Four PSP games I'd like to buy and play in 2014

Following up yesterday's post about the four retro games I'd like to buy and play in 2014, here are a quartet of PSP games I'd like to pick up--and, yes, put through their paces--sometime in the next 12 months.

7th Dragon 2020--Actually, I can't decide if I should start with the first of Sega's 7th Dragon 2020 games or skip right to the second one. Either way, I desperately want to play some iteration of this 7th Dragon spin-off series sometime soon, despite the fact that I likely won't be able to understand a word of what's going on while I do it.

Criminal Girls--Is it strange that a gay guy (me, of course) wants to play a game that's all about--or at least partially about--spanking and otherwise abusing girls as they traverse a treacherous tower, RPG-style? I suppose. Still, I'd like to give it a go, mainly because of its art style and gameplay. (I've always been a sucker for a good--or even bad--dungeon-crawler.)

MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Airu Mura--This game is often described as "Monster Hunter meets Animal Crossing." I'm not completely sure what that means, to tell you the truth, but since I absolutely adore the Animal Crossing series and I've always liked the airu/felyne character, surely I'll enjoy playing a game that somehow combines the two, don't you think?

Yuusha 30 Second--So, the truth is I've only spent a short time with this title's predecessor, which was given a new name--Half-Minute Hero--when it made its way to North America. It was a long enough stint for me to know I'll enjoy the full game, though, and likely have a similarly great time with its Japan-only sequel, too. Should I actually buy a copy in 2014, I mean.

Other possibilities: Final Fantasy Type-0, K-On! Houkago Live!!, Nayuta No Kiseki and Sweet Fuse: At Your Side

'The gilrs have heart pain...'

A number of screenshots of the Nippon Ichi-Imageepoch "girl-punishing" RPG, Criminal Girls, hit the Interwebs earlier today.

I don't know if it's because I'm gay or if it's because I'm a writer, but this was the first screenshot to grab my attention:



(Note: the text near the bottom of the screen says, "The gilrs have heart pain..." )

That said, this was the second screenshot to grab my attention:



I'm pretty sure the screenshot above was pulled from one of the game's rumored spanking sequences, by the way.

See also: 'Nothin' like a good spanky'

Nothin' like a good spanky

The folks at Nippon Ichi are no strangers to producing odd games--see: the Disgaea and especially the Prinny series--but it seems they're going to outdo themselves with their upcoming "girl-punishing RPG," Criminal Girls.

Developed in partnership with Imageepoch--best known for 7th Dragon and the Luminous Arc series--this PSP title, which will be released in Japan on Nov. 18, will center on "a group of young female criminals who've ended up in hell," according to andriasang.com. Your job as their guardian: to "reform" them and lead them back into the living world.



How will you reform them? Well, by punishing--i.e., spanking, etc.--them, of course! According to siliconera.com, you'll also give the girls--each of whom embody one of the deadly sins--healing massages from time to time, so apparently you won't spend all of your time being a "bad cop."

Is it wrong that I'd snap this up on day one if it were released in the States?