolation and weakness so
that each encounter feels deadly and
scary – the Yomawari games nail this
feeling by putting players in the shoes
of helpless little girls wandering around
a town full of monsters at night. Where
most games would have you attack and
look for weapons to kill the enemies, in
these titles, fleeing or hiding is at times
the only option in order to survive.
The gameplay of both entries was
similar, but Midnight Shadows, the sequel
to Night Alone, included a more fleshed
out story, following two girls, Yui and
Haru, lost and trying to find each other.
The player controls each girl and must
solve puzzles and navigate the maze-like
town, all while avoiding deadly spirits.
These games are made to scare the
player, and they do a great job of building
tension. The helplessness of the girls
meant every encounter felt scary, from
small spirits buzzing like flies, to fast,
Darkest Dungeon | Yomawari series
giant demon dogs that charge from
a distance. Sound plays a big part in
creating fear, with the player’s heartbeat
growing louder and faster whenever a
spirit is nearby. There is no music, so
the chilling sound of a sudden enemy
appearance can be very impactful. Each
time the player dies, the blood-splash
deathscreen flashes with the sound of
bones crunching. Hours into the game,
this could still cause a jump.
Yu Mizokami, creator of the Yomawari
series, had always enjoyed the horror
game genre, and during a ‘Challenge
Plan’ session, where any member of
staff could pitch new game ideas, his
was chosen to be produced. Both titles
received generally favourable reviews
and were praised for the setting of a
traditional Japanese town and the tense
atmosphere. The Vita does not have a big
range of horror games, but the Yomawari
series is an excellent addition to the
system’s library for fans of the genre.
139
RETROSPECTIVE AMONG THE SEA OF JAPANESE
role-playing franchises that flooded the
Tales of market during the 90s, few have had the

Hearts R
Written by
Adam Cartwright
Released November 2014
Developer Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher Bandai Namco Studios
staying power of the big players such
as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. One
that has managed to endure through
thick and thin is Bandai-Namco’s Tales,
a series of action-RPGs that began with
Tales of Phantasia in 1995, and is still
going to this day with Tales of Arise.
Sony’s handhelds had proved to be
a good fit for the series, with the PSP
getting numerous entries ranging from
ports of the mainline (aka ‘mothership’)
series, such as Tales of Eternia, to
bespoke spin-offs, such as Tales of the
World: Radiant Mythology. Yet it never got
its own mothership entry, which instead
headed to the Nintendo DS – so when
Bandai-Namco announced that they
would be remaking Tales of Hearts from
the ground up for the PlayStation Vita,
fans were understandably excited.
Hearts R takes place in a world where
human emotions are contained in
devices called Spira Cores, and the story
follows a young hero named Kor Meteor
as he helps a mysterious girl named
Kohaku Hearts rebuild her shattered
Spira Core. The game focuses heavily
on the idea of emotions and feelings,

140 PlayStation Vita: The End


The game focuses on
the idea of emotions
and feelings, setting it
apart from past entries
which sets it apart from previous entries,
allowing it to explore the relationship
between characters in a much more
organic way – although the story later
evolves into a more traditional world-
saving plot which works equally well.
There’s also plenty of comedic moments
thrown in for good measure.
Gameplay offers a more traditional
take on the series, which received
a mixed response from fans. The
reintroduction of a full world map was
Tales of Hearts R
seen as a big positive, but random battles
(rather than triggering them by walking
into an enemy that is seen on-screen)
seemed a big step back from previous
entries. Graphically, the game uses
simple 3D that wouldn’t be out of place
on the PS2 or PSP, and fails to make full
use of the Vita’s power, but thanks to its
colourful presentation and some brilliant
art design, still manages to look a treat
on the handheld’s screen.
Combat is where Tales of Hearts R
received the most praise, and for good
reason – almost like a pseudo fighting
game, you control any one of the cast
of seven playable characters who move
around a fully 3D arena, and chain
together attacks and combos while
mixing in spells and special ‘mystic artes’
for extra damage. Unique to this entry is
the ‘chase link’ system, where enemies
can be staggered after causing
a certain amount of damage, which
141
allows you to knock them into the air,
teleport to their location, and then
continue the combo in the air – which
is as thrilling as it sounds.
In Japan, Tales of Hearts R was not
particularly commercially successful
– compared to Tales of Innocence R
which released a year earlier and sold
more than 100k copies, Hearts R shifted
a meager 90k. It seems plans for a
third remake taking place in the same
‘Triverse’ as Innocence R and Hearts R
– which would have been titled Tales of
Tempest R, a remake of the final missing
DS title – were put on hold due to the
142
lukewarm sales.
Despite this, in response to fan
feedback (particularly following the
results of Shahid Ahmad’s #JRPGVita
campaign) the game found its way west
in 2014 – the first time Hearts had been
available in English. While it was clearly
low effort – failing to include a dub,
which led to inconsistencies such as
Kor’s name being pronounced as ’Shing
Meteorite’ in the Japanese dialogue –
professional reviews were positive (76 on
Metacritic), citing how well it embraces
traditional JRPG tropes, while mixing in
an exciting battle system.
PlayStation Vita: The End
RETROSPECTIVE
Ultracore
Released July 2020
Developer Digital Illusions
Publisher Strictly Limited
Games, ININ
THE HISTORY OF ULTRACORE
dates back to 1994 when developers
Digital Illusions (better known today as
DICE) were developing a 2D shooter for
the Genesis/Megadrive called Hardcore.
This was towards the end of the system’s
life and its successor, the Sega Saturn,
was being released imminently, so
publisher Psygnosis (later known as Sony
Studio Liverpool) cancelled the game in
order to focus on the next generation of
consoles, despite the fact that Hardcore
was nearly complete. 24 years later,
the German publisher Strictly Limited
Games (SLG), working alongside veteran
members of DICE, announced that
they would be completing the project,
Tales of Hearts R | Ultracore
renaming the game Ultracore. It would be
released on PC and current gen consoles,
including the Vita, and they even
released a physical version of the game
for the Genesis.
The game itself is a 2D run-and-gun
shooter-platformer with five chapters to
complete, multiple weapons to acquire,
and ten bosses to defeat. Ultracore was
clearly a product of 1990s gaming, giving
players a limited number of lives and
continues to finish the game, a password
system rather than saving progress, and
an extreme difficulty which bordered
on frustrating at times. While many
reviews noted the challenging difficulty,
particularly around the platforming
sections, Ultracore was also praised for
its pixel graphics, the retro synthwave
soundtrack, and intuitive controls.
Given that the game released in July
2020, it may have surprised many that
Ultracore was still being ported to Vita.
In a conversation with Strictly Dave from
Strictly Limited Games, it was stated
that SLG has “always loved the PS Vita.
We firmly believe it’s one of the most
underrated consoles ever, and it really
deserves all love it can get.”
143
144 PlayStation Vita: The End
145
LIBRARY

