Gameplay

The player controls a tribe consisting of infantry, ranged troops and cavalry. Initially, the player's warband (army) consists of only a few basic spearmen but as the game progresses more units, greater warriors and more powerful weapons can be obtained. The army is commanded by beating rhythm combos on four different talking drums each mapped to one of the PSP's four control buttons. Different combos tells the player's group of Patapons to do various things such as advance, attack, and defend. Keeping the rhythm going and not missing a beat builds a frenzy in your army which increases attack speed, power and general prowess.

The game and story is unfolded through a number of missions of increasing difficulty. As the player progresses, new opponents are introduced and more drum rhythms are unlocked. Between missions, new troops can be spawned by spending currency called ka-ching and combining various resource items to create stronger Patapon troops. Throughout the game a player can also edit troop formations and acquire new weapons to equip their Patapon.

Story

The Patapon were a flourishing people until they were defeated by the evil Zigaton tribe. The player takes the role of their god and uses sacred war drums to direct the Patapon tribe to take back their land. As the story progresses, the Patapon also embark on a journey to Earthend to look upon "IT," a sacred object whose appearance and purpose is unknown to the tribe.

Playable Demo

On January 25, 2008. a playable demo was announced by the Patapon's associate producer Chris Hinojosa-Miranda via the official PlayStation blog. He revealed that the demo would be available for those who pre-ordered a copy of Patapon through GameStop. It has since been released as a downloadable demo for those in Europe and North America through the PlayStation Store. ^[2] Progress made in the demo version of Patapon (including the acquiring of a special demo-only weapon, The Spear of Protection) is transferable to the full retail release so players can resume progress from where they left off in the demo.^[3]

All in all, if you're looking for something which is a unique blend of a rhythm game and a real time strategy title, then Patapon is definitely something you might want to look into. It does a really good job of putting its own innovative spin into each of the two genres without mucking it up by trying to please everyone.

Since the game will be introduced for merely half the price of a normal PSP title, there's really no reason why any gamer would pass up the chance of even trying out this game for the heck of it. Who knows, maybe the little critters might even grow on you after all their hypnotic chantings of "Pata" and "Pon" finally sink into your subconscious.

In any case, this blogger is going to excuse himself for now and play god once again to his incessantly demanding people. We recommend you do the same - it's good for the soul.

Critical reception

IGN (rated the game a 9.2) considers Patapon, "not only one of the best rhythm games ever released, it's also one of the best titles for the PSP."^[4] GameSpot gave Patapon a 9.0/10 citing its excellent art design and innovative gameplay. ^[5] 1UP.com gave the game an A, noting its understated strategic depth despite the game's faults.^[6] Metacritic shows an overall rating of 87 out of 100.^[7]