disobedientlib

For all the wordies out there, this is an absolute gem. It has surprising depth and lexical challenge, even though the RPG elements and the visuals are a bit superficial and repetitive after a while.

Such a great rogue-like/strategy/turn-based RPG! So different than most anything else I've played. Very atmospheric. My only beef with the Vita version is that most of the text (in the menus, esp) is tiny and very hard to read. Otherwise, it runs smoothly and seems to be fully functional.

Fun for a little while, especially while you can still easily upgrade your weapons, but ultra repetitive and at higher levels the difficulty spikes greatly.

A good, but not great game which makes some modest improvements to the first one on PC. The co-op horde mode is gore-filled fun and challenging (esp. on higher difficulties), but gets repetitive after a while, even with lots of character leveling up to do. There is a good variety of expansive maps, although it lacks variety in zed type (there are maybe 5 types?) and especially bosses (there are only 2). Hopefully this will be addressed in some future expansion? I've yet to be able to drum up a VS game though - every time I try it just spins trying to find a match (and the worst part is at that point there is no way to back out of the match-finding screen short of restarting the game!). Is nobody on PS4 playing this mode?

Having been listening to Dan Carlin's riveting Hardcore History podcasts about WWI I was excited to play this game and perhaps get a tiny sense of the chaos and horror of trench warfare. However, this game is a complete let down. Movement is stiff and slow. When you get shot or shoot someone else it barely registers and you either go down or take a wound soundlessly. Environments and maps are something out of a (bad) 1998 game, and the sound design is terrible. The UI is also useless. Avoid this unless they give it out for free!

It seems like a fair F2P model and I was able to jump in, play the tutorials and then into some Deathmatch and earn enough credits to get some upgrades and a new mech without any trouble or spending any money. And most importantly for a noob like me, I was able to hold my own and not just die over and over when I jumped in. The combat is decent and the maps are ok (I have to spend a bit more time learning them to have a definitive judgement tho). Well worth checking out!

A decent and challenging, if uninspired, twin stick, arena-style space shooter. There is a campaign mode and a challenge mode with a variety of set ups to tackle. Ship customization options allow for some experimentation with play style, but nothing drastic. Needs more varied arenas, rather than just the same rectangle every time.

I absolutely adored this game on PSP back in the day. It's one of the penultimate match-three RPGs out there. However, this version is exactly the same as the old version. Nothing was changed or updated or upgraded except for trophies. I bought it thinking they would at least have online multiplayer, but no. It's only local multiplayer. Such a shame - there was a real chance to shine this game up even just a little for the PS4, but on that front it fails. However, if you never played this game, it is still one worth your time.

If you're willing to grind a bit and overlook the repetitive voice acting and a non-essential plot, there are some exciting space battles to be had here. The soundtrack is excellent (ala Firefly and garage blues rock) but also gets repetitive after a solid 8 hours of play or so. The combat is where it's at, though. Fought on a 2D plane, but in 3D, it has a unique style that brings in some unique strategy and decent ship customization (weapons, shields, etc.) options once you get a feel for it. Worth it for the asking price.

This has grown on me. At first, I could only see it as a Battlefield game with a new skin and a lack of a campaign. However, as I've had time to explore all the multiplayer modes, especially, and even the limited single-player/co-op modes, this has gotten better. I've now sunk dozens of hours into it. It still needs more maps, more modes, and for me, more weapons to choose from as you get to higher levels, but it delivers on the fantasy of feeling like you're in the Star Wars universe, which perhaps is enough for now.

A brilliantly simple rogue-like top-down shooter. It's hard, but is designed to be played in small chunks. A single run that gets about halfway through the entire thing lasts maybe 10-15 minutes? Various power-ups as you level-up during a run, a paucity of ammo, and a handful of unlockable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, add to tactical depth of this game.

A brilliantly simple rogue-like top-down shooter. It's hard, but is designed to be played in small chunks. A single run that gets about halfway through the entire thing lasts maybe 10-15 minutes? Various power-ups as you level-up during a run, a paucity of ammo, and a handful of unlockable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, add to tactical depth of this game.

