The sixth in a series of articles I’m planning on writing, looking at the output of a number of Vita-supporting developers from launch through to the present day. I’ll be examining what their history in the games industry is, what the games they released on Vita were, how these titles performed, what games they could have released on Vita as well as an overall conclusion about their level of Vita support.

After getting their start in the industry working closely with Sony on second-party titles, Media.Vision got their big break with Wild ARMs, a post-apocalyptic RPG series centred around saving a desolate world. While this became their bread and butter work for the next decade, over the past few years they’ve branched out significantly to become one of the most prolific Japanese work-for-hire studios – and this has included a major stint on Vita bringing with it some incredible titles.

History – a little bit of everything

As previously mentioned, Media.Vision’s history begins working with Sony on a number of titles which eventually led to their breakthrough – Wild ARMs.

Before this, they’d worked on two Japan-only dungeon crawlers known as Crime Crackers, as well as the scrolling shooter Rapid Reload (both of which are available on Japanese PSN, for what it’s worth). Yet it was Wild ARMs that really hit the big time – a pre-Final Fantasy VII RPG following a trio of heroes bound together by fate who quest to save the world of Filgaia from invading demons. Its puzzle-based dungeons, beautifully realised worlds and strategic turn-based combat earned it plenty of praise and a sea of fans both in Japan and overseas. It was quickly followed by a sequel set in the same world hundreds of years later (Wild ARMs 2) and both are available for Vita from the North American PSN store.

Over the next few years, Media.Vision shifted the series over to PS2 with the stunning western-inspired Wild ARMs 3, overlooked cyberpunk Wild ARMs 4 and anniversary celebration Wild ARMs 5. Unfortunately, the series effectively died after the release of Wild ARMs XF on PSP, an SRPG focusing on grid-based combat that was noted for its high level of difficulty – still, it’s a solid game in its own right and again playable on Vita through backwards-compatibility.

By 2008, the company were branching off in new directions – licenced tie-ins such as Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo proved popular but it was their mobile RPG series Chaos Rings that really got them attention. Famed for its (at the time) stunning production values, interesting plot and unique team-based combat, the franchise went on to encompass four different titles and although Chaos Rings III received a more muted reception than its predecessors, it was still noted for being a high-quality mobile RPG.

Later work included a number of contract projects for SEGA on PSP – aside from continuing their Valkyria Chronicles series with a third entry (which was sadly never localised despite often being cited as the best in the franchise), they also worked on Shining Blade and Shining Ark, two RPG’s in another long-running series that again stayed Japan-only.

Vita – chaos in the digital world

Media.Vision’s first Vita project came relatively late in the console’s life, namely the 2015 release of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, a brand new entry in the popular monster-raising franchise.

Designed exclusively for Vita (although it was later ported to other platforms), the game once again transported the player to the virtual world which has begun merging with the real world in strange and unpredictable ways. Working for a detective’s office to solve mysteries for various citizens of Shinjuku, the title offered a lengthy and deep RPG experience that was a hit with both reviewers and players – shifting 150k copies domestically and selling well overseas, it proved to be a defining moment for the series and re-established it as a major property for publisher Bandai-Namco.

It’s success ensured that Media.Vision were quickly contracted to produce a sequel – except in this case, it was more of a side-quel named Hacker’s Memory that took place during the events of Cyber Sleuth from a different perspective. Heavily reusing assets but introducing new digimon and story elements, it proved to be much less successful – selling a fraction of what Cyber Sleuth did and reviewing notably less well, but it was still a solidly-made JRPG that demonstrated what a mastery of the genre the company has (both games also have some of the most impressive graphics on Vita, showing just how skilled at using the hardware Media.Vision are).

Speaking of RPG’s, 2014 saw the release of Chaos Rings III: Prequel Trilogy, a collection of four titles in their previously-mobile-only Chaos Rings series. While it was ported by an external studio (Bullets) it brought a fantastic collection of Media.Vision titles to Vita. Despite their mobile roots, the games felt natural on Sony’s handheld and the newest entry (III) even felt like it was designed for Vita first, making them brilliant additions to the console’s library (it’s worth noting that while they weren’t localised, you can play the first three entries in English on a Japanese PSN account).

Summoning new revolutions on Vita and beyond

Thanks to their relationship with Bandai-Namco established by Digimon, Media.Vision were entrusted with another of the company’s IP’s in 2016 which sadly turned out to be less of a success story.

This was Summon Night 6, a strategy RPG and the first mainline entry since 2013’s Summon Night 5. On Vita, the experience was incredible – high level graphical effects, beautiful character models and a smooth framerate ensured that just as with Digimon, this was a tech showcase unlike almost anything else on the handheld. Sadly, it didn’t resonate with fans – domestic sales were poor for the series and in the west, the preceding entries not being localized (and 6 being a sort of anniversary celebration title) doomed it to relative obscurity (it appears to have somewhat tanked publisher Gaijinworks as well).

Similarly to how their partnership with Bandai-Namco flourished, Media.Vision also proved to be a valuable asset to publisher SEGA when they were given the keys to make a spin-off to the Valkyria franchise after their success with Valkyria Chronicles III. This was Valkyria Revolution which swapped strategic turn-based combat for more action-oriented systems which proved to be massively controversial with fans, earning it some very average reviews alongside poor sales (despite the developer implemented feedback gained from the demo). The Vita port was a late announcement but turned out to be technically quite impressive, as was becoming a habit for the company.

Sadly, although Media.Vision were contracted to make a new entry in the Shining series following on from Blade and Ark (this time called Resonance), it didn’t land on Vita – launching first on PS3, later on PS4 and Switch. It was a bizarre omission given how the previous entries had done well on Sony’s last handheld and how Vita was flourishing in Japan at the time. The game itself was an interesting Tales-lite action RPG with dating elements that had plenty of going for it aside from a few odd design choices, and it was the first entry in the franchise to come to the west in years.

Aside from their work on Shining, the company have been busy porting their Digimon games to PC and Switch and presumably working on a new entry too, which is likely to be a step above the Cyber Sleuth entries. They also undertook contracting work on Gravity Rush 2 for Sony (it’s a shame they weren’t allowed to create a Vita port) and Valkyria Chronicles 4 for SEGA – both games received rave reviews but sadly seemed to underperform in sales, an unfortunate trend for Media.Vision. Still, their innate talent as a developer appears to have ensured their future for many years to come.

Conclusion

A natural fit on Vita thanks to their skills at crafting engaging mid-budget JRPG’s, Media.Vision have been a permanent fixture on the handheld throughout its life and have undoubtedly enhanced its library in many great ways. Whether it be their surprisingly competent mobile series Chaos Rings making its way across or their ability to take an existing franchise in exciting new directions as with Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, their titles have been loved by fans and critics alike. Even those that failed to catch on in the mainstream still have their fans, such as Summon Night 6.

What I think Media.Vision will be remembered for on Vita is their technical prowess though – this is a developer who has clearly grasped how the handheld works and despite modest budgets, put out a handful of stunning looking titles. Even ports like Valkyria Revolution have had more effort put in than the majority in the handheld’s library and at a very late stage in its life – this is a company that cares about its fans, and those fans make sure they were rewarded for their efforts on Vita.