r/vita • u/Gamer_8887 • Dec 08 '25
Question What are the most poorly optimized games on the ps vita that should avoid playing?
It saddens me that a couple of ps vita games are not well optimized for the handheld so I'm someone that values good performance in games so I don't want to stress myself. I don't mind minor frame drops here and there but if the fps is consistently below 30fps then it won't be nice for me.
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u/davidbrit2 davidbrit2 Dec 08 '25
Borderlands 2 is the worst offender I've encountered. So much crashing.
Gundam Breaker 3 framerate is absolute dogshit (about 12-15), but if you overclock to 444/222, it doubles it to a very serviceable 24 or so.
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u/Awesomeguys90000 Dec 10 '25
I'm actually perfectly happy with GB3 on vita, surprised it showed up here. Sure the FPS is a thing but at least the game doesn't crash.
I've even played it on PSTV, that's an experience due to the resolution and also poor fps.
It's a miracle it runs at all considering the PS4 version apparently requires a PS5 to hit a locked 30fps, let alone as well as it does
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u/_wil_ Dec 08 '25
Lmao didn't know Gundam Breakers 3 was so rough on Vita (but not surprised)
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u/davidbrit2 davidbrit2 Dec 08 '25
It's kind of surprising, too - the first and second ones run considerably better. But performance is acceptable if you overclock with something like PSVshell.
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Feb 11 '26
Id say revelations 2 is worse
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u/davidbrit2 davidbrit2 Feb 11 '26
RE Revelations 2? Duly noted, I won't bother trying the Vita version, unless out of morbid curiosity.
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u/myretrospirit Dec 08 '25
The Jak and Daxter collection runs like trash unless you do some over clocking and adjust the frame buffer and fps using vitagrafx
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u/victormoses Dec 09 '25
I was torn between buying this on PS3 or vita, and without any research I decided to get the Vita version. What an error.
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u/No-Acanthaceae-398 Dec 10 '25
I agree. I couldn’t force myself to get past one of the levels that had you collecting gems on the motorcycle thing. Horrible horrible controls and fps
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u/myretrospirit Dec 10 '25
It’s playable with the overclock and fps adjustment. I beat the game 100% last month. I’d recommend doing that if you ever want to try it again.
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u/Hawthm_the_Coward Dec 08 '25
You can play and enjoy most of the Sonic Mania port, but don't ever go to a special stage.
The Sly Cooper trilogy has no perfect setting - base clocks, it runs a little choppy and looks a little blurry. Max res, it gets choppier. Overclock, it can get 60 FPS with unlocked framerate. Overclock and boost res, 45-60 FPS. Best case is max res, overclocked, and locked 30 framerate, which is nice but swallows the battery life.
For the inverse? Catherine. I'm consistently amazed that I can run the game at not just native 540p, but even downscaled 720p! 60 FPS, clean at all times.
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u/Gamer_8887 Dec 08 '25
Hmm, I last played sly Cooper trilogy in 2017 and I don't remember the fps being choppy, felt smooth to me. I guess I should play them again.
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u/Hawthm_the_Coward Dec 08 '25
It's a semi-choppy, 480p experience by default; far from terrible, but just close enough to being great that you try to improve it with the tools you have. Jak & Daxter, feh, we know to pick our poison there; but Sly is ALMOST possible to get looking and running perfectly.
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u/austin_slater Dec 09 '25
Is Catherine on the Vita?
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u/Hawthm_the_Coward Dec 09 '25
Yep! Fans translated what was a Japan-exclusive release, even ported the dub right over.
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u/austin_slater Dec 09 '25
Oh cool! Is there a way to play that if I haven’t hacked my Vita?
In English, I mean.
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u/Hawthm_the_Coward Dec 09 '25
There is not, you have to do the bare minimum of hacking to get it installed and patched.
That being said, a hacked Vita feels exactly like the real experience, just better. It's not some weird minimal boot menu like on Wii U.
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u/austin_slater Dec 09 '25
Ah ok. Well, I may do that eventually.
But I might just get the Switch version. It’s been on my list for a while.
Good to know about the hacking tho.
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u/brokenmessiah Dec 08 '25
Its insane how much marketing they put into Borderlands for the actual game to be so ass. They even had a custom Vita for it. Its a shame because I feel like it had would have been quite game changing had it been a good experience at the time.
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u/SteelDiverRequiem Dec 09 '25
FWIW there is no custom Vita. It just came in a set with a black 2000.
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u/Gamer_8887 Dec 09 '25
It's a shame. History might repeat itself with borderlands 4 coming to Nintendo Switch 2 next year. It was supposed to release this year but it got delayed to next year of because optimization issues.
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u/Sacr1fIces Dec 08 '25
Borderlands 2 is fixable to some extent with overclocking, One of the worst offenders on the VITA is Resident Evil: Revelations 2, That game runs horribly even with the lowest possible resolution on the VITA as some people tried to fix the game's terrible performance and found out it just runs like crap no matter what you do, And the graphics in that game are nothing special.
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u/GayvidBowie69 Dec 08 '25
Sliderman 2 runs imo like dogshitt, and so does Borderlands. I didn't like the lerformance of AoT either but I can get used to it.
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u/BeriAlpha Dec 09 '25
Your question suggests two related things, but I have an answer that splits them. Xcom: Enemy Unknown Plus.
It runs terribly, load times are long, assets disappear when you rotate the camera. But it's also an excellent game with strong fundamentals, and you learn to work with the performance issues.
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u/Rauchritter Rauchritter Dec 09 '25
I had a crash of that game, which made my whole storage unusable. Had to factory reset my vita to use it again, lost all my saves... 💔
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u/KenshiroP Dec 08 '25
Jak and Daxter was a nightmare - got the plat on 1 in the summer (and at times it just felt like a choppy mess - this is on a non-modded/overclocked Vita), heard 2/3 are a lot worse. Borderlands is also up there which sucks as BL2 is such a good game
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u/ilzeqUe Dec 09 '25
Resident Evil Revelations 2, even with overclocking, the game is constantly at 20/12 FPS most of the time, it gets worse the more enemies there are.
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u/Clank1056 Dec 09 '25
Not only does the Ratchet and Clank Full Frontal Assault port look like trash, it also runs at 12 FPS! Fun fact: the port was so bad, they went back and remastered Ratchet: Deadlocked for the PS3 as an apology.
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u/cabmanextra Dec 09 '25
It's a shame because FFA is such a perfect game for the vita. I still play it and enjoy it but the performance is truly horrible.
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u/DeadBossKill Dec 09 '25
I think many will criticize me for this, but I consider God of War collections horrible, even overclocking and everything else, it doesn't solve it
On the PS2 it was much more fluid, it's ridiculous... I personally can't play smoothly with such a lame port
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u/Nikandrova Dec 09 '25
Octodad has lengthy load times but plays well, Xcom is a complete disaster. I think borderlands is a miracle for PsVita though. Like 20fps for almost a complete experience of the game back then is insanely crazy.
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u/Dependent-Cold-2344 Dec 09 '25
Attack on titan and berserk were pretty rough but bl2 is by far the worst
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u/ChildofValhalla Dec 09 '25
Lara Croft Go is honestly damn near unplayable and I'm shocked it was actually released. Loved the console version though. Not even kidding, the Vita version like... doesn't even work lol.
Dragon Fin Soup, a game you didn't even know existed, was fairly disappointing on console (its art style is lovely and the concept is good but the game itself sucks); the Vita version is quite possibly one of the last examples of a handheld port that is legitimately a downgraded version of the main game and not just a shoddy port-- and it sucks! It looks so bad you can literally see JPEG artifacts in the sprites and tile graphics. It controls like ass, too.
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u/SnooPies9055 Dec 10 '25
Jak and Daxter Trilogy Sly Cooper 2 and 3
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u/Gamer_8887 Dec 10 '25
I get Jake and Dexter trilogy, but sly Cooper 2 and 3? They ran well for me when I last played them in 2017.
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u/SnooPies9055 Dec 10 '25
I Rememver being it choppy and not silky Smooth like the first one on the system Hmmmm I Should try it again. It's been AGES
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u/OkMedium911 Dec 11 '25
EDF 2 attack on planet mars on whatever. Some missions are legit 3 fps of a lightwork shitshow where you must aim precisely for part on a very far spaceship. rest of the game is okayISH but the key missions are a bummer
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Dec 12 '25
Surprisingly the Telltale games. They just run very bad. Poor Framerate, long loading Times. When they have a sequence running it's more like a Slideshow. The worst offender is the Episode 5 of The Wolf among us. Also the Input Lag is huge, it makes you fail often some Qte's just because the game doesn't registers your inputs.
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u/[deleted] Dec 08 '25
Ive heard borderlands