Blessed Niche

Thomas Jefferson said it best: “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for Vita owners to dissolve the sadness which have connected them with another and to assume among the great games that the Vita hath brought us.”

Or, you know, something like that.

Fellow citizens of Vita Island, it is true that we have had an odd past 4 years. When we first bought our tickets to the Island, we thought the island would hold grand triple-A estates and beautiful first-party beaches. While our initial exploration of the Island rang true with that statement, it was upon further investigation that we discovered that not to be the case. While Sony built a few great mansions on Vita Island, it was the smaller and cozier indie hovels that so many of us decided to call home. And boy, did we call it home.

While Vita Island’s population number isn’t staggering, the following behind this niche device is quite insane. The attach rate is well above 10 games, meaning that the average Vita is home to over 10 games each. To put that into perspective, most consoles have an attach rate of 2-3 games. Drinkbox Studios’ Chris McQuinn stated, “I think people who rag on the Vita don’t understand, at least from a business perspective, the purchasing power of Vita owners. Vita owners are serious purchasers of games. It’s an amazing system”. I love my Vita, and it’s quite possibly my favorite system of all time. While the initial promise of “console gaming on the go” didn’t pan out in the long run, it was the fantastic run of indie and Japanese games that kept Vita Island satiated. As such, I decided to pay my homage to the system by telling everyone my favorite games for my blessed Vita.

Before I begin, I would like to describe the mindset that I had while creating this list. This isn’t a list of purely Vita exclusives- I simply wanted the best games for the console to be on it. That said, a great game that has a mediocre port for Vita will be considered less than a game built from the ground up for the system. Another thing: While this list is primarily mine, I have asked some of my fellow HeyPoorPlayer-lings to guest write for a few games. These games will clearly state “Excerpt written by X”. While they certainly had input, the list was ultimately my choice. As such, if you disagree, let me know in the comments! (Respectfully, please). I would love to talk Vita with anyone who is willing to listen.

Without further adieu, here are my picks for the Top 25 Games on Vita.