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ejamer:

--- Quote from: Steefosaurus on September 12, 2018, 07:57:34 PM ---... Also discovered the PSP doesn't do wifi well with current security standards; WPA2 it apparantly can't talk to. Bummer. ...
--- End quote ---

Oh crap - I forgot to mention this.
Wireless works fine on my PSP Go, but only because I set up a specific WPA endpoint that is restricted to the MAC address of that device. (Probably still not secure, but where I live it's good enough.)

You are right though - it is a bummer if you can't find an open network to download through. Once games are loaded on your system, it's kind of a moot point though. I only keep my WPA access for RSS podcast feeds so that I can download and listen to content without having to connect to a PC.

Order.RSS:
All right so PSP update if anyone's interested. I've played/finished a bunch of games since getting the console.

-Beats is a fun automatically generating music/rhythm game. It's a bit clunky to move audio files to the Memory Stick, but it does work. Couple of all right pre-loaded songs on it too, mostly from EyeToy games it seems.

-Burnout Legends is a compilation of various courses and mechanics of previous Burnout games. The takedown stuff from 3, some of the mountain courses from 2, etc. No generic music, but a licensed soundtrack of stuff that hasn't aged very well - Yellowcard, Billy Talent and the like. The overall package is all right, but didn't blow me away despite providing tense racing action. The rubberbanding of the A.I. is so blatant you can never get comfortably ahead, which works for the gameplay, but also feels unfair.

-Every Extend Extra I had trouble getting into. It's easy to see how this could be a very addicting score attack game presenting a little variation on the typical shmup formula. But the tutorial is really poorly done, it teaches the basic elements, but not how to string them together to do well in the game. Bounced off this one.

-flOw was another dissapointing experience for me. I had hoped for something like Journey or Flower, a type of meditative experience, but this one didn't really manage that. I think the inclusion of combat-esque mechanics just inherently adds some stress/aggression. I wanna chill around as a fish set to ambient music, not constantly eat other fish.

-Gitaroo Man Lives! is a rhythm game with a fantastic aesthetic. Somewhere between PaRappa and Samba de Amigo, with good use of the joystick implemented as well. The main shortcoming here is it has a few bizarre difficulty spikes early on, but the later stuff is easier again. The shark level is an infuriating roadblock for example.

-LocoRoco's art style is really gorgeous, but I'm not sure how this became a beloved classic. The gameplay rarely evolves beyond "slow Sonic the Hedgehog", but with cuter blobs and soundtrack. Kinda wears thin far before its ending.

-Me & My Katamari is the one I was most excited for so far, having never played a Katamari game. The presentation is really well done, from credits to load screens. Lots of songs, but a curious lack of levels. There's definitely less than 10 total levels, and some are just reskinned areas with different theming. Add to that somewhat miserable controls - I really don't see why you need to press two buttons to roll forward, you're only ever moving the ball, so why are the Prince and Katamari controls separate?
Why do we essentially have 2 D-Pads going AND a control stick, AND L&R triggers for sharp turns, yet zero camera control?
If they really wanna keep the Prince character, just make him walk atop the Katamari, Glover style. Solved. This game kinda dissapointed me, there's way too many islands constantly repeating the same few levels.

-PaRappa the Rapper feels like a terrible port of what looks like it was once a fun, vibrant, colourful game. And it's all down to control. Maybe my sense of rhythm is awful, but I'm pretty convinced this either has some input lag, or they've deliberately moved the icons around to make you rely on hearing only - Rhythm Heaven style. Either way though, I low-key hate it.

-Ridge Racer 2 might unironically be my favourite of the bunch so far. Decent techno/acid soundtrack, the drifting works well if you get used to it, and there's a massive amount of vehicles/tracks/cups to play. It's still not fantastic, but a good time overall and surpassed my expectations, having never tried a Ridge Racer game before.

-Sega Rally Revo is unfortunately not a port of Sega Rally on Saturn, or even of its DreamCast sequel. It is a pretty competent arcade rally title though. What I like about this one is its cartoony-esque aesthetic. Typical Sega blue skies means this game literally doesn't even include weather effects. The courses are okay in variety (alpine, arctic, desert, tropical) and there's some mild customisation of tyres for the differing courses. Could maybe have had more courses, weather effects, better music, more differentiation between cars, but as it stands it's a decent game.

Conclusions so far: every game I've played hovers between that 2 and 3 star rating so far, bit dissapointing despite none being outright bad. The prices are certainly low, and I've still got a few ones I'm excited for (Power Stone, Half-Minute Hero, Lumines, Patapon), hopefully those will be winners.

ejamer:
Ugh... that's a disappointing report. Hopefully some of the other games helped to improve your PSP experience.

I've also found the overall PSP library to be weak, in a similar way to the PS1 library. Many of the games either don't seem to have aged well, or were just never going to be appealing to me from the start. It's disappointing when so many lauded titles for a system don't resonate.

However, I did find the PSP to be buoyed by a bunch of Atlus- and XSEED-published games, and some pretty awesome retro compilations too. Throw in a few big-name games that did work for me (Castlevania, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, Valkyria Chronicles, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite before the 3DS games came along) and PSP was still enjoyable. Having a convenient way to download and revisit PS1 Classics also helped to redeem the system.

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