Reviews for Patapon

Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon!

Strengths: Unique gameplay, addictive, wonderful music, good storyline

Weakness: Level grinding required

This is a must-buy for the PSP. I want to make that clear right from the start. I've never been a big fan of rhythm games in the past, but Patapon is in a category all by itself. The general idea is that you are the God of a bunch of little eyeball creatures and through the beating of drums, you can command them to move and fight. Their goal is to reach Earthend where they will see 'IT' and all their dreams will be realized.

Throughout the game, you will gain access too additional troop types and you can create more with various ingredients. The ingredients all have levels and different levels combined to improve units in different ways. There are many different combinations to try and plenty of weapons and armor to collect during the game.

The main gameplay involves missions to complete one after another. Most of the missions are a one-shot, meaning that once you complete them, you can never go back. There are also boss-stages which can be played over and over, with the bosses becoming successively tougher each time. In addition, there are also hunting stages which can also be played over and over, at which you can collect ingredients you'll need. In addition to the missions, there are also a series of fun little mini games that will give you access to new ingredients and items.

The only downside to this game is that you will have to replay some bosses and missions over and over and over in a save-play-reload fashion in order to get some of the item drops you need. Since all drops are random and bosses get harder each time you beat them, it's often worthwhile to just start over again if you don't get what you're looking for. That cna easily get repetative over time. The plus side is that the game is entertaining enough that usually you won't mind doing it again.

I really can't recommend this game highly enough and at $20 MSRP, it's a steal. I would have payed twice that for this. I should also warn you that this game will likely have the command songs running through your head even when you're not playing the game. I find myself chanting them inside my head at the oddest times.

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Solid rpg/rhythm mechanics

Strengths: Fresh take on rpg genre

Weakness: Getting the rhythms can be frustrating

Right off the bat, the price on this is fantastic. It was fantastic at release at only $20 and often went on sale for even less. Additionally, I found the art direction excellent, in a minimalist manner and the sound, of course, topnotch. It starts off slow, in order to teach, but by the second hour, you realize the system is a lot deeper than it seems.
Patapon is not flawless, however, and I wish it a little more forgiving with the timing elements. I am not very good at music games that require playing to the beat, and there were some attacks that I just could not get the timing down. The doublebeats especially seemed difficult and the onscreen help could not teach me. This didn't kill the enjoyment, but it did distract and make the experience less immersive. Also, it is almost impossible to play this game without decent headphones or a quiet environment, which undermines some of the portability of the psp. Still, as rpgs go, this was a solid addition to the library.

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Patapon

Strengths: Unique, music, gameplay

Weakness: level grinding

Patapon is an unique game based on music and strategy. The gameplay requires some level of strategy and rhythm to control your army of patapon in its quest to rid the land of evil. There are many levels and each one is unique and requires some strategy. You can earn stuff as you move up the levels and create new type of patapon.

Patapon is unique, addictive and surprising entertaining. If you like Loco Roco, you'll like this game.

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Great Game-- for short gameplay or long!

Strengths: Simple interface, creative graphics, addictive gameplay, can play for 5 minutes or hours

Weakness: Hard game if you don't have rhythm... gotta keep the beat!

This is a great game. I haven't had a PSP for very long, but I like the idea of games that are versatile timewise-- this is one of those. You can choose to play it for a very short time or play for hours and it is just as entertaining. It is fairly difficult to play in noisy environments without headphones as you really have to keep the beat with the music. Once you get the hang of how to play, though, the game becomes addictive. I love the graphic styling-- it is very reminiscent of Samurai Jack and the like. Overall, great game, beautiful interface, simple control-- I would definitely recommend this game if you have a PSP!

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One of the better genre-defying PSP titles out now....

Strengths: Stellar visual style, unique rhythm/real time strategy hybrid game play, budget price

Weakness: Level grinding required for certain items, no multiplayer support, no pause feature

From the development studio that brought you Loco Roco, Patapon offers players yet another unique gaming experience on Sony's PSP handheld system. The near universal applause this title has garnered from critics hails from a variety of attributes the game possesses, the very least of which is the $20 budget price.

Using a cartoon visual style not unlike that of Loco Roco, Patapon sees you lead a small army of "patapon" creatures in thirty plus missions 300-style against a variety of other soldiers, monsters and bosses. Rhythm-based game play is used to issue commands to your troops, and you can scavenge weapons and armor from your fallen adversaries to further outfit and build your own army.

