Abraham05
2009
No wonder it's a classic, and one that's aged so well at this point. You can just hop on and have fun without any progression bs, plus the modding community makes it more fun. Be it with friends or alone, this is a goated game.
2021
Forgot to log again after finishing Volume F
Peak fiction, peak fiction!! Thank you, isakusan!!
Peak fiction, peak fiction!! Thank you, isakusan!!
2020
This review contains spoilers
Man, this really was the GOTY. I mean, I didn't play anything from 2023 other than WoW SoD, but that point still stands. It was amazing!
I must admit that it's the first time I play a game of this genre, but it was so good. The characters, the freedom of choice, the combat, the story were all very nice. Of course, some parts were bullshit like the Gondians quest, and there's a couple of bugs here and there, but that doesn't take away too much considering the rest of it.
Party was Dark Urge, Shadowheart, Astarion and Karlach; went for a good alignment experience. And man, good Dark Urge, Shadowheart and Astarion really resonated within me, I love them. When DU rejects Bhaal and Withers (who I assume can't be anyone other than Jergal himself or an avatar at least) resurrects him free from Bhaal's influence, that's when I thought "this is peak fiction". Perhaps I would've enjoyed the story and the world a bit more if I had played BG1 and 2, as I didn't bother on keeping Jaheira alive or meeting Minsc.
Also, this game was very special for me because back in highschool I used to play on solo DnD campaigns with an old friend, who was the game master. Brought back some very nice memories.
Perhaps in 1 or 2 years (if I still have the time) I'll consider playing the evil path.
I must admit that it's the first time I play a game of this genre, but it was so good. The characters, the freedom of choice, the combat, the story were all very nice. Of course, some parts were bullshit like the Gondians quest, and there's a couple of bugs here and there, but that doesn't take away too much considering the rest of it.
Party was Dark Urge, Shadowheart, Astarion and Karlach; went for a good alignment experience. And man, good Dark Urge, Shadowheart and Astarion really resonated within me, I love them. When DU rejects Bhaal and Withers (who I assume can't be anyone other than Jergal himself or an avatar at least) resurrects him free from Bhaal's influence, that's when I thought "this is peak fiction". Perhaps I would've enjoyed the story and the world a bit more if I had played BG1 and 2, as I didn't bother on keeping Jaheira alive or meeting Minsc.
Also, this game was very special for me because back in highschool I used to play on solo DnD campaigns with an old friend, who was the game master. Brought back some very nice memories.
Perhaps in 1 or 2 years (if I still have the time) I'll consider playing the evil path.
Other than the NElf campaign being kinda boring at times because I don't really like Maiev, this game was pretty good. It was a shame that there aren't many campaign missions where you play as Arthas, who is my favorite character ever. That's why I rate it a bit lower than RoC.
This game is extremely unfair, somehow the enemy's AI always gets the 4 or 5 tile matches and knows when they're gonna show up from before they actually do. It's really frustrating because the game's concept is very cool, but at times it feels unplayable
2021
Eden Treaty greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Crest of ingenuity. Acme of imagination. Pinnacle of innovation. Epic of epics. Legend among legends. Peak fiction.
This game was awesome! After playing Triangle Strategy I wanted to know what the direct inspiration was like. Gameplay wise I still prefer TS by a wide margin, mainly because you don't have to endlessly grind in order to use a new class, but I have to admit the story from TO was better (or at least the family themes made it hit harder for me).
A very good game, I will play the coda someday. Ogre Battle too, as I liked Canopus and Lanselot.
A very good game, I will play the coda someday. Ogre Battle too, as I liked Canopus and Lanselot.
I just finished this. Had lots of fun most of the time, in some moments I was about to lose my cool, but overall a great experience.
I did enjoy it more than vanilla FE6, but in retrospect while I didn't enjoy some aspects of the vanilla gameplay, PE made me think about how some maps are pretty cool. With the PE units and mechanics, that is.
I still dislike the gaidens and all that jazz, especially not being able to get the true ending without all of them, but it is what it is. The story is still nothing special most of the time; I still like Zephiel as a concept but the execution was a bit bland. I did appreciate Idunn's story a lot more, especially the final cutscene with Fae.
I know a lot of diehard fans of FE6 will say PE is not better, I think it is. But at its core, it's still FE6, so my opinion on it is not nearly as bad as it used to be. In the end PE shares the same place in my heart as Conquest (great gameplay, mediocre story except in some parts), while vanilla FE6 is not abyss fiction anymore (that's for 3 Frauds).
