As we look back on 2016 and what delights we’ve had as Vita owners, we’re left with just one final month of goodies from Sony Interactive Entertaiment for those of us who are PlayStation Plus subscribers. Many were hoping for one or two major AAA releases as an early Christmas present from Sony, but instead the announcement was made bringing us something a little different coming to subscribers next week…
As always from Sony these days, their announcements and emails seem to place the emphasis on the PS4 as does the PS+ line-up itself with the majority of the games being available for that format. In fact, only one out of the six games next month isn’t available for the PS4 as many are being released as Cross Buy. That being said, it does mean that Vita owners are receiving three titles instead of the usual two. So what are the games in question?
- Stories: The Path of Destinies (PS4)
- Invisible, Inc. (PS4)
- Hyper Void (PS4 / PS3)
- Tiny Troopers Join Ops (PS4 / PS3 / PS Vita)
- Color Guardians (PS4 / PS Vita)
- VVVVVV (PS Vita)
All of these are hitting PlayStation Plus on 6th December so you have until 5th December to grab November’s games if you haven’t already!
Our Verdict
There is a lot of disappointment, even anger being directed towards Sony over the news about the PS+ Update over on the official EU PlayStation Blog about next months games, not just in relation to the Vita but as a package overall. Some have looked at the visual novels we have been offered the last few months and compared them to these but many have been unfairly harsh at what the feel is another month that is over-reliant on indies. The general tone seems to be somewhat dismissive of indie games, with many commentators on the blog disregarding the quality of the games on offer simply because they are not so-called AAA games.
This is a state of affairs that has saddened us here at Vita Player for some time. Developmental budgets and AAA status simply doesn’t guarantee a game’s quality and some of the greatest, most innovative games have come from smaller development teams who have not been held back by the constraints placed upon them by large publishers. One of our highest rated games, TxK, was developed by just two people, Thomas Was Alone is the recipient of a BAFTA. While we certainly don’t expect people to love every game available to them as part of PlayStation Plus, the Blog makes for sombre reading as it appears that most of those voicing their concerns don’t even appear willing to try these games before dismissing them. Maybe if they did, they’d find that indie gaming would give them a lot more gaming fun and originality than they might expect… and certainly offer more than the latest iteration of FIFA, CoD or anything else that they are looking for.
Personally? I’ve only played a couple of the games we are getting for the Vita next month but based on what I have tried, I think it’s a fairly solid line-up and well worth the subscription fee.
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