Patapon doesn't necessarily sound like a lot of fun on paper, but as you may have seen with Loco Roco, developer Interlink knows how to put together a quality handheld game. Fortunately, Patapon was released at a more reasonable $20 price tag, so you can find it even cheaper if you look hard enough. Everyone who owns a PSP should at least try this game. With a low $20 price tag, no excuses should be allowed.

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Patapon

Strengths: music, different

Weakness: no pause

Probably one of the more unique titles I’ve played on the PSP. It’s a combination of a rhythm and SRPG game. You control your “troops” using drum beats/sequences. As you gain more victories, your “troops” get stronger. There are quite a few different types of troops that you can pick from as you move through the game. The strategy comes in when you choose which 3 types you use when you choose a task or battle. Each group has it’s own strengths and weaknesses. The only weakness in this title for me is there is no pause or save if you’re in the middle of a mission. You have to play it out to the end. If you’re looking for something different, pick up this title.

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Patapwned

Strengths: Beautiful graphics, Quirky

Weakness: Confusing battle system, Too much rides on super timing accuracy

Patapon is a rhythm game through and through -- I wish it wasn't so much so. Why couldn't they make it more like traditional side scroller with rhythm elements thrown in? I was seduced by the visuals and the hypnotic chanting drums when this game was announced and had to buy it.

*

The reality is, it relies too much on timing accuracy with little wiggle room. Get the beat combination wrong and you get gently scolded and nothing happens. It can get frustrating when you just want to be able to press the d-pad right arrow and X button to move forward to attack the enemy.

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An excellent new music game for PSP

Strengths: Great Value for $20 - I got it for $10. A unique blend of music/rpg/strategy game, never seen before. Catchy music with beautiful art direction

Weakness: No Pause, very odd for a portable game, backtracking is required to advance in certain situations.

In this game, you control a squad of little guys known as patapons in their quest to rid the land of evil. There are different classes of patapon, such as spear users and cavalry. You can only choose 3 types to control during any given level, so there is an element of strategy involved. You control these guys by using the face buttons matching the music beats along the edge of the screen, telling them to attack or retreat. If you played LocoRoco, you may be familiar with the look and feel of the game; it feels like you're playing a cartoon instead of a game. The art is wonderful and the music is very catchy, essential to the character of the game. One minor complaint I have with the game is no pause button. Since this is the PSP, you can just put it to sleep mode, so it isn't a huge problem. A bigger problem is that sometimes you will encounter levels where you hit a brick wall and seemingly have no way to advance. That means it's time for you to go back to previous levels and scavenge upgrades for your patapons. There is an rpg-like system in place where you can buy and upgrade your guys, but many times, the only way to upgrade is by picking up items fallen enemies leave behind. That's about my only complaint with the game. All in all, a must-have for PSP, especially at the price of $20.

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An Interesting Mix of Gameplay

Strengths: Innovative Gameplay, Graphics & Presentation

Weakness: Non I Can Think of

Patapon is an interesting game as while it probably would be considered a Real Time Strategy game if you had to pick one type of game it really is more then that as you will be controlling your army of Patapon troops by means that is much like a rhythm game such as Space Channel 5 or Parappa The Rapper. Before battles you will have to pick from different types of troops to take into battle which adds a big strategic element to the game as the right troops will be better suited against certain types of enemies. As you progress though the game you will be able to earn new weapons and get more commands later on. The game itself will take you about 10-15 hours to play though but more time can be spent playing Patapon if you wish to go after stronger versions of the bosses in order to earn stronger weapons.

I would recommend Patapon to fans of Strategy games and or Rhythm games or even anyone that is interested in something new or quirky and at $20 Patapon is a great deal.

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Unique rhythm game

Strengths: Creative concept, addictive gameplay, music gets stuck in your head, very cute graphically

Weakness: Can get repetitive, controls can be hard to remember in the heat of battle

Patapon is a REALLY unique rhythm game for the PSP-- or any system. Instead of directly controlling your Patapons, you are basically their god and controlling them by drumming to the pattern of the music. The game provides you different drum beats to control what your Patapons do-- advance, attack, retreat, etc. You need to both keep time to the beat, and drum the right patterns, to successfully continue through levels and the game. There is a lot of depth to the game but sometimes you can totally lose the beat, and/or blank on the right drum pattern, in the middle of a battle! That can be very annoying. Of course, the songs/beats WILL get stuck in your head and you'll be wandering around the house singing "pata-pata-pata-pon!" to yourself wondering why.

