The PlayStation Portable was released in Japan, the US, and Europe across 2004 and 2005, and Sony’s first portable PlayStation console was a hit from the start. The PSP would effectively become a portable PlayStation 2 in terms of power and potential, and this is expressed clearly in the staggering list of games released for the console during its lifetime.
One of its strongest genres that the PSP had to offer would have to be RPGs. The PS1 and PS2 both had strong RPG libraries, so it’s not a huge surprise that the PSP saw numerous excellent RPG releases, covering original releases, ports, and spinoffs/sequels to major franchises. As we take a closer look at the best PSP RPGs, you can see just how much there was for a fan to enjoy.
10. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Keeping up with the entire Kingdom Hearts canon can feel like it’s almost impossible from a playing games standpoint, but thankfully Birth by Sleep ultimately doesn’t demand too much. At most, it helps to be familiar with the first two mainline games, but something as good as Birth by Sleep shines through regardless.
Set 10 years before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts, Birth by Sleep is another hack-and-slash action RPG with a few differences from other entries. For example, instead of Magic Points, you have the Focus system, which can be used to perform special techniques. The gameplay has the same sort of appeal that makes Kingdom Heart so addicting in the first place, and the narrative is fairly easy to grasp, at least by Kingdom Hearts standards anyway. The story breaks down into three scenarios focusing on the journeys of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, but you can expect to meet a slew of familiar faces along the way.
Birth by Sleep provides an abridged-but-surprisingly deep action RPG experience on the PlayStation Portable. Whether you know the lore or not, it’s an immersive, satisfying game.
9. Brave Story: New Traveler
Developer: Game Republic
Publisher: Xseed Games
A young boy named Tatsuya must travel to an unknown world to obtain the 5 gems needed for the Traveler’s Sword in Brave Story: New Traveler. Loosely based on a manga and book series, what New Traveler lacks in innovation it makes up for with a perfectly constructed RPG adventure that quite frankly still looks and plays great.
Brave Story: New Traveler has you exploring the mysterious world of Vision. Here is where you’re going to meet interesting individuals and potential party members. There’s a lot to explore here, with the game time clocking in at around 16-20 hours. Experienced RPG players will be able to get a grip on this game in just a few minutes, as the game is seemingly designed on a certain level for newcomers to the genre. Everything from inventory management to turn-based combat is pretty simple. It also seems as though Brave Story: New Traveler was made with the PSP itself in mind, with its shorter playtime and gameplay designed to be enjoyed in short bursts.
Whether or not the game was deliberately made with newcomers in mind, the character designs, world-building, and charming dialog all contribute to the sheer joy anyone will experience playing through Brave Story: New Traveler. Straightforward, yes. Boring? Not at all. This is a must-play gem that deserves to make a comeback.
8. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Developer: tri-Ace
Publisher: Square Enix
A port of the PS1 classic with some new cut scenes included, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth offers a way to play one of the most challenging RPGs of its time. Graphically the game still looks strong, with striking character designs and monsters filling up a world that visually reaches the mythical ideals of its story.
Everything that made Valkyrie Profile a unique RPG experience on the PS1 has been recreated here. Players once again assume the role of Lenneth, who must recruit soldiers to fight for the gods during Ragnarok. Recruiting is standard stuff for a JRPG, but Valkyrie Profile takes things in a different direction by having you experience the final moments of the dead warriors you’re bringing to Odin’s cause. The game is filled with unique touches like this, including Lenneth’s Transmutation ability that converts items you find into the essential tools and equipment you really need.
You’ve also got the ability to go your own way, even against the wishes of the gods themselves. This gives Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth an element of chaos that pervades every dungeon and other dangerous locale you explore. It’s still an unpredictable, riveting game.
7. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a brilliant prequel set six years before the events of the main game, focusing on the story of Zach Fair and what he learns about his employer Shin-Ra. Despite the fact that most of us playing this game know all about Shin-Ra, the game does an exceptional job of building tension while adding further shades of evil to these savage capitalists and their brutal regime.
It’s often been said that Crisis Core is a good example of how to make a good prequel to a beloved release. There’s a lot of truth to that with the way Crisis Core gives us new characters and a highly emotional story that feels very much part of this world we’ve been to before. There’s plenty of references to the game we know and love, but they’re well-handled in this fun-to-play action RPG, featuring a new turn-based fighting system known as Digital Mind Wave. The game may look familiar, but this combat system is one of the many ways Crisis Core was something special that succeeds on its own terms.
6. Jeanne D’Arc
Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Sony
A tactical role playing game unlike any other, Jeanne D’Arc is a PlayStation Portable favorite from developer Level-5 that combines medieval history with fantasy elements and Anime tropes to create something that pulls you right into the story and its characters and aesthetic.
Set during the Hundred Years War between France and England, Jeanne D’Arc has you assuming the role of a young girl Jeanne. A chance encounter with a magical armlet thrusts Jeanne into a massive conflict that will see her become a unifying force for peace and justice. You don’t need to be familiar with any of the source material to get into the plot and players in this sweeping drama, but it might enhance the experience to some degree.
Jeanne D’Arc features dragons, demons, magic, and everything else you might expect from a tactical RPG set in a fantasy realm. The combat system will be familiar to fans of this genre, with long, drawn-out battles that demand discipline and an eye for micromanagement. If that sounds good to you, you’re going to love Jeanne D’Arc on the PSP as much as we did.
