I don’t quite understand why we’re in a sudden Patapon revival, but I can’t complain about it. The cult rhythm game, in which players control an army of weird little dudes to the beat of music, will return this year with Patapon 1+2 Replay . That would be exciting enough for fans, but the bigger development is that the series is getting a full-on spiritual successor. Ratatan picks up where Patapon left off, bringing back that series’ colorful visuals and musical action.
Ahead of its early access release on July 25, I went hands-on with the upcoming indie at Summer Game Fest to see how developer Ratata Arts is reimagining a nearly 20-year-old game for modern audiences. Though it took me a few tries to fully understand how it all worked, I walked away charmed by Ratatan ’s playful spin on the roguelite genre once I found my groove.
From a distance, Ratatan is a spitting image for Patapon 4. In it, I control a cute little guy who is a sort of conductor for an army of weapon-wielding critters. Bubbly music plays as we walk through 2D levels fighting enemies, but my crew won’t do anything unless I tell them to in song form. As a music bar moves on the bottom of the screen, I need to hit buttons on certain beats to carry out actions. Hitting X three times will get my crew to gather around me and march, while pressing B three times gets them to attack.
As someone who doesn’t have much history with Patapon, it takes me a while to fully grasp how it works. Part of the early confusion comes from the fact that I can actually freely move my character around during levels, but my characters won’t follow me unless I’m near them. I also need to learn a few extra inputs, skipping the middle beat to set my guys into a defensive stance or to trigger a special attack. There’s also a song that launches everyone up in the air, and it takes me a few tries to realize how effective that is as an evasive maneuver in boss fights. All of this becomes second nature to me by the end of my demo as I start tapping out songs from memory.
What makes Ratatan very different, though, is the fact that it’s a roguelite. My demo has me setting out on runs where I clear a screen full of enemies, get upgrades, and move to the next challenge. Rewards include health boosts, more troops, and passive buffs that alter my actions. I grabbed a bunch of upgrades during my demo, some of which added effects like stun damage to my army’s attacks. It’s very much cut from the same cloth as games like Hades , which seems to be the studio’s intent. I spoke to a developer after my demo, who noted that the team wanted to find a way to modernize Patapon rather than simply doing it again. That’s certainly evidenced by the fact that the game is getting an early access release.
I only got to try a few runs, eventually besting a big boss in a battle. I was only able to pull that off thanks to several meta progression hooks. By earning candy and donuts during runs, I can go back to a hub and get plenty of permanent upgrades. That includes upping the starting size of my army as well as grabbing perks like resurrection. That layer helps the formula quite a bit, as simply tapping out the same few songs is only so effective after a while.
I want to see how much deeper it all gets in the late game. I only had around six songs I could use during play and I’m curious to see if there are a few more hidden in the progression. I don’t think it needs them since the roguelite upgrades are what really change a run, but I’d love to commit some more complex actions to memory and really test my rhythm skills.
Even if that’s not in the cards, I think I’ll be happy enough soaking in the joyful visuals and exuberant music of it all. By the end of my demo, I was very much tapping my toe and swaying side to side on beat. That’s about all you can ask for from a Patapon successor.
Ratatan launches into PC early access on July 25.
