The eleventh in a series of articles I’m writing, looking at all the games available in a particular genre on Vita. The articles will highlight all Vita-native games, as well as any backwards-compatible PSP and PS1 titles which can be downloaded in English (i.e. from the EU or NA stores), as well as some commentary on how well those games run on Vita and whether they fill any missing gaps in the library.

Given that I looked at turn-based RPG’s not too long ago, it was only a matter of time until I tackled their action counterparts. The genre’s roots can be traced back to Nihon Falcom’s Dragon Slayer franchise which debuted in the 80’s on the PC-Engine – from there, various new takes on the idea have cropped up all over. Some of the more successful examples include Square-Enix’s Star Ocean series, Bandai-Namco’s Tales of and a variety of western variants.

On Vita, there’s a tonne of choice and best of all, the company who started it all (Falcom) turned up in full force bring some of their most revered titles to the handheld. Sadly, there’s a bit of a lack of western-developer action-RPG’s (a problem across the board for western games on Vita) but this doesn’t detract from the otherwise stellar offering that exists here.

Vita-native games

So as already mentioned, probably the most prolific developer of action RPG’s on Vita is Nihon Falcom, the stories Japanese developer who graced the platform with their long-running Ys series, releasing two brilliant entries and allowing another studio to port a third.

The first of these (Ys: Memories of Celceta) was actually one of the first RPG’s to hit the platform in general, landing in November 2012 in Japan and a year later in the west (thanks to a stunning localization by XSEED). The game offered fast-based team action alongside a stunningly huge world to explore and was well-received by critics (myself included) setting it up as an early sleeper hit on Vita. Falcom followed it up with Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana a few years later that expanded on all the ideas in Celceta and despite an expanded port later releasing on PS4, PC & Switch, the title remained a great addition to Vita’s library full of enjoyable action-packed gameplay.

Falcom also licenced their earlier game Ys Origin to dotemu who ported it to Vita in 2017, which offered a different take on the IP with solo gameplay and platforming puzzles, which worked incredibly well. While this was happening, they were also working on reviving one of their older IP’s with Tokyo Xanadu, an action-RPG set in the modern day where high school students solve mysteries in and around Tokyo. While it was again surpassed by a later expanded PS4 port, it’s still well worth checking out on Vita.

Tokyo Xanadu wouldn’t be the only Vita action-RPG set in Japan’s capital –Akiba’s Beat also offered exploration around the Akihabara district while ripping off the Tales of combat system which I quite enjoyed, although most reviewers seemed to struggle with. Speaking of Tales, the granddaddy of action-RPG series appeared twice on Vita with Tales of Hearts R (which released in the west in 2014 where it immediately became one of my favourite games on the handheld) and Tales of Innocence R which sadly remained Japan-only, although is still a decent import if you’re willing to try it.

On the topic of historic Japanese IP’s, the Dragon Quest series tried its hand twice on Vita and both could sort of be classified as action-RPG’s – Dragon Quest Builders is a Minecraft clone that’s decent fun and includes simplistic combat where you mash away at enemies with whatever weapons you’ve crafted. Meanwhile Dragon Quest Heroes II is almost the polar opposite – a fast pace hack ‘n’ slash cut from the Warriors cloth that features plenty of progression systems, making it deeper than it first appears. Sadly, the game is only available on Vita in Japanese, although you could always remote play the English PS4 port.

Another action-RPG named after dragons is Dragon’s Crown, the gorgeous hand-drawn mega-hit from Vanillaware that combined side-scrolling brawler action with looting and skill systems. In fact, this wouldn’t be Vanillaware’s only work on the platform – they also remastered their Wii game Muramasa Rebirth for Vita (alongside four brilliant new DLC campaigns) and remade their PS2 title Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, both of which received rave reviews and went on to become among the most revered releases on Sony’s handheld that constantly get recommended as must-plays for new owners.

Vanillaware wouldn’t be the only company remaking their titles for Vita though – Square Enix also tried their hand at it with Adventures of Mana, a re-imagining of the Game Boy game Final Fantasy Adventure. It managed to update the graphics and certain gameplay elements while staying incredibly faithful to the original, something they repeated years later with Secret of Mana which is also available on Vita (unfortunately the new Trials of Mana is swerving the platform meaning we can’t have the full trilogy on it).

In the realm of anime games, there’s a tonne of stuff to choose from on Vita. The most obvious example is the Sword Art Online series which has had two strands – Hollow Fragment and Hollow Realization have pseudo-MMO combat that offers a tonne of possibilities (but can be a little tough to get into), while Lost Song and Millennium Twilight are more traditional hack ‘n’ slashers with the bonus of offering flight options in a free-roaming world. They’re all very enjoyable – you could also try One Piece Unlimited World Red in English or Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis in Japanese, plus there’s the upcoming import title Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? Infinite Combate.

Speaking of importing titles, I may as well quickly run through what’s available on Vita – there’s Nights of Azure and its sequel Bride of the New Moon that offer yuri-driven action mechanics (they have English versions, but only for PS4/PC). There’s also Little Battlers eXperience W that allows you to build and battle tiny mechs (enjoyable if you can understand its customisation options) and The Princess Guide that allows you to raise and fight with a variety of heroines, although you’d be better off buying its spiritual predecessor Penny Punching Princess which is available in English (and physically) on Vita.