I did enjoy it more than vanilla FE6, but in retrospect while I didn't enjoy some aspects of the vanilla gameplay, PE made me think about how some maps are pretty cool. With the PE units and mechanics, that is.
I still dislike the gaidens and all that jazz, especially not being able to get the true ending without all of them, but it is what it is. The story is still nothing special most of the time; I still like Zephiel as a concept but the execution was a bit bland. I did appreciate Idunn's story a lot more, especially the final cutscene with Fae.
I know a lot of diehard fans of FE6 will say PE is not better, I think it is. But at its core, it's still FE6, so my opinion on it is not nearly as bad as it used to be. In the end PE shares the same place in my heart as Conquest (great gameplay, mediocre story except in some parts), while vanilla FE6 is not abyss fiction anymore (that's for 3 Frauds).
i wanted to play this again but my wii got fucked and i can't stand dolphin
This review contains spoilers
fuck the collector, man
2023
After the release of Three Houses (and getting disappointed by how boring the gameplay was and how the route I played was not that great story wise), I lost my interest in the franchise for a long time. When the leaks started showing up, however, I started to think about the series more and more, to the point of getting Engage at launch.
I will say that even though I did like Alear’s design ever since it got leaked, me trusting the plan was kind of a meme, but as more stuff about the game was getting revealed in trailers and such, my hope for FE got renewed. And I must say, I am glad that I trusted the plan.
I am not exaggerating when I say that it’s the most fun experience I’ve had while playing FE in my entire life. Seeing crit animations like the ones from the GBA era but in 3D was amazing, the break mechanic is genius and made me like player phase and be more careful about positioning in enemy phase instead of just placing anybody who was strong. Conquest used to be my favorite gameplay wise but Engage is 100 times better. I really am looking forward to a future replay, which is something I’d never say with 3H.
The emblems were all quite interesting to use, and each one of them having up to 3 weapons was very useful for a lot of situations. It was also nostalgic seeing and listening to them. They translated quite well into the Engage art style, and the maps from their original games in the paralogues having a bit of a twist was nice. Emblem Eirika my beloved.
A lot of people say the story is not good, but I disagree. Sure, it has tons of clichés, but I thought they were mostly well executed, at least well enough for me not to dislike them. At its worst points I thought the story was decent, and while the ending was a bit convoluted I quite liked it.
I really enjoyed all the characters I’ve used, both personality wise and design wise. I really loved all the fun and colorful designs, I think Mika Pikazo did an excellent job here. The characters are pretty fun and got nice supports, even if a lot aren’t super deep stuff. Shoutout to the Racket of Solm trio, especially Panette who was my MVP.
It’s 2AM right now and I just finished the game, and I don’t really know what else to add besides what I already wrote here. I don’t think it’s recency bias, I believe this became my 2nd favorite Fire Emblem. Peak fiction right there, I genuinely can’t understand the people who didn’t like it, because even if they could think the story or characters were mediocre at best or something along those lines, the game itself was incredibly fun.
I will say that even though I did like Alear’s design ever since it got leaked, me trusting the plan was kind of a meme, but as more stuff about the game was getting revealed in trailers and such, my hope for FE got renewed. And I must say, I am glad that I trusted the plan.
I am not exaggerating when I say that it’s the most fun experience I’ve had while playing FE in my entire life. Seeing crit animations like the ones from the GBA era but in 3D was amazing, the break mechanic is genius and made me like player phase and be more careful about positioning in enemy phase instead of just placing anybody who was strong. Conquest used to be my favorite gameplay wise but Engage is 100 times better. I really am looking forward to a future replay, which is something I’d never say with 3H.
The emblems were all quite interesting to use, and each one of them having up to 3 weapons was very useful for a lot of situations. It was also nostalgic seeing and listening to them. They translated quite well into the Engage art style, and the maps from their original games in the paralogues having a bit of a twist was nice. Emblem Eirika my beloved.
A lot of people say the story is not good, but I disagree. Sure, it has tons of clichés, but I thought they were mostly well executed, at least well enough for me not to dislike them. At its worst points I thought the story was decent, and while the ending was a bit convoluted I quite liked it.
I really enjoyed all the characters I’ve used, both personality wise and design wise. I really loved all the fun and colorful designs, I think Mika Pikazo did an excellent job here. The characters are pretty fun and got nice supports, even if a lot aren’t super deep stuff. Shoutout to the Racket of Solm trio, especially Panette who was my MVP.
