Patapon is a franchise that I hold close to my chest. It's one big reason why I've ended up gravitating towards music and sound design as my primary hobby. The first game is a unique and innovative action game that still holds up quite well after nearly two decades since its launch on the PlayStation Portable.

Returning to it through the PlayStation 4 remaster after years and years of not having thought about the first game has been quite the experience. I found myself understanding and engaging with the deeper intricacies of Patapon's mechanics more than I did as a prepubescent kid who was about to enter the darkest point in their life. I knew when to move, when to attack and defend, what materials made which Rarepon and how to play each minigame with no mistakes made. Now I found myself actively moving each Patapon to different positions depending on their stats and equipment. I found which missions consistently provide the most amount of money (it's the first hunting mission btw) and ground for materials when needed. I found what units worked the best for me, optimized the hell out of them, and steamrolled the final boss on my first try when it gave me trouble all those years before.

Now I find myself thinking about this game in a more mature perspective. I'm one month away from turning 26 years old right now, and I've learned a lot about what I like in a video game and how I engage with them. With this experience in mind, I believe it's reasonable to say that Patapon is a game where you can find it fun the whole way through, or it'll quickly become a chore for you even if you do have the internal metronome needed to play effectively.

While the bones of Patapon are very strong and well developed, its biggest flaw is a lot of the busywork. This is something that the second game will make very apparent. Grinding is slow, but it's also very automated. The minigames never change, most of the hunting missions are not optimal for material/money grinding, the pool of equipment is quite limited, and if you're aiming to create the high-level Rarepons, you're going to be trudging through a lot of repeat missions just to get the absurd amount of needed Ka-ching. When it pays off, hell yeah, it pays off! But the journey is not for everyone.

I'm not everyone. I'm a weird recluse with mental illnesses and a love for repetition. Patapon scratches a nice itch for me, though it is one that made me pine for the days of endgame Patapon 2 towards the end.

It's fine! It's okay. Far from the worst thing to come from the Silent Hill brand and, ultimately, a step in the right direction I think.

I'm pretty tired of the Outlast-style "run away from the monster(s)" style of survival horror gameplay as a whole and this doesn't exactly reinvent that particular wheel. The narrative is pretty undercooked and ends on a very unfulfilling note. Also, framerate drops and lipsync issues!

However, I do appreciate the attempt to tackle the themes of teen suicide, bullying, child abuse and isolation. It's handled a hell of a lot better than some contemporary works, even if it is very hamfisted and unsubtle. The fact that it has a good and comprehensive trigger warning (that it will show you often, for some reason) puts it above other games.

Also: This game looks great! It captures the look of a shitty fuckin' condemned apartment complex really well; it's got the perfect amount of dirt and broken glass and clutter. Characters are designed with intent, the monster design is genuinely pretty neato, and the graffiti all over the walls actually looks so good and authentic.

Akira Yamaoka's music goes hard as well but let's be honest, that's not a surprise.

Game fine, not bad, but not great. Not gonna play it again, but not complaining over its existence. The fact that it's a free 2-to-3 hour long game really softens the blow. If I had to charge money for this, I'd be a lot more sour.