Similar to Patapon, players lead a motley group of creatures (known, unsurprisingly, as Ratatan) to the Hereafter in a side-scrolling, rhythm-based adventure. Alongside support for more than 100 characters, it offers online co-op for up to four players. The response has been positive thus far, with an 89 percent “Very Positive” rating based on 422 user reviews.

Ratatan will remain in early access for about six to 12 months, which could change depending on the progress of development. It currently offers five worlds, various weapons and skills, boss battles, progression, and multiplayer, with Version 1.0 expanding on all this further (and introducing endgame content).

While the final price hasn’t been decided, it could increase once Ratatan leaves early access. Stay tuned for more updates and check out the launch FAQ.

The company did not specifically call attention to it, nor did it specify whether what was being shown was a new game, an anime, or something else entirely- though on-screen UI and prompts show in the few seconds of footage did seem to suggest that it was a game. There’s been no official word from Sony about the existence of the project though, nor has it been acknowledged in the aftermath of its CES appearance.

Patapon fans have been starved for a new instalment in the sidescrolling rhythm strategy series for over a decade, with its last release having been Patapon 3 for the PlayStation Portable all the way back in 2011, though Patapon 1 and 2 did go on to get PS4 re-releases in 2017 and 2020 respectively.

Last year, indie studio Ratata Arts announced Ratatan, a Patapon spiritual successor, as a Kickstarter project, successfully raising $1.5 million in funding.

The money raised by the campaign will go into more than just the development of the base game, since the company also added quite a few stretch goals for the extra money raised. Thanks to having hit the ¥200,000,000 goal, the game will include additional features, like playable Dark Ratatans, base customisation, collaboration with artists, and support for additional languages.

Patapon—the game serving as the primary inspiration behind Ratatan—was a rhythm-based strategy game that was originally released on the PSP. The game was praised by critics, and eventually made its way on to more modern platforms, with Patapon 2 Remastered being released on the PS4 back in January, 2020.

If you’re interested in checking out Ratatan, which will likely take quite some time to come out, check out the gameplay trailer below. The trailer shows off some gameplay, which bears a striking resemblance to Patapon.

Magical Scissors – Puppeteer

The charm of the PS3 platform game that time forgot, Puppeteer, is all in the presentation. Set up like an elaborate puppet show, the interaction with this charming setup comes from your magical scissors, the Calibrus, and how it can cut through the fabric scenery in delightful and charming ways to continue progression. It takes the craft aesthetic further than its closest competition in games like Tearaway or Yoshi’s Wooly World can hope to match.

Along with some of the bigger names, PlayStation Experience saw a number of other announcements that should keep fans busy when they eventually release.

These include remasters of games like PaRappa The Rapper, Patapon and Locoroco; a new Danganronpa; the return of the Ys series with Ys Origin; the announcement of YAGER’s Dreadnought being exclusive to the PS4 for its console release; a mysterious new adventure title called Vane; fighting game/MMO Absolver; and Nex Machina, the latest title to come from Housemarque of Resogun fame. That’s not including a ton of other indies (like Strafe) that were seen in passing.

And for all the PlayStation Vita players, you’ll be happy to know that some of these games will be heading to the handheld in the coming year.

What are your thoughts on PlayStation Experience this year? Let us know in the comments below, along with whether it was an improvement over last year.

In case you don’t know about the Patapon games- and you most likely don’t, considering the dismal sales figures that the series has posted overall- then here’s a quick crash course. The Patapon games see the eponymous Patapons being led to warfare and collecting loot, commanded by you, an all powerful deity. Your control over your Patapons, however, is indirect, as you can only command them via drumbeats pounded out in four beat patterns, to which they respond accordingly. These drumbeats are mapped to the PSP face buttons. So, for example, if I want my Patapons to retreat from battle, then I shall press Circle Square Circle Square, since that specific drumbeat pattern conveys ‘retreat’ to your tribe.

They’re back.

This time around, however, things have changed somewhat. Whereas the previous games saw the player commanding vast armies via his drumroll, this time around, the Patapons have been struck by disaster, and only a few remain, so we have fewer units on our hands. Moreover, we aren’t an all powerful deity anymore, but are in fact a fallen hero, who can temporarily be revived in battles. You can unleash several ancient devastating blows to aid your Patapons in battle, and can go in to collect the loot to equip your hero, and to level him up.

