Summary
- The PS Vita was often seen as a device for "hardcore" gamers, resulting in the release of difficult and brutal games.
- Genkai Tokki: Moero Chronicle and Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines were some of the hardest games on the PS Vita.
- The Hungry Horde provided a unique gameplay experience as players took on the role of the undead, but it was also challenging.
After the enormous success of the PSP, Sony was dedicated to try and maintain this momentum with the release of the PS Vita in 2012, a much more technically impressive version of its predecessor which was a huge upgrade in every department. At the time of its release, the Vita was going up against Nintendo's mighty 3DS, an innovative device that was catching the attention of many casual gamers because of its large library of first-party titles and DS re-releases.
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Because of this, the PS Vita was often seen as a device directed more towards "hardcore" gamers, and what this resulted in was some very difficult, and even downright brutal, games being released by Sony throughout the system's lifespan. Sony made sure to put as much effort as possible into bulking up the PS Vita's exclusive library of games, but when it came to overall challenge, these games listed below were by far the hardest of the bunch.
6 Genkai Tokki: Moero Chronicle
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.16
- Developer: Compile Heart
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release Date: 2015
Genkai Tokki: Moero Chronicle is a colorful and vibrant dungeon crawler that, initially, seems fairly straightforward in its mechanics and core gameplay, but the game quickly ramps up its difficulty once players get past the first few hours. The enemy "monster girls" that will show up to stop the party in their tracks start off simple enough, but because they'll gradually begin dropping fewer items, and rewarding less EXP points, it can end up making the experience very grind-heavy.
Because the player also needs to pretty much guess what a monster's weakness is going to be, this often gets in the way of the Aura combo mechanic, which becomes more or less essential for taking down tougher enemies. Those experienced with dungeon crawler RPGs will definitely find Moero Chronicle to be a manageable experience, but it can be much more daunting for newcomers.
5 Soul Sacrifice
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.27
- Developer: Marvelous AQL / Japan Studio
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release Date: 2013
Soul Sacrifice is a fun and incredibly addictive third-person action-adventure title which places the player in the shoes of an innocent civilian who has been enslaved by the evil Magusar, a demonic sorcerer whose motives remain hidden for much of the game. After managing to break away from the sorcerer's control by entering another person's memories, the protagonist is able to gain the experience and equipment needed to hopefully take down Magusar for good, but this journey is far from easy.
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The core gameplay isn't too out of the ordinary for most games in the genre, but the one thing that makes it so much harder than its peers, aside from the sheer number of enemies that appear on-screen at once, is the Sacrifice mechanic. When an ally falls in combat, players will be able to either bring them back to life by giving away a chunk of their own life bar, or they can sacrifice them to create a devastating spell which can clear out entire hordes of enemies at once. Depending on how generous the player decides to be, the game can become incredibly challenging, especially when they eventually need to start sacrificing parts of their own body when there are no more allies left lying around for them to absorb.
4 Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.27
- Developer: Alfa System
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release Date: 2015
After an agonizing fifteen year wait, fans of the classic PlayStation title Ore no Shikabane were finally treated to a dedicated sequel that dropped for the PS Vita in 2014, and just like its predecessor, it became very well known for its high degree of challenge. While the game does feature basic RPG elements like leveling up and a pretty complex job system, it primarily revolves around a generational mechanic where the player is tasked with marrying deities and producing more children to keep the game going.
Since each character can only stay alive for two in-game years, it creates a sense of urgency which means the player never has time to relax, especially when they've formed a family big enough to where they start having family duties to take care of. The game is incredibly unique in its gameplay, but there's no denying that its mechanics can be quite challenging to get used to, especially when the enemies are already so aggressive.
3 No Heroes Allowed! No Puzzles Either!
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.28
- Developer: SEAStories Studio
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release Date: 2013
Tile-matching games have always been known to be pretty challenging, requiring the player to have quick-reflexes and precise timing in order to rack up a high score, but No Heroes Allowed! Takes this to a whole new level. After the evil Badman is forced underground to protect himself from the legion of oncoming Heroes, the player must act as his savior, summoning fearsome demons and monsters to hold off the righteous knights until Bedman is able to restore enough strength to send them packing for good.
The "summoning" happens through the puzzle gameplay, but because of how insanely fast the tiles actually fall, and how easy it is to make a simple slip-up which can ruin a combo, it means that the game feels difficult right from the get-go. Players will also need to be pretty snappy about lining up their monsters, since the hero can always be seen looming closer on the left side of the screen, resulting in a fun, frantic, and incredibly difficult puzzle game that never pulls its punches.
2 Freedom Wars
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.82
- Developer: Japan Studio / Dimps
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release Date: 2014
Freedom Wars actually starts out fairly easy, giving the player a few very basic arenas to clear out with their large arsenal of weapons, but it's not long before the game becomes brutally difficult, especially with just how frankly absurd some of the enemy health bars are. Not only do the seemingly infinite hordes of enemies feel as durable as a Final Fantasy mini-boss, they all also pack one hell of a punch, and because of how tight and constrained a lot of the environments are, it means the player will be receiving damage at an alarming rate throughout a playthrough.
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While the equipment can definitely help make encounters a lot easier, it's also necessary to have the right tools and gadgets for the right bosses, otherwise, they will be capable of one-hitting the player with a single attack. In fact, when Freedom Wars was first released in Japan, the developers were forced to bring out a patch to lower the difficulty, but even now, it's still considered to be one of the most challenging games for the PS Vita.
1 The Hungry Horde
Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.82
- Developer: Nosebleed Interactive
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release Date: 2014
Rather than placing the player in the shoes of a survivor desperately trying to stay alive in the middle of a zombie outbreak, The Hungry Horde instead allows them to take the role of the undead who must seek out as many humans as possible to stay "alive." When the player spawns into a level, there will be a small timer at the bottom which tells them how long they have until a nuke is going to land in the area, but each time they eat a human or cause some sort of chaos on the street, they can add a second or two to the timer in order to help them rack up a higher score.
The issue is, while some areas of the maps are packed full of people to snack on, there are others which have been left completely barren, meaning it's all too easy to waste time running around just trying to find someone to eat There are also a few mini-games thrown in between levels which do provide a nice change of pace, but also feel incredibly difficult to complete, especially the survivor one where players must try to hold out against a giant horde with little to no ammunition. The Hungry Horde is definitely one of the most unique games to come out for the Vita, but it also feels just a little too challenging for its own good at times.
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