Ok this game is only two months old but there's no topic about it SO....
If you've ever been to Japan, you've probably been to one of their mythical arcades. Inside probably every Japanese arcade is a magical game called Taiko no Tatsujin, a rhythm game form Namco where you hit a large taiko drum. Not everyone has enough room for a giant drum arcade game, so Namco wisely decided to release home versions, the latest one being Taiko no Tatsujin: Don and Katsu's Great Space-Time Adventure.
If you've never played Taiko no Tatsujin, the game is actually quite simple. There are two main notes, the red dons and the blue katsus. On the red notes, you have to hit the drum, but on the blue notes, you have to him the rim of the drum. A mock taiko drum is on the bottom screen for you to tap, though you can also use buttons. I tried buttons and found it to be too slow and less satisfying. There are also other special notes like large notes where you have to hit an even more specific part of the drum, long notes, notes that resemble those Japanese pinatas I forgot the name of, balloon notes where you have to tap repeatedly and more.
Although not as complex as some other rhythm titles, the songs are very fast-paced and it does a good job of mimicking the feeling of hitting a drum. There's something absurdly addicting about it and I find myself often falling under "one more song" syndrome. The game also has a very good track list that includes everything from Beethoven to Let it Go to AKB48 to Attack on Titan's opening theme to more. There are over 60 songs, and you can unlock more as you play.
The main mode is Enso Game, where you pick a song and try to top your score. If that's too boring, there's also a story mode. Yes, a story mode about a living drum and his brother. You meet a rabbit named Takkun, who is being chased by a Team Galaxy ripoff called Time Dine. You have to travel through time to collect parts of a clock or something, I wasn't really paying attention. The story gimmick is time travel, which is actually pretty entertaining. You visit feudal Japan, ancient Egypt, the future, the age of early flight etc. You also meet historical figures and they can join your party. YES YOUR RPG PARTY CAN CONSIST OF NOBUNAGA, MARIE ANTOINETTE, CLEOPATRA AND THAT CAT FROM MONSTER HUNTER.
So how do you turn a rhythm game into an RPG? All the battles consist of playing through the songs on the soundtrack. The catch is now there are some bombs scattered about that can hurt you if you tap them by accident, and any missed notes can result in attacks from the enemy. Your team attacks when you string up combos. It's a pretty interesting system, although it is very easy to be completely wiped out in random battles if you mess up, which is a bit frustrating. One cool touch I like is how the random battle songs are based around the time period. When you go to Marie Antoinette's time the battles have classical music, the pirate area has a song from One Piece, the age of flight has Ace Combat and Attack on Titan songs etc.
It's somewhat like Pokemon in the respect that you can collect party members from monsters you defeat. These monsters have their own basic stats like speed, attack, special attack etc. There's some degree of strategy when it comes to who you have on your team. At first I just put the guys with the biggest attack stat on my team, but they were so slow that they would only attack once or twice per song and I would have so many draws. I ended up focusing on a team that attacked with smaller combos, but had less health.
The story mode is baby's first RPG as everything is extremely linear and the areas are small, but the boss battles are actually very challenging considering most of them try to obscure your vision and you have to go into the avatar state to remember the beats of the song and time things right. I'm stuck on the final boss right now, who is some crazy time dilluting Sephrioth jerk.
Also the game has a good degree of customization and options. You can make songs go double speed, watch the computer play them, dress up Don-chan into costumes (they have a stat effect in the RPG mode but not in Enso game), change the drum sounds to something else like fireworks or sword slices etc.
I'm not really into rhythm games but I am having a complete blast with this title and I really feel the urge to boost my score. I don't think I can resist buying the DLC. Has anyone played the first Taiko no Tatsujin game for 3DS? I WANT MORE.
If you've ever been to Japan, you've probably been to one of their mythical arcades. Inside probably every Japanese arcade is a magical game called Taiko no Tatsujin, a rhythm game form Namco where you hit a large taiko drum. Not everyone has enough room for a giant drum arcade game, so Namco wisely decided to release home versions, the latest one being Taiko no Tatsujin: Don and Katsu's Great Space-Time Adventure.
If you've never played Taiko no Tatsujin, the game is actually quite simple. There are two main notes, the red dons and the blue katsus. On the red notes, you have to hit the drum, but on the blue notes, you have to him the rim of the drum. A mock taiko drum is on the bottom screen for you to tap, though you can also use buttons. I tried buttons and found it to be too slow and less satisfying. There are also other special notes like large notes where you have to hit an even more specific part of the drum, long notes, notes that resemble those Japanese pinatas I forgot the name of, balloon notes where you have to tap repeatedly and more.
Although not as complex as some other rhythm titles, the songs are very fast-paced and it does a good job of mimicking the feeling of hitting a drum. There's something absurdly addicting about it and I find myself often falling under "one more song" syndrome. The game also has a very good track list that includes everything from Beethoven to Let it Go to AKB48 to Attack on Titan's opening theme to more. There are over 60 songs, and you can unlock more as you play.
The main mode is Enso Game, where you pick a song and try to top your score. If that's too boring, there's also a story mode. Yes, a story mode about a living drum and his brother. You meet a rabbit named Takkun, who is being chased by a Team Galaxy ripoff called Time Dine. You have to travel through time to collect parts of a clock or something, I wasn't really paying attention. The story gimmick is time travel, which is actually pretty entertaining. You visit feudal Japan, ancient Egypt, the future, the age of early flight etc. You also meet historical figures and they can join your party. YES YOUR RPG PARTY CAN CONSIST OF NOBUNAGA, MARIE ANTOINETTE, CLEOPATRA AND THAT CAT FROM MONSTER HUNTER.
So how do you turn a rhythm game into an RPG? All the battles consist of playing through the songs on the soundtrack. The catch is now there are some bombs scattered about that can hurt you if you tap them by accident, and any missed notes can result in attacks from the enemy. Your team attacks when you string up combos. It's a pretty interesting system, although it is very easy to be completely wiped out in random battles if you mess up, which is a bit frustrating. One cool touch I like is how the random battle songs are based around the time period. When you go to Marie Antoinette's time the battles have classical music, the pirate area has a song from One Piece, the age of flight has Ace Combat and Attack on Titan songs etc.
It's somewhat like Pokemon in the respect that you can collect party members from monsters you defeat. These monsters have their own basic stats like speed, attack, special attack etc. There's some degree of strategy when it comes to who you have on your team. At first I just put the guys with the biggest attack stat on my team, but they were so slow that they would only attack once or twice per song and I would have so many draws. I ended up focusing on a team that attacked with smaller combos, but had less health.
The story mode is baby's first RPG as everything is extremely linear and the areas are small, but the boss battles are actually very challenging considering most of them try to obscure your vision and you have to go into the avatar state to remember the beats of the song and time things right. I'm stuck on the final boss right now, who is some crazy time dilluting Sephrioth jerk.
Also the game has a good degree of customization and options. You can make songs go double speed, watch the computer play them, dress up Don-chan into costumes (they have a stat effect in the RPG mode but not in Enso game), change the drum sounds to something else like fireworks or sword slices etc.
I'm not really into rhythm games but I am having a complete blast with this title and I really feel the urge to boost my score. I don't think I can resist buying the DLC. Has anyone played the first Taiko no Tatsujin game for 3DS? I WANT MORE.