Physical games
2015
1 CRIMINAL GIRLS: Invite Only
2 Hyperdimension Neptunia ReBirth2 1 2
3 Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess
Black Heart
4 LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin
5 Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters
6 Toukiden: Kiwami
7 Looney Tunes Galactic Sports
8 Hyperdimension Neptunia U:
Action Unleashed
9 SteinsGate
10 Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy
11 LEGO Jurassic World
12 Ar nosurge Plus: Ode to 8 9
an Unborn Star
13 Hyperdimension Neptunia ReBirth3:
V Generation
14 Lost Dimension
15 Rugby World Cup 2015
16 Danganronpa Another Episode:
Ultra Despair Girls
17 XBLAZE CODE : EMBRYO
18 Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
19 Farming Simulator 16
20 WRC 5 FIA World Rally 15 16
Championship
21 Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal
Library & The Monster Seal
22 Corpse Party: Blood Drive
23 Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
24 BlazBlue Chronophantasma Extend
25 Norn9: Var Commons
26 Persona 4: Dancing All Night
27 SUPERBEAT XONiC
28 Phineas and Ferb: Day of
Doofenshmirtz 22 23
29 Sword Art Online: Lost Song
30 Teslagrad
31 Handball 16

2016
32 The Legend of Heroes:
Trails of Cold Steel
33 LEGO Marvel’s Avengers
34 Earth Defense Force 2:
Invaders from Planet Space
35 Senran Kagura Estival Versus 29 30

146 PlayStation Vita: The End

3 4 5 6 7

10 11 12 13 14

17 18 19 20 21

24 25 26 27 28

31 32 33 34 35

Library 147
36 Trillion: God of Destruction
37 Assassin’s Creed
Chronicles – Trilogy
38 Aegis of Earth:
Protonovus Assault
39 Stranger of Sword City
40 MegaTagmension Blanc +
Neptune VS Zombies
41 One Piece Burning Blood
42 Grand Kingdom 36 37 38
43 XBlaze Lost: Memories
44 Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
45 Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
46 LEGO Star Wars:
The Force Awakens
47 Lumo
48 Gal*Gun: Double Peace
49 Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower of
Fortune and the Dice of Fate
50 God Eater 2 Rage Burst
51 PSYCHO-PASS: 44 45 46
Mandatory Happiness
52 MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death
53 Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors
54 Exist Archive: The Other
Side of the Sky
55 Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters
56 Superdimension Neptune
VS Sega Hard Girls
57 Yomawari: Night Alone
58 Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
59 The Legend of Heroes:
Trails of Cold Steel II 52 53 54
60 SteinsGate 0
61 Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
62 World Of Final Fantasy
63 Atelier Escha & Logy Plus:
Alchemists of the Dusk Sky
64 Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni-
65 Root Letter

2017
66 Atelier Shallie Plus: Alchemists 60 61 62
of the Dusk Sea
67 Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star
68 Toukiden 2
69 Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
70 A Rose in the Twilight
71 Period Cube ~Shackles of Amadeus~
72 Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy
73 Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds
74 Akiba’s Beat
75 Utawarerumono:
Mask of Deception
68 69 70

148 PlayStation Vita: The End

39 40 41 42 43

47 48 49 50 51

55 56 57 58 59

63 64 65 66 67

71 72 73 74 75

Library 149
76 Farming Simulator 18
77 GOD WARS Future Past
78 Tokyo Xanadu
79 Collar X Malice
80 Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
81 Drive Girls
82 Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
83 Mary Skelter: Nightmares
84 Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
85 Bad Apple Wars 76 77 78
86 Chaos;Child
87 Yomawari: Midnight Shadows
88 Summon Night 6: Lost Borders
89 Tokyo Tattoo Girls
90 Demon Gaze II

2018
91 The Longest Five Minutes
92 Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms
93 Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~
94 Penny-Punching Princess 84 85 86
95 Psychedelica of the
Black Butterfly
96 7’scarlet
97 Muv-Luv
98 Muv-Luv Alternative
99 The Lost Child
100 Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk
101 Punch Line
102 Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

2019 92 93 94
103 Code: Realize
~Wintertide Miracles~

100 101 102

150 PlayStation Vita: The End

79 80 81 82 83

87 88 89 90 91

95 96 97 98 99

103

Library 151
LIBRARY

Digital games
2015 32 Alien Shooter
1 2 3
33 Shovel Knight
1 Joe Danger 2:
34 Damascus Gear:
The Movie
Operation Tokyo
2 Citizens of Earth
35 Broken Age
3 Best of Arcade
36 Sayonara
Games Deluxe
UmiharaKawase +
Edition
37 Cosmophony
4 Nihilumbra
38 Ultratron
5 Magical Beat 10 11 12
39 Color Guardians
6 Grim Fandango
40 Project Root
Remastered
41 Strike Solitaire 2
7 Baboon!
42 Octodad:
8 Kick & Fennick
Dadliest Catch
9 AeternoBlade
43 BADLAND: Game
10 Fantasy Hero -
of the Year Edition
unsigned legacy
44 Super Exploding
11 Atelier Ayesha 19 20 21
Zoo!
Plus - The
45 Sparkle Unleashed
Alchemist of Dusk
46 SAMURAI
12 Scram Kitty DX
WARRIORS:
13 Oreshika: Tainted
Chronicles 3
Bloodlines
47 Whispering
14 OlliOlli2: Welcome
Willows
to Olliwood
48 2013: Infected
15 Medieval 28 29 30
Wars
Defenders
49 NekoBuro -
16 La-Mulana EX
Cats Block
17 htoLNiQ: The
50 Geometry Wars
Firefly Diary
3: Dimensions
18 Reel Fishing:
Evolved
Master’s
51 HELLDIVERS
Challenge
52 Skullgirls
19 Hotline Miami 2: 37 38 39
2nd Encore
Wrong Number
53 Mahjong Carnival
20 Flame Over
54 Hatoful Boyfriend
21 Doodle Kingdom
55 A Q*bert:
22 Aabs Animals
Rebooted Game
23 Tennis in the Face
56 The Swindle
24 Strike Solitaire
57 TorqueL
25 Söldner-X 2:
58 Squares
Final Prototype 46 47 48
59 Deception IV:
26 Woah Dave!
The Nightmare
27 Element4l
Princess
28 Stealth Inc 2:
60 Resident Evil
A Game of Clones
Revelations 2
29 MonsterBag
61 Volume
30 Home
62 The Bridge
31 Brandish: The
63 Nova-111
Dark Revenant 55 56 57

