Looks Childish, Feels Adult: Ratatan Rhythm Roguelike Review [Early Access]

In Ratatan, the player takes on the role of one of the leaders of a musical group. Their goal is to defeat all opponents to the music and reach the dwelling of the so-called "Goddess." But don't let the game's cute appearance fool you – it can test your skills and patience in battle!

Getting acquainted with Ratatan showed that the game is a spiritual successor to Patapon, the legendary series of rhythm games from PlayStation Portable. I didn't know about its existence and found myself in the same boat as the Ratatans (the main characters), who are devoid of memory and don't understand much about what's going on. But they have a goal: to get to the promised land called Everafter, and sing together with the goddess.

The game starts in a small town where the player is free to choose a leader to their liking. They have unique characteristics and bonuses such as speed, health, critical damage chance, or increased defense. Each Ratatan has a chorus of Kobuns, which are a small copy of the leader and act as an army.

The uniqueness of the Kobuns is added by the fact that each leader can only use certain types of weapons. These can be bows, spears, hammers, bombs, swords with shields – all of this good stuff drops abundantly on the battlefield. Weapons significantly change the army's attacks, and the general inventory allows you to farm the necessary resources for a less upgraded leader.

As you progress, new characters appear in the city who exchange the loot for increasing passive characteristics. The most important character is the blacksmith, who strengthens weapons at the expense of less rare and useful ones. For the goodies dropped from bosses and mini-bosses, he will create a legendary weapon that will allow you to make more complete runs.

The run is divided into thematic levels, where the leader has to explore the desert, jungle, icy wastelands, and cemetery. On the way of the chorus is an enemy army, which has acquired its own weapons and fortifications. You can send the Kobuns to the embrasures without any pangs of conscience – they are reborn after death, and you only lose after the death of the leader. Therefore, you should fight according to Chapaev's precept: the commander should stay away when the enemy can kill you, and go forward when he falters.

In battle, all actions are musical in nature, and you need to play the notes in time to get the desired result:

• The "gather together" command makes the chorus follow the leader – the rest of the time it stands still;

• Defense helps against some attacks and elemental effects such as fire;

• Jumping throws the leader and chorus high into the air, and saves them from particularly powerful boss attacks. But it can do a disservice if the boss decides to strike in the air – you need to watch his behavior;

• The attack makes the chorus rush into battle against the nearest enemy;

• The ultimate attack speaks for itself, but it consumes energy, which is replenished with the correct use of combinations.

It is difficult to conduct combat operations without getting used to it, since the beginning of the melody is not accompanied by a special note. Over time, you realize that you need to beat the rhythm at the moment when the chorus stops singing along. When you stop using the visual crutch, you will be able to follow what is happening on the battlefield. This will allow you to not only anticipate the enemy's actions, but also to observe the funny "exchange of courtesies" between the chorus and the opponents.

Before the next segment, you have to choose a reward: resources for improvements in the city, money, a store, a mini-boss. Separately, it is worth mentioning the elemental attributes, which increase characteristics and allow you to freeze, poison, and set the enemy on fire.

A significant improvement in the attribute changes the leader. He will learn to attack the enemy with wind, poison, electricity. An orbit of ice shards encourages you to approach the enemy, deal damage, and retreat for a recharge time. The worst bonus gives fire, which sets the ground on fire under the leader, which forces you to stay closer to the enemy – this tactic almost guarantees death.

In later levels, enemies become angrier and thicker, and it becomes increasingly difficult to break through them with the help of initial equipment. Some enemies acquire an attribute, and cause more trouble. It is especially обидно when a shard of ice hits the leader with sniper accuracy, and freezes movement and song. Full-fledged mini-bosses have a decent set of skills – the battle with them becomes an interesting test.

At the end of the level, you need to defeat the boss. In the first two levels, this is a fascinating task, where studying the enemy allows you to end the battle without losing health. But already from the third level, the bosses become too thick, and the battles with them are morally and physically exhausting. After six hours of playing, my прокачки was not enough to inflict adequate damage on later bosses.

The толстота and злобность of opponents guarantees death and return to the city. This is the moment when you need to use the collected resources to increase characteristics and improve weapons. On the one hand, this gives you the opportunity to try out different leaders, but the short duration of the game and the amount of available content deprives you of the desire to do this.

Diagnosis

With its appearance and music, Ratatan makes you fall in love from the first trailer. This is a bright, beautiful and cute game that will appeal to adults and children. It is easy to learn to play, and a large number of nuances will make you sweat and think through strategies, nodding your head to the rhythm.

It remains to wish the developers that by the time of release they add a lot of new content to the game and solve the problems with balance. It is already fascinating to play the current version, but for a full enjoyment you want more!