Sony’s handheld also did very well for monster hunting games (some people would classify these as their own genre, but I think they’re action RPG’s). The best of the bunch is Soul Sacrifice Delta, a stunning title that has you battling huge monsters then deciding to save or sacrifice their souls – Toukiden Kiwami and its sequel Toukiden 2 also seem very popular among the Vita fanbase for their Japanese folklore-inspired setting. If you’re looking for something more futuristic you could try Freedom Wars, God Water Resurrection and God Eater 2: Rage Burst, while Ragnarok Odyssey Ace has you fighting in Norse mythology (in the interests of including import titles, you can also grab Lord of Apocalypse and Phantasy Star Nova from Japan.

Elsewhere, there’s a smattering of other stuff to choose from – New Little King’s Story is an enjoyable action-strategy title that has you ordering around a kingdom of troops, while Valkyria Revolution is a heavily maligned spin-off to the strategy-RPG series that is more fun than people seem to give it credit for. There’s also Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku!, a deeply customisable pixel RPG; Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo and Damascus Gear: Operation Osaka, two mech RPG’s with an emphasis on collecting loot; Fantasy Hero: Unsigned Legacy, an uninspired isometric RPG and Valhalla Knights 3, a critically panned team action game that’s developed a cult following.

Rather shockingly, every game I’ve mentioned so far in this article has been developed in Japan – as previously mentioned, western RPG’s are incredibly difficult to come across on Vita. There are a handful though, the main examples being Dungeon Hunter Alliance (a fairly blatant Diablo clone) and The Bard’s Tale, a humorous PS2-era RPG remade for Sony’s handheld, both of which are fairly enjoyable in their own right (you could even count Silent Hill: Book of Memories, a bizarre spin-off to the popular horror series that turned it into more of a dungeon-crawler.). Some notable indies exist too, the stand-outs being Bastion and Oceanhorn (coincidentally, both of which received physical releases through Limited Run Games), alongside lesser-known titles like Dex, Fairune, Heroes Trials and Pocket RPG.

Backwards-compatible PSP games

The PSP was home to one major franchise that Vita never got that is known as one of the most prestigious action-RPG’s out there – thankfully, entries in this series are backwards-compatible and play fantastic well on Vita.

This series is of course Monster Hunter with Freedom, Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite playable on Vita. It proved to have such a successful formula of hunting, fighting and crafting that it spawned a whole sub-genre which is still thriving to this day – there are numerous other imitators on PSP like Gods Eater Burst and Lord of Arcana (both of which are surpassed with Vita-native remakes), as well as things like Key of Heaven.

A number of other series were born on PSP that later received improved sequels on Vita – take for example Cladun and Cladun X2, two very enjoyable pixel RPG’s that offer a tonne of customisation but seem obsolete thanks to Cladun Returns. There’s also three different Valhalla Knights entries – the original, 2 and Battle Stance that like the third instalments received a bit of a critical beating, but certainly have their fans.

Of course, this isn’t the case with the always beloved Ys franchise that also got a number of PSP releases. Ys I & II Chronicles is an interesting retro throwback with its bump-combat mechanics, while both Oath in Felghana and Seven have been surpassed in mechanics by later entries (Origins and Memories of Celceta respectively) but remain worth playing thanks to their intriguing stories and always-enjoyable gameplay.

Backwards-compatible PS1 games

One of the most notable action-RPG’s on PS1 was Sony’s answer to Zelda, which received a large amount of critical acclaim during its original launch and thankfully was added to PS1 classics for Vita – Alundra.

Sadly, its often-overlooked sequel isn’t available, but the original (much more beloved) offers a compelling dungeon-crawling, puzzle-focused experience. There isn’t much else that’s similar among PS1 classics, but you could try Squaresoft’s Threads of Fate, one of a number of experimental titles from during the era that also includes games like Legend of Mana (a very decisive entry in the long-running franchise) and Parasite Eve 2 (survival horror meets action RPG with an absolutely bonkers story).

The only other examples I can think of among PS1 classics are Mega Man Legends and its sequel (Legends 2) and prequel (The Misadventures of Tron Bonne). All three games took the characters and world of the 2D platformers and transformed them into low-poly action adventures that gained a tonne of fans, but seem to have never been revisited by developer Capcom again.

Conclusion

Just like with turn-based RPG’s, there’s a tonne of choice available on Vita as I’ve run through in this article – whether you want a simplistic take with some customisation (Sword Art Online: Lost Song), a huge epic where you hunt incredible monsters (Soul Sacrifice), a beautiful side-scroller (Odin Sphere), a deep exploration-puzzler (Alundra) or an isometric looter (Dungeon Hunter), chances are you’ll manage to find what you’re looking for here.

That doesn’t meant things couldn’t have been better, or we couldn’t have had more in certain areas (I’m still disappointed there’s basically no western RPG representation, but that’s a story for another day) yet overall, Vita stands tall as a fantastic portable home to play RPG’s on and whatever your preference – action, turn-based or anything in between, there’s loads of enjoyable quality here.