As someone that had a lot of good moments with the PSP, I’ve always loved Patapon. Whether it was with its initial release or its remaster nearly a decade later, my memories of cute little critters yelling “pata-pata-pata-PON” are good ones. So when I found out a spiritual successor was being helmed by none other than Hiroyuki Kotani, I’ve been on board, and I was more than pleased to see it playable at Summer Game Fest: Play Days (as well as a Steam demo that you still should be able to play now)!
Let me just say this here: Just because I loved Patapon doesn’t mean I was ever good at it, and nothing illustrated that more than with the 20 or so minutes I spent playing the Ratatan demo. In addition to its rhythmic fun and catchy soundtrack, put together in part by David Wise, the game is also a roguelike. I had no idea that was the case, and I learned that the hard way.
I don’t know much about the story, or if there is one. I just dove in knowing what I remember about Patapon. And again, I’m bad at it. The demo began with you selecting a Ratatan, a creature that’s also in possession of a musical instrument that has the power to guide armies of little creatures called Cobuns. Think of Cobuns like Pikmin, you don’t have direct control of their movement; it’s all about using you Ratatan to tell them where to go.
All of that is done with its rhythm system. In addition to having complete control of your Ratatan’s movement, you have to keep the rhythm and beat of the music in mind because that’s what directs your Cobuns in the first place. Want to have your Cobun follow you? Press A-A-A to the beat. If you want to attack, it’s B-B-B. Jumping is done with X-(no button)-X. In addition to the follow, attack, and jump commands, you also have the ability to guard and two special skills depending on what you have equipped. Each and every one of these commands is done with a different button combination, and keeping in mind that you have to follow the beat, all while maintaining control of your own character amidst the chaos just adds to the possible sensory overload you’ll have playing Ratatan.
This all being said, it made me think about whether or not playing on a big 4K display with headphones was the right decision because I definitely saw myself possibly having more fun on a handheld after knowing what kind of stuff to expect.
In regards to the chaos, again, the game is a roguelike. The game does a solid job with its tutorial at the beginning, but at the same time, despite me being an experienced Patapon player, there were quite a few maneuvers I didn’t quite get a grasp of. For example, you have the ability to make the Cobuns jump, but I could never tell when the right time to make that command was. Oftentimes, instead of jumping on a platform, they attacked and destroyed them allowing me to move forward. I eventually even got to this boss battle, and while I did die, most of the success I had when doing damage to it was when spamming the “skill” abilities I had, but I was unsure whether or not there was a limit to it.
I don’t remember if this is the boss that whupped me, but it got me good!
Still, I enjoyed what I played. Every short section I went through had a collection of cards to pick at the end that reward you with different perks and buffs, but I couldn’t tell right away if they had a real effect. Eventually, I was led to a point in the game much further, and I was definitely feeling the difference in responsiveness and power–at least with the Cobuns I had in my party. This is where I got to the boss I was talking about, which I was closing to taking care of before I got did in myself, but it was still a good time.
I didn’t get to talk to him in depth, but after I finished playing, I thanked Producer Saisu Sakijiri Kazuto of TVT and told him how big a fan I was of the game, and he had their PR guy Andy give me a code for a Steam demo, so I’ll definitely get some good time in with that. I’m unsure if it’s the same as the demo currently out though.
Since I was humbled oh so quickly, Ratatan is a game I want to get better at, and aside from the demo being available, the game will be entering early access on Steam at the end of next month, with releases on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and the Switch soon there after.
As someone that had a lot of good moments with the PSP, I’ve always loved Patapon. Whether it was with its initial release or its remaster nearly a decade later, my memories of cute little critters yelling “pata-pata-pata-PON” are good…
As someone that had a lot of good moments with the PSP, I’ve always loved Patapon. Whether it was with its initial release or its remaster nearly a decade later, my memories of cute little critters yelling “pata-pata-pata-PON” are good ones. So when I found out a spiritual successor was being helmed by none other than Hiroyuki Kotani, I’ve been on board, and I was more than pleased to see it playable at Summer Game Fest: Play Days (as well as a Steam demo that you still should be able to play now)!
Let me just say this here: Just because I loved Patapon doesn’t mean I was ever good at it, and nothing illustrated that more than with the 20 or so minutes I spent playing the Ratatan demo. In addition to its rhythmic fun and catchy soundtrack, put together in part by David Wise, the game is also a roguelike. I had no idea that was the case, and I learned that the hard way.
I don’t know much about the story, or if there is one. I just dove in knowing what I remember about Patapon. And again, I’m bad at it. The demo began with you selecting a Ratatan, a creature that’s also in possession of a musical instrument that has the power to guide armies of little creatures called Cobuns. Think of Cobuns like Pikmin, you don’t have direct control of their movement; it’s all about using you Ratatan to tell them where to go.
All of that is done with its rhythm system. In addition to having complete control of your Ratatan’s movement, you have to keep the rhythm and beat of the music in mind because that’s what directs your Cobuns in the first place. Want to have your Cobun follow you? Press A-A-A to the beat. If you want to attack, it’s B-B-B. Jumping is done with X-(no button)-X. In addition to the follow, attack, and jump commands, you also have the ability to guard and two special skills depending on what you have equipped. Each and every one of these commands is done with a different button combination, and keeping in mind that you have to follow the beat, all while maintaining control of your own character amidst the chaos just adds to the possible sensory overload you’ll have playing Ratatan.
This all being said, it made me think about whether or not playing on a big 4K display with headphones was the right decision because I definitely saw myself possibly having more fun on a handheld after knowing what kind of stuff to expect.
In regards to the chaos, again, the game is a roguelike. The game does a solid job with its tutorial at the beginning, but at the same time, despite me being an experienced Patapon player, there were quite a few maneuvers I didn’t quite get a grasp of. For example, you have the ability to make the Cobuns jump, but I could never tell when the right time to make that command was. Oftentimes, instead of jumping on a platform, they attacked and destroyed them allowing me to move forward. I eventually even got to this boss battle, and while I did die, most of the success I had when doing damage to it was when spamming the “skill” abilities I had, but I was unsure whether or not there was a limit to it.
I don’t remember if this is the boss that whupped me, but it got me good!
Still, I enjoyed what I played. Every short section I went through had a collection of cards to pick at the end that reward you with different perks and buffs, but I couldn’t tell right away if they had a real effect. Eventually, I was led to a point in the game much further, and I was definitely feeling the difference in responsiveness and power–at least with the Cobuns I had in my party. This is where I got to the boss I was talking about, which I was closing to taking care of before I got did in myself, but it was still a good time.
I didn’t get to talk to him in depth, but after I finished playing, I thanked Producer Saisu Sakijiri Kazuto of TVT and told him how big a fan I was of the game, and he had their PR guy Andy give me a code for a Steam demo, so I’ll definitely get some good time in with that. I’m unsure if it’s the same as the demo currently out though.
Since I was humbled oh so quickly, Ratatan is a game I want to get better at, and aside from the demo being available, the game will be entering early access on Steam at the end of next month, with releases on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and the Switch soon there after.
by Danreb Victorio
