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Once upon a time, Sony was one of gaming\u2019s most eclectic publishers. That might be hard to imagine considering that it is hyper-focused on a specific brand of cinematic storytelling these days, but platforms like the PlayStation Portable were once home to a bevy of inventive first-party games that were hard to replicate. There\u2019s no better example of that than Patapon, a unique rhythm action series about marching eyeball critters. It was a one-of-a-kind idea, the type of special game you\u2019d be hard-pressed to find from a major publisher in 2026.<\/p>\n
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While you won\u2019t find the creative spirit of Patapon alive at PlayStation Studios, you can still find it in Ratatan<\/em>, a musical roguelike which exits early access on Oct. 15 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. A spiritual successor to Patapon spearheaded by its former developers, Ratatan <\/em>looks to pick up the dropped torch and march the rhythm game into a new era. That\u2019s not exactly an easy task, as developer Ratata Arts discovers in a lacking roguelike that struggles to fully modernize a classic game. As flawed as it is on a structural level, though, Ratatan <\/em>is still loaded with a nostalgic charm that will make you pine for a lost era.<\/p>\n At a glance, Ratatan <\/em>is Patapon <\/em>in everything but name \u2014 and even then, it\u2019s still pretty close. You take on the role of a pint-sized critter, a titular Ratatan, who becomes a conductor for an army of Coburn, a breed of one-eyed fuzzballs. Your goal is to lead the Coburn through 2D worlds filled with monsters, barking out orders in order to take out foes en route to meeting a Goddess. All the fundamentals of Patapon are there, right down to a very similar soundtrack of bouncy music.<\/p>\n On an aesthetic level, Ratatan <\/em>nails the assignment. It’s a vibrant little cartoon with a feel-good nature that\u2019s so infectious that it\u2019s hard to resist tapping your foot along to the bright music. It\u2019s positively endearing; you can really feel that it\u2019s coming from developers who deeply loved creating Patapon and are just happy to make something like it again.<\/p>\n The rhythm gameplay still feels fresh nearly two decades after 2007\u2019s Patapon<\/em>, even if it\u2019s a little shallow. You issue commands to your Coburns by nailing two or three button combos in time with the music. Hit the Y button three times and they\u2019ll start marching. Hit A three times and they\u2019ll stop to attack. Aside from those core commands, you can perform magic-consuming special attacks, create shields, and jump to avoid attacks. There aren\u2019t enough button combos or timing mix-ups to make the system very involved, but it\u2019s easy enough to get you into a trance-like flow state as you tap along to the music. The more I play, the more I appreciate how it adds positioning to the Patapon formula, as there’s a strategy to moving your Coburn to the right spot to avoid incoming attacks.<\/p>\n While that\u2019s a great foundation, Ratata Arts struggles to find a way to push the Patapon formula forward. Ratatan <\/em>lays everything out in a roguelite structure, where you need to guide your Coburn through a handful of worlds while nabbing run-specific upgrades. The buildcrafting mostly centers around infusing your Coburns\u2019 attacks with elements, like poison or shock, as well as altering the power of critical hits. None of the upgrades really change how you play much at all. The run itself barely changes either, as you march through the same worlds and fight the same bosses every time with minimal variation between them.<\/p>\n Ratatan <\/em>tries to keep that interesting with RPG hooks. You\u2019ll pick up tons of weapons throughout a run, which can be scrapped to power up specialized gear. Permanent progression also helps give you more power each run, and give you more starting Coburn to build your army. As necessary as those systems are to incentivize players to try one more run, it quickly starts to feel like the roguelike is only there to stretch out a very small amount of content. I\u2019ve yet to fully finish a run, but I can already tell it\u2019s just a matter of grinding until I\u2019m powerful enough to coast through the final boss.<\/p>\n A weekly cheat sheet to what you\u2019ll eventually love to play. No buying, no \t\t\tSign up freeGet Polygon\u2019s Wishlister newsletter<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\tcommitment \u2014 just saving for later.<\/p>\n
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