At first I thought that maybe I was too late to the party, but on the other hand, there’s a real good back catalogue of stuff that justify the purchase. I started out with:
KH: Birth By Sleep
Wild Arms: XF
Star Ocean: First Departure
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Future games I wish to get:
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
MGS: Portable Ops
The God of War Games just came out for the PS3, so I’m gonna get that one.
I’m open to recommendations
Ys3 and particularly Ys7 are FANTASTIC top down action RPGs. I give these 2 the strongest recommendation. The music is fantastic, the graphics are nice and the gameplay is very fun. I personally think they’re more fun than God of War and I think God of War is actually already quite good. So definitely go for those as well.
Also by Nihon Falcom (the guys who made Ys) is a series called The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. I want to and intend to but I can’t comment specifically.
Tactics Ogre is a fantastic remake of the original. It corrects many of the original’s problems (first and foremost removing the need to grind). If you like tactical RPGs, you’re in for a good 100 hours with the sheer amount of content in this game. If you’ve never played this before, definitely get it.
The FFT remake is very good. I find the PSP adapted soundtrack is about 95% as good as the PSX’. The cut scenes are nice. The only thing that bugged me is that they added a bit more content to Delita’s backstory to make him seem like a nicer person. I thought this was unfortunate because one of the things I loved about Delita in the original (which made it controversial) was this nuance and grey to his character. He wasn’t clean and I felt that added depth. Other than that, the game’s great. They didn’t alter the gameplay to make it less grindy like they did with TO however… But I never really had to grind in FFT anyway. I could finish the game at level 25ish, though in part that’s because I know how to break the system.
I’m glad you got Wild Arms XF. I personally loved the game, but I understand that it is a polarizing game. Its part puzzle part strategy and the unusual nature of the combat gives it a steep learning curve. I felt it was a really interesting way to convert everything about WA and WA gameplay into a strategy game. I thought the music and graphical style were amazing. The story dragged on a little towards the end, but it was good. If you’re used to Wild Arms, then you have an idea of what kinds of things to expect.
I found FF7 CC to be a pretentious, non-sensical disaster that didn’t explain anything. The graphics were pretty but the environments were heavily recycled, a bit like in Dragon Age 2. FF7 AC is all style, no substance. So you’re warned about that.
I started Metal Gear Peace Walker, but never got around to finishing it. Its classic hideo kojima metal gear with terrible gameplay because of the limited PSP controls. If you like MG ala Kojima, you’ll like this. Not quite sure why you’d want portable ops over that.
If you really want to play lunar, save yourself the headache and play the Working Designs versions. They’re the best. They were released on PSX.
Edit : if you’re a fan of the series, Valkyria Chronicles has a couple games on PSP, though I haven’t played them. I read they were more like the anime than the original game, which meant with more teenage drama. It made it lower on my priority list.
I’d heard about XF being a strategy game. I’d totally forgotten about it til I got it. I got it cos it was WA, I haven’t played a WA game past the 3rd one and it was 8 bucks.
I’ll pass on CC
I’ve already played and loved the PS version of Lunar SSSC, and I heard the new changes made to Harmony make it worth picking up. I’ve been wanting to play it since
I chose Portable Ops over Peace Walker because PW is included in the HD collection which I plan on buying in November, and because of the story. I heard the controls are horrible, but I’m willing to deal.
From what you say about the FFT remake, it doesn’t sound like it’s worth visiting. I also heard that the enemies don’t level with you which takes away some of the uniqueness and much of the challenge (even though you were able to break it, but whatever).
My roommate has TO, so I’ll probably get around to it sooner or later.
Does the new Ys games do that collide into enemies thing? I heard that was a series staple and found it lame and never bothered to touch a single game as a result.
I don’t know what you mean about your collide into enemies thing. The series is amazing. Its as good as it gets for action RPGs.
You attack them by running into them, I dunno. You dont just swing your sword at them, what do you call it?
I think DR is talking about Ys I and II and their “bump system” (that’s how the remakes are on the PSP, at least, if I’m not mistaken).
But no, Ys 3 and 7 are not like that and I totally second Sin’s recommendation of those games. Both games are actually quite different. I played 7 before 3, but I’m not sure if it would’ve been better to do the opposite. 3 is a fast-paced action/adventure game where you actually hit enemies with your sword (convincing description, I know :D). It’s old school and can be surprisingly hard sometimes (grinding may be required), but you can adjust the difficulty level and the soundtrack is so good that it doesn’t matter. Seven is more like a regular action JRPG where you have up to 3 party members and can switch between them during battles (you directly hit enemies with your weapons too). The boss fights are really fun and the soundtrack is awesome. There’s a bit of backtracking at some point and a few puzzles (and corny dialogue), but I didn’t mind that and overall, it’s definitely one of the funnest games I’ve played on the PSP.
This pretty much sums up everything having to do with the FFVII compilation on the whole.
It’s too bad we aren’t likely to get VC3 since it goes back to the war drama/Fire Emblem style plot that the first game used rather than the (name a generic anime released within the last 5 years) plot that VC2 uses and Sega’s pissed that nobody wanted to get VC2 (except through illicit means according to them).
And speaking of games to avoid, The 3rd Birthday. If you’re looking for MGS:Peace Walker sans Snake and Kojima and don’t mind painfully gratuitous cheezecaik and a nonsensical plot then you’re in luck. If you liked either of the first two Parasite Eve’s then avoid like the plague since it tops Metroid: Other M in terms of outright character assassination and there isn’t enough gameplay to offset that.
Also I’ll +1 the suggestions to pick up Ys 3 & 7 and Legend of Heroes VI part 1.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I was talking about. Since Ys III and VII don’t play like that I will pick them up.
Maybe for the better controls? But I haven’t played peace walker so I don’t know.
I’ll throw in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. It involves using your left pointer finger on the D-pad so you can control your character with the analog thing while you point the camera in the right direction. Triangle is the primary attack button when you are using great swords and long swords, so you’ll end up pressing that a whole bunch; you’ll also have to press circle -the secondary attack- to make combos. You’ll definitely need to press R a lot. And X, you’ll need that one for dodging. It’s great for multiplayer, if you have other friends who have it, or a ps3 with a wired connection, though I don’t suggest doing it until much later in the game, that way you don’t become dependent. Also, if you are expert enough, you can use Xlink Kai for multi player. I also like to press select every now and then, just to see what it does. It doesn’t do too much.
As for the PSP itself, I would suggest hacking it if you have the right model. There is literally no reason not to. You’ll be able to take screen shots, listen to your own music during gameplay, cheat if you are a disgusting pig, and play any ps1 game you have sitting around your house off of your memory card. And that’s not all! Buy in now and receive a discount on start up times. Wait! That’s not all! If you have custom firmware, you can take control of your psp’s CPU and adjust it to your liking! Browse the contents of your memory card and move files, even unzip them, all without the bulk of a desktop computer! That’s not all!!! If you order now, we’ll throw in the entire PSP library FREE! That’s a $6700.00 value absolutely yours at no extra cost!
That’s it? Surely there’s more? I’m not quite convinced yet.
I have a PSP-3000 (well, it says 3001 on the bottom of mine), with 6.60 software. It looks like it’s not as easy with this one than the 2000 and before.
Metal Gear, obviously.
Tough luck, cucumber.
Still, go with Monster hunter. You are a contract killer for dragons and other monsters. I can’t really say much about it, I don’t know why.
From what I’ve read lately, you can hack pretty much any PSP now. The only real factor is whatever firmware it has on it. GSG summarized it pretty well.
Don’t really have recommendations other than Monster Hunter and Trails in the Sky. I still need to get a PSP. 
I use mine mainly for PS1 classics. It kind of collects dust.