It’s 2AM right now and I just finished the game, and I don’t really know what else to add besides what I already wrote here. I don’t think it’s recency bias, I believe this became my 2nd favorite Fire Emblem. Peak fiction right there, I genuinely can’t understand the people who didn’t like it, because even if they could think the story or characters were mediocre at best or something along those lines, the game itself was incredibly fun.
playing with law is fun
2007
This review contains spoilers
Ah, Patapon. I would not be mistaken if I said this is the work of fiction that has had the most impact throughout my entire life. Ever since I was that 6-year-old kid sitting next to dad, watching him play on his old grey PSP, I fell in love with the aesthetic and the music of this game. Hard to think that this franchise has been with me for almost 15 years now.
I don’t know if this counts as a review per se, or if it’s just me putting my heart and soul into this text; either way it’s going to be extremely biased because of the love I have for this game. If you’re looking for an “objective” review, this is not the place.
I’ve played this game for so many times in my life, but I still remember my first playthrough. My first real playthrough at least. Back then when I was little I only used to complete the first few missions until I reached the first boss in the series: the dragon Dodonga. I stopped there, because fighting it was kinda scary for me as a kid. One day when I felt courageous enough to do it, I beat it and I felt the adrenaline rushing through my entire body. That felt so good, so thrilling, so amazing. That was my game.
I kept going, and I got to know more the antagonists from the game: the Zigoton tribe. I say antagonists because I don’t feel it’s right to call them the villains. When I was little I didn’t pay enough attention to the story (I couldn’t even read English LMFAO), but as I got older I understood that there’s so much more than “funny little eyeballs fighting against monsters and dancing to the beat of the drums”. If it sounds pretentious or that I’m reading too much into it and it’s “not that deep”, well then I don’t really care. Go play Elden Ring or something.
This is a tale about war, and how it affects everyone involved. The Patapon tribe are confined within a territory surrounded by walls built by the Zigoton tribe, so one may think at first “oh, I want to help the Patapons to be free! They are oppressed!”, and they are! But not in the past. In the past they were the oppressors, the conquerors, the mighty warriors favored by God. They just fell from grace and the Zigotons took the chance to strike back.
The whole premise of the game is to guide the Patapons with your war drums as the Almighty One, who is pretty much God, and guide them to the Earthend to gaze upon “IT”, which is said to grant eternal bliss. That is the Patapon prophecy, though. The Zigoton prophecy, as told by Gong the Hawkeye, general of the Zigoton army, says that as soon as the Patapons reach the Earthend calamity will ensue, and the world will be doomed.
This is why Gong is so determined to stop you —the player—, and the Patapons from achieving your goal. Gong is an honorable warrior, who only wishes to defend his homeland. He is by no means a bad person, he’s merely a piece in the machine known as war. His efforts are in vain though, because the Patapons reach the Zigotons’ homeland. Gong is slain, and his queen, Queen Kharma, is forced to sell her soul and her people to the demons in order to stop the inexorable force that is the Patapon army.
In the end, the Patapons succeed and defeat both the Zigotons and the demons, reaching what they thought was the Earthend. Unfortunately for them, it was not the case, as it was only the morning sun. Both the Patapons and Queen Kharma were living a lie. The Patapons then get help from the Zigotons to build a ship so they can sail across the seas in search of the true Earthend. Why would the Zigotons help their enemies who massacred most of their tribe? Maybe because they would go far away from their lands, never to be seen again.
The story is simple, maybe a bit cliché and shallow on the surface, but if you look more into it, it turns out to be a bit more complicated than that. It’s not a story about black and white, but rather what a tribe has to do to reach their goals even if it’s not the morally right thing to do.
Moving onto more technical aspects of the game, I think it has a way better balance than the second one. This game limits you to a small category of materials which in turn lead to a small amount of Rarepons, but they are much more unique and impactful than the ones featured in Patapon 2. The normal Patapons aren’t lame either, as they are cheap to make and can still hold up just fine until the end of the game. And you don’t have to infinitely grind just to make decently strong Patapons.
The game has a bit of a learning curve while the player gets used to the 100bpm timing, but once you get the hang of it it’s quite easy to get Fever mode. The music in this game is fantastic, as it has some of the most iconic tracks in the entire series, such as Pipirichi, Gyorogyoro, Ushishi or Acchichichi.
