Classic gamers who enjoyed Patapon in their hand-held PSP would surely rejoice as another remastered version came to PS4. Released earlier this year, this RPG-mix-rhythm game can now be enjoyed on the big screen retaining the soul that captured a lot of hearts. If you haven’t played this game yet, chances are the trailer and its tribal vibes piqued your interest. Vibrant colors, catchy music, and interesting characters will surely lure you in.
These wobbly, one-eyed and adorable creatures are called Patapon and they love to sing and dance. You get to play as their savior and by beating the drums that you have acquired, you can command them to go into war. Patapons are in search of “IT” and must reach Earthend. Towards their journey they got shipwrecked and it is in your hands to revive the tribe and guide them to reach their destiny.
Beating the drum will only require you to follow a four-set pattern. Patapons marching forward is the first drum command you will acquire. As you progress through the missions, more drums will be acquired. Thus, more varieties of commands will be at hand. A different set of patterns are used to move forward, attack, defend and to trigger a miracle. As a rhythm game, you can’t just simply press these buttons for Patapons to carry your command. Simply memorizing them won’t cut it. You have to swim in a series of tempo, accuracy and good timing. Patapons would simply stop from their tracks if you miss a pattern, fell flat on your rhythm or beat the drum while they are still singing. Simply put this game offers extremely difficult gameplay. Do not let the cartoonish characters, lively music and a two-dimensional environment fool you into believing that this is another painless game.
In every hardship, one will always yield a very rewarding experience. Once you get comfortable knowing that four-beat pattern. At times, you just go into the flow as the momentum rises. You get to bob your head too while at it as the music gets more upbeat while your fingers naturally (muscle memory) find the correct button to execute. If you hit these patterns correctly ten times in a row, Patapons go into a Fever mode. This mode makes everything extra interesting as lively yelling and dancing go to a greater extent. Movements are enhanced as units can easily transition to defenses and attacks are more brutal. Miracles are only possible to trigger when you are in Fever mode. Miracles are special totems that you acquire on missions and have incredible effects that can help your Patapons in battle mode. Truly helpful in tight situations but causes Fever mode to disappear when activating, one must use this advantage wisely.
As hard as the game gets, it does not help that developers forgot to recalibrate when they transferred the game. There is a noticeable rhythm lag which will take some time to get used to. I advise you to set it down to Easy mode first and once you get comfortable, turn it up to normal or hard mode. This lag is consistent throughout and it really is a bummer when you thought you had perfectly maintained the chain. But misses and goes back to the baseline and start over – a total bummer. To think this was the same backlash as the previous remastered Patapon, you think these developers ever read reviews? lol
As amazing as the art style is, I am still truly amazed at how they come up with the army units. Such variety is truly a welcoming sight. Strategy in your unit formation is one of the key in winning missions. The basic unit you get initially is called Yoripons, a spear thrower and really good at hunting. They are not the best unit in close combat and will need the Tatepons to protect them while they attack the enemy mid-range. Tatepons are great in melee and defending your other units against close combat attacks. It is not a good idea to bring them on a hunting mission as they scare the animals away. Yumipons are your bow-wielding units that have the largest range attacks and will give you a huge advantage in backing up Tatepons in battle. They are weak against fire and you have to watch wind directions as this can dictate the distance their arrow travels. As if concentrating on the pattern, momentum and rhythm aren’t hard enough.
I cannot tell you how much my patience grew playing this game. The grind it needs to collect the needed materials to give birth to a unit is quite taxing. You may have to go back on a hunting location a few times that you need to to grow your army. Gamers must use a variety of learning skills just to see the end game. You seriously must possess two learning skills such as visual and audio modalities. Visual so you can see the pattern and let your muscles do the rest while audio help you hear the pattern making Patapons carry out your commands and building that momentum. I find myself on the edge of my seat, gritting my teeth while singing out loud just so I can time my rhythm and not mess the chain commands. It is quite enjoyable but failing too may times really drains my stamina.
