I don't often share information about myself online, but I think the fact that I'm a musician is relevant to my thoughts here. Most musicians who play an important rhythmic role (conductors, drummers, etc.) all keep a mental list of songs they are intimately familiar with at every tempo for reference's sake; for example, if I need to lead something that I know is at 80 beats per minute, I play a couple of bars of Cbat in my head before I start. Well, the beats here are so earwormingly catchy that I've scratched "120bpm - Stars and Stripes Forever" out of my mind palace and replaced it with "Patapon".
Patapon is one of those games that just works - like the rare piece of music where you don't know if the composer came up with the melody or the chords first (because that melody only makes sense with that specific harmony and vice versa, and both of those only make sense with that specific rhythm), each one of Patapon's mishmash of genres somehow comes together. Part rhythm game and part strategy game with a dash of RPG and town-builder sim thrown in, the player is cast as the god of the Patapon tribe, issuing commands to its soldiers in the form of 4-beat button commands. The need to relentlessly sound the drums without skipping a beat in order for the army to operate at full effectiveness elevates Patapon above its individual genres - rather than just being about issuing the right commands or following the right rhythms, this is a game about multitasking and planning ahead. Since the Patapons essentially follow your commands on a 4-beat lag, you need to read the battlefield situation (unit positioning and things like wind direction), decide what to do, then input the right button combination while thinking 2-4 seconds into the future and taking care not to skip any beats. It's amazingly engaging! The town building and RPG elements also have an important role here, allowing players to gradually unlock and access a variety of unit and equipment types which allow for different playstyles.
I have to say that Patapon appealed to me despite me generally not being a big fan of its main genres. As someone who doesn't enjoy the busywork of strategy games, Patapon's unique mechanics allowed me to issue more general commands and not get caught up in micromanagement, without being boring. And (sorry to brag a bit) as someone who can play lots of stuff by ear and therefore doesn't really see much of a point in most rhythm games, Patapon engaged me by having its rhythm mechanics as a tactical means to an end, rather than simply being "press buttons to play song".
Really, the only reason I'm not rating this higher is that there are certain things that could be more refined (it's pretty easy to get screwed by some enemy attacks that simply give you no time to react, the game doesn't always communicate how you can improve, the movements of some Patapons are ever so slightly de-sycned from the beat so as to be misleading, the minigames lack variety), and I know there are a couple of sequels which I'm really hoping will address those issues.
But this is one of the gaming highlights of the year for me. It's brilliant, it's unique, and it's going to be playing in my head for quite some time.
Patapon is one of those games that just works - like the rare piece of music where you don't know if the composer came up with the melody or the chords first (because that melody only makes sense with that specific harmony and vice versa, and both of those only make sense with that specific rhythm), each one of Patapon's mishmash of genres somehow comes together. Part rhythm game and part strategy game with a dash of RPG and town-builder sim thrown in, the player is cast as the god of the Patapon tribe, issuing commands to its soldiers in the form of 4-beat button commands. The need to relentlessly sound the drums without skipping a beat in order for the army to operate at full effectiveness elevates Patapon above its individual genres - rather than just being about issuing the right commands or following the right rhythms, this is a game about multitasking and planning ahead. Since the Patapons essentially follow your commands on a 4-beat lag, you need to read the battlefield situation (unit positioning and things like wind direction), decide what to do, then input the right button combination while thinking 2-4 seconds into the future and taking care not to skip any beats. It's amazingly engaging! The town building and RPG elements also have an important role here, allowing players to gradually unlock and access a variety of unit and equipment types which allow for different playstyles.
I have to say that Patapon appealed to me despite me generally not being a big fan of its main genres. As someone who doesn't enjoy the busywork of strategy games, Patapon's unique mechanics allowed me to issue more general commands and not get caught up in micromanagement, without being boring. And (sorry to brag a bit) as someone who can play lots of stuff by ear and therefore doesn't really see much of a point in most rhythm games, Patapon engaged me by having its rhythm mechanics as a tactical means to an end, rather than simply being "press buttons to play song".
Really, the only reason I'm not rating this higher is that there are certain things that could be more refined (it's pretty easy to get screwed by some enemy attacks that simply give you no time to react, the game doesn't always communicate how you can improve, the movements of some Patapons are ever so slightly de-sycned from the beat so as to be misleading, the minigames lack variety), and I know there are a couple of sequels which I'm really hoping will address those issues.
But this is one of the gaming highlights of the year for me. It's brilliant, it's unique, and it's going to be playing in my head for quite some time.