The game is short, you can realistically beat it in a couple of hours, and the gear you can get is limited as you can’t replay siege missions like you could in the second game, but I don’t find it to be a problem. I actually like it more that way as you are challenged to keep going with what you have, but you aren’t crippled for not having the best stuff for your army. Again, it just means you don’t have to mindlessly have to farm.
Since you only have the regular Patapons in this game and not the hero like in the second one, enemies don’t have such big HP pools and each of your units feels impactful, which is why I consider this the best game in the series if you prefer the Patapon squads mechanic, as they get overshadowed in 2 as your hero dishes out most of the damage rendering the rest useless except for being meat shields.
In the end I can say that for a long time I severely underestimated this game. I used to think that Patapon 2 was the best because most people thought that was the case, but as time went on and I kept replaying the series over and over, this one earned a special place in my heart and became the best the series can offer. I once watched a youtuber who said he recommended people to play 2 first and I could not disagree more. This is the place where people should start. It’s not only the first game, but the one with the most soul behind it. The story, the mechanics, the art style, everything just turns it into an amazing game.
This is Patapon. This is my favorite game of all time, and I hope I will keep playing it for many years, just as I have done for most of my life.
I don’t know if this counts as a review per se, or if it’s just me putting my heart and soul into this text; either way it’s going to be extremely biased because of the love I have for this game. If you’re looking for an “objective” review, this is not the place.
I’ve played this game for so many times in my life, but I still remember my first playthrough. My first real playthrough at least. Back then when I was little I only used to complete the first few missions until I reached the first boss in the series: the dragon Dodonga. I stopped there, because fighting it was kinda scary for me as a kid. One day when I felt courageous enough to do it, I beat it and I felt the adrenaline rushing through my entire body. That felt so good, so thrilling, so amazing. That was my game.
I kept going, and I got to know more the antagonists from the game: the Zigoton tribe. I say antagonists because I don’t feel it’s right to call them the villains. When I was little I didn’t pay enough attention to the story (I couldn’t even read English LMFAO), but as I got older I understood that there’s so much more than “funny little eyeballs fighting against monsters and dancing to the beat of the drums”. If it sounds pretentious or that I’m reading too much into it and it’s “not that deep”, well then I don’t really care. Go play Elden Ring or something.
This is a tale about war, and how it affects everyone involved. The Patapon tribe are confined within a territory surrounded by walls built by the Zigoton tribe, so one may think at first “oh, I want to help the Patapons to be free! They are oppressed!”, and they are! But not in the past. In the past they were the oppressors, the conquerors, the mighty warriors favored by God. They just fell from grace and the Zigotons took the chance to strike back.
The whole premise of the game is to guide the Patapons with your war drums as the Almighty One, who is pretty much God, and guide them to the Earthend to gaze upon “IT”, which is said to grant eternal bliss. That is the Patapon prophecy, though. The Zigoton prophecy, as told by Gong the Hawkeye, general of the Zigoton army, says that as soon as the Patapons reach the Earthend calamity will ensue, and the world will be doomed.
This is why Gong is so determined to stop you —the player—, and the Patapons from achieving your goal. Gong is an honorable warrior, who only wishes to defend his homeland. He is by no means a bad person, he’s merely a piece in the machine known as war. His efforts are in vain though, because the Patapons reach the Zigotons’ homeland. Gong is slain, and his queen, Queen Kharma, is forced to sell her soul and her people to the demons in order to stop the inexorable force that is the Patapon army.
In the end, the Patapons succeed and defeat both the Zigotons and the demons, reaching what they thought was the Earthend. Unfortunately for them, it was not the case, as it was only the morning sun. Both the Patapons and Queen Kharma were living a lie. The Patapons then get help from the Zigotons to build a ship so they can sail across the seas in search of the true Earthend. Why would the Zigotons help their enemies who massacred most of their tribe? Maybe because they would go far away from their lands, never to be seen again.
The story is simple, maybe a bit cliché and shallow on the surface, but if you look more into it, it turns out to be a bit more complicated than that. It’s not a story about black and white, but rather what a tribe has to do to reach their goals even if it’s not the morally right thing to do.
Moving onto more technical aspects of the game, I think it has a way better balance than the second one. This game limits you to a small category of materials which in turn lead to a small amount of Rarepons, but they are much more unique and impactful than the ones featured in Patapon 2. The normal Patapons aren’t lame either, as they are cheap to make and can still hold up just fine until the end of the game. And you don’t have to infinitely grind just to make decently strong Patapons.