152 PlayStation Vita: The End

4 5 6 7 8 9

13 14 15 16 17 18

22 23 24 25 26 27

31 32 33 34 35 36

40 41 42 43 44 45

49 50 51 52 53 54

58 59 60 61 62 63

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 153

64 Back to Bed 2016
65 Amnesia:
98 Baseball Riot
Memories
99 Crypt of the
66 Xeodrifter
NecroDancer
67 Super Time Force
100 WE ARE DOOMED
Ultra
101 Level 22 64 65 66
68 Gem Legends
102 The Arland Atelier
69 Curses ‘N Chaos
Trilogy Plus
70 Pumped BMX +
103 Foul Play
71 Heroes of Loot
104 SwapQuest
72 Poltergeist: A
105 BIT TRIP
Pixelated Horror
Presents...
73 The Quiet
Runner2: Future
Collection
Legend of Rhythm 73 74 75
74 Super Meat Boy
Alien
75 Actual Sunlight
106 Ninja Senki DX
76 1001 Spikes
107 Siralim
77 Bombing Busters
108 Hitman GO:
78 AeternoBlade
Definitive Edition
79 Samurai
109 Don’t Die, Mr.
Warriors 4-II
Robot!
80 Dragon Fin Soup
110 Croixleur Sigma 82 83 84
81 Fat City
111 Dreii
82 Pirate Solitaire
112 Blast ‘Em Bunnies
83 Pixel Hunter
113 Salt and
84 Super Star Wars
Sanctuary
85 Royal Defense
114 XCOM: Enemy
86 Knight Solitaire
Unknown Plus
87 The BIT TRIP
115 Day of the
88 Nuclear Throne
Tentacle 91 92 93
89 Bastion
Remastered
90 Dariusburst
116 Tachyon Project
Chronicle
117 Sid Meier’s
Saviours
Civilization
91 Three Fourths
Revolution 2 Plus
Home: Extended
118 Unepic
Edition
119 Green Game:
92 Panda Run
TimeSwapper 100 101 102
93 Red Game
120 Shutshimi
Without a Great
121 A Virus Named
Name
TOM
94 Royal Defense
122 SAMURAI
Invisible Threat
WARRIORS 4
95 The Treasures of
Empires
Montezuma 4
123 Risk of Rain
96 Hatoful Boyfriend:
124 Severed 109 110 111
Holiday Star
125 Rocketbirds 2:
97 Dynasty Warriors
Evolution
8 Empires
126 HTR+ Slot Car
Simulation

118 119 120

154 PlayStation Vita: The End

67 68 69 70 71 72

76 77 78 79 80 81

85 86 87 88 89 90

94 95 96 97 98 99

103 104 105 106 107 108

112 113 114 115 116 117

121 122 123 124 125 126

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 155

127 Ray Gigant 159 Wanderjahr
128 Neverending 160 Claire: Extended
Nightmares Cut
129 Azkend 2: The 161 Sky Force
World Beneath Anniversary
130 Corridor Z 162 Attractio
131 Letter Quest 163 Mystery 127 128 129
Remastered Chronicle: One
132 The Sun and Way Heroics
Moon 164 Rally Copters
133 Downwell 165 Doodle God
134 The Last Blade 2 Bundle
135 Paranautical 166 Spider: Rite of the
Activity Shrouded Moon
136 Neon Chrome 167 Exile’s End 136 137 138
137 SteamWorld Heist 168 Stranded: A Mars
138 Bard’s Gold Adventure
139 Super Blast 169 Dragon Quest
Deluxe Builders
140 Dragon Fantasy: 170 Wanted Corp.
The Black Tome 171 Iron Sea
of Ice Defenders
141 Delta Strike: 172 Hue 145 146 147
First Assault 173 The Keeper of 4
142 Funk of Titans Elements
143 Adventures 174 Battalion
of Mana Commander
144 A Boy and 175 Lara Croft GO
His Blob 176 Garou: Mark Of
145 TowerFall The Wolves
Ascension 177 Slain: Back 154 155 156
146 Atelier Sophie from Hell
~The Alchemist 178 Space Overlords
of the Mysterious 179 Last Wings
Book~ 180 KILLALLZOMBIES
147 Type:Rider 181 Active Soccer
148 Mobile Suit 2 DX
Gundam Extreme 182 Axiom Verge
Vs-Force 163 164 165
149 10 Second Ninja X 2017
150 Spy Chameleon
151 LASER DISCO 183 Xenoraid
DEFENDERS 184 Spheroids
152 Retro City 185 Asdivine Hearts
Rampage DX 186 Supermagical
153 Mutant Mudds: 187 Geki Yaba Runner
Super Challenge 188 Uncanny Valley 172 173 174
154 Krinkle Krusher 189 Vertical Drop
155 Organ Trail Heroes HD
Complete Edition
156 Dungeon Punks
157 Alone With You
158 Hatsune Miku:
Project DIVA X
181 182 183

