25 PS Vita Best Games You Need to Play

Even though Nintendo’s 3DS dominates the handheld market, I just can’t help but continually go back to my PlayStation Vita. It’s a beast of a system with a gorgeous screen and a ton of features, but in the end it always comes down to the games.

The PS Vita has thrived despite the lack of first-party support its competition enjoys. It is home to some of the most unique titles from around the world and has carved out the same stellar gaming niches that Sony systems are known for.

No list of top games is comprehensive and there’s no accounting for taste, so let’s just agree that the PS Vita library is an embarrassment of riches. Presented here in alphabetical order are 25 games you need to play for PS Vita.

Did we miss any outstanding PS Vita game? If so, don’t forget to let your fellow Vita fan know in the comments below.

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25 PS Vita Games You Need to Play

25 PS Vita Games You Need to Play
Child of Light

Ubisoft's love letter to JRPGs was well-received. Deceptively simple battle mechanics combined with a gorgeous water-colour world (and a hit-or-miss rhyming story) made for a satisfying, bite-sized adventure.
Danganronpa Series

The Vita is home to several unique visual novels. If you’re considering diving in, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair are great places to start. It’s insane in the very best ways and uses its anime-style and characters to tell a bizarre tale of murder. There’s a sadistic teddy bear pulling the strings. So get on that.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention

Fans of Disgaea are rabid. It’s strategy and tactics at its best, all wrapped inside a mixture of humour and deep-as-you-want-it gameplay. The nature of the Vita itself allows for a more jump in-and-out experience which is a great way to help you forget you’ve already sunk hundreds of hours into it.
Dragon's Crown

Cooperative brawlers are rare these days, which is why Dragon’s Crown being beautiful and fun is such a treat. Select from a bevy of characters and pummel through a fantasy world rich with treasure, secrets, and enough replayability to last hundreds of hours. If you haven't tried it yet, join the rest of us!
Freedom Wars

With a robust third-person battle engine and large-scale enemies to fight, you’ll spend plenty of time dealing damage alone (or with friends). Maybe just ignore the bloated storyline though.
Frozen Synapse: Tactics

The Vita’s other darling strategy game, Frozen Synapse: Tactics puts you in a turn-based game setting up moves at the same time as your opponent. Flick the switch and you watch your brilliance play out with glee or dread.
Gravity Rush

Gravity Rush is the story of Kat, an interesting protagonist who gains the power to manipulate gravity to help her fight all sorts of baddies. The third-person action game boasts a unique combat system that is a challenge to wrangle at first, but in time becomes second nature. Play the first one now before details of the sequel hit.
Guacamelee!

Still unmatched in style, Guacamelee! introduces players to a world of Mexican folklore. Able to stand beside classics of the MetroidVania-genre, Guacamelee! includes masterful platforming, combat, and some truly inspired pop culture references. Add to that a really fun and challenging platinum trophy and you have a bonafide winner.
Hotline Miami

What more needs to be said about Hotline Miami? It oozes personality through every bruised and bloodied pore. It attains a combination of stick-accuracy and touch controls that fit like a glove –a hyper-violent, bloody glove. Its addictive formula will have you racking up combos while questioning your own morality. Play it now while we wait for the sequel coming this spring.
Killzone: Mercenary

Killzone: Mercenary is a title that proves what Vita set out to do – provide console-quality experiences in the palm of your hand. Even though it’s a little on the short side, it makes up for it with a replayability and a suite of multiplayer options.
Little Big Planet PS Vita

One of a handful of games to use the touchscreen to great effect, Little Big Planet PS Vita gave players a pocket-sized version of the create-your-own-fun platformer stocked with content that should charm even the grumpiest of cats.
Luftrausers

Luftrausers takes its unique aged yellow look and infuses it with an addictive customization system and controls that actually make you feel like you’re strapping into one of the scraps of metal you’ll be flying. Gamers loved it so much, the studio announced it was profitable after only a few days on sale.
Minecraft: Vita Edition

Minecraft. It’s literally everywhere. It may be tough to claim Minecraft: Vita Edition as one of its strongest incarnations, but it’s also arguably the best way to play on the go.
Muramasa Rebirth

Muramasa Rebirth is art, plain and simple. But beyond the visual flair is a robust side-scrolling brawler with two separate campaigns. With a strong crafting system, wonderful boss fights, and a dash of humour, this one will keep you busy for a while.
Persona 4 Golden

If you said Persona 4 Golden was the best game on the Vita, you’d get few complaints. It’s a well-written masterpiece with great characters, a flawless soundtrack, slick upgraded graphics, and that delicious turn-based JRPG goodness fans of the genre go nuts for.
Ragnarok Odyssey Ace

This action RPG pits players against giant enemies within the Ragnarok Online universe. The battle system allows for massive combo attacks in the air and on the ground with up to four players in cooperative gameplay. Check out our review!
Rayman Origins

A classic platformer reborn in another beautiful UbiArt Framework title, Rayman Origins combines solid platforming with a speed that often reaches Sonic the Hedgehog velocity. Precise and stunningly charming, the franchise continues to impress.
Rogue Legacy

Instilling the rogue-like genre with some permanence, Rogue Legacy lets you battle through a side-scrolling dungeon meant to make you cry. Don’t worry! When you die you’ll be born again as a descendant of your previous hero blessed or cursed with some form of game-changing trait.
Sound Shapes

Sounds Shapes is as addictive as it is unique. Bolstered by a great soundtrack, the platformer uses ingenious mechanics to make the music game genre feel fresh again. With a level-builder included, you’ll be able to play new content for a very long time.
Super Stardust Delta

Housemarque knows its bread and butter. When you can repeatedly nail twin-stick shooters that play as good as they look, you’re doing it right. Super Stardust Delta offers the same visual pop as its console counterparts and gives you that dangerous “one more try” addiction on the go.
Tearaway

Media Molecule knows just how to get through the our crusty gamer exteriors and strike us right in the cute. In addition to sporting a unique papercraft presentation, Tearaway is a one-of-a-kind experience that incorporates the player and their choices in ways that constantly impressed and delighted. Play the original before the PS4 follow-up.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss

One of Vita’s best looking games was one of its first. While Uncharted: Golden Abyss isn’t exactly the most inspired adventure for Drake and Co., it still offered an early glimpse of the system’s potential.
Velocity 2X

There are few games that will make you jump from your couch and pump your fist more than Velocity 2X. A perfect blend of fast-paced gameplay and tight controls, it's a symphony of old-school, top-down bomb-spewing spaceship shooter and fiendishly crafted side-scrolling platformer.
The Walking Dead Series

The Vita pulls very few punches in its quest to offer its supporters what its console big brother does. The Walking Dead is a triumph of storytelling and emotion in games. If you haven’t jumped on the Telltale bandwagon yet, give it a shot. Though be warned, playing on the Vita means everyone on the bus with you will see you cry. Catch up before the inevitable Season 3.
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

Another unique story-driven title to grace the Vita, Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward is a gripping story that pits nine hostages against one another in a deadly game of survival. It’ll make you question your integrity as your alliances give way to betrayal in the name of self-preservation. If more people play this gem, we might even see another instalment.