5. Ys Seven
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: XSEED Games
A beloved, somewhat underappreciated RPG series that began on PCs back in 1987, Ys Seven was one of its most ambitious entries to date. You and your dog are just traveling, seeking adventure, and soon you’ll find yourself running afoul of local authorities, and becoming drawn to a deeper mystery concerning earthquakes in the region. It’s an excellent story that stands on its own, despite being a direct sequel to Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (also available for PSP, as well as PS2, so there’s that). Ys Seven presents you with a visually striking, varied, and engaging world to explore. It’s impressive how much there is to see and do here.
Ys Seven isn’t just about its good story and character development, combined with an adventure that truly feels epic. The gameplay leans heavily into action RPGs and has always been one of the strong points of this series. The three-member party system however is a new addition, and it pairs well with the dodging and slashing you’ve come to expect from this long line of games.
Ys Seven could very easily serve as an ideal entry point for getting into this series. Its graphics, music, and gameplay are as impressive as ever.
4. PoPoLoCrois
Developer: G-artists
Publisher: Sony
PoPoLoCrois is as bright and adorable as anything you’re going to come across. With cheerful, round designs and colorful towns and dungeons, the game at first glance looks downright out of place with some of the other PSP RPGs we’ve covered so far. But don’t let that stop you from playing across the three stories that make up this cel-shaded, surprisingly detailed mini classic. PoPoLoCrois is unlike anything else on the PlayStation Portable, hiding some unique gameplay and combat choices under its retro choices.
PoPoLoCrois doesn’t shift to a new battle screen, but rather plays out exactly where you’ve encountered the monster. These turn-based battles are simple enough, but with the inclusion of a strategy RPG grid that gives you a lot more control over how the battle unfolds. PoPoLoCrois also features some of the longest boss battles you’ve ever encountered, so get ready to dig in for the long haul more often than not, as you assume the role of Prince Pinon in his effort to save his mother and the entire kingdom.
That last part can sound horrifying to some, but for those who want a game that looks very different from the depth of its gameplay, PoPoLoCrois is an essential title to add to your PSP collection.
3. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: Xseed Games
The first of a series that spun off from the excellent Legend of Heroes saga, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is another PSP JRPG that really drives home why JRPG fans did so well with Sony’s first handheld. A young girl named Estelle and her adopted brother Joshua come from the home of a famous adventurer, part of a guild known as The Bracers. These are the heroes who defend the land, protect the citizens, and earn as much money from their good deeds as possible. When their father disappears, it’s up to Estelle and Joshua to take over the mantle, earn the respect of the town, and unravel an elaborate, dark conspiracy.
With a strong story at its foundation, Trails in the Sky utilizes a turn-based grid-style RPG that really rewards you for engaging with the NPCs and your surroundings over the course of your adventure. You’ll also find yourself recruiting various characters over the course of a journey that’s broken up into a prologue and four chapters.
The game certainly gives you a lot to do. The sheer variety of quests, ranging from simple fetch tasks to fighting difficult monsters, gives The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky a lot to keep you busy, but it’s the stories branching off from our main thread that really gives Trails in the Sky its own identity.
2. Persona 3 Portable
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Persona 3 Portable couldn’t hope to have absolutely everything found in one of the most packed PS2 RPGs of all time. Persona 3 was at that point a massive experience, and yet Persona 3 Portable nevertheless covers a lot of ground found in the original.
Persona 3 Portable also succeeds at bringing its own ideas and perks to its story of a high school student who joins a group of student investigators known as SEES. These students find themselves with the ability to enter a mysterious tower known as Tartarus in a temporal anomaly known as The Dark Hour. Simple enough, but if you know the Shin Megami Tensei series, then you know the Persona games take religious nightmare fuel and tough enemies to new extremes. Running side by side with the RPG elements is a simulation game in which you must keep going to school and building relationships with your fellow students and teammates. This is just one of the ways your battle experience can be highly influenced by the world around you.
Persona 3 Portable starts off strong by letting players pick a gender for their character, and yes, it matters which gender you choose. By choosing the female character, you can explore story beats and scenes not found in the original Persona 3. This is how Persona 3 Portable serves to make a great thing somehow even greater and is far more than just a port.
1. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Even the most ardent Final Fantasy Tactics fan will tell you that the 1997 PS1 classic could have used some quality-of-life improvements as time went on. The 2009 update managed to get everything right in this regard, leaving us with a dramatically improved tactical RPG masterclass in character recruitment, strategy, and item management. The anime-style cutscenes also prove just how powerful the PSP could be. The War of the Lions begins with a new, better translation, while the controls have also gone through some changes. The end result is ultimately a more streamlined experience that should make the game a little easier for beginners to grasp.
But only a little, as this is still one of the most challenging and time-consuming RPGs in the lifespan of the PS1, which means it’s also one of the most challenging and time-consuming RPGs for the PlayStation Portable, as well.
Yet while the game is filled with improvements small and large, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is still fundamentally its PS1 original. A game of epic betrayal, war between nations, love, courage, magic, and other themes that provide the foundation for the best Final Fantasy games. The War of the Lions has all of that, with enough grindy gameplay and customization to keep you busy for a very, very long time.
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