There are a lot of good-looking Vita games that will come out this year, and I thought I’d put together a list of the ones that look the most interesting to me. No way I’ll be able to get all of these, but it’s fun to see the variety in titles the handheld will be getting in 2016.

Stuff with Release Dates

Volume — This indie stealth game has already released, and gameplay videos of it look really solid (snake). It’s from the creator of Thomas Was Alone, which I wasn’t crazy for, but I’m up for giving this one a shot some time. (January 6)

Atelier Escha and Logy Plus — I have not yet played an Atelier game, but it looks like a decent RPG series. This is the first Vita title to get a physical release in the West, and I couldn’t say no to that nice-looking LE set. Lovely artwork. (January 19)

Civilization Revolution 2 Plus — This seems like a good opportunity for me to give the Civilization franchise a shot. Had a roommate who would play matches for hours and hours on PC… From what I understand this version is heavily streamlined, which sounds fine. I might import the Asian release in order to get the physical copy. (January 26)

Crypt of the Necrodancer — Nathan is crazy for this game, so I’m going to have to play it at some point. Might as well be on Vita, right? The trailer for it looked like fun. Good pixel graphics, and catchy tunes. (February 2)

Samurai Warriors 4: Empires — I’ve never really gotten into any of the Warriors titles, and I feel like I ought to give it a fair shot one day. I put in my research, and this seems like the one that would be most up my alley (traditional Japan setting, more tactics involved). Will wait and hear if it runs well on Vita first though. (March 15)

Trillion: God of Destruction — I’m actually really looking forward to this one. Reviews of it in Japan were very positive, and it just sounds like a rather unique title. You and your generals in the underworld have to take down the eponymous god of destruction, who indeed has 1,000,000,000,000 health points. A whole game to take down one giant enemy… How epic is that? (March 29)

Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault — Ah, too many games releasing all at once. But I have to at least mention this really interesting-looking strategy game, a sort of tower-defense title in which you control a whole mechanized city to fend off the enemy hordes. (March 29)

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Trilogy — Not really a fan of the regular Assassin’s Creed titles, but these 2D stealth platformer spinoffs look pretty good? I like the more unique settings being used (China, India, Russia), and their accompanying art styles. It’s nice of Ubisoft-senpai to notice the Vita. (April 5)

Other Stuff Releasing in 2016 (Probably)

Muv-Luv Trilogy — So I backed my first Kickstarter a couple months ago… It was for this trilogy of highly-acclaimed visual novels. I don’t know much of anything about Muv-Luv, but I was impressed by the Kickstarter team’s decision to support the Vita to even include a two-cartridge physical release. I’ve heard this story starts off as a high school romcom, then turns into an alien-invasion mecha adventure… which sounds kind of amazing, lol.

Project Setsuna — I am not a big Square Enix fan… but I’m really liking how this title is looking. Classic-style RPG with a somber storyline, snowy setting, great character art, and beautiful piano music. They said at E3 this would get a worldwide release, so I’m expecting Setsuna to make it to the West.

VA-11 HALL-A — This is described as “a cyberpunk bartending game with waifus.” I’m getting it.

Cosmic Star Heroine — It’s basically a new Sega Genesis Phantasy Star game. I’m getting it.

Zero Time Dilemma — I still need to play Virtue’s Last Reward, but I’ll be sure to get around to that… eventually. But this is the third (and final?) title for the Zero Escape series, started by the ambitious 999. Really cool that this is happening, but we could really use some more details?

Ray Gigant — Though I’ve never really gotten into dungeon RPGs, this is the one that has piqued my interest the most. Post-apocalypse with kaijuu, multiple protagonists, and some great animation. Will at least watch out for it.

Root Letter and God Wars — Great to see Kadokawa take a stab at Western releases for their new games. But again, need more details for these. One’s a mystery game, and the other is a strategy RPG.

Project Scissors: Nightcry and Forgotten Memories — Will the Vita be getting two survival horror games this year? Hoping to hear more from these two soon; they could turn out great.

Stuff that Might Make it Over in 2016?

Dangan Ronpa V3 — You all know how much I love Dangan Ronpa and Dangan Ronpa 2. A brand new set of murder mysteries to despair over! This time, I hear you will have the option to tell lies during the court sessions, which sounds like a great addition to the gameplay. No idea if this will release in 2016 though. And no confirmation yet for Western release, but you know it’s coming.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim — Don’t know much about this one yet, other than it’s Vanillaware and looks beautiful. Keeping an eye on it. I don’t think there’s much doubt of this making it over, regardless.

Tokyo Xanadu — Falcom says they want to bring it over. XSeed says they want to bring it over. Bring it over! It’s a very nice-looking action game with RPG elements.

Exogenesis — This was a Kickstarter project that really stood out to me. Visual novel and adventure game by fans of the Zero Escape series, and the artwork looks nice? No idea how the story will play out, but I’m willing to look into it.

Net High — Up in the air whether or not this will make it over (no word yet sadly), but if it does I’ll be sure to pick it up. A hilarious-looking visual novel with some gameplay reminiscent of Ace Attorney, but with more… Twitter stalking?

Rain World — Is this still coming??? This cat-slug game needs to be on the Vita.

So there’s my list! I’m sure I’m missing a few indies and perhaps a couple other titles, but I think I’ve at least covered the ones that look the most interesting to me. There are plenty of other confirmed releases that will please a lot of people though, including Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, World of Final Fantasy, Hyper Light Drifter, Odin Sphere, God Eater, Risk of Rain, Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme VS Force, Attack on Titan, Severed, Slain, Trails of Cold Steel II, Toukiden 2, Grand Kingdom, Day of the Tentacle, Axiom Verge, Darkest Dungeon, Lego The Avengers, Stranger of Sword City, and (potentially) XCom: Enemy Unknown Plus. Not too shabby of a lineup, right?