156 PlayStation Vita: The End

130 131 132 133 134 135

139 140 141 142 143 144

148 149 150 151 152 153

157 158 159 160 161 162

166 167 168 169 170 171

175 176 177 178 179 180

184 185 186 187 188 189

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 157

190 iO 220 Toukiden 2 Free
191 Bridge Alliances Version
Constructor 221 Shu
192 Berserk and the 222 Skylight
Band of the Hawk Freerange
193 Stranger Of Sword 223 Plague Road
City Revisited 224 Cladun Returns: 190 191 192
194 forma.8 This Is Sengoku!
195 Dynasty Warriors: 225 Blasting Agent:
Godseekers Ultimate Edition
196 Talisman: Digital 226 Nurse Love
Edition Addiction
197 Gem Smashers 227 Valkyria
198 Dino Dini’s Kick Revolution
Off Revival 228 Ninja Usagimaru: 199 200 201
199 Atelier Firis: The Two Tails of
Alchemist and Adventure
the Mysterious 229 Energy Cycle
Journey 230 Mr. Pumpkin
200 Siralim 2 Adventure
201 DYING: Reborn 231 Energy Balance
202 Blue-Collar 232 Fallen Legion:
Astronaut Flames of 208 209 210
203 Touhou Genso Rebellion
Wanderer 233 99Vidas
204 Touhou Double 234 Polara
Focus 235 Active Soccer
205 Salt and 2 DX
Sanctuary 236 It’s Spring Again
206 Tower Defense 237 Accel World VS
Collection 7 in 1 Sword Art Online 217 218 219
207 Lichtspeer 238 Undertale
208 Fairune 239 The Bard’s Tale:
209 Full Throttle Remastered and
Remastered Resnarkled
210 The Legend of 240 NeverEnd
Dark Witch 241 Windjammers
211 The Deer God 242 Still Time
212 The Caligula 243 Licky The Lucky 226 227 228
Effect Lizard Lives Again
213 Revenant Saga 244 Antiquia Lost
214 Deemo: The Last 245 Samurai
Recital Showdown V
215 Oceanhorn – Special
Monster of 246 Bodycheck
Uncharted Seas 247 Mecho Tales
216 Spellspire 248 Factotum 90 235 236 237
217 Plantera 249 Burly Men at Sea
218 Kung Fury: Street 250 Vostok Inc.
Rage 251 SteamWorld Dig 2
219 Ys Origin 252 KOI

244 245 246

158 PlayStation Vita: The End

193 194 195 196 197 198

202 203 204 205 206 207

211 212 213 214 215 216

220 221 222 223 224 225

229 230 231 232 233 234

238 239 240 241 242 243

247 248 249 250 251 252

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 159

253 Twin Robots 286 Secret of Mana
254 Save the 287 NORTH
Ninja Clan 288 Midnight Deluxe
255 36 Fragments of 289 Damascus Gear:
Midnight Operation Osaka
256 Touhou Kobuto V: 290 One Eyed Kutkh
Burst Battle 291 Root Double 253 253 255
257 Squareboy vs -Before Crime *
Bullies: Arena After Days-
Edition Xtend Edition
258 Son of Scoregasm 292 NeuroVoider
259 Semispheres 293 Bit Dungeon Plus
260 Alteric 294 Reverie
261 Spiral Splatter 295 The King Of
262 Rabi-Ribi Fighters ’97 262 263 264
263 Pox Nora Global Match
264 Sokoban Next 296 Sir Eatsalot
265 Cursed Castilla 297 Bunny Must Die!
266 VA-11 HALL-A Chelsea And
267 2064: Read Only The 7 Devils
Memories 298 Metropolis:
268 Papers, Please Lux Obscura
269 One More 299 League of Evil 271 272 273
Dungeon 300 Deep Ones
270 Super Hydorah 301 Rogue Aces
271 Romancing 302 Dragooned
SaGa 2 303 Pic-a-Pix Color
272 Xenon Valkyrie+ 304 Devious Dungeon
273 Gunhouse 305 Cosmic Star
Heroine
306 InkSplosion 280 281 282
2018
307 DEAD AHEAD:
274 Vegas Party ZOMBIE
275 The Count WARFARE
Lucanor 308 Stardew Valley
276 Little Red Lie 309 Bloodstained:
277 Energy Invasion Curse of the Moon
278 Iconoclasts 310 Defender’s Quest:
279 Time Recoil Valley of the 289 290 291
280 Mercenary Kings: Forgotten DX
Reloaded Edition 311 Riddled
281 Dragon Sinker Corpses EX
282 Under Night In- 312 MUSYNX
Birth Exe:Late[st] 313 Roundabout
283 Digimon Story: 314 Rainbow Skies
Cyber Sleuth – 315 Waking Violet
Hacker’s Memory 298 299 300
284 DEADBOLT
285 Little Adventure
on the Prairie

307 308 309

160 PlayStation Vita: The End

256 257 258 259 260 261

265 266 267 268 269 270

274 275 276 277 278 279

283 284 285 286 287 288

292 293 294 295 296 297

301 302 303 304 305 306

310 311 312 313 314 315

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 161

316 Spacejacked 349 Energy Cycle
317 Super Skull Smash Edge
GO! 2 Turbo 350 Dragonfly
318 Super Destronaut Chronicles
DX 351 Scintillatron 4096
319 Ice Cream Surfer 352 Persona 5:
320 Fill-a-Pix: Phil’s Dancing in 316 317 318
Epic Adventure Starlight
321 Chasm 353 Persona 3:
322 Word Search Dancing in
by POWGI Moonlight
323 The Dreamlands: 354 One Word
Aisling’s Quest by POWGI
324 TETRA’s Escape 355 Dreamwalker
325 The Long Reach 356 Atari Flashback 325 326 327
326 Fernz Gate Classics
327 FullBlast
328 Sigi - A Fart 2019
for Melusina
329 Super Mutant 357 Pic-a-Pix Pieces
Alien Assault 358 Asdivine Hearts II
330 STAY 359 Planet RIX-13
331 Timespinner 360 Heroes Trials 334 335 336
332 Revenant Dogma 361 Drowning
333 London Detective 362 NightCry
Mysteria 363 Access Denied
334 JACK N’ JILL DX 364 Mixups by POWGI
335 Pato Box 365 Alvastia
336 Fast Striker Chronicles
337 Halloween 366 Daggerhood
Forever 367 Pic-a-Pix Classic 343 344 345
338 Perils of Baking – 368 Awesome Pea
Refrosted 369 Night Trap –
339 Word Sudoku 25th Anniversary
by POWGI Edition
340 Chicken Range 370 I and Me
341 Chronus Arc 371 Ghoulboy: Dark
342 Revenge of the Sword of Goblin
Bird King 372 Bonds of the Skies 352 353 354
343 Slayaway Camp: 373 War Theatre
Butcher’s Cut 374 Peasant Knight
344 Mecho Wars: 375 Fate/EXTELLA
Desert Ashes LINK
345 Gundemoniums 376 METAGAL
346 I Am The Hero 377 Block-a-Pix
347 Super Life of Pixel Deluxe
348 Emerald Shores 378 Super Weekend 361 362 363
Mode

