Patapon Impressions
Patapon has intrigued me since I first heard about it. I am a sucker for games that break the traditional mold and offer something different and Patapon does just that. The graphic style is amazing, the gameplay is fun and fighting battles is extremely satisfying.
The Game: The ancient tribe of Patapons needs your help to defeat their enemies! Using a system of rhythmic button pushes, you can make your Patapon army march, attack, defend and various other moves. Extra challenge comes in when you pick up items and actually equip your individual Patapons with better weapons, armor and shields. The simplistic nature of the general gameplay is offset by these customization features which make it far more interesting that it may seem at first. You also have control over how many Patapons are in your army as well as what type. You can pick from spear throwers, axe wielders and bowman, each with their own special sets of skills and weaponry. Fighting battles is fairly simple as you just need to keep putting in the attack button combo but you will need to learn how to smoothly transition between attacking and defending if you really want to survive. Keeping up the rhythm in successive combos will eventually send your army into fever mode which will give them extra strength and speed. Watching your Patapons closely will help you in your quest as their giant eyes will take on different looks that will help clue you in to when you should be attacking.
The Good: The art style, by French artist Rolito is one of the best parts of the game. The little Patapons are adorable and the enemies have a unique look that you won't see anywhere else. No generic space marines here! The controls are simple enough but you will need to have rhythm and the ability to memorize some four button combinations. Assigning and organizing your army is fun as well and after each battle, you can take your spoils and re-equip, making your army even stronger. The music is also a lot of fun and adds to the weird neo-tribal feeling of the whole game.
The Bad: As odd as this sounds, I could find nothing in this game not to like. It was an utter delight to play.
The Final Verdict: BUY IT! If you have a PSP and are interested in rhythm games, Patapon is a must have for your collection. Inevitably people will draw comparisons between this and Loco-Roco. While I wouldn't say the games are similar in any way, they both share a quirkiness that is endearing. If you liked Loco-Roco, chances are you will enjoy Patapon.
Fruit Brute
Posted to Hot Stuff, Reviews, Video Games on 26 February 2008
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: japan studios, patapon, psp, rhythm game, sony
As much as I like the game, something that should be noted is that the game is pretty difficult to play in a traditional portable gaming environment (basically any place with less than optimal audio conditions). Maybe I just need to *really* focus when I play it, but I found that real world distractions can make this game impossible to play. While not a showstopper, it might not get too much play outside the house similar to other portable music games like DJ Max Pro, PaRappa, Elite Beat Agents, Ouendan or Audition.
Patapon is truly an unique title and a wave of fresh air in a market overflown with EA-200X copies and me-too!-boredom. I enjoy it more and more every time I play it and I even start to hum a pata-pata-pata-pon mantra in my everyday life now and then :)
And I love the little side-games, especially the dancing tree! when he swings his hips to the tunes and dances like crazy with rainbows shooting out of his crown and shaking his tree arms like pom poms, well I smell an update of your Top 20 Gayest Characters there :)
Grrrr. This is another game that seems to be forcing me to buy a PSP. First FF Tactics, then Crisis Core, Lumines, Patapon, etc etc. I just don't have the time for another console. If only they had released this as a PSN download, I'd have been happy.
I've seen a bit of Rolito's work. There's a book I bought called Tattoo Art & Design filled with nontraditional tattoo templates made by current graphic designers. So if you want a Patapon tattoo, that's the first place to look.