Exploring the Best Open World PS Vita Games: A Retrospective
When Sony first unveiled its next-generation portable device in 2011, promising a handheld system with unparalleled power, gamers worldwide held their breath. This device, later officially named PlayStation Vita, carried the bold tagline “console quality on the go.” It ignited hopes for a truly immersive, full open-world experience in the palm of your hand, something previous handhelds struggled to deliver beyond a few notable exceptions. For instance, the PSP had two fantastic Grand Theft Auto games, yet these titles often felt like throwbacks to the sixth console generation in terms of visuals and gameplay. Almost seven years after its debut, many enthusiasts still ponder: did the Vita truly deliver on its ambitious open-world promise?
The journey to fulfill this promise certainly brought forth a compelling selection of open-world PS Vita games. While the system faced various challenges, its library boasts several titles that pushed the boundaries of portable gaming. This comprehensive look delves into the most impressive open-world experiences available on the PlayStation Vita, reflecting on their strengths, unique features, and any performance trade-offs players encountered.
Unpacking the Promise: Console Quality, On the Go
The PlayStation Vita’s hardware specifications utterly eclipsed its competition, creating significant excitement. Gamers envisioned seamless transitions from their living room consoles to portable escapades, enjoying vast landscapes and complex narratives without compromise. Imagine carrying an entire open world, with all its secrets and missions, right in your pocket. This vision, while sometimes hindered by the realities of portable development and hardware limitations, inspired developers to craft ambitious titles for the platform.
The quest for “console quality” meant grappling with screen size, battery life, and processing power, often resulting in compromises in graphical fidelity or frame rates. Despite these hurdles, the sheer ambition behind many of these titles is truly commendable. They aimed to provide expansive digital playgrounds that offered genuine freedom and depth, a stark contrast to the more linear experiences typical of earlier handhelds.
The Essential Open World PS Vita Games
1. The Amazing Spider-Man (2013)
Swinging into action, The Amazing Spider-Man arrived on the Vita in 2013, approximately a year after its initial console launch. This Gameloft title served as an epilogue to Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man film reboot, placing Peter Parker in a New York City battling an outbreak and a delusional Oscorp director. While the narrative might not stand as one of Spidey’s most impactful outings, the core appeal of any Spider-Man game—the open-world web-slinging—returned in full force.
Navigating the game’s rendition of New York, even with its occasionally muddy visuals and choppy framerate, offers an undeniable thrill. Imagine effortlessly gliding between skyscrapers, chasing getaway cars through busy streets, or intervening in cop-criminal standoffs. The combat, a simplified version of the celebrated Batman Arkham system, involves button-mashing through enemies before executing web finishers, proving serviceable if somewhat unremarkable. For those willing to overlook its technical blemishes, The Amazing Spider-Man provides a perfectly fine, full Spider-Man experience on the go, complete with a large sandbox and numerous comic pages to collect.
2. Retro City Rampage
Retro City Rampage offers a delightful blast from the past, serving as a heartfelt homage to 8-bit video games and a clever parody of 80s and 90s pop culture. This top-down adventure effectively unleashes players into the vibrant city of Zepto Plus, inviting them to wreak delightful havoc. While a charming story exists, the game’s primary draw lies in its highly addictive gameplay loop and expansive world.
Exploring Zepto Plus in free roam feels incredibly rewarding, uncovering hidden arcade games and countless references to iconic franchises like Ghostbusters and the Ninja Turtles. The neat art style, with its vibrant visuals, truly pops on the Vita’s stunning OLED screen, ensuring the game feels like a proper throwback without ever seeming dated. As an indie title, Retro City Rampage provides a massive city to explore, packed with humor and endless fun, making it one of the most enjoyable experiences available on your Vita.
3. Jak Trilogy (Jak II and Jak 3)
Naughty Dog’s Jak trilogy, originally for the PS2, remains a cornerstone of PlayStation platforming history. While The Precursor Legacy leaned towards a more linear, story-driven approach, Jak II dramatically opened up the game world with the introduction of Haven City. This expansive sandbox allowed players to hijack vehicles and terrorize citizens in true GTA fashion, building up Jak’s notoriety through a system reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed.
Jak 3 further expanded this foundation, granting players access to two major cities and an entire wasteland filled with collectibles and side quests encouraging exploration. Unfortunately, these fantastic games suffer from significant performance issues on the Vita. All three titles run at a poor framerate and exhibit slightly degraded graphics compared to their PS2 counterparts, challenging the “console quality” promise. Loose controls in a platformer demanding precise movements can also frustrate players. Despite these challenges, those who persevere will discover three exceptional games, two of which offer richly explorable open worlds, even if the Vita port isn’t the definitive way to experience them.