370 371 372

162 PlayStation Vita: The End

319 320 321 322 323 324

328 329 330 331 332 333

337 338 339 340 341 342

346 347 348 349 350 351

355 356 357 358 359 360

364 365 366 367 368 369

373 374 375 376 377 378

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 163

379 Iron Snout 409 Gravity Duck
380 Crossovers by 410 Mekabolt
POWGI 411 Legend of the
381 Nurse Love Skyfish
Syndrome 412 Pantsu Hunter:
382 Zeroptian Invasion Back to the 90s
383 Shakedown: 413 Himno 379 380 381
Hawaii 414 Fifty Words
384 My Big Sister by POWGI
385 Frane: Dragons’ 415 Asdivine Menace
Odyssey 416 DISTRAINT:
386 Devious Deluxe Edition
Dungeon 2 417 Habroxia
387 Back in 1995 418 Color Slayer
388 Warlock’s Tower 419 Tic-Tac-Letters 388 389 390
389 The House in Fata by POWGI
Morgana: Dreams 420 A Hole New World
of the Revenants 421 Super Box Land
Edition Demake
390 Word Wheel 422 A Winter’s
by POWGI Daydream
391 Neon Junctions 423 Spirit Hunter: NG
392 Cybarian: The 424 Just Ignore Them 397 398 399
Time Travelling 425 Deep Space Rush
Warrior 426 Miles and Kilo
393 Kid Tripp 427 Football Game
394 Attack of the 428 Romancing
Toy Tanks SaGa 3
395 Furwind 429 Pic-a-Pix Classic 2
396 Paradox Soul 430 FoxyLand
397 Asdivine Dios 431 Wizards of Brandel 406 407 408
398 Pic-a-Pix Color 2 432 Word Maze
399 Bouncy Bullets by POWGI
400 Grass Cutter – 433 Link-a-Pix Deluxe
Mutated Lawns 434 Without Escape
401 Mochi Mochi Boy 435 Red Bow
402 Hoggy2 436 Dragon Fantasy:
403 Conga Master Go! Volumes of
404 Super Wiloo Westeria 415 416 417
Demake 437 FoxyLand 2
405 The Tower 438 Milo’s Quest
of Beatrice 439 Zero Zero
406 Wordsweeper Zero Zero
by POWGI 440 Just a Phrase
407 Illusion of by POWGI
L’Phalcia 441 Balthazar’s Dream
408 VASARA 424 425 426
Collection

433 434 435

164 PlayStation Vita: The End

382 383 384 385 386 387

391 392 393 394 395 396

400 401 402 403 404 405

409 410 411 412 413 414

418 419 420 421 422 423

427 428 429 430 431 432

436 437 438 439 440 441

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 165

442 Reed Remastered 465 Utawarerumono:
443 Knightin’+ Prelude to the
444 Ganbare! Super Fallen
Strikers 466 The Demon Rush:
445 Vasilis Legends Corrupt
446 Bucket Knight 467 Demon’s Tier+
447 Syrup and The 468 Pic-a-Pix Pieces 2 442 443 444
Ultimate Sweet 469 Crypto by POWGI
448 Breeder 470 Awesome Pea 2
Homegrown 471 Ultracore
449 Super Destronaut: 472 Epic Word Search
Land Wars Collection 2
450 Thunder Paw 473 Yumeutsutsu
451 Epic Word Search Re:Master
Collection 474 Yumeutsutsu 451 452 453
452 Explosive Jake Re:After
453 Twin Breaker: A 475 Need a packet?
Sacred Symbols 476 Xeno Crisis
Adventure 477 Big Dipper
454 Duck Souls+ 478 Mushroom Heroes
455 Mekorama 479 Steam Tactics
456 Random Heroes: 480 Kawaii Deathu
Gold Edition Desu 460 461 462
457 Battle Rockets 481 Sense:
458 Wurroom A Cyberpunk
459 Rush Rover Ghost Story
460 Blind Men
461 Guard Duty
462 Active Neurons Titles up to
463 Reed 2 12th August 2020
464 Thy Sword 469 470 471

478 479 480

166 PlayStation Vita: The End

445 446 447 448 449 450

454 455 456 457 458 459

463 464 465 466 467 468

472 473 474 475 476 477

481

Library Also received a limited physical or Asian English print 167

THE END

Timeline
2015 began the period
in the PS Vita’s life when
Sony began to shut down
services for the device, 2015
culminating in its inevitable
discontinuation in 2019 Jan March
Support for Maps PS Now beta
and Near ends. launched in Europe
PS Now officially supporting Vita.
launched in NA Vita and PSTV
supporting Vita. blamed for
$93 million
profit impact.

2017 2018

Feb May Aug Sept 2018

Nintendo Vita hack allows High profile Sony confirms
Switch released. the use of SD metroidvania, there are no
PS Now cards. Bloodstained, plans for a Vita
discontinued Sony announces cancelled successor.
on Vita. production of Vita for Vita.
cartridges ending
in 2019.

168 PlayStation Vita: The End

 2016

July Oct Feb July

PS Mobile service PS Now officially PSTV phased Henkaku hack
terminated. launched in EU out in Japan. released.
supporting Vita.
Limited Run
Games sell their
first physical title:
Breach & Clear.

2019 2021

Feb March Early 2021

PS Plus Vita cart Vita cart
discontinued on production ceased production ends
Vita and PS3. in the West. worldwide.
Sony announces Vita production
Vita production ended.
will end by
April 2019.