For what it is, this is an enjoyable shooter/distraction. It's about as simple as they come, but the increasingly overwhelming enemies, trophies, and unlockables kept me entertained for a few hours. For the price point, it's an easy purchase for those looking for a mindless, pick and up and play for 5 minutes at a time game.

Much more so than the super-repetitive, bland Dark Reign, this is a true (and free) successor to the Puzzle Quest games of the past. The individual battles are tense and can be tough, and the number and variety of unlockable troops (none of which, I don't think, require any payment) gives this match three game a decent amount of tactical depth. The addition of guilds, the ability to level up troops, and some limited quest-like options add to this depth. The real disappointments are an AI opponent that deploys spotty tactics at times, and the lack of true head to head battles. That kind of feature would have put this up there in my book with Puzzle Quest 1 and 2 for greatness. As it is, this is free and can easily consume hours of any match-three fan's time.

For the first couple of hours, this is a good Puzzle Quest game. After that, the repetitive, one-note nature of the game play sinks you. There are almost no RPG elements (characters level up, but it's all automatic - there are no choices involved). Tactics are fairly shallow; mostly involving choosing which 3 characters to bring into battle and what "team-up" powers to bring along to battle 3 seemingly random and completely interchangeable villains. The plots and dialog are silly, ham-fisted, badly written affairs (fine for any comic-reading kid, but not so much for adults). Battles themselves are straight up match-three and charge powers stuff. Rinse and repeat endlessly.

A damn near perfectly tuned and gorgeous twin stick shooter on the vita. It has tons of modes and arenas to tackle in your efforts to best chums on the leaderboards.

An excellent and very challenging top-down, 360 degree space-type shooter. The plot is barely there, but the challenge of taking on a wide variety of opponents, usually combining land and air elements in a pretty open and spacious area, while trying to complete (usually) destructive missions, is highly entertaining. And it is challenging, even on the lowest (Easy) setting. Enemies and projectiles swarm from all directions without much warning. It did get better once I was finally able to conquer the first (of 7) levels, which then allowed me to upgrade a couple of my ship's powers (such as speed, one of several weapons, turning speed, defense, etc.). The initial set of upgrades gives you just enough oomph and maneuverability to take on the growing number and power of enemies (and bosses) in further levels.

A very good side-scrolling space-shooter/shmup. Rock solid controls with a couple of ships to use and weapons to level up through judicious management of them, and a good variety of enemies and bosses combine to create a fun shooter. Hard to find secrets and hard to conquer challenges which can unlock a new ship and new weapons also increase the replayability of this very reasonably priced game.

For a free-to-play title, this isn't bad. There are certainly opportunities to pour some small amounts of $$ into the developer, but for the most part, with a little patience, you can play this challenging match-3 game for hours for free. I'm about halfway through the campaign, with about 4 hours spread over a last couple weeks. It's a decent time-waster and you might even consider giving the developers a dollar or two to purchase some of the in-game currency to get buffs, etc.

A solid and fun side view hack and slash game (that came out a couple years ago on last gen) that is free for PS+ folks. It has satisfying combat, a good variety of enemies and environments, light platforming and good RPG elements. It even has a fun sidekick fairy.

It's a one trick twin stick shooter, but what it does it does competently and with a bit of challenge. Basically you (and up to 3 others in couch co-op) blast everything that moves, collect weapons and perks, and chase high scores. It's graphics are crude and it's story is non-existent, but I'm still having fun with this one. The combat mechanics are sound, the waves of enemies are just varied enough to keep it interesting, and the perks and weapons are varied enough to accommodate a variety of play styles. In co-op, it's basically a crude hoard mode, which suits me just fine. This one won't keep your interest beyond a couple of hours of score chasing, but it's cheap and in my opinion, worth the low price.

An addictive match 3 time waster, with a tinge of RPG elememts. The match 3 battles offer a good amount of variety and a decent challenge. The downside is that the resource gathering element is boring and a bit tedious and time consuming, but necessary to overcome some of the later boss battles. The town folk chatter offers a nice slice of humor and there are a ton of achievements to aim for. Overall, a cheaply-priced and interesting game.

