Little Deviants is a collection of minigames, which I am always hesitant to get into purely because there will be some games you don't like. Unfortunately for Little Deviants, a lot of the minigames can grate and aren't fun to play. The biggest problem is the fact that you HAVE to use the Vita's non-traditional inputs, which means you're going to be tapping both touch screens or swinging the Vita with the motion controls. You never get to use any of the physical buttons (bar the triggers) which is a pain since some of the controls could clearly benefit from physical buttons. The minigames can actually get quite annoying due to the unorthodox controls. I especially hated the augmented reality one in which you have to twist and wave the Vita all around.
I admit, that it is a good idea and it's neat that the augmented reality game is a FPS with aiming done by moving the Vita around. The annoying part is that the flying enemies like to fly "behind" you so you have to either twist 180 degrees or wait until they fly back. The other types of minigames don't fare much better. There's one where you use the microphone and hum/sing/make a sound and the sound can either be high, medium or low pitched. You have to change your pitch to destroy objects, once again, it's clever but I wouldn't call this fun. One of the more well known minigames that was advertised the hell out of is the one using the rear touch pad, you point your finger and it warps the in-game world.
This means you can roll your character to places. It looks good and sounds neat. The execution is lacking and the controls aren't tight enough and it ends up with you getting sick of it. One thing I have to commend the developers is that the sensitivity of the motion controls is just right. They're sensitive enough so that it feels tighter than many other games that shoehorn motion. However, the motion controlled minigames still need a more precise control scheme in order to be fun. There are thirty minigames in total, but only around six varieties (I can't be bothered finding out the actual number). Sadly, you don't really want to play these minigames more than once.
These minigames just aren't that fun to keep playing and playing. It can be hard to get high scores when you're not invested into the characters or the gameplay isn't addictive. Often, you are required to hold the Vita in an awkward way that makes it easy for you to drop it. Another thing is that the minigames are long, you can't really play them in "short" bursts, each game has approximately 10-15 stages and will take you around ten minutes to finish each one. When the games are as shallow as these, with no real hook or addictiveness to them, it can feel like a long long time. You end up wanting the game to finish by the time you're at the fourth stage.
There is an extremely frustrating minigame towards the end which is more of a puzzle. The premise is good, you divert energy beams to your destination but what ruins it are the imprecise controls. You use the touchscreen to move the diverters but it is so inaccurate that it gets annoying. Add in infinite spawning robots that you gotta destroy, breaking your concentration in trying to line that stupid diverter perfect AND the fact that your hands will inadvertently touch the rear touch pad and move the camera around equals a frustrating and horrible game. The visuals are bright and colourful. The game is let down by the lack of a proper story. The only major story moment is the opening cutscene, it doesn't explain much.
There's also the screen in-between minigames showing that the Deviants are building a spaceship so that they can fly off (that's their whole life story). I know the Deviants are supposed to be cute and all, with the potential to be a mascot for the Vita brand, but I find their design and crazy smiles kinda a rip-off from Rabbids. The music is actually one of the better aspects of the game, it's catchy and pleasing to the ear. The upbeat tempo suits the nature of the game. As a full retail game, Little Deviants doesn't seem to be worth money (being able to finish all the minigames within four hours doesn't help). I'm glad I played this now as it means I've gotten it over and done with. I'm also glad that this came in the 10 game mega pack so I don't feel too shafted. Overall, Little Deviants isn't a bad game, just a mediocre one that's been dragged down by some bad control choices.
---------------------------------------------
For more Vita (as well as PS3) reviews, they can be found via this link.