The game does have a largely repetitive nature, and like some other reviewers have posted, you might get a little bored of it before you actually finish. But it is a bargain at the price and you should at least check out the demo!

4 stars-- there are some rough edges, but this is a very creative and unique game that deserves to be checked out!

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Patapon

Strengths: Unique art style, creative rhythm-based gameplay

Weakness: Repetitious grinding

Patapon is an interesting mix of music rhythm and strategy as you create drum beats for your army of Patapon to move and attack to. The art-style is minimalistic, with hard-drawn edges that is reminiscent of LocoRoco. The game is easy enough at the beginning, but as you progress there is a lot of repeating of levels as you must obtain resources to strengthen your troops and create new types of warriors. Because of this, I found myself having a hard time wanting to progress. Still, it's worth a look at the budget price of $20 and even though I never think I'll put the necessary time in to beat the game, I feel I got my money's worth with what I played.

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awesome musical game

Strengths: great music, unstoppable beat

Weakness: need some time to master

This is one of the best music beat pressing games for a cheap steady price.The game graphics are simple and the characters or your minions are very funny. Each characters that you can breed have different abilities and attacks patterns. The game story is linear, but you are able to replay all the stages. The game battle system involves rhythm and coordinations with the button presses so that you can make successful attack combos. The game is very addictive and you will enjoy every mission. I recommends this game to those who likes kind of rhythm games and those who enjoys also coordination skills games. This game is a must have since is created by those who brought you Loco Roco.

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Addicting and Satisfying

Strengths: Addicting, Music,graphics, storyline, very cute all around

Weakness: Can be frustrating, requires long periods of "lock in time", GUI, grinding for "ka-ching"/money and materials..

Initial Summary:

Patapon is tremendous fun. You are the master of this cute little eyeball army. You're commanding them to "Earth's End" and along the way you'll need to fight the Zigaton Army and many huge monster type "bosses" of varying types styles and varieties.

Gameplay:

To do so, you'll need to issue commands by hitting 1 of the 5 available sequences of button presses in rhythm on the PSP. You are supposed to be beating the "drum". For example, you can march forward, attack, defend, retreat or charge up. All commands are not available throughout the game which can make it harder earlier on. All the commands eventually become unlocked.

More on gameplay:

You soon learn that they echo or sing your 4-beat command, then follow, it. This is followed by a 1 beat rest. As they sing and follow your command you need to decide which command to issue next. To be really effective, you'll need to work up "Fever" which comes at a maximum of 10 successively properly issued commands. In reality you can achieve "fever" much faster by being super accurate. The trick is also to stay in fever. When the Patapons are in Fever mode, they do everthing more effectively.

Delving deeper:

Similarly there are 4 miracles which are unlocked which require you to first invoke the miracle with a 5 tap sequence, followed by repeating a series of visually presented button presses in sequence and in rhythm. The 4 miracles are rain, wind, earthquake, and storm.

The gameplay itself is very simple and doesn't change. So once you get hang of issuing the commands in rhythm and maintaining fever you should have an easy time. ****Big disclaimer..see below

Strategy:

You need to choose which groups (up to 3 at a time) of patapons to use for mission. There are ultimately 6 to choose from and again, you don't have all 6 to choose from throughout the game. Each group winds up being earned/unlocked.

****Disclaimer explained: As I said the game should be easy. However, you come to realize that you need to grind out extra ka-ching (currency) which is necessary to purchase in combination with other materials along the way in order to create "Rarepons" which are special powerful Patapons. Grinding out is 3-fold: 1. You'll need repeatedly go on simple hunting missions 2. You'll need to have repeated victories with tough monster bosses. 3. You'll need to execute accurate play in the mini-games.********

You need to keep choosing whether you should proceed to the next battle, or go and hunt or go to a mini-game. If you found yourself under equipped for a battle you may find yourself on detour through these interlude missions until you get you need. I recommend saving the game before you make an 'offering' at the mini game. This is because if you don't execute it correctly, you're out of luck and have lost your offering with nothing in return. Some of this grinding can add to a boring factor as it is repetitive and time consuming; although usually easy.