4. Assassin’s Creed III Liberation
Assassin’s Creed III Liberation immerses players in a turbulent chapter of American history, leading into the American Revolution and set in the aftermath of the French and Indian War. Players step into the shoes of Aveline de Grandpré, an African-French assassin and the series’ first female protagonist. Starting in the bustling city of New Orleans, the game world gradually expands to include the Louisiana bayou and Chichen Itza, along with a brief detour to the American frontier.
The game world in Liberation offers engaging exploration, brimming with collectibles to find, various outfits and weapons to purchase, and even a trade mini-game. While it might feel somewhat less expansive than other mainline Assassin’s Creed installments—lacking hunting mechanics and extensive side quests—it still provides upwards of 15 hours of content for completionists. Liberation capably delivers a near-full Assassin’s Creed experience on the go, with gameplay that captures the familiar feel of the main series. It surpassed all prior attempts to bring the franchise to handhelds, solidifying its place as one of the Vita’s premier open-world games.
5. Dragon Quest Builders
Square Enix surprised many with Dragon Quest Builders, a sandbox RPG that drew immediate parallels to Minecraft. While some unfairly dismissed it as a mere clone, Builders forged its own distinct identity. The game tasks an unnamed protagonist with rebuilding the world of Alefgard from scratch, following an alternate ending to the original Dragon Quest. Players continually gather resources and construct buildings to establish a thriving town and kickstart a new civilization.
Despite its blocky aesthetic and deep crafting system, Builders distinguishes itself through its robust RPG elements. The world is populated with NPCs who offer simple quests and require protection, adding a compelling layer of interaction. While the story, combat, and crafting might seem simplistic by modern RPG standards, the game possesses an inherent charm. From its cartoonish takes on classic Dragon Quest foes to its humorous, reference-filled dialogue, Builders exudes a distinct personality. This vibrant and varied game world truly offers an experience anyone can enjoy, though dedicated Dragon Quest fans will undoubtedly find additional layers of delight.
6. Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition
Minecraft, a global phenomenon, needs little introduction. Few games have so effectively cultivated creativity among players as Mojang’s classic sandbox. Before the Nintendo Switch edition, the Vita version stood as the definitive way to experience Minecraft on the go. After enduring years of the severely limited Pocket Edition, fans finally received the full Minecraft experience on a handheld console with the PlayStation Vita edition.
While the draw distance saw a slight reduction and multiplayer capacity dropped from eight possible players to a maximum of four, the Vita edition otherwise mirrored the PS3 version. It even allowed saved worlds to transfer seamlessly between the two platforms, a fantastic feature for continuity. Imagine creating elaborate structures or exploring vast biomes with friends, all from the convenience of your Vita. Minecraft is the kind of essential game every console should possess, and its multiplayer mode stands as one of the most enjoyable experiences on the Vita.
7. Need for Speed Most Wanted
Easily the finest racing game on the system, Need for Speed Most Wanted invites players to explore Fairhaven City as they ascend the ranks of its most notorious racers. Beyond occasional “rubber banding” issues, the racing mechanics feel responsive and exhilarating. Although the graphics took a noticeable hit during its transition to the Vita, the game impressively maintains a steady framerate throughout its high-octane action.
Most Wanted packs over 60 unlockable cars, which players discover by finding “jackspots” scattered across the city. When not outrunning relentless police chases within the game’s expansive sandbox, players can set new records by smashing through billboards or speeding past numerous cameras. These activities, along with competitive races, are fully accessible with friends in the game’s multiplayer mode. Arguably one of the Vita’s best games, Most Wanted delivers everything one could desire from an open-world racing game on a portable console.
8. Terraria
While Terraria might initially appear as a 2D take on Minecraft, it offers a far more expansive and distinct experience. After customizing your character, you are immediately plunged into a procedurally generated world with three core objectives: to explore, to build, and to battle. Impressively, all these activities can be enjoyed in eight-player online co-op, adding a significant social dimension to the adventure.
The Vita version integrates genuinely useful touch controls for navigating inventory and crafting menus, enhancing the portable experience. When combined with the Vita’s vibrant OLED display, many consider this the definitive way to experience Terraria. The relentless drive to explore for new loot forms the heart of the game, yet its mechanics delve much deeper. You collect diverse resources, engage with a surprisingly intricate crafting system, and even construct a village, watching as NPCs gradually arrive to populate it. This huge game world provides an all-around fantastic open-world experience right in your hands.