This entire focus on leveling up and focusing on equipping your character properly is actually a very interesting twist to the formula, which was threatening to get a bit stale, although it comes with its own set of problems. For starters, you’d think that because you have fewer Patapon at your disposal, more strategy would be required to win battles this time around. However, you can simply ram your way through battles by sheer virtue of being overleveled or overequipped. This actually degrades the series’ traditional focus on strategy, and makes the entire game feel a bit more… action-ey.

Patapon 3 is fun when you play it alone, but the game really shines when you play it online in a multiplayer mode. For instance, you might be stuck at a particular stage in the game, and you can just (in theory) go online and recruit a higher leveled player to help you out. Moreover, playing with friends or online has some other interesting hooks, such as the ability to issue unique commands to different units in your tribes (so you can command your archers to pull back and attack from a distance and your melee warriors to charge head on), something that is, bafflingly enough, not available in the single player mode.

It’s battle time

There are some other interesting things to do in the multiplayer modes, such as decorating secret bases with your friends (which reminds me all too much of a similar feature in Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire), form clans and more. In fact, when you’re playing multiplayer, Patapon 3 becomes an altogether different beast, one that comes off as something more awesome than the single player mode.

Unfortunately, a few of the issues that plague the game’s single player mode also show up in the multiplayer modes. So, for instance,  say you’re a high leveled player who is recruited online by a low leveled one to help him through his game. You’ll drop into his game with all your abilities and skills intact, but you will be playing the earlier levels, where, in the single player game, those skills never were unlocked to begin with. It breaks the balance of the game, and it’s kind of a large oversight on the developers’ part.

Whoo, time to raid a fort!

In spite of all its issues, however, Patapon 3 remains a wonderful game. From its wonderful graphics to its quirky and distinctive gameplay, from its catchy music to its rather addictive online, from its simple control scheme to its deep and complex mechanics, it is a game that can unhesitatingly be recommended to anyone and everyone. If you have a PSP, and you’ve never played any of the Patapon games, then I recommend you go and start with this one. If you’ve played the Patapon games already, you should still check this one out- it changes the formula enough to warrant more than a second look. But if none of the previous Patapon games ever appealed to you, then this game won’t probably change your mind. At it’s core, it is still fundamentally the same concept, although it has been implemented rather differently this time around.

This game was reviewed on the PSP.

From what we know, the new game is slated to feature deep multiplayer campaigns, a new superhero character who can use special attacks that delivers an epic feel with the addition of the new Hero Patapon, as well as Online Co-op, competitive gameplay with up to 8 players and an all-new chat system which will allow Super Hero Patapons to communicate via the  Pata-Text chat system.

So, looks pretty good and loaded, huh?

One thing we don’t know, however, is if this game will be download only, like Patapon 2 which was released last year, or if it will be getting a full retail release, like the original Patapon did. What we do know is that this game promises to be some more of the epic and quirky action that the first game delivered in spades.

You can check out the Patapon 3 E3 trailer below.

The most exciting of these is Sly Cooper HD. Apparently, Sucker Punch are hard at work updating their trilogy of PS2 games, adding trophy support and all, and bringing them all over to the PS3 in a one disc package. 1Up confirmed this ews, posting what appeared to be an ad banner for the same, which even mentioned 3D support. The news item, however, was removed from the 1Up site soon after.

It appears that Sony is counting down to something Patapon related the week of E3. Most likely, the rumours are true, and we’re talking about a Patapon 3, likelier on the PS3 than the PSP.

Sony’s E3 conference is kicking off in a few hours. Stay tuned to all the latest coverage.

The teaser isn’t very complicated, maybe they should learn something from the teaser master known as Hideo Kojima, the teaser is most likely a new Patapon title, or in other words Patapon 3, due to the background image which pops up every few seconds.

Maybe Sony will surprise us by not announcing the game and announcing something else, and if this does turn out to be Patapon 3, it’s another game Sony told us about before E3.

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