Timeline 169
 CREDITS AND THANKS

Thank you to all the Kickstarter backers

who made this book possible
@Anthony84 Andrei Lavrenov Björn Paxling Chris Trejo Daniel Cervantes
@irishnerd47 Andres Garcia Jr. Blake Garrett Chrisna Keo Daniel Dillard
@maryjenbeck Andrew A Keith Blake Miller Christian Horazeck Daniel Hallgren
@xanderten50 Andrew Acosta Blondie Christian Villarroel Daniel Hinchcliffe
Aaron Bennett Andrew Dickinson Blue Littlewood Christoph Daniel J Ladd
Aaron Schnuth Andrew Oyston Bobby S. “Saudumm” Kehl Daniel Lawrence
Aaron Swanston Androraia Boghos Avetikian Christoph „Sicarius“ Schneiter
Abaid Rana Andy De Wilde Brad Duncan Licht Daniel Lin
Abhilash Sarhadi (meppi64) Brady Kachan Christoph Adams Daniel Skantz
Acksell Andy LoPiccolo Brandt Gold Christopher Austin Daniel Willis
Adam Ansorge Andy Prince KFBF Brendan G McNew Christopher Cook Daniil Gussev
Adam Esser AndyBarts Brendan Singh Christopher D Danny E Lingman
adam gribben Angel (Gelocks) Brian Aevermann Stockwell Danny Lee
Adam Heinicke Melendez Brian Hagest Christopher Etrata Danny Roberts
Adam Rajski Ángel Bandera Brian Handscomb Christopher Hill Danny Rodrigues
Adam Sirdoreus Cantalejo Brian Hunter Christopher Mushel Dario Franco
Adrian Cartridge Anonymous Brian Przybylski Christopher Talbert Darius Haghighi
Aeron Bess Anthony Armbrust Brian Usher Cirlot Darius
Ahans76 Arashveer Rai Bruno Silva Classified Chappy Khorshidchehr
Aki Mustonen Armando Gurrola bugula Clayton Mack Darthsternie
Alan Albelo Arthur F Sintef II Bülent Alhas Clint Macek Dave Eisenbise
Alan Zhang Arwin John C. Aaron Smith Clovis C.M. Dave Raynor
AlaskanBeard Ashley Barrett Cameron O’Neill Cody Greenoe David Austin Vick
Albert Cukingnan Jr. Ashton Handwerker Camilo Izeta Vazquez Conor McKenna David Baron
Albert Gonzalez Axel ‘dervidespieler’ Carlos “breakXedge” Consollection.de David Chambers
Alec “T-Patch” Kothe Cadena Corey Reece David Chen
Duvall-Hill Barry M. Johnson Carlos “Lord_Orpheo” Corey Stevens David Dowling
Alec Breen Bart Holvoet Ortiz Cormac Clare David Ellis
Alec Featherstone BatteMan Carlos Gandarillas Cory Booth David Gallego
Alessandro Bianchi belmont_gr Cordero cris oc David Gebhardt
Alex Cullinan Ben Bulbeck Carlos Jiménez Cristian Gerhardt David Guiot
Alex J Philip Ben Cross Carlos N. Ortega Verdasco David Isherwood
Alex Leet Ben Malin Caroline J Mones Curtis Zuend David Martínez
Alex2life Ben Nonaka Carson Kirk Cyril OPERON Bertólez
Alexander Lucard Benedict Alexander Catalin Marcu Cziráki Balázs David Morley
Alexander Ridler Benedikt Ludwig Ceidz D&D Dougherty David Sanshiro
Alexandra Hetorigot Benjamin Cambour Chad Hicks Dáithi English David Schmeißer
Alison Marsh Benjamin Hüll Charles Jorge Dale Kulas David Sneed
Allen Adkins Benjamin Kapferer Charlie Owen Damián José David Takacs
Alonso J. Nuñez Benjamin Kolz Cheng Hua Ortiz Pineau David Teal
Alvaro Martinez Benjamin M. Telle Chris “masofdas” Dan ‘general David Teneycke
Amanda Clemons Benjamin Rait Pengilly grievous6’ David Yanska
AncNomKad Benji Chris Birchell Richards Dawid Salamon
Andrea “Retro Benoît Cantarelli Chris Chimento Dan (danben) Dean Guadagno
GamerAndrew” Bernard Chris Hepburn Bennett Denis Simakov
Pigazzini Big Bruno Chris J Dan Andrade Dennis Leusink
Andreas Bendix Björn Chris Nunn Dan Ruck Dennis Stockhofe
Andreas Marcus “grifteskymfning” Chris Rea Daniel Bird Dennis T.
Andreas Stiller Eklund Chris Sawyer Daniel Brodén DeQuimet

170 PlayStation Vita: The End

Derek A James Fenric Cayne Gregory J. Ben Jared Trail Jonas Jacobsson
Devin Hudson Fermin Serena Hortas Guillaume Baron Jarret Warren Jonathan Chapman
Devin Street Fernando Villa Gwendoline Ecalle Jarrett Bassett Jonathan Clayton
Dhruv Saday Sharma Finka & Karfein Hassan Aljawi Jason “TJ Kitsune” Jonathan Daniel
Diaz C. Flamable Heath Bsharah Morris Campo
Diesel Laiti Florent Jouve Heimdall Imbert Jason Marshall Jonathan M Lester
Dimitri Delago Food4Dogs Henrik Larsson Jason Murphy Jonathan Matthew
DJ Medeiros Fortune and Glory Henry Buehler Javier De Cozar Perez Barnett
Dmitry Usov foxboxblue Hoài Ân Javierpa Jonathan Scott
Dmytro Petrov Francisco Estévez Hugh B McCreight Jr Jayson Murray Jonathan VanWinkle
Doc Preuss Francisco José Humantis Jeanette Nying Jonathan Webb
Domantas Mikonis Merino Lucio Ian Hogg JeanWayne Jordan Solis
Don Kurtz Francois bélanger Ian Morrison Jeff Northcott Jordi Escobar Bonet
Dorian - Frank Kergil Ieuan Lawrence Jeffrey Gerlof Jordi Kroon ‘erbkaiser’
@algebraicArt Frank Preiss Ike Frijters Jeni Zook Jorge Lamas
Dorothy Jane Frank Vocasek Iran J Rodriguez Jr Jenny Davies José Antonio
DoubleOhDuke Frantisek Fris Isabel Pita Jens Knikanow Rangel Zamora
Doug Joseph Fred Horvat Ivan Poliakov Jeremy Blaker Jose Argueta-
Douglas Kidd Frédérik Maillard J. Asher Henry Jeremy Parish Guevara
Dr. Jonathan Xuereb Fri Sherr Jaber “S-Ranker” Jeremy Schultz Jose Negron
Dr. Marlin C. Bates, IV G.A. van Leeuwen Al-Eidan Jesse Farrell jose ortega
DugOotTheWindae Gabe J Jacek Berka Jessica Tisserand José Perez Torres
Dunning Smith GamesOnTwain Jack Chiu Jessica Waddington Jose Serrano
Dustin Goncharoff gaminghelden.de Jack Snowball Jesus Alfaro Ros José Tomás F. Correia
Dylan Evans ganelon12 Jack_warsaw JESUS VENTURA Joseph Bloomer
Dylan Snyder Gareth J. Coster Jacob Crider SAHORNIL Joseph R Shivak
Eastasiasoft Gareth Reynolds Jacob freeman JF Joseph Young
Ed Hewitt Gareth Robinson Jacob Hinrichsen Jimi Driscoll Josh Hargreaves
Edd Hannay Gaston Rampersad Jacobo Montero Jimmy Brazell Joshua Cabán
Eddy Witte GearsMaxPrimed Rodríguez Jiri Lacina Joshua Kinsey
EdEN Geldo Ronie Jaidan Vazquez João Berrones Joshua Kroger
Edwin Hoogendoorn Genaro Quezada Jaime Jones João Eiras Antunes Joshua Lack
Elizabeth O. Hackler Psn: gnarcore Jake Humphrey Joe Goldyn Joshua Michael
Elizabeth Stevens Geoffrey Pernin Jake I Joe l’Indien French
Elliott “Kip” Kipper Geoffrey Sinkeler Jakob de Pina Joe O’Connell JP’S SWITCHMANIA
Emma Povey George “G” Gracin III Pääjärvi Joe Razmek Juan Avelar
Eric Engeleit GERAINT WILLIAMS Jakob Walker JoeBeNimble Julian Cepeda
Eric Gwaltney Gerardo J Lebrón James Austin joenemesis Julian Julian(VQCD)
Eric Townsend Morales James Bowen Joey Haddad Julian Wohnrade
Erik Edhlund Gideon Burkland James Harvie Joey M. Julien “hitman7701”
Erik Stromberg Giles Hamson James Hine Johan Johnsson Ait Messaoud
Erwan Joyeux Gingura Jamie Drummond John Bowen Julien Ringot
Eugene Tan Giorgio Goossens Jamie Edwards John Collins Julien Tetart/
Evan Cusick Glenn Allen Jamie Galea John foley LtGlloq
Evan Lyons Göran Isacson Jamie hemsley John Lowe Julio Tain Sueiras
Fabrizio Pedrazzini Gorb Jutla Jamie Lundahl John M Grable Junior Ponce
Fael Rogrine Graham Ashworth Jan Stolarek John Marsden Jürgen Schmid
Faye Macapagal/ Greg Middleton Jan-Karl M. Velez John P. Allen Justin Sayasith
figbricksxfox Gregori Coll januxa Jon Coughlin Justin Scott Kahler

