Review for Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack. Game for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 03/12/2020
The idea of a music-themed turn-based JRPG is so effective that we wonder why, before Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack, we have seen it so rarely applied. There are certainly examples of hybrid titles like the recent Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories, but few mix the parametric component of a JRPG well with the musical performances of rhythm games like Taiko no Tatsujin. After all Taiko no Tatsujin is one of the classics in the rhythm genre, ruler of the Japanese arcade scene with few others, so who better than the two nice tambourines Don and Katsu to experience an interesting hybrid with the two Rhythmic Adventure Packs.
For those unfamiliar with the "Taiko" saga, we put a small introduction in the introduction. Taiko no tatsujin is a series of rhythm games based on playing a drum, hitting the center of it hits the red notes, hitting towards the sides hits the blue notes. The focus is therefore not on disentangling different types of notes like in games like Project Diva or on simulating a piano like Deemo and Osu! Mania, but about having very quick notes to simulate the sound of a drum. It would be possible to play this title with special hardware, but for this review we had to limit ourselves to using a classic pad and the switch joycons, which still do their dirty work, while not allowing us to physically hit a drum.
The main attraction of Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is undoubtedly the RPG mode. The game also features a classic mode, where you choose a song, play it, and move on to the next; however, the relatively limited choice of songs makes this game mode fun but short-lived. More effort was put into forging the two RPG modes for the two different Adventure Packs. Broadly speaking, both Adventure Pack 1 and 2 have the same strengths and weaknesses, even if they are 2 different software. For this reason, we will first talk about Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack 1 and then discuss how the 2 differs from this simple but effective formula.
The Taiko no Tatsujin adventure consists of a series of chapters, more or less long, from the classic JRPG structure. The chapter begins in an exploration map, then has some simple narrative phase and ends in a dungeon. Where this process gains its uniqueness is in casual encounters. The battles take place in groups of 4 and their progress is dictated by the performance that the player will have completing a musical track. For each wrong or missed note, enemies charge their own hidden ATB, signaled by the movement of their models on the screen, while for each correct note, their allies' bar will load. Each character has a certain attack speed that determines exactly how many nights he can hit, which also gives a slight strategy to the composition of the attack party, which can contain any character he meets in the story and even every single enemy. The latter, in fact, will be able to join Don and Katsu after being defeated.
Unfortunately, while the Rhythm side of the RPG mode is very neat and interesting, with unique gimmicks in the bossfight and very funny music tracks, the JRPG one is extremely limited. The characters, although numerically very abundant, are actually very limited in terms of variety. It is in fact essentially 4 characters, but with different models. The statistics are identical for each character and depend solely on the attack category of the latter; being the 4 categories (fast, normal, slow, giant), you will understand how in Taiko no Tatsujin Adventure Rhythmic Pack 1 there are very evident limits in the strategic section of the game, therefore reduced to the bone.
The sequel has implemented several changes to improve the situation, putting 6 characters usable at the same time and giving more depth to them, which now not only have an attack speed but also a specific role in the composition of the party.. This helps a little bit the RPG mode of Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack 2 to seem more strategic, but on balance the best way to continue is to leave the composition of the party in the hands of the game itself, using the auto key in the party formation. . Another improvement implemented by the second pack is the transition from the random battles of the first to having enemies on the map, with the possibility of ignoring them or throwing Katsu at them to block them.
Unfortunately, despite trying to improve the formula, we liked Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack 2 much less than the first. This is due to a single change made to the RPG mode: the flattening of the music tracks in battles with normal enemies. In this second pack, in fact, the rotation of 3 or 4 tracks per map used by the first has been removed, and which we found perfect, in favor of the use of a single track for all the clashes except for rare enemies and bossfights. Unfortunately, this flattening not only makes the formula extremely repetitive, but also offers flat and boring music tracks.
Spending just a few words on performance and longevity we can tell you that on a graphic level the new look of these titles, originally for Nintendo 3DS, is presented exceptionally on Nintendo Switch. The games are certainly minimalist, but the aesthetic impact they give is very pleasant and suitable for the type of adventure proposed. As for the longevity, we have nothing to criticize, Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack 1 & 2 offer a lot of content without going too far, although the musical tracks are less than that of a classic Taiko.
Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack 1 & 2 are fun fusion experiments between RPG and Rhytym Game. The formula they adopt is extraordinarily fun in its simplicity, yet leaves a bit of a bitter taste in that much more could be done. All in all they are certainly valid Rhythm Games, which we recommend to all fans of the genre and why not, even to anyone who is curious to see the amalgam of RPG and Rhytym that Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack 1 & 2 propose.
► Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is a Music-RPG type game published by Bandai Namco for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 03/12/2020
