These best PSP games will give you console-like experiences in the palm of your hand.
Sony advertised the PlayStation Portable from the start as a machine that could let you play games like a computer. The stories about the games were influenced by how the games looked. The PSP was said to have graphics that were as good as or better than the PS2.
Did it do what it said it would do? That is for sure what these games would show. These PSP games are still beautiful to look at after all these years. They range from beautiful movie tales to stylized artistic statements.
Daxter
When it came to the PSP, everyone agreed on one thing: creator Ready At Dawn knew how to make the most of the machine. One example is Daxter, an early PSP game that caused a stir for many reasons, one of which was how beautiful it looked.
Haven City’s streets and other places are just as beautiful here as they were in the first three Jak books, but Daxter adds a more fun art style to the setting. Every level looks just as good as the last, whether it’s the cozy inside of a brewery or the huge machines of a strip mine.
Final Fantasy / Final Fantasy 2 / Final Fantasy 4: The Complete Collection
The PSP remakes of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 2, and Final Fantasy 4 were the best in the series before the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters made the retro look even better. The sprites have been redone and the spell strikes have become more lively, but they still look old-school. It’s hard to look away.
It’s cool to see that the art style and graphics from these games are being used in a polite way for players. And if you’ve never played these old Final Fantasy games before, you can enjoy them with graphics that don’t look past their prime.
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge was made just for the PSP, and the effects are amazing. The hard winter roads and snow effects look bleak enough on the PSP’s 4.3-inch screen, which stands in contrast to the fast cars racing all over these races.
The world of this game comes to life through little things like the sun bouncing off of ice or snow falling under truck tires. There were a lot of beautiful driving games for the PSP, but MotorStorm: Arctic Edge was the best.
Jeanne D’Arc
Level-5 knows how to make games that look like storybooks, and Jeanne d’Arc is no different. With its moving cutscenes and character designs that really stand out on the PSP, the game is right up there with Professor Layton or Ni no Kuni.
During gameplay, Jeanne d’Arc continues to look beautiful, with rolling battles that show off a wide range of beautiful nature views. Adding a bit of the magical makes this game one of the most beautiful and overlooked on the PSP.
Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite
Even though Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite was on a tablet, it didn’t lose any of its size. The settings are still huge, the guns are still very powerful, and the screen is still full of huge, angry monsters.
Because of all of this, the game is a real PSP hit, throwing one huge show after another. All of the Monster Hunter games for the PSP were good, but Freedom Unite was the best.
Patapon 3
A great art style and strong use of color can sometimes make images stand out. The Patapon trilogy showed this. Yes, you know what a Patapon game looks like even if you’ve never played one before. The pictures stand out just as much as the music does.
Patapon 3 takes the excitement from the first two games and turns it up to 11. The battles of 8 Ball Pool look like a party of colors that burn into the thoughts of everyone who plays it. It’s too bad that it’s the only Patapon game that doesn’t have an HD remake, because the graphics look like they belong on the big screen.
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Even though it’s a PSP game, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is one of the most beloved games in the series. The ease with which it remade a number of famous Disney worlds for exploration on a small system was a big part of why it was so popular with fans.
Every world in Kingdom Hearts is carefully made and filled with the kind of details and care you’d expect from a Kingdom Hearts game. In addition to beautiful character designs and cool fight effects, Birth by Sleep has a lot of magic on the PSP screen.
Tekken 6
Tekken games have a history of making some of the best-looking fighting games on each platform they’ve been released on. Tekken 6 for the PSP is no different. It’s crazy how little the graphics were changed for the PSP version of a game that was originally made for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The over-the-top style that makes the characters and stages so memorable stays the same, and the CG cutscenes look especially good. The PSP wasn’t going to stop Tekken 6 from making one of the most famous final bosses in the history of fighting games.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
One thing about Hideo Kojima: he likes to do big things. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has been praised for a long time as one of the best PSP games, and its images are so good that they earn all the praise.
There are a lot of big and small features in the woods and mountains of Costa Rica that you would expect from a Metal Gear Solid game. The heavy use of imagery from the Cold War era gives this world even more life. One thing about Hideo Kojima: he almost never lets people down.
God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta
With Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus, Ready At Dawn has already shown that it can make a beautiful PSP game. But they didn’t really get the gear right until their second try at the God of War series.
It doesn’t make sense that God of War: Ghost of Sparta is a PSP game. The visual quality and epic scope are so amazing that it’s hard to believe it doesn’t use more powerful hardware. Handheld games were never meant to look this good.
