After an extended absence from the American market players are getting a quintuple does of the Invisimals franchise with 4 games for the Vita and one on the PS3.
The Invisimals is a very different franchise. The original games on the PSP were received well in the US, and were one of the few titles released for the handheld that made use of the PSP camera attachment. Playing like a cross between Pokemon and Skylanders, Invisimals tasked its players with the job of searching the world around them using the camera in hopes of catching Invisimals, then using those creatures in platforming and combat gameplay. Now, for the first time ever, the entire Invisimals franchise will be available to North American audiences.
This week Sony re-released the first three Invisimals games on the PS Vita download market, modified to make use of the Vita’s own camera and AR cards (as opposed to the PSP camera attachment and shipped-in cards like the originals.) While the first two titles in the series, Invisimals and Invisimals Shadow Zone, have previously been made available in North America, this is the first time that the third PSP title, Lost Tribes, has been made available here, giving either long-time fans of the series or newcomers a lot of history to catch up on in only a very little time.
Next week (September 30th, 2014) North America will also see digital releases of last year’s PS Vita and PS3 entries in the series, Invisimals: The Alliance and Invisimals: The Lost Kingdom respectively. Both games were initially released in Europe late last year, and feature multiplayer cross-play support between the PS Vita and PS3 titles.
The PSP and PS Vita titles in the Invisimals franchise have for the most part received good reviews, with Invisimals: Lost Tribes having the poorest reception of the four games. The games are often praised for their creative use of the PSP and PS Vita’s cameras and AR capabilities, though they are also somewhat criticized for their oddly unintuitive interfaces/gameplay despite being geared toward younger audiences. The PS3 title received mediocre response on its release in Europe last year, with the general consensus being that the game was shallow and lacklustre in comparison to the rest of the titles in the series, with its only saving graces being the cross-play and creature-sharing capabilities with its PS Vita counterpart.
For North American fans of the first two games on PSP the next two weeks look to be an exciting time for Invisimals, and for the PS Vita in particular.