The game has a bit of a learning curve while the player gets used to the 100bpm timing, but once you get the hang of it it’s quite easy to get Fever mode. The music in this game is fantastic, as it has some of the most iconic tracks in the entire series, such as Pipirichi, Gyorogyoro, Ushishi or Acchichichi.
The game is short, you can realistically beat it in a couple of hours, and the gear you can get is limited as you can’t replay siege missions like you could in the second game, but I don’t find it to be a problem. I actually like it more that way as you are challenged to keep going with what you have, but you aren’t crippled for not having the best stuff for your army. Again, it just means you don’t have to mindlessly have to farm.
Since you only have the regular Patapons in this game and not the hero like in the second one, enemies don’t have such big HP pools and each of your units feels impactful, which is why I consider this the best game in the series if you prefer the Patapon squads mechanic, as they get overshadowed in 2 as your hero dishes out most of the damage rendering the rest useless except for being meat shields.
In the end I can say that for a long time I severely underestimated this game. I used to think that Patapon 2 was the best because most people thought that was the case, but as time went on and I kept replaying the series over and over, this one earned a special place in my heart and became the best the series can offer. I once watched a youtuber who said he recommended people to play 2 first and I could not disagree more. This is the place where people should start. It’s not only the first game, but the one with the most soul behind it. The story, the mechanics, the art style, everything just turns it into an amazing game.
This is Patapon. This is my favorite game of all time, and I hope I will keep playing it for many years, just as I have done for most of my life.
I should've finished this game a long time ago but I didn't because I found the sixth chapter of the undead campaign too difficult at the time. Thanks to one friend who mocked me for not finishing it despite my WoW Classic character being called "Arthasgoat" I decided to give it a shot once again.
Now, I am certainly not the best RTS player nor am I a good one, but I was decent enough to finish it by myself (except for like 3 chapters where I used a StrategyWiki guide). The game is pretty fun, units are cool and the heroes are pretty awesome, the best for me was the Blademaster. Gameplay wise I do enjoy the Dawn of War games more, but RoC was pretty damn solid.
The thing is, the story from this game is outstanding. Even if a lot of it got retconned in WoW, it still holds up quite well. Especially the campaigns with Arthas. I really really love that character. My favorite video game character of all time. 5/5.
The graphics still look good, and that's because the Warcraft universe art style is so nice it doesn't matter how many polygons the models have, they still look charming.
I gotta say, I am looking forward to whenever I play TFT in 2023.
Now, I am certainly not the best RTS player nor am I a good one, but I was decent enough to finish it by myself (except for like 3 chapters where I used a StrategyWiki guide). The game is pretty fun, units are cool and the heroes are pretty awesome, the best for me was the Blademaster. Gameplay wise I do enjoy the Dawn of War games more, but RoC was pretty damn solid.
The thing is, the story from this game is outstanding. Even if a lot of it got retconned in WoW, it still holds up quite well. Especially the campaigns with Arthas. I really really love that character. My favorite video game character of all time. 5/5.
The graphics still look good, and that's because the Warcraft universe art style is so nice it doesn't matter how many polygons the models have, they still look charming.
I gotta say, I am looking forward to whenever I play TFT in 2023.
2008
I must start this review explaining what I did this time. I've played the entire trilogy a huge number of times, so many I've lost my count. To spice it up, I tried beating the game only with normal patapons (no rarepons) as they are the weakest of them all.
Now, some of the stuff I will say might sound harsh, but in the end this is still my favorite game series of all time so there's that.
First of all, this is the first time I revisit P2 in a while, as I enjoy the first and third games way more, contrary to the popular opinion, here's why:
There are two core gameplay mechanics as to how the patapons themselves are present: squads and the hero. Both of these aspects are present in P2, however I find them to be lacking. P1 is way better at doing the squads, because every single one of them will count towards your victory, unlike in P2 where they are usually quite weak in comparison to your hero so they end up getting carried most of the time unless you get some of the best rarepons at high levels which is not feasible in a regular playthrough.
