Metareview: Patapon (PSP)

by Alexander Sliwinski { Feb 29th 2008 at 3:00AM }

Ready the troops, it's time to march (pata-pata-pata-pon) into battle (pon-pon-pata-pon) with Patapon, a delightful rhythm-based action/strategy game standing proud and alone in a new genre. Patapon is another jewel in the ever-increasing library of notable games for the PSP and at only $20 you shouldn't even bother reading the reviews below -- just go get it! Pata-pata-pata-pon!

IGN (92/100): "While LocoRoco appeared to have the cuteness crown with enjoyable play for the PSP, it looks like it will have to move over – the time for Patapon has come. If you own a PSP, make sure you go to the stores and you get a copy of this game. Your game collection will thank you, and you won't be disappointed."
1UP (90/100): "Patapon poses a serious challenge over its 15 hours (some arcane objectives and explanations don't help); it's not very portable (no pausing, headphones required), and some players won't enjoy the backtracking necessary to buff up their army or the unforgiving economy of the collectibles (you'll often find yourself with far too many items and not enough ka-ching). But it atones for its faults with understated strategic depth, an astounding sense of reward (both literal and whimsical), and an inspired difficulty curve that sticks with you to the end."
EuroGamer (80/100): "While Patapon has got the same quirky sense of style and visual charm as [LocoRoco], it doesn't offer the same easy breezy gameplay. Instead, it offers an imposing amount of depth and a considerable amount of micromanagement. Which isn't necessarily a criticism - it's just that forewarned is forearmed, and if you're nuts about LocoRoco there's no guarantee that you'll go bonkers for Patapon, because it's complicated, and it can be frustrating. But then it can also be rewarding and yes, it's absolutely charming and that counts for a lot."

Tags: metareview, patapon, psp

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Andy @ Feb 29th 2008 3:08AM

yay for the props given to patapon :)

colin @ Feb 29th 2008 3:09AM

happy 700th joystiq post to me

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Feb 29th 2008 3:33AM

wow thats impressive (or weird. i cant decide) that you actually watch that counter lol. in that case it's happy 784 (and 1274 Blogsmith total) for me! see.....i beat you lol.

Kye Grammar DF @ Feb 29th 2008 3:31AM

Off topic:
Colin, congratulations, I'm coming up to my 1000th post soon.

Does anyone know how many times you need to be voted up in order to get half or a whole heart?

On topic:
I may or may not agree with the general opinion of this post.

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ Feb 29th 2008 3:36AM

I'm nearing 700, pretty bad because alot of these guys haven't been around as long as us yet they have thousands of comments.

Commenting since 2006, reading since 2005 BABY!

I miss Ephorbis...how many stars did he have? Like 17?

Kye Grammar DF @ Feb 29th 2008 4:40AM

Epobirs has 20 something stars if not into the thirties.
Him (her?) and a few other high star earners just disappeared after the star ranking system went.
Good time.

I've been reading Joystiq since E3 '05.

Slaziman @ Feb 29th 2008 5:01AM

I got a lot of posts I think, so I'm making this post to check my profile because I'm too lazy to track down another comment of mine.

dan stabbingworth @ Feb 29th 2008 9:19AM

They got tired of the constant trolling, I'm sure. So essentially we traded epobirs for Fernando.

...cries...

ThornedVenom (Patapornographer) @ Feb 29th 2008 9:33AM

You're making me look like a youngin'.

I'll be callin' you once I reach over nine thousand.

ThornedVenom (Patapornographer) @ Feb 29th 2008 9:35AM

Cancel that, I just realized that I was over 2.2K.

That makes me an old-timer, huh?

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ Feb 29th 2008 1:49PM

Yeah E3 05 was my first one that I knew what was going on, and I have Joystiq to thank for that:D

You had any stars Kye? I had one or two.

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ Feb 29th 2008 3:32AM

They should port this to the DS or Wiiware.

Or. I should just buy a PSP...

Psaakyrn @ Feb 29th 2008 3:47AM

Just get the @#$% PSP. The PSP will always have advantages over the DS (and vice versa) so both would have games unique to each other.

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Feb 29th 2008 3:36AM

is it me? or does the Eurogamer blurb thing sound like it's calling Patapon, Loco Roco's ugly little sister with a big heart?

it's probably just me.....*sigh* it's always just me.....

Zoesch @ Feb 29th 2008 9:23AM

I think they were expecting LocoRoco styled gameplay and found the amount of micromanagement to be a bit of a turnoff... the review doesn't come across as negative either.

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 1st 2008 1:24PM

oh not at all, they seemed so surprised at how deep this game is. i only played the demo so far (havent gotten around to picking it up yet) but it is ALOT different from Loco Roco. i just found their surprised description amusing is all lol.

J.Goodwin @ Feb 29th 2008 5:49AM

I thought Ziff went to letter grades.

Demaar @ Feb 29th 2008 8:10AM

Yeah, if you look at the page it says "A". *sigh* they really shouldn't have went with pluses and minuses so people couldn't just convert the scores to numerals...

Evan @ Feb 29th 2008 8:06AM

Wait, wasn't LocoRoco a failure? I seem to remember articles about how LocoRoco collected dust in Japan:
kotaku.com/gaming/top/japan-hates-locoroco-190821.php
(Sorry for linking a kotaku article). What makes anyone think Patapon will sell?

upz @ Feb 29th 2008 11:21AM

No one. Not even Sony. That's why it's $20. But at that price, who knows? It might surprise us.

Demaar @ Feb 29th 2008 8:10AM

Been meaning to ask this for a while now, but wouldn't a meta review be like a review of the reviews? Why aren't you being more critical of them? :D

Hot$auce_Magik @ Feb 29th 2008 8:48AM

I bought this game yesterday afternoon...After way too many rounds of halo to count, I ate dinner and cleaned my room (there's nothing like gaming in a freshly cleaned room) and sat down to play my new treasure (8:30). Fast forward to 2 am I'm bleary eyed and finally laying down to go to sleep, and whispering "pon pon pata pon" (that's the attack command) to myself...

Fun game. DEFINITELY worth the $21.change I paid for it. If anyone's every played the game King Arthurs World on the snes, this game is like that...but with rhythm...and an inventory...and a storyline...and your troops are eyeballs...ok thats it.

This game is win.