Vita Again

I went to Walmart today and had the chance to check out the Vita again. So here are some more impressions:

This time I checked out something called Welcome Park on Vita. I suppose its a program that welcomes you to the Vita. Not sure. Pretty vague intro to it. I checked out one portion of it, a little "game" where you have to touch all of the numbers in order: 1, 2, 3, 4 and they are all over the screen. I guess its trying to get you use to using the Touch Screen.

Speaking of the Touch Screen, I think that the Vita uses the touch screen WAY too much. On the 3DS/DS, there are/were some touch screen controls but most games let you use buttons instead of the touch screen if you wanted to. There is no option for this on most Vita games. On the Vita games that use the touch screen for menus or interacting with objects, etc, you HAVE to use the touch screen. The only time I say another option was on Uncharted where you could push a button to grab some rails too. Otherwise, most Vita games seem to be forcing the Touch Screen on you. And to me, Touch screen controls are like Motion Controls. Gimmicky for the most part & a hassle. Give me buttons any day (one expection to this rule is Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I loved the Motion Controls in that game).

Anyway, after trying out Welcome Park, I decided to try some other demos that I didn't play the first time.

A game called Little Deviants was the first one I tried. This game was a collection of mini-games. I tried three of the mini-games out of the ones offered (I think there was four or five). The mini-game called Botz Invasion felt like Face Raiders from the 3DS. Basically, it was an AR game where you look around your enviorment & shoot at the Deviants. The second mini-game was a game where you used the back touch screen to push some Deviants out of houses. The last one was a skydiving game where you moved the Vita around & tried to hit rings as you fell. Overall, NOT an impressive game. Too gimmicky, graphics were ok, and just not enough value in it. I recommend not buying this one if you plan to get a Vita.

Next I tried another demo called Escape Plan. The demo used the touch screen completly. The graphics were black & white and kind of neat. The gameplay wasn't that impressive though. You had to swipe in front of the character to move him forward & stop him before he killed himself by stumbling into different obstacles. A rather ho hum game. Not recommended.

Wipeout, a futurisic racing game, was the next demo I tried. The game had a bit of a load time. It felt like I was downloading a small piece of dlc on the PS3. Kind of fast, kind of not. After it loaded, I have to say I was impressed by the graphics. Very nice. The racing was good too. I wasn't great at it, but I liked it. I'm sure this would be a good game for racing fans, especially if it has multiplayer.

The last demo I checked out was a game I had briefly checked out last time. It was Gravity Rush. I was VERY impressed by the graphics the first time I played this game, but I had no idea what the game was. This time I got to find out! In turns out Gravity Rush is a platformer/action game. In it, you can push a button (the R button I think) and your character goes floating into the air. Aim her with the control stick and push her toward a building. She will stand on the building and run up it. I also took her to some floating object in the sky and she ran sideways that. You push the L button to return the character to normal gravity. The game also has combat. The character can kick enimies and if you push the R button, she can float up and kick enimies in the sky. VERY COOL.

The game also has Comic Book style cutscenes. The touch screen is put to good use here by having you swipe toward the next panel to see it. Neat.

Overall, Gravity Rush was the most impressive demo I saw on the Vita (both times). Yes, more impressive than Uncharted. It has great graphics & fun gameplay. If I had a Vita, this would be a game I'd want.

So that was my second play time with the Vita. The first time really wowed me. The second time I played some demos that I thought were so-so and one that I thought was ultra cool. The system is neat, but not what I'm looking for. I think it focuses WAY too much on Touch Screen controls and it doesn't seem to have too many games I want. Plus, man, that demo Vita screen was DIRTY. Does this system have a Stylus? I think the screen would get way too dirty too fast if it doesn't.

Still, if I get a chance to play more Gravity Rush at the demo Vita, that would be nice.