9. Gravity Rush
Our runner-up for the best open-world Vita game, Gravity Rush, also stands as one of the system’s most iconic exclusives. While a remastered version later arrived on the PS4 in 2015, there was a time when Gravity Rush shone brightly as a Vita-only gem. It boasts a truly unique art style, an intriguing narrative, novel gameplay mechanics, and the captivating city of Hekseville to explore.
Hekseville itself is segmented into four distinct districts, each possessing its own unique aesthetic and ambient sounds. The differing personalities of these city sections evoke comparisons to the distinct feel of BioShock’s Rapture. Protagonist Kat’s ability to manipulate gravity, essentially allowing her to “fly” around the city in 0G, provides an incredibly novel method of traversing the game world. Hekseville is rich with challenges and a handful of engaging side missions that extend playtime well beyond the lengthy main story. Furthermore, three DLC packs each introduce two new side quests and challenge missions, expanding the adventure. Despite being somewhat light on side activities, Gravity Rush remains one of the Vita’s absolute best games, featuring a truly memorable and enjoyable open world.
10. Borderlands 2
Finally, we arrive at arguably one of the best games of the seventh console generation: Borderlands 2. This title stands as a perfect sequel, significantly amplifying the humor and loot-driven gameplay that defined its predecessor. When its Vita port was announced in 2014, many expressed skepticism regarding how developer Iron Galaxy could possibly bring a game renowned for its obscene amount of content to a portable system. Yet, by 2018, nearly the entire Borderlands 2 experience was available on the go.
While the Vita version undeniably suffered from inferior visuals and a less-than-stellar framerate, the fact that the game runs as well as it does is a testament to Iron Galaxy’s development prowess. Boasting six extensive DLC packs and PS3 cross-save functionality, Borderlands 2 on Vita promises to occupy players for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours. With scores of side quests and challenges to complete, countless locations to discover, and unique guns to collect, Borderlands 2 offers the quintessential open-world experience on the Vita. It represents one of the system’s most impressive technical feats, showcasing what dedicated developers could achieve even with hardware constraints.
Honorable Mentions: Nearly Open, Still Great
Several other titles offered compelling experiences that, while not strictly open-world, deserve recognition for their ambition and quality on the Vita. Firstly, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, a 2011 remaster of an Xbox classic, features Stranger the bounty hunter traversing new towns that become accessible over time. However, the game periodically locks off previously explored areas, preventing it from being a truly open-world title. Nevertheless, it remains a great port of an awesome game.
Secondly, the Dark Souls-inspired Salt and Sanctuary, one of Vita’s best games of 2017, provides a fantastic 2D RPG experience. While players can teleport and backtrack between locations, its Metroidvania structure makes it largely linear, disqualifying it from a pure open-world classification. Similarly, Muramasa Rebirth, another Vita gem, leans more into the Metroidvania genre despite its expansive feel. Lastly, Disney Infinity 2.0, a “toys-to-life” sandbox game, required external accessories but came with a starter pack including an exclusive Symbiote Spider-Man figure. Players could explore up to three distinct game worlds, swapping between iconic Marvel characters to tackle over 200 challenges. Despite occasional choppy framerates and mediocre visuals on Vita, exploring this cartoonish New York City and leveling up characters remained a fun diversion.
The Vita’s Open-World Legacy
The question remains: did the PlayStation Vita ultimately deliver on the open-world front? The system, though never receiving the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto Vita game, undeniably saw significant open-world entries from major franchises like Borderlands, Assassin’s Creed, and Minecraft. Yet, a considerable number of the games mentioned here contended with performance issues, including choppy framerates or graphical compromises. This reality somewhat challenged the system’s core promise of “console quality on the go,” often forcing players to accept visual and performance trade-offs for portability.
Looking back at the PlayStation Vita’s journey, from its 2011 unveiling to its library in 2018, many gamers feel content with the open world PS Vita games we ultimately received. While there is no denying the Vita could have offered even more in terms of expansive experiences, and the absence of that one “killer app” like a dedicated GTA title might have hindered its broader success, the curated selection of open-world titles showcases the incredible potential and unique appeal of portable gaming. The Vita carved out a distinctive niche, offering memorable experiences that continue to resonate with its dedicated fanbase.
