The Best PSP Strategy Games
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Another entry into the Final Fantasy Tactics spin-off series, The War of the Lions takes the franchise to new levels of awesome and engaging gameplay. In The War of the Lions, players engage in turn-based battles on an isometric map, rather than 1-on-1 turn-based team battles. The gameplay is similar to that of Fire Emblem in which players control units on the map.
In this entry into the series, players control Ramza and his army of warriors as they try to bring peace to a kingdom in conflict. This is mostly an updated port of the original Final Fantasy Tactics on the original PlayStation, optimized to get the most out of the PSP’s new hardware.
Jeanne d’Arc
In this awesome PSP title, take control of Joan of Arc and her band of warriors as they fight against English occupation and hordes of demons. Since Joan is a Saint, she is one of the few people able to fight this demonic army out of France. The gameplay takes place on an isometric map in which the player controls their characters each turn.
Jeanne d’Arc plays similarly to Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem but boasts an expansive story and fleshed out environments unlike anything else on the PSP. This title is a must-play for fans of RPGs and strategy titles with a story loosely based on historical events.
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
The critically acclaimed title, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, has made its way to the PSP as Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness. If players thought they could not possibly better one of the best PlayStation 2 titles, they would be wrong.
This version adds some new content to further flesh out the awesome story - there is now an entire mode dedicated to making Etna a main character. The gameplay is still comfortingly familiar despite this extra content. Afternoon of Darkness is a great title for fans of the original and those who have not played the PlayStation 2 title.
Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together
Tactics Ogre is a remaster of an awesome isometric, turn-based strategy title from the Super Nintendo that most players have probably never heard of. This new title strives to remove the clunkiness and limitations of the time with this awesome remaster. The developers have included reworked graphics, sound, and gameplay elements while still retaining the original beauty of Tactics Ogre.
Play as a group of random characters as they try to stop a violent civil war for the throne. There are tons of awesome environments to explore, characters to recruit, and evil monsters to fight in this brutal and exciting title.
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe
An awesome PSN classic has been brought to the PSP for even more tower defense fun. In this title, players will build powerful towers in order to defend their village of cute monsters from evil creatures trying to capture them. PixelJunk Monsters plays like most tower defense titles in which enemy hordes take a specified route that players will be able to place defenses on in order to stop them from reaching their goal.
While it sounds simple in writing, this does not capture the amount of strategy and hardcore gameplay that this title can deliver. There are different types of towers to change up the way players build their defenses and the difficulty definitely increases as the game goes on.
Valkyria Chronicles II
One of the best PlayStation 3 RPGs has been given an outstanding sequel for the PlayStation Portable. Valkyria Chronicles II, taking place three years after the previous title, has the player trying to stop a violent civil war brought on by the Gallian Revolution Army.
Most of the gameplay has been kept relatively similar to the previous title, but this entry strives to further deepen the players' connection to their characters. Players will be able to learn more about their soldiers as the game progresses, learning their motives and their distinct personality. This is an awesome successor to a great title.
Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Without a doubt, any Sid Meier’s game deserves to be on the list of great strategy titles. In this open-ended game, players will be able to control a ship of scurvy sea-dogs through awesome Caribbean adventures.
Players can choose how they want to command their ship, whether that be kidnapping political figures, looting treasure ships, become a peaceful trader, or waging battle with every sorry sailor that crosses their path. Pirates! is also a great PSP title, allowing players to pause their game and pick it back up again anywhere they like, after all, a pirate’s career can be a long one.
Fieldrunners
Fieldrunners takes the beloved tower defense genre and gives it some quirks to make this game stand apart from the rest. In this title, there are no lanes in which enemies walk through. Instead, players can create their own lanes by strategically placing their towers which enemies will walk around in order to distance themselves from the player’s deadly defenses.
Fieldrunners is also filled to the brim with content as tons of free updates for the title have been released over the years, ensuring that players never grow tired of this awesome strategy game. This game is the definition of replayable with infinite different ways to clear each challenge.
Metal Gear Ac!d 2
In Metal Gear Ac!d 2, players will once again take the role of Snake, who has been captured by an FBI agent who has convinced Snake to do his bidding. Snake must infiltrate a top-secret facility in order to learn about a new Metal Gear.
Control over Snake and his actions are done through cards. Players will have a collection of cards which help in certain situations more than others. This system has been heavily expanded upon since the previous title, allowing for more intuitive control of Snake and his arsenal of CQC moves. This is an interesting and fun take on an awesome franchise of exciting games.
