The spiritual successor to PlayStation’s classic rhythm-action game Patapon was unveiled at BitSummit in Kyoto, Japan on Saturday.
“Ratatan” is being developed for unspecified platforms by Patapon creator Hiroyuki Kotani, with the voice of original Patapon musician Kemmei Adachi. The game will be funded through Kickstarter with the campaign starting on July 31st.
Originally released for the PSP handheld in 2007, Patapon is a 2D rhythm-based platform/action game in which players command an army of cute anthropomorphic eyeballs known as “Patapons” that can be directed forward, attack, defend, and retreat using a series of drum beats.
The game received two sequels on PSP, and the first two games were remastered with 4K visuals on PlayStation 4.
Few details about Ratatan were revealed during the BitSummit panel, but the game’s developers told VGC in a private meeting before revealing that the game will include roguelike elements and multiplayer for up to four players.
“The three main game concepts are over 100 cute characters to fight on screen, simultaneous four-player battles, and more adventure and roguelike elements than Patapon,” producer Kazuto Sakagiri explained in an interview with VGC.
Hiroyuki Kotani, who designed the original Patapon games, said he wanted to make an experience similar to Patapon but with new elements. Nor has he ruled out working with Sony on a traditional sequel in the future.
“Patapon was a really unique experience at the time of its release and it reflected the development environment of that era. We wanted to make another game like that of the modern era,” he said.
“There is potential to maybe do a Patapon sequel in the future, but that’s why we really wanted to make our own game, with our own style, with certain types of gameplay that reflect what we want. Then, if there’s an opportunity to talk to Sony about doing a Patapon sequel, we’ll start there.” .
Sony Japan Studio, the Tokyo-based PlayStation studio leading development on Patapon games, shut down in 2021. However, Kotani said he had no ill feelings towards his former employer.
“Even if the Japanese studio itself doesn’t exist anymore, there’s still a lot of creative energy at Sony, and I’m looking forward to the kinds of projects that will come from it,” he said.
“There is still a lot of support coming from PlayStation for developers in Japan. There are a lot of Sony games that are being released with a global focus, but there are also developers like Capcom with a Japanese focus. I’m glad to see both approaches come out.”
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