Kickstarter backers 171

 CREDITS AND THANKS

Kai Engelbrecht Lorenzo ‘Lukather’ Matt (Stubs24) Michalina Omar Rodriguez

Kaiyoria Chi Strambi Schlapa Kulakowska Onlineoj
Kamran Mallick Lorenzo Gentile Matt Fowles Michele Colombo Orbán Dávid Henrik
Karbunos Lou Conard Matt Perry Miguel Costa Ottoblock
Karen Tan Lowry Sweney Matt Pfaff Mihailo Despotovic Pablo Aznal Muñoz
Kari Asick Lucas Ashland Matt Skidmore Mike Ammon Panpate
Karl maly LUIS EL GRIS Matt Thundercliffe Mike Laidman Paolo Zoratti
Kay Bensberg Lukasz Kopec Matteo Bongiorno Mike Ruch Paraxes
Kayaba Łukasz Lotkowski Matthew “Firefang” Mike Spall Parth Gajaria
Keegan Sturt Luke Donnelly Stephenson Milan Balon Pascal Wagner
Keira Evans Luna close Matthew Fox Miles Calloway Patrick J Grudzinsky
Keitaros M. Hendry Matthew Hodgins Milorad Alempic Patrick Kop
Keith Burke Mackenzie Gans Matthew mindscan Patrick Oakes
Keith Hladik Maicon Pangbourne Ming Patrick Weaver
Keith Travis Hieronymus Matthias Brinkmann Minh Tri Philip Patrick Williams
Kelly Brown Malachi Royer Matthias Lamm Hoang Paul (FletchaSketch)
KenAthomos Manuel Aitana Matthieu Panzerodin Mirko Condic Fletcher
Kenneth Ashley Hermida Vedeau Mirko Mauersberger Paul Atkins
Kenneth J Wardale Marc Abu El Ghait Matthieu St-Pierre- Mohammed Paul Cadle Jr
Kevin Bugiel Marc Dietrich Poulin Abdelraof Paul Lee
Kevin Clifford Marcel Schalhorst Matthijs van Alkhamis Paul M
Kevin Dev Maragh Marco Bono Schendelen Monsieur Sushi Paul Oster
Kevin Foss Marcus Arnold Maureeezy Morgon Venn Paul Peters
Kevin Khong Marcus Englert Max “Norynson” Mr_Wiki_96 Paul Smith
Kévin Rescan Marek Waszczuk Alefirenka Nathan D Curtis Paul Whelan
Klayvier Marissa Miller Max Glick Nathan Palmer PawelGt
Krauserzero the Marius Henriksen McDoogle Nathan Poquette Paz Glebotzki
Bushlord Mark Bessert meatpiemike Neil Stanar Pedro Ortiz Rivera
Krystal Bohannan Mark D. Sullivan Megan DeYarman Nic Rowe Pedro Polina Jr
kw4s Mark J Taylor mellan_Konsten Nicholas Cory Pedro Ziviani
Kyle B. Richardson Mark Richardson Melvyn Chong Nicholas Ligato Pepelu-1975
Kyle Nickerson Mark Zdravkovic MeLyle Romer Nicholas Orozco Per Hærup Nielsen
Kyle Overby Markus Ziegler Mezors Tham Nick “yyy” Smith Pete Shaw
Kyonko Marta De La Michael Nick Brumback Peter Broman
Lance campbell Fuente Véliz “Pillsburyboy” Nick O’Keefe Peter Curd
Langdon Oliver Martin Derbyshire Adams Nick Portman Peter McQuillan
Larry Anderson Martin Hassett Michael Bennion Nick Stancato Peter Mossaad
Lars Bätje Martin Kluczewski, Michael Berry Nicolas Dufaur Phil McDougall
Lee Aimers Martin Meadows Michael Cook Nicolas Lemay Phil Wyatt
Leeanne Graham Martin Richter Michael D. B.-Valada Nicolo’ Cristini Philip Malsbury
LeGerman (@starwolf326) Michael J. Caldarola Niklas Helander Philip Muller
LEIGH GOODCHILD Mateusz Zdanowicz Michael Konstantin Nitin Dahyabhai Philip Polli
Leonardo Bellacci Mathias Boeckx van der Heide Nitsch Phung V.
Leonardo Lara Zurita Mathias Bourgoin Michael Lynch nordhammer42 Pierre Chastagner
Leszek “Leafnode” Mathieu Labrie Michael Petch Nostalgia_Chaser Pinkerator
Krupiński Mathieu Percot Michael Polo Nuranagi Piotr “gnysek” Gnys
Lindsay Mayhew MatrixMorpher Michael Rosenberg Ola Westin Piotr Kozakiewicz
Loh Chin Seng Matt “Valkian” Michael Tucker Oli Jackson Queequed
Lord Sardonyx Murphy Michael_S Olivia Luna Quentin Hochn