As for the hero mechanic, P2 introduced him so it's natural for it to be a bit unbalanced, but it's so much so that if you're in a boss fight with a permadeath attack you will be severely crippled if your hero dies. All of the songs you can input except for the march forward will activate the hero mode, which is not that much of an issue in normal or hard mode, but it still can become quite dangerous if you, let's say, want to jump to avoid an attack but do the combo perfectly, activating the hero mode animation and thus getting your hero killed. This is especially bad with the last boss which has quite a tricky timing. P3 is better at the hero mechanic because it's way more balanced, has more classes to choose from and even if your hero dies, you still have the summon to revive him and your other patapons aren't completely helpless without him.
As for the story, it's not good at all except for the parts where a certain character from the first game is involved (and for good reason, they're the best character in the series), and the last few missions where they explain a fair bit of who the patapons were. The rest of the story is almost a copy paste of the first game, except that it has no weight to it because the karmens don't have any personality to them whatsoever except for "i hate the patapons and i will kill them", unlike the zigotons who did have a reason for doing what they did. Not even the named characters from the karmens did anything remotely interesting.
The next thing is the rarepon tree. In this game there are 17 rarepons in total, but only a few of them are any good, and the ones you do want to get are the ones at the end of the tree, and they need a good amount of the rarest materials each to become as good as they can get. And that's only for a single pon, multiply that by the entire army and it will become a slog to farm for all those materials, even for a team made for grinding. In P1 you only need two mats per pon, which is not that slow or hard to come by, and in P3 you only need to level up certain classes to unlock the next. In short, P2's system kinda sucks.
The great aspects of P2, however, are the new bosses, scenarios and the music. But that's just a normal thing for a patapon game. It did get more new bosses than P3 though, which is a plus to me.
Overall, while I still love this game and it's still a big part of my life, I don't understand at all why a lot of the fanbase is so in love with it and say it's the best that the series can offer when it's clearly not. Patapon 1 and 3 are better than 2 depending on whether you want to play with the classic old squad mechanic or with heroes and multiplayer.
Now, some of the stuff I will say might sound harsh, but in the end this is still my favorite game series of all time so there's that.
First of all, this is the first time I revisit P2 in a while, as I enjoy the first and third games way more, contrary to the popular opinion, here's why:
There are two core gameplay mechanics as to how the patapons themselves are present: squads and the hero. Both of these aspects are present in P2, however I find them to be lacking. P1 is way better at doing the squads, because every single one of them will count towards your victory, unlike in P2 where they are usually quite weak in comparison to your hero so they end up getting carried most of the time unless you get some of the best rarepons at high levels which is not feasible in a regular playthrough.
As for the hero mechanic, P2 introduced him so it's natural for it to be a bit unbalanced, but it's so much so that if you're in a boss fight with a permadeath attack you will be severely crippled if your hero dies. All of the songs you can input except for the march forward will activate the hero mode, which is not that much of an issue in normal or hard mode, but it still can become quite dangerous if you, let's say, want to jump to avoid an attack but do the combo perfectly, activating the hero mode animation and thus getting your hero killed. This is especially bad with the last boss which has quite a tricky timing. P3 is better at the hero mechanic because it's way more balanced, has more classes to choose from and even if your hero dies, you still have the summon to revive him and your other patapons aren't completely helpless without him.
As for the story, it's not good at all except for the parts where a certain character from the first game is involved (and for good reason, they're the best character in the series), and the last few missions where they explain a fair bit of who the patapons were. The rest of the story is almost a copy paste of the first game, except that it has no weight to it because the karmens don't have any personality to them whatsoever except for "i hate the patapons and i will kill them", unlike the zigotons who did have a reason for doing what they did. Not even the named characters from the karmens did anything remotely interesting.
The next thing is the rarepon tree. In this game there are 17 rarepons in total, but only a few of them are any good, and the ones you do want to get are the ones at the end of the tree, and they need a good amount of the rarest materials each to become as good as they can get. And that's only for a single pon, multiply that by the entire army and it will become a slog to farm for all those materials, even for a team made for grinding. In P1 you only need two mats per pon, which is not that slow or hard to come by, and in P3 you only need to level up certain classes to unlock the next. In short, P2's system kinda sucks.
The great aspects of P2, however, are the new bosses, scenarios and the music. But that's just a normal thing for a patapon game. It did get more new bosses than P3 though, which is a plus to me.
Overall, while I still love this game and it's still a big part of my life, I don't understand at all why a lot of the fanbase is so in love with it and say it's the best that the series can offer when it's clearly not. Patapon 1 and 3 are better than 2 depending on whether you want to play with the classic old squad mechanic or with heroes and multiplayer.