Everybody seems to be in love with Patapon - today I will play devil's advocate and provide votum separatum.
The game is a curious and novel mix of strategy and rhythm game. The player is put in the role of a deity of a tribe of little one-eyed creatures, Patapons. The tribe's past glory is long gone and it desperately needs the help of their god to lead them back to the promised land. Issuing orders to Patapons is done by tapping different combos on the buttons - the music then commands the little warriors, who chant, follow order and wait for the next one. Simple? Indeed, even too so.
When I had the chance to first play Patapon during Tokyo Game Show, I was not really impressed. It seemed to me that the game is too simple, not in terms of difficulty, but game rules. Being able to issue only two commands to our troops (attack or advance) with the only thrill resulting from potentially missing the rhythm was not enough to spark my interest. Nevertheless, I promised myself to spare it my critique until I get to play the full version.
Having played the full version, which indeed does add a lot to the table, I must say that my opinion has not change much. While there are many things that have been added to the full version, such as army management, creating new Patapons, choosing which mission to undertake, as well as the whole story aspect and plentiful of adversaries and missions, the core of the gameplay remains exactly the same with the number of possible commands changed from two to four.
And this is the main problem I have with the game - the fact that there are but four commands. As much as the story is interesting and Patapons cute (army management aspect leaves in indifferent), the tactical choices present in the game are not enough for me. I get bored tapping the same rhythm combos time and time again. I never was particularly good with rhythm games (I fail epically at DJ Max Portable). So perhaps the reason for my frustration is getting beaten by enemies, only because my tap was split second late, but personally, I find the core gameplay very repetitive and it puts me off this game.
Overall, Patapon is not by all means a bad game, but it definitely isn't for everyone and it hasn't really struck the chord with me. Some will fall in love with it, some will hate it, I am just left indifferent. While I would really like to see how Patapon's tribe story ends, I don't find it enjoyable enough to spend the time of my life smashing button to endlessly repeat four combos, occasionally shouting profanities when I miss the rhythm.
Strong points:
- price - with 19.99$ price tag, anyone pirating this game should be ashamed;
- presentation - very stylish and perfectly animated;
- story - fresh and original, told from interesting perspective;
- army management - allowing a lot of possible combinations;
- quirky charm - it's hard to deny that Patapons have a lot of cute personality;
Weak points:
- repetitive - not enough combo variations to really feel in charge of the small army;
- difficulty - gets quite hard later in the game;
- sometimes it's hard to guess what to do next;
The game is a curious and novel mix of strategy and rhythm game. The player is put in the role of a deity of a tribe of little one-eyed creatures, Patapons. The tribe's past glory is long gone and it desperately needs the help of their god to lead them back to the promised land. Issuing orders to Patapons is done by tapping different combos on the buttons - the music then commands the little warriors, who chant, follow order and wait for the next one. Simple? Indeed, even too so.
When I had the chance to first play Patapon during Tokyo Game Show, I was not really impressed. It seemed to me that the game is too simple, not in terms of difficulty, but game rules. Being able to issue only two commands to our troops (attack or advance) with the only thrill resulting from potentially missing the rhythm was not enough to spark my interest. Nevertheless, I promised myself to spare it my critique until I get to play the full version.
Having played the full version, which indeed does add a lot to the table, I must say that my opinion has not change much. While there are many things that have been added to the full version, such as army management, creating new Patapons, choosing which mission to undertake, as well as the whole story aspect and plentiful of adversaries and missions, the core of the gameplay remains exactly the same with the number of possible commands changed from two to four.
And this is the main problem I have with the game - the fact that there are but four commands. As much as the story is interesting and Patapons cute (army management aspect leaves in indifferent), the tactical choices present in the game are not enough for me. I get bored tapping the same rhythm combos time and time again. I never was particularly good with rhythm games (I fail epically at DJ Max Portable). So perhaps the reason for my frustration is getting beaten by enemies, only because my tap was split second late, but personally, I find the core gameplay very repetitive and it puts me off this game.
Overall, Patapon is not by all means a bad game, but it definitely isn't for everyone and it hasn't really struck the chord with me. Some will fall in love with it, some will hate it, I am just left indifferent. While I would really like to see how Patapon's tribe story ends, I don't find it enjoyable enough to spend the time of my life smashing button to endlessly repeat four combos, occasionally shouting profanities when I miss the rhythm.
Strong points:
- price - with 19.99$ price tag, anyone pirating this game should be ashamed;
- presentation - very stylish and perfectly animated;
- story - fresh and original, told from interesting perspective;
- army management - allowing a lot of possible combinations;
- quirky charm - it's hard to deny that Patapons have a lot of cute personality;
Weak points:
- repetitive - not enough combo variations to really feel in charge of the small army;
- difficulty - gets quite hard later in the game;
- sometimes it's hard to guess what to do next;
