I didn’t think I was getting anything for Valentine’s Day, but then, out of seemingly nowhere, Sony decided to mail us a Valentine’s Day card with a demo of Patapon 2 inside. While my romantic relationships continue to flounder, Patapon 2 developer Hiroyuki Kotani’s legendary passion was set to fill my void. How sweet, right?
I had already seen Patapon 2 in Tokyo last October, but I welcomed another opportunity to play the sequel to my favorite tribe based rhythm-action-real-time-strategy- role-playing-game. The game opens with a mini cinema relaying the story of how the Patapons failed in their attempts to reach Earthend. The tribe washed ashore on a new beach, and instantly I was asked to sign a pledge guaranteeing my loyalty toward helping the Patapon reach their destination.
I received the opportunity to load in date from my Patapon 1 save file, but it didn’t clue me in as to the benefits of such. From there the actual game began. Quite similar to the first Patapon, I was given a brief tutorial n the basics. One four button sequence moved my Patapons, and another was used to attack. The input of the sequence had to match the rhythm of the beat, and successive successful inputs fed the fever snake (combo meter) up top. From there it was an attack/march dance to the end of the two training levels.
The third level appeared to offer more of a challenge. I learned a new defense sequence, and I was expected to use it when trying to fight off the boss, Dodonga. I didn’t so much as fight him as much as manipulate him into moving a huge rock and freeing what turned out to be the avatar of the player character. After that I was prompted to find some friends and play multiplayer, which I was unable to do because of my idiotic DS-exclusive roommates.
While I’m quite fond of the time I spent with the original Patapon, I do remember how long it took me to “get” what the game was about, and input command sequences without hesitation. I would get confused, fall out of rhythm, and wind up losing a bunch of hit points on my way to a slow failure. The sequel, from my brief experience, seemed to be more adept at hammering in the themes of the game, making me do each sequence seemingly way too many times before I was allowed to move on. Excess, in this case, was a good thing; it will definitely help new players get a better grasp on the mechanics.
Patapon’s adorable art direction and whimsical mood is still wonderfully in place, as is the existing gameplay. It works and it’s still incredibly solid, but I was hoping for more hints of what’s in store for the sequel. I KNOW there is a lot more to it (the press release is boasting “200% more content”), but I guess we’ll just have to wait until it drops this May. We’ll be sure to have more coverage this spring!
