8.0
Reviews
Ratatan Review -- Patapon's Spirit, Reborn as a Weird, Addictive Roguelike
Source: Source: Game Source Entertainment (press kit via Games Press)
8.0
Strengths
- The Patapon rhythm-command DNA is fully intact -- chants feel snappy and Kemmei Adachi's music is catchy within minutes of your first run.
- The roguelike structure gives every run its own shape, so the game stays addictive well past the point where a linear rhythm game would run out of steam.
- Four-player online co-op is stable and genuinely fun, and it matters more here than in most rhythm games because the chaos scales hilariously with friends.
Weaknesses
- There's no local co-op at launch, a strange omission for a game this clearly built for couch sessions.
- Battles with 100-plus characters on screen turn chaotic fast, and it's easy to lose track of what your army is actually doing.
- The difficulty skews high and a few balance edges feel rough, so expect some runs to end through no obvious fault of your own.
Patapon is back in everything but name, and it picked up some new tricks along the way. Ratatan -- the rhythm-roguelike from Ratata Arts, led by Patapon producer Hiroyuki Kotani with music by Kemmei Adachi -- left Steam Early Access and launched into 1.0 on October 15, 2026 for PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S at $34.99. After spending real time with the full release, this ratatan review verdict is straightforward: the Patapon spirit survived the jump to roguelike, mostly intact and weirder than ever.
You command one of eight Ratatans through side-scrolling battles where 100-plus characters can share the screen, keeping a rhythm to issue orders to your army. Four-player online co-op rounds out the package. It's a lot to throw at a rhythm game, and the Early Access numbers -- roughly 90% positive across about 900 players -- suggested the formula worked. The question is whether it holds up in 1.0.
Ratatan Review: The Rhythm-Roguelike in Practice
The core loop will feel like muscle memory to Patapon veterans: tap your chants in time, and your army advances, attacks, and defends on your command. Adachi's music is catchy from the first run -- the kind of earworm that has you drumming on your desk between sessions. What the roguelike structure adds is texture: each run hands you different combinations of units and upgrades, so the army you're commanding at minute 30 can feel nothing like the one you started with.
That structure is the game's biggest win. A straight Patapon clone would have been a nostalgia trip; Ratatan is a loop you can lose evenings to. Failed runs still hand you something -- new unlocks, new strategies -- and the 100-character battles, while chaotic, have a spectacle to them that screenshots don't fully sell.
Co-op That Actually Works -- Just Not Local
Four-player online co-op is the feature that elevates the whole package. Coordinating chants with three other people turns the game from a solo rhythm exercise into organized chaos, and the netcode holds up -- sessions stay stable, which you can't take for granted in this genre. It's the best way to play Ratatan, full stop.
The obvious complaint: there's no local co-op at launch. For a game this clearly built for couch sessions and shared screens, that's a strange omission, and it stings more precisely because the online side works so well. If your friends are in the same room, you're out of luck for now.
The Rough Edges: Chaos and Difficulty
When the criticism lands, it lands on two things. First, battles genuinely get overwhelming -- with 100-plus characters on screen and effects flying everywhere, it's easy to lose track of what your army is doing, which undercuts a game about precise command timing. Second, the difficulty skews high, and some runs end because the balance turned against you rather than because you played badly. A few rough edges in the tuning could be sanded down, and they're the main thing keeping this from a higher score.
The broader critic consensus roughly agrees -- the game sits at 76 on Metacritic ("Generally Favorable"), with CGMagazine (90), Nintendo Life (80), Hey Poor Player (80), and Gaming Boulevard (80) all landing in the same "great bones, some friction" band. Famitsu's own take was 32/40 (8/8/8/8), which tracks with my own read.
Verdict: Weird, Addictive, Worth the $34.99
Ratatan is exactly the kind of game a console roster benefits from -- Nintendo Life called it a "welcome injection of weird," and that's about right. It's faithful enough to scratch the Patapon itch and strange enough to stand on its own. At $34.99 across PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S, it's priced right for what it delivers.
If you want more weird-after-weird, our Valor Mortis review covers another original-flavored title we liked. For another scored October take, there's our Castlevania: Belmont's Curse review.
The short version:
- Price: $34.99
- Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S
- Co-op: 4-player online, no local co-op at launch
- Score: 8.0/10
Score: 8.0/10
