‘Ratatan’ Spiritual Successor for Patapon Declared at BitSummit 2023

Patapon maker Hiroyuki Kotani and Patapon musician Kemmei Adachi have reported a spiritual successor to the beloved musicality platformer, known as Ratatan. The game was disclosed at BitSummit 2023, with a concise trailer flaunting a toe-tapping track, and key visuals. While not a genuine Patapon continuation, it seems this project embraces a very much-like aesthetic and gameplay style.

Ratatan was declared at BitSummit and Patapon maker Hiroyuki Kotani and original Patapon musician Kemmei Adachi are both on board. The game is being created by Ratata Arts, Tokyo Virtual Theory, and pH Studio, and a Kickstarter campaign for Ratatan is set to go live on July 31