An excellent retro-shooter (with 3 way cross-buy between ps4/ps3 and vita), with strong influence from classics like Space Invaders, Galaxian, and a smidgeon of Asteroids. But it adds in layers of modernity through the use of weapon and ship upgrades, and an increasingly difficult balancing act of available upgrades and tactics to complete the 100 levels of the game. New Game+ and leaderboards features also gives it added replayability.

All in all, it's a good, but still traditional tower defense game. While it lacks a bit in map variety, it has some depth in different base units and enemies and upgrades that can be gained through play. Nothing ground-breaking, but the best tower defense on the Vita yet perhaps, and for the price, it's a steal.

This is mostly about the multi-player, which I've now put 35 hrs into (and the player base, while not huge, is still active and there is rarely a wait of more than 30 secs to get into a session). It's fast-paced, tactical, gorgeous looking, and includes lots of clever and varied class-based skills and weapon upgrades to obtain and experiment with in various combinations. It has a decent variety of maps (10) and new mini-modes are being created and featured regularly. The recent addition of a clan system will also appeal to some. The campaign is even more gorgeous looking. While it's a bit of a corridor shooter with a somewhat generic plot, it still has kept my attention so far (I've not completed it yet). Definitely worth the money spent, especially for someone like me that isn't interested in wading into the hard-to-crack crowds of sausage- and explitive-fests of CoD and Battlefield.

This is a challenging, no-holding-hands, punishing, rogue-like survival game, make no mistake. No guidance is given, and for me, that is a strength. So is the unique art style. Once you accept this punishing aspect, and the fact that you need to constantly be aware of and explore your environment and meticulously track your supplies, and that to succeed you need to do these things over and over, alongside the excellent exploratory nature of the land, the game really opens up and is fun for those who like that sort of thing.

The definitive version of Pinball Arcade in my view. Responsive controls (altho better controller customization would be great), beautiful tables and challenging...challenges(?). Although there isn't a lot of PS4 players on here yet, I have the disc version, which includes 22 amazing tables, and leaderboards include users from all platforms, which can humble a girl pretty quickly...

From the makers of several other decent (and cheaply priced or free) previous Vita titles (Coconut Dodge Revitalised, Flying Hamster, SunFlowers), this is another worthwhile and challenging game. If you go ahead and pay $2.99 for unlimited coffee, you can get unlimited play without the time limits. Then you can settle down and try to 3-star all 60 levels of this touch-based game. It involves scanning items on a grocery store conveyor belt, while at the same time dealing with random obstacles and effects such as dogs and babies roaming the belt, bombs, faster speeds, and having to type in product codes. All this while also having to touch the bouncing coins that show up as you successfully sell items. It's a tricky balancing act that requires quick fingers and tactical use of in-game power-ups (which can all be bought with in-game-earned coins).

Such a beautifully atmospheric little audio-visual exploration title! While there isn't much "game" to it, it's a mesmerizing experience. You wander islands filled with 8 bit wilderness, atmosphere and life and each little piece of nature has it's own sound, that taken together with the gorgeous visuals, creates a unique and constantly changing soundscape like no other. It's almost zen-like in it's peacefulness as you slowly meander around the island with no instructions except to explore and enjoy.

While this game is absolutely amazing as a party game on Kinect, it is only slightly lesser so here on Vita, mostly due to it's price. But the online one on one battles are fun and quick to set up matches and have fun, so the $5 cost isn't exorbitant. Some of the trophies (many of which I haven't gotten yet) are challenging and encourage you to beat your own scores, as well as those on the leaderboards.

A fun little time waster that is basically an expansion of the PSP mini game from a couple years ago, now with trophies. Several modes and challenges and of course leaderboards bring you back for another run in this top-down infinite runner style gem. It's highly addictive in it's simplicity.

3 excellent tables ripped free from the Zen Pinball 2 versions (free for those who already purchased them there). It has some added social layers, with players picking the dark or light side and competing on scoreboards for each. Also has separate trophies. But other than that, pretty much the exact same thing as the Zen counterparts.