172 PlayStation Vita: The End

Quentin Humphrey Sam Sarette Sophia Wang Tim McCoury Weslley Leandro
R Duffy Sandro Rosa Splosion Tim Zickus Vieira
R Linwood Sang Tran Standa Timothy Holt Widderstein
Rafał Londo Sarah Kingdred Stefan A TJ Michael Wild Mendonça
Rahul Gandhi Sascha Klumparend With-Esmaeili Tobias Bürgermeister William M Lucero
random_dave Saul P Stefan Diepeveen Tobias Goelz William Tan
Raphael Hering Scott Dipstick Steffen Beringer Todd Cavanaugh Wing See Li
Raphaël WARGNIER Davenport Stephen Bafico Tom Bourner Winter
RARS!!! Scott Longdon Stephen Tom Charnock Wojciech “foxe”
Raymi Luis Ramirez Scott Salter Galvatr0nlives Tom H Lasota
Raymond Chan Scott Thomas Stewart Sisemore Tom Klootwijk Won-ji Seo
Raymond Lothian, Sean Caufield Stephen McConnell tom175014 wootnik
Vita Lover Sean Chandler Steve Hudson Tomey Tical Wouter-Michaël
Revan Kane Sean Murphy Steve Lucchini Tommy Larsen Jooren
Rhydian Davies Sean Whelan Steve Streza Toni Breitsprecher Xoel Rodríguez
Rhys Cooper Sean Wright Steven Czepyha Tony Law Piñeiro
Ricardo Melo sebagrablog Steven M. Basile Jr. Tony Palylyk Yaacov Verch
Ricardo Ortega Sebastien COURT Steven Pannell Tony Purkey Yanislav Atanasov
Moreno Sébastien deshorties Steven Powley Tony Welten Yannick Vilain
Richard Barclay Sébastien Pause Steven Quach Tony Zhang Yepp13
“AvatarIII” seina Stijn Nachtergaele Tonye Myers Yome NetSan
Richard Hiebl Semy Sin Studio Ravenheart TooTallTony Young J. Park
Richard Pisters Sergey Storchay Suhrud Banhatti Travis Wade Smith Zachary Cardon
Richard Ross Serhad Gülşen Sven Berger Trevor Bentley Zachary Record
Richard Zwicker SGT Pollard, Sven Schmalfuss Trinidad T. Mendoza Zisis Paraskevaidis
Rick SV Quentin T. USA Sydney Hall Troy Whiteside Zouzou Stunfest
rimolaus Shane Kope Sylvain Gozé Tweet Vita Review Zyzf
Rob Hayes [GamerAF] Taku Yamanaka Twigy
Robert Cox Shane White Tanner S Miles Tyler Darland
Robert Sanford Shaun Double Taper Tyler Felker
Roberto “Polygonien” Shawn, Nichol, Tori Tatton Partington Tyler Lamphier
Kracht & Cole Peterson Taylor Scrivner Tyler Q Anderson
Robin Wassbjer Shelby Schwing Tchakotong (SxZ) Uwe Ziminske
Roger Isaac Shiny Wobbuffet Techni Myoko Vanio Petrov
roland (Altman Kwong) The Blakk Vulture VERJUS Cyril
Roman Savrasov shirokuro The1Azreen Véronique DANIEL
Ron Schreyer Sid Hodgskiss Thierry Clavel Vesko Gavrilov
Ronald Lust Sid Hodgskiss Thivanka “BaNeArroW” Victor Blazquez
Rootko Sid Nayak Attanayake Viktor Mars
Rubén Raya Morales SilentBun Thomas and Heather Ville ”Hunttis”
Russ Perry Jr silwi80 Brucia Nuutinen
Ryan Fernandez Simon Christensen Thomas H W Ruzicka
Ryan Orr Simon Pedneault Thomas Hippchen Wade Whiteman
Ryan Winton Simon Pickering Thomas Kapala Jr. Warren Lapworth
Salem AlSalem Simon Wright Thomas Nielsen Warren Leigh
Salvador Recendez Jr Slope’s Game Room Thomas Perl Warren W Liang
Salvador Rodriguez Jr. SNACH2497 Thomas van Es Wasif Rehman
Sam Kay snakekilla77 Tim Bledsoe Werner “sOUL i0N”
Sam LC Sneth Tim Hewison Heinz

Kickstarter backers 173

 CREDITS AND THANKS

PlayStation Vita: The End

The conclusion of the unofficial
story of the PlayStation Vita

PlayStation Vita: The End is an independent and unofficial book.

All content featured is used with permission, or is considered
fair use. This book is not endorsed by or affiliated with Sony or
any of the companies featured. PlayStation is a trademark of
Sony. The copyright for game boxes and screenshots reproduced
here remains with the respective owners of these works.

First printed in 2020.

Author Screenshots and images

Sandeep Rai Langdon Oliver
@2_old_4_gaming Classified Chappy
Britta Food4Dogs
Editor Karen Tan
Adam Cartwright Trinidad ‘Mapache’ Mendoza
kresnik258gaming.wordpress.com McDoogle
Paul Fletcher
Art director Jiri Lacina
Steve Novaković-Thone Benjamin Kapferer
snt.design Brian Przybylski
Darthsternie
Contributors Catalin Marcu
Adam Cartwright David Baron
kresnik258gaming.wordpress.com Benjamin Kolz
Spencer Pressly Gingura
@torchwood4sp
Georgina Young Thanks
vitaparadisa.wordpress.com Colin Moriarty
McDoogle Shahid Kamal Ahmad
EdEN
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Sean Murphy Dedicated to
@irishnerd47 Aryan & Aarav

174 PlayStation Vita: The End

175
Within just a few months of launch, it was
clear that the Vita was not going to be the
sales success that Sony wanted it to be, but
despite this the system significantly exceeded
expectations in terms of its lifespan.

The Vita was manufactured for over seven years,

and games were still being released for more
than eight years after its launch – all without the
help of new first party releases from PlayStation
beyond a few years after launch.

This book focuses on the period after 2015

when the Vita slowly lost more and more services,
and support from Sony entirely dried up, but
the Vita community continued to support the
device and the games just kept coming.

176 PlayStation Vita: The End