Review - Patapon

Patapon for the PlayStation Portable is a rhythm game... but not quite like the other rhythm games out there. It certainly has some RPG elements, but it is still very different from Sequence that I have reviewed before. So what makes this game special, and how does it fare against the other games out there?

Story: Quote from the instruction manual...

You hold in your hands the ancient tale of the Patapons, a tribe of eyeball-like warrior creatures that ruled the world... a tale of great victory, mountains of treasures and sadly.... ultimate defeat...

Forlorned to the edge of the world, the Patapons now live in the shadows of their Great Ancestors... desperately searching for their roots... seeking guidance from the mystical Mighty Patapon, their long lost leader that will lead them through exotic lands in search of "IT" that is hidden at Earthend. Through the powerful beats of the secret drums... the Patapons will set off on their adventure... battling foes of every size... seeking to find their former glory...

Just as the tale has told, you, the Mighty Patapon, will guide them to their destiny of gazing upon "IT" at Earthend. There are many trials on the way, and you will encounter many opponents (and victims) that will try to stop you. The events that will unfold will surely be a surprise. 

The gameplay for Patapon is definitely different. You are the Mighty Patapon, and you lead your Patapon Army with magical drums, assigned to the four Play Station buttons, to give out commands. Each command consists of four, well-timed drumming to the beat of the music, with each command having a specific drum combination. By playing these Rhythm Commands, your Patapon Army will act accordingly to the command on the next four beats. After the second measure, or after the four beats where the Patapon reacts to your command, you start your next Rhythm Command, and so on.

For example, the first measure, you play the Rhythm Command, March Forward, which is...

Pata Pata Pata Pon
[ ], [ ], [ ], O.
(Squares) (Circle)

These four button presses must be timed properly to the music for the command to register. Then on the second measure, your Patapon Army will walk forward during the second measure. When the third measure starts, they will return to standby mode, and listen to your next series of button presses for the next Rhythm Command. Continuing with the example...

Pon Pon Pata Pon
O, O, [ ], O.

This will issue the command, Attack, which will command your Patapon Army to attack any enemy within range on the fourth measure. You continue alternating between playing drums and having your commands get played out until you reach the goal of the mission, or your army falls.

The RPG elements in Patapon are fairly straightforward. Defeating enemies in missions will sometimes get you item drops or money. Sometimes the item drops can be equipments for your Patapon units to equip, and sometimes they're ingredient items which are used to create more Patapon units. By using higher quality ingredients, you can get a different type of Patapon with special attributes, which usually comes with strengths and weaknesses to certain elements or combat mechanics like Knockback. The stats are fairly detailed for each Patapon, and building a stronger army becomes an addicting part of Patapon. There is some grinding involved to get stronger, but EXP is not involved as there are no leveling up in Patapon 1. In Patapon 2, however, you level your units up manually with the use of Pata currencies and some ingredients. The required ingredients gradually increases in quantity and quality as you get higher rarity and higher leveled evolutions.

Evolution Tree from Patapon 2.

However, there is one major flaw to this addiction, and it is that there are no pause features to the game. What's more, because the game moves on in its own pace, having to issue a rhythmic command every other measure, it will usually take your full concentration to play effectively. Therefore, whenever someone tries to talk to you while you are playing this game, either you or the other person will be annoyed because communicating while keeping precise rhythm beats just doesn't work. This is weird because Patapon is only for PlayStation Portable. Portable games are usually games that can be played on and off for on-the-go gameplay. That isn't the case with Patapon, and it is nearly a requirement to be absorbed in the game to be successful, making it the least portable, portable game that doesn't require a hookup to a home console system.

Aside from the main missions, there are mini-games that can be played for additional resources or creation of better equipments. In Patapon 2, there are three levels of difficulty to choose from, usually giving a better reward when completed on a harder difficulty, but Patapon 1 will remain the same for each time you play the same mini-games. Sometimes you will find yourself playing these mini-games many times to collect materials, and they may become repetitive and boring. There is some grinding involved to get stronger, but EXP is not involved as

The difficulty of Patapon may vary among people. Depending on your sense of rhythm, it could be a hard, frustrating game, or a balanced and fun game. Either way, there is a learning curve, and until you get the hang of the rhythm, there will be difficulty in maintaining FEVER mode, which is gained through maintaining several measures of well-timed beats with your drums. When you learn to maintain your FEVER mode is when you get past the overall learning curve of Patapon, and when you can really enjoy the game. There are difficult missions which may require some adjusting of your Patapons and their equipments, but with the proper strategy and keeping your cool will usually be enough to get you past most trials.

For those that are seeking greater challenges however, boss fights can be replayed multiple times. With each time you successfully take down a boss, the next time you fight that boss, they will return stronger, but have a higher chance of dropping better items.

The game's graphics are bright, colorful, and also simple in its artistic design. Most objects and creatures only use one to three colors, but works out well in the end as the fluid animations of each thing on screen gives life to these simple designs. Something about this design choice gives Patapon its unique appeal as much as it is cute. Even the giant enemy crab below has a certain charm to it.

In the sound department, maybe you would be expecting some pop music, if not some generic songs like in some other rhythm-based games. However, that is not the case in Patapon, as all songs in-game have a distinct theme and varies by each measure depending on how you are doing in the game. At first, you will mostly hear a horn, chanting, and/or a few percussion instruments, although you will mostly be providing the percussion with your four drums. The following measure will include the Patapons singing back the command you gave them as they follow the commands. There are several variations for each of these background themes, as well as the singing, and depending on how well-timed your drumming is will determine what the following measure will sound like.

The music becomes a lot more lively and catchy though once you enter FEVER mode, as a chorus joins in, singing most of the time. Earlier, I mentioned in the difficulty section about the learning curve with maintaining FEVER mode, and getting used to the inclusion of the chorus is what may throw off some people of the timing which could throw you right off of FEVER mode. Of course, once you get used to it, it is of no issue, but learning the song can, but not necessarily, be of help to you in your performance in the game.

The replay value of Patapon is in the increasing challenges of bosses, and being able to raise a stronger army through creation of stronger Patapon evolutions, and finding or crafting better equipments. It is satisfying to see your Patapon army growing in power, and being able to test their strengths against growing bosses as well. However, due to this design in accelerating growth by becoming more efficient at grinding better items as you grow stronger, you will generally want to keep on growing rather than start the game anew. Certain missions can only be finished once, or become optional hunting/grinding missions, but those are few and far in between that it wouldn't be worth starting the game over for.

Overall, Patapon is a very fun and addicting rhythm game. It definitely has its RPG elements where the aspect of growth is the main motivator to keep you playing. The story is relatively simple as an RPG however, but definitely a pleasantly appropriate one for the style they're going for. It is possible to play the games out of order, although you probably won't need to play the previous game if you've played the later ones. There IS however, some things that you can transfer over from Patapon 1 to Patapon 2, but only through a hunting mission that you can replay to collect more of your previous game's save's equipments.

Patapon will also feature at least a stage in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, so this can be a nice game to play to learn the roots of some of Sony's franchises.

As far as Patapon 3 goes... I have yet to play it, so a separate review will be posted when I complete it. If I get a lot of requests for this, I will push Patapon 3 up in my priorities list.