A cute little puzzler. Puzzles are very hit and miss, some easy, some just right, some almost impossible without getting hints. But for the cheap price, adorable graphics and characters, and decent exploration, it's well worth a purchase. Looking forward to continuing the storyline in part 2...

A great little platform for small, bite-sized mostly retro games. Scribble Shooter, Time Pilot, Centipede and Asteroids are all excellent retro-shooter games that handle well on the Vita and all are either free or dirt cheap (~$2) to purchase. Great for those times when you just want to play some mindless and quick games on your held held.

This is an affordable and challenging little touch-based platformer-fruit ninja-RPG mash up. It's perfect for the touch controls of the Vita, allowing for fairly precise and satisfying movement and fighting all with one finger. The enemies present a variety of fighting challenges because for many of them you can't just slash at from the front. RPG elements allow for leveling up and some rudimentary skill trees with powers that must be used tactically. Overall, a tight little game.

For $2.50-3 this is a steal. It's a mobile take on the Audiosurf-style infinite space racer/lane-switching game, with some good graphics and addictive play modes. The music isn't bad either. If it had the ability, like Audiosurf, to play and react to my own music collection, this would be well worth a heftier asking price. As it is, it's a great and cheap purchase for Vita and other mobile owners.

A decent little twin-stick shooter. It's a bit repetitive and needs more opponent variety, but the addition of multiple game modes, worldwide and friend leader boards, and the ability to take on or create "challenges" for friends and the world alike gives this bite-sized shooter some real heft. Can be played in bite-sized increments as well, perfect for the handheld Vita. Definitely worth the cheap price.

For $15 it's not a bad game. But at least so far, the long lobby waits, often unfilled player slots (about half the time half the "players" are AI), lag times, and the periodic disconnects (so far for me about every 3rd game) are very frustrating. When I can stay connected and the game is actually filled with real players, it's a blast, despite my total lack of tactical and or MOBA skills so far. Hopefully the developer will straighten out the server and matchmaking issues and the player base will remain strong enough for me to enjoy it for at least a couple of weeks.

I have very mixed feelings about this last episode. It is no doubt a powerful ending that will make you feel for the characters involved and fit with the mood of the entire series. But it also was too short and very little actually happened as compared to other episodes.

This is simply a great and fun word game. One of those simple to play but hard to master things, with leader boards and (non-PS3) achievements to earn. The concept is simple and has been done before, but it works wonderfully with the Vita touch controls: you are presented with a grid of randomly generated letters and you swipe letters to spell out words. There are 4 modes of play: classic (a tetris-like game where you have to spell words to keep the falling letter blocks from filling the screen), Time Attack (spell as many words in the time given and longer words put time back on the clock), Wordsearch (2 min limit to find as many words as possible, but spelling words removes them from the grid and then you get new letters), and Pass and Play, a local multiplayer mode. It's all well-executed with very tight controls and a series of challenging achievements and high score leader boards to aim for.

A fun little addictive touch game. You are the Sun and need to seed and water (through happy smiling clouds) and collect dozens and dozens of plants of increasing rarity. In your way are moody storm clouds, dust storms, winter and rain storms, as well as the danger of "sun burning" your plants with direct sun blasts. It offers 3 levels of difficulty, 2 "worlds" and a fun (but somewhat unwieldy) mechanism to combine any two plants from that worlds to create a different variety. It's all fun and colorful and happy go lucky and just plain works, especially for the super-cheap price and the chance to earn Vita trophies.

A fun little game. I'm playing it on my Vita so the stick + touch controls make this a fun and intuitive game to dodge all the bullets and pick up the gems and make the little 8 bit tanks and jeeps and helicopters shoot each other.

An excellent run and gun platform shooter. It doesn't take itself seriously (in the same vein as the equally excellent A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks) but the combination of Canabalt running and jump and solid shooting with a variety of challenges make this a great mini.

