PSP RPGs No One Remembers

Summary

The PSP had a great library of RPG games, including Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.
Some lesser-known RPG games on the PSP, like Astonishia Story and Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light, were forgettable due to average graphics and gameplay.
Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony and Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade are enjoyable hack-and-slash RPGs with multiplayer features.

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) was a great handheld for Sony’s first attempt. It ruled the streets in Japan thanks to a bunch of Monster Hunter titles. Unfortunately, the PSP did not do that well outside of Japan. As a result, a majority of its library remains obscure to PlayStation fans, which is unfortunate because there were a lot of great games.

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A lot of the games, like various RPGs, still hold up too, like Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Those two examples got HD versions whereas these other RPGs didn’t. They were released early in the console life cycle too, which is probably why they have been forgotten over time. The big question is: should they have been remembered?

6 Astonishia Story

Metacritic: 48

Astonishia Story is one of many games on the PSP that was a port of a much older title. The game was originally released for PC in Korea of all places, making it unique in the gaming space. It took over a decade to leave, but the remake did eventually hit North America in 2006. It’s a fairly generic fantasy RPG story with the main character, Lloyd, being a soldier in an army fighting against monsters.

Players can see enemies on a world map and engage them like most RPGs of the era. The game then turns into a tactical RPG with a grid-based system when combat starts. The combat is nothing to write home about, nor are the graphics, which is probably why it received negative reviews upon its worldwide launch. Playing it now years later, it’s not that bad, but it is forgettable.

5 Blade Dancer: Lineage Of Light

Metacritic: 60

Fighting enemies in Blade Dancer Lineage of Light

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light was another RPG released on the PSP in 2006, but this one was exclusive to the system. It began as many RPGs do, with a young warrior, Lance, sailing into town aboard a ship. He’s looking for adventure and players can campaign around town looking for quests.

To its credit, players can skip right to the action whenever they want without being bogged down by lengthy cutscenes. Monsters in the field are represented by skulls, and battles are classically turn-based without a lot of flair to them. It didn’t push the genre forward, but that’s the case with many games in a console’s lifecycle.

4 Dungeon Siege: Throne Of Agony

Metacritic: 74

Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is a spinoff from the popular RPG series for the PC. It differed in that it gave players a more up-close and personal feeling when dealing with enemies. It’s a hack-and-slash looter RPG that would feel at home in any Diablo fan’s collection.

Players could choose between three characters at the start: Mogrim the Warlord, Serin the Shadow Stalker, and Allister the Battle Mage. For a handheld action RPG, it’s still quite enjoyable despite the basic mechanics and lack of a thorough narrative. It has multiplayer too, which is how many looter RPGs survive.

3 Kingdom Of Paradise

Metacritic: 72

Kingdom of Paradise is one of the oldest games on this list, as it launched in 2005. Despite the generic name, this is one of the most compelling early RPGs on the PSP. One of the biggest reasons is because it touches on a particular subject, Chinese lore, not found in a lot of RPGs, or games in general outside of the Dynasty Warriors franchise. Much like that franchise, Kingdom of Paradise is also an action RPG.

Players begin as Shinbu who is accompanied by Sui Lin on a quest for redemption and revenge. There was a sequel/prequel after this, but it was only released in Japan, Korea, and China. The gameplay is nothing mesmerizing, but it is engaging enough and the game overall still looks good, especially in the cutscenes with the in-game models.

2 The Lord Of The Rings: Tactics

Metacritic: 64

Fighting enemies in The Lord Of The Rings Tactics

When it comes to games based on The Lord of the Rings, most think about the tie-ins that came out alongside the second and third movies; fun action RPGs that incorporated clips from the movies well. The Lord of the Rings: Tactics, then, is probably a game that slipped through the cracks, but it is also based on the movies, even though it didn’t come out until 2005.

Metal Gear and Final Fantasy character art

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Players will go through iconic battles from the film trilogy, playing as Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, and so on. There are two phases to combat: Players first choose where to move, and then they can decide on actions. All characters move and act as one, giving battles a more cinematic feel. It’s not the most in-depth tactical RPG out there but it is fun to go through these aforementioned battles in a new way.

1 Untold Legends: Brotherhood Of The Blade

Metacritic: 68

Fighting enemies in Untold Legends Brotherhood Of The Blade

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is the first game in what would become a trilogy of PlayStation exclusives. It seemed like an attempt to make a new series akin to Champions of Norrath which was huge on PS2. There were two games on PSP along with a PS3 experience. This 2005 initial entry is a hack-and-slash dungeon crawler that Diablo fans would also enjoy, just like Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony.

In this action RPG, players don’t play as named warriors and instead go through a stock of four classes. They can choose to create an Alchemist, Druid, Knight, or Berserker. Also like Throne of Agony, Untold Legends: Brotherhood of The Blade has multiplayer for all of that co-op goodness. The biggest difference between the two is that this game is played from a pulled-back, top-down perspective.

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