Each of the mini-games are another component of the game which is unlocked. All this unlocking contributes to the mystery and specialty of the game but also can make it exasperating at times, as you may not know what is needed to do the unlocking. There are various walkthroughs on the web. It's up to you whether you'll want to utilize them(or add dozens of hours to game play.LOL)

The game has so many subtleties which I wished I understood earlier and through the middle of the game because it would have made it so much easier on me. For example the different combinations to give "birth" to the patapons and how to get those materials is an important piece. Also, although it usually beneficial to "optimize" your weapons prior to each mission there are missions when you need to go "low tech" because otherwise you will fail. You'll need to choose which miracle to bring for each mission, which stew to eat. Yes, it may be crucial, believe it or not.

Conclusion: Why do I love this game? The music really gets into your head in a chant like way that you'll dream about. Once you get the hang of working up and maintaining fever, making the right decisions, and being properly prepared it really is simple and fun. It takes several hours to get comfortable with the system and then it'll seem like 2nd nature. This will be even more apparent if you choose to start a new game. You'll get through in less than half of the time as you first adventure. That is also satisfying.

One other crucial point. The game demands that you focus, otherwise you will break fever mode. This means that you can't explain what your doing to someone while your playing. You can't answer your phone or try to play with any other ambient noise going on. Headphones are ideal and in fact add to the musical/chant like experience.

This was the first hand held game I played in many years. It's in my top 5 games (any type) of all time!

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Fun Rhythm-based Game

Strengths: Unique gameplay, Good audio, Fun minigames, Giant bosses

Weakness: Can become repetitive, Steep learning curve, Mess-ups are frustrating

Patapon is great game at a steal of a price. It's surprisingly deep and challenging. It's easy to pick up but gets progressively harder very fast. There's elements from basically every genre in this game. This is a game that you want to use headphones with, not just for the audio quality but also to help you keep the beat.

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Pata-Pata-Pata-Review

Strengths: Mix of combat, strategy, and rythm game. Unique visuals. Fun!

Weakness: Remembering beats and timing can be difficult.

In a nutshell, you command your loyal army of followers by banging beats on a virtual drum. A grid flashes and you have to time your beats to the flash. so you give one beat to move forward while another beat to attack or retreat.

There are two things that make thios game extra difficult. First, your command of the beats is entirely based on memorization. There's a lot of beats to memorize. Secondly, there are some poor design choices that actually throw of your beat. For example you may get a series in a row for the, "fever!" However, when the sound effect for 'fever' comes on, it has a tendency to throw off the beat.

I liked patapon, but it can be frustratingly difficult to remember and time the beats. Definately try the demo first.

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Patapon Lots of Fun!

Strengths: Simple idea, but game has lots of depth. Addictive, fun to play. Inexpensive.

Weakness: Hard if you can't keep a beat.

This is a really fun game for the PSP. Basically, you are in charge of these little eyeball creatures called Patapons. You send them into battle and give them orders by creating a drum beat. Different drum combinations do different things. Pretty simple idea, and easy to learn. But the game has quite a bit of depth. There are about 35 levels, and you get stuff after each level that lets you create different types of Patapons. There are lots of different weapons, spells, and battle moves to help you defeat your enemies. There are also mini-games back at your base that allow you to create different things. The game is quite addictive once you get into it. And all this for only $20 or so....quite a bargain!

Also, here's a little hint: if you download the demo off the internet and complete it first, you win a special item that you can save for when you buy the full game. You can download the demo at: www.us.playstation.com...

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Best PSP Video Game

Bestcovery experts have rated the Sony Patapon (PSP) as a best pick for the Best PSP Video Game. Bestcovery's experts recommend the best products and services for a particular need based on extensive research and evaluations. Click below to see Bestcovery's full review of this product.

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Patapon

Testseek.com has collected 35 expert reviews for Patapon and the average expert rating is 85 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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Patapon

Patapon receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.45 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #664 game of all time and #15 PlayStation Portable game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 23 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games ranked, click on the link below.

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Patapon

There was a time when peace reigned. When the Almighty inspired the beat of the magical drums and the tribe known as the Patapons lived contentedly in their homeland. But then the almighty went away and a neighboring tribe, the Zigotons, drove the Patapons from their homeland. But Hatapon believed the Almighty would return, and that the magical drums would once again ring out, lead the Patapons...

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