I actually think these tables are better on the Vita. They feel more intimate and tactile when held in my hands somehow. And the fact that I get all the tables I had purchased for the PSN version for free here makes this a great game for a great value (i.e. for me, free!). The added social features (which had already been implemented on Xbox for years) makes this a must have game for Vita owners, especially if you like pinball and competing with your friends for high scores.

I've played PFX 2 on XBox a good amount and thoroughly like the game. I've also played Pinball Arcade on Vita and like that as well, but not as much. FX 2 on the Vita is simply great, and the new Plants vs. Zombies table may be the best table on any platform. It's nothing revolutionary by any means, but it's cleverly constructed, fun and varied in it's challenges. And it has all the lovable characters and sounds from the amazing franchise most gamers love. Well worth the investment for Vita owners.

A great mix of open world exploration, RPG, and unique combat mechanics makes this a must-have for any Vita owners. It has amazing visuals and intriguing environments that are fun to explore as you level up and your gravity travel and combat powers increase. At first, exploration can be a bit of an exercise in risk vs reward, but once you gather enough gems to level up a few times it becomes a breeze to zoom around (over, under and in-between) the various floating parts of the city to find even more gems and other intriguing side quests and dialogue trees. The story is mostly nonsensical, but serves adequately as a thin and mostly unassuming anime-ish means to hit on all the fun possibilities for main character Kat to explore and improve her powers. The combat and the side challenges you unlock, once you get your legs under you with your kick and slide and other attack powers in the highly vertical environments, is quick-paced, meaty and fun. Just be warned a lot of the challenges and a few of the boss battles are not easy to master until you level up Kat's powers a decent amount.

A decent twin stick shooter in an enclosed space with growing difficulty as you go forward in environmental level and in difficulty level. It does present a good challenge as the enemies get bigger, badder and more numerous as you progress. Sort of on the downside, it reuses a lot of the same graphical assets and designs from their better, previous games, Alien Zombie (Mega)death.

This is a fun little download! It's a whimsical and silly mash up of tower defense and a crazy bowling-like game. Basically, you and your opponent (either AI or a human opponent) are in a race to beat down the castle gate of the other with a large boulder that you control down variously twisting and narrow obstacle courses that have cliff drop-offs on either side. But you need several boulder runs to crash the gate and it takes time to build a new "rock" each time. In between runs you and your opponent engage in the tower defense aspect; placing various silly obstacles such as cows, trebuckets and wind machines along the others' path to knock them off the track and slow them down. The "rock" is purposefully sluggish to control, but includes the ability to accelerate, change direction, and jump. It's a fun romp through a Monty Python-ish history lesson as well.

To start, I didn't run into any of the initial access problems as I got my copy a couple days late. Yes, the always on DRM is annoying and troublesome. But beyond these industry problems, this game disappoints. Blizzard plays it much too safe and generic. Graphics are outdated. There is little to no character customization. Plot is cookie-cutter boring, if not stupid, and is the same regardless of the class chosen (thus making replay or even experimenting with different classes) less of a draw for me. Voice acting is staid. The RPG elements, as others have pointed out, esp. the skill trees, are watered down, restrictive and mostly uninteresting. Character and plot progression are narrow and over-directed. Dungeons and environments are used and re-used ad nauseum (did they not learn from DA2?). Despite all these shortcomings I continue to play it; continue to click, click, click away, going on 16 hours now. The combat, power animations and baddie destruction is slick and fully satisfying, despite it all coming down to mindless button mashing. I'm compelled by some powerful Pavlovian impulse that Blizzard has tapped into (and that I was somehow immune to with WoW and Starcraft). So I've resigned myself to finishing the story and then perhaps playing some co-op, although I suspect the screen will be a complete mess of explode-y, obscuring animations when I do. Can't wait for Torchlight 2!

Game play wise, it's good. Bejeweled with a social aspect and score chasing with friends. However, the constant demand to buy "jewels" just to play the basic game can get annoying. If you approach it knowing you'll only play one or two brief games a day it works just fine, since there is a once a day scratch off thing that usually nets you at least enough to play one game.