All this week, we’ve brought you our most wanted games of 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC. Our latest look at the upcoming games of 2011 is the PlayStation Portable. While many companies have seemingly abandoned PlayStation’s handheld, there’s still a ravenous fanbase around it and companies like Capcom, Square Enix and NIS are still keeping the thing alive.
So join myself along with Josh Tolentino as we look at some of the best that the PSP has to offer for 2011 and be sure to tell use what you’re looking forward to too!
Hamza Aziz
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (PSP)
Developer: ???
Publisher: Namco Bandai
To be released: 2011
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was a stellar anime series, and so much better than the original show. The story was great, the animation is beautiful and the fights were just brutal. As great as the series was, I still want more from the universe so it’s great that a game based on Brotherhood will be heading stateside eventually.
Getting to control all the different characters should be plenty of fun too. I’m looking forward to the Greed vs Wrath battles especially.
Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! (PSP, PSN)
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software Inc
Publisher: NIS America
To be released: January 11, 2011
The whole premise behind the new Prinny is that someone has stolen Etna’s panties and it’s up to the Prinny army to recover them. Seriously dood! The last Prinny game was well known for its difficulty but this time around there’s a new difficulty called “Baby mode” to make things easier for players. Especially funny is that your health icon is represented by diapers if you play on baby difficulty.
That’s not all! There’s a whole other “game” in Prinny 2 where you play as a special Prinny named Asagi that has more weapons and abilities at her disposal than her Prinny counterparts. She even has a cat gun weapon thing.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (PSP, PSN)
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
To be released: March 3, 2011 (JP) / March 25, 2011 (EU) / Spring 2011 (NA)
What do you do when you have a bloated franchise and want to make some easy money? Why you slap all the major characters together into one game and have them fight, that’s what! Dissidia 012 is the prequel sequel to last year’s Dissidia and the story follows some of the new characters appearing in the game such as Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VIII and Vaan from Final Fantasy XII.
So far all we know about the plot is that it will be explained why these new characters never appeared in the original Dissidia. That sounds really stupid yet I’m sure I’ll like this more than Final Fantasy XIII.
Half-Minute Hero Second (PSP)
Developer: Marvelous Entertainment
Publisher: XSEED Games
To be released: TBA
I have a hard time getting into role-playing games as I just don’t have time to waste my life at grinding, grinding and more grinding! That’s why the original Half-Minute Hero was so brilliant. In just 30 seconds, you grind, do a quest, buy a weapon and beat the boss. It’s as simple as that and yet there’s so much more here. Above all else, Half-Minute Hero is a charming experience.
Half-Minute Hero Second offers more 30 second adventures, four-player multiplayer and the ability to create your own quests. Fingers crossed that XSEED brings the game out outside of Japan.
(Parasite Eve) The 3rd Birthday (PSP)
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
To be released: Q1 2011 (NA) / Q1 2011 (EU)
I’m most excited for The 3rd Birthday out of all the games on this list. The original Parasite Eve games for the PlayStation were such a memorable experience, mostly because my young mind was fascinated by the horrific (for a kid) visuals.
The 3rd Birthday’s plot sounds like one of the most twisted I’ve seen in a game yet too. Aya has lost her memories and she doesn’t really have an idea of why she’s fighting. Plus she now has the ability to swap bodies with others.
The 3rd Birthday was announced way back in 2007 and just recently came out in Japan. Hopefully the wait won’t be much longer for America and Euro audiences.
Josh Tolentino
Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (Monster Hunter Portable 3rd) (PSP)
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
To be released: 2011
You know it. I know it. We all know it. The Monster Hunter franchise is almost single-handedly responsible for the PSP’s renaissance and continuing domination of hardware charts in Japan. And for good reason, for they’ve given the experience of killing large monsters and wearing their hides its most comprehensive simulation yet. Or so the players who’ve happily poured hundreds of hours into the game believe.
And if the reactions to Monster Hunter’s third PSP outing across the pond are any indication, putting it on this list is a no-brainer.
God Eater Burst (PSP)
Developer: Shift
Publisher: D3 Publisher
To be released: March 8, 2011 (NA) / TBA 2011 (JP)
Want the Monster Hunter experience without all that goofy medieval fantasy vibe? Prefer an edgier, grittier, more cosplay-friendly atmosphere? Namco Bandai and D3 Publisher have your back, with God Eater Burst. Set in a post-apocalyptic world infested by “Aragami” beasts cribbed from the Shin Megami Tensei school of creature design, fashionably-dressed players will, er, hunt monsters with their God Arcs, weapons that can transform into guns, giant swords, or monsters themselves.
Besides the whole new look, God Eater Burst also promises a more directed single-player narrative, as well as all the improvements and DLC added onto the game since its original Japanese release.
Valkyria Chronicles 3 (Sega)
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
To be released: January 27, 2011 (JP)
If there’s any game out there to prove that handheld games aren’t some kind of design ghetto compared to their “big boy” console counterparts, it’d probably be Valkyria Chronicles 2, which I thought was even better than its PS3 predecessor.
For those who didn’t quite agree with me, know that this one will be hewing closer to the traits that marked the original Valkyria Chronicles as one of the best strategy games around. Better visuals, stronger stories, and an exploration of the darker side of wartime Gallia all await Japanese players in January, and English-speaking players whenever Sega sees fit to announce Valkyria Chronicles 3 release.
Hurry up, Sega!
Patapon 3
Developer: Pyramid
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
To be released: March 9, 2011 (NA) / April 6, 2011 (AUS) / TBA 2011 (EU)
It’s been years, and there’s still no game quite like Patapon. Its amazing aesthetic and mix of rhythm and tactical gameplay ensured the game a lasting place as on one of the PSP’s greatest offerings. From the looks of Patapon 3, the victory drums might set the beat a third time, with expanded eight-player co-op and improved character progression. Also, it turns the player into a superhero Patapon. Game of the year confirmed.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
To be released: February 15, 2011
Before there were tactical games like Valkyria Chronicles, there were tactical games like Final Fantasy Tactics. Before that, there was Tactics Ogre. Let Us Cling Together is a re-imagining of that very first Tactics Ogre game, except now you don’t need to shell out mad bank for an original SNES copy or use shady emulators and fan translations.
Still helmed by series creator (and Final Fantasy Tactics creator) Yasumi Matsuno, the game features new characters, gameplay refinements, updated visuals, scenarios, and a crisp new localization. Come February, it’ll be the best way to play one of the games that kick-started an entire genre.
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Additional staff picks for the PlayStation Portable:
Colette Bennett: Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday
Jonathan Holmes: Monster Hunter 3rd
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This is just a selection of our most anticipated games for the PlayStation Portable. There are a ton of great games coming out next year, and we want to hear from you what YOUR most wanted PSP game of 2011 is (use this giant list to help you figure out what’s coming out.) Leave a comment telling us the games you want the most, and we’ll tally up your votes to reveal on Monday what the most anticipated games of 2011 are from the Destructoid community.
