My Love for Ratalaika Games

I've been a PS Vita lover for a good 2 years now. Having switched over from the PSP after finding out that on the Vita one could have PS1, PSP and PS Vita/PS4 games on purely one console. Not just that but you can install applications such as Crunchyroll or Angry Birds and many others for one's entertainment. This is a beautiful, multi-use console and the graphics themselves are extraordinary. The Vita has an extensive range of video games to choose from, and thanks to thousands of Vita fans, despite Sony's abandonment of the Vita, games are still continuing to be released by third-party game developers. One of these developers is Ratalaika Games, a porter and publisher of 2D games for a variety of consoles and PC.

As of now, I have only played two games by Ratalaika Games. Those being Devious Dungeon and Milo's Quest, both of which I have completed and earned all trophies for, and both of which were very quickly added to my list of favourite games. I would very much recommend both of these games. Devious Dungeons lasted a lot longer than Milo's Quest did as there were over 40 levels to complete, and being the completionist that I am, I refused to head on to the next level without having completely destroyed all enemies and collected all coins from each individual breakable items and chests. The game is technically a 2D fantasy beat 'em up set in the dark ages. It has RPG like upgrades for abilities, armoury and weapons. And the objectives of the game is to defeat fantastical beasts and wizards whilst collecting keys to pass through the portal on to the following level, with the ultimate goal to defeat the dragon at the end of the game. Throughout the game, you are given many objectives such as destroying a certain number of barrels or chests or defeating a certain number of werewolves or lighting bolt spitting ghosts. Milo's Quest on the other hand is more of a one never-ending level with a maze-like structure. You (a dog) have to make your way through each "room" defeating ghosts and hovering ducks whilst collecting bones and keys in order to pass through gates which take you into several other room's filled with puzzles and even more enemies to defeat. Every so often you stumble into a room with a large boss to defeat, but the major boss at the end is the Skull King which by far the hardest enemy in the entire game. I had absolutely no difficulties with any other enemy or boss, but I'll admit it took me a good 20 tries to defeat the Skull King.

Both of these games have enlightened a new found love for 2D platformers within me and am now on the hunt for several more. So far the best third-party game developer that I have come across for the Vita has no doubt been Ratalaika Games and I am seriously looking forward to trying out the rest of its games. I have been in contact with Ratalaika Games and am very disappointed to learn that neither of these 2 games has any physical copies, however, they are available on the PlayStation store through the Vita itself, if you are interested in giving either of these a try. Both games are instantly grappling, entertaining, and very easy games to pick up and get going. They both have easily attainable PlayStation Trophies (if you love trophies as much as I do this will be great news to you) and, I would say, are both good for any gamer at any age. Although, Devious Dungeon may be a little bit too graphic for very small children.