More recently, the rhythm games were at the top of the game Olympus. One success followed another, and it seemed that the new Rock Band And Guitar Hero There will be no end. On about the same wave, a sudden rhythm strategy drove into the mass consciousness deftly Patapon. Now the genre is going through the best of times, and it seems that this was reflected even on the series about warlike pataps.
Feeling of rhythm
Recall that in the previous episodes of the race of rational eyes on the legs (actually Patapones), the edge of the world and something known only under the code name was sought out. What kind of it is it and why the Patapons need to find it, still a riddle, but for the developers of the series the plot has always been only a backdrop, a decoration for an original gameplay.
In Patapon, you need not just repeat the buttons sequence behind the program. The rhythm elements here is a way to control the army. Four drums that make four different sounds (and PSP buttons tied to four buttons), four tacts, four blows in each team – Patapon has always been more than enough. Moreover, on the simplest mechanics, the developers built a fairly deep game – to win, stupidly repulsing the two main teams (“Forward” and “In the attack”) in any part of the series only at the very first levels, and then you have to learn signals like “defending” or "Retreat". Additional complexity is added by the fact that you control your patapons soldiers are not directly and not constantly. The game is, as it were, divided into two cycles of four tacts: in the first you give the order, in the second it is executed. It sounds quite simple, but in practice it means that you always need to act in Patapon with a lead.
Finally, role components have always played a rather important role in the series. In the first and second part, you raised and pumped new pataps, and all despised grinds were erected to the rank of normal game mechanics: you even had to go hunting to get the materials necessary for the next upgrade.
Young mutants
IN Patapon 2 The authors cost point modifications (for example, improved the pumping system, making it more transparent), but they gave an amazing effect. In Patapon 3, the developers went even further and did a rather controversial thing – we took away the army from us.
The fact is that this is no longer a rhythm strategy. The third Patapon is a real party rhythm-RPG (minus fascinating plot). Forget about the large army and how it was rolled up by the wave on enemy fortifications-now at your disposal, in addition to the banner-Khatapon, around which your wards are grouped, there are only four fighters. The first and the main one is the hero and formal embodiment of the player, the remaining three are ordinary warriors, representatives of three base classes Patapon 3: archer, swordsman and spearman.
The trick is that each class has its own development tree. By earning experience in the battles and gaining new levels, you gradually open more and more patapon forms, into which you can then force to “mutate” your comrades. A penny-yarid, for example, at the third level, you can get an increase to a cavalryman (or Kibadda according to the internal terminology of the game), and on the fifth picks up the shield and becomes less powerful, but much better protected "pyekron". Upgrades are nonlinear, each form has its own advantages and disadvantages, and one of the most important skills in Patapon 3 is to choose the right composition of the detachment before the next sortie.
And also – patience, because each form of each patapon develops separately from others, and the accumulated experience is pumped only into the larva that you currently use. Therefore, if you turned the archers into a wizard two hours ago and you suddenly needed to stick enemies with arrows again, there is a good chance that before starting the actual quest, you will first have to go through something several times-to pump up-to pump up. As we said, Patapon developers are extremely frivolous to Green.
In order to finally confuse your head, the authors of the game allow you to improve not only the fighters themselves, but also their equipment (it is now that the money and materials that you collect on tasks are now spent), and even generously shower after each mission by treasures, so very soon It becomes almost impossible to figure out the inventory.
Hatapon and Yaripon
But what no changes touched on is the basic gameplay. Each quest is a small two -dimensional level, full of enemies, extremely unfriendly monsters and various obstacles. Your task is to get to the end, having dealt with the opposition and retaining at least a hero with a banner. The problem is that the mechanic pleasing to two games in a row for the third time is no longer triggered: the bell seems to be rang, and the saliva does not separate.
Perhaps the matter is about the changed scale of what is happening or in the fact that Patapon strangely combines a fairly high level of complexity and the complete absence of punishment for failure. If in the first part half of your troops could irrevocably cheat a hungry dragon, then in the third between the missions all the dead miraculously resurrect. The game does not even deprive you of the experience gained during an unsuccessful employment. On the one hand, it’s nice, and on the other, one of the most effective tactics as a result is a stupid pressure. It didn’t work out – they tried it again, sooner or later the quest will succumb to anyway.
Or maybe the fact is that you are just tired. By the third part, virtual witchcraft drums from a spicy new item have turned into a long -familiar tool. Even the game itself seems to be awaiting that everyone has long known what salt is and what to do, so it does not even explain many important nuances. For example, the fact that Kaiser Slots Casino in Patapon the wind is not just a cool effect and depends on its direction which of the two armies, arrows fly further. A trifle, but the attitude towards himself and the player Patapon 3 demonstrates clearly.
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The old fans of Patapon 3, most likely, will scare away with a bored gameplay, new ones – some unfriendliness and all together – a large amount of pumping. If you love patapons very much and have inexhaustible patience reserves, you can still live, but not everyone can boast of such a set of qualities.
Reigracy – No
Cool plot – No
Originality – Yes
Easy to master – Yes
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 9
Sound and music: 7
Interface and management: 7
Waited? Sunset of one of the most original series for PSP. Beat in the drums and sing "Pata Pata-pon!»Already not as fun as for the first time, and the game itself does not even try to convince about it.
Mania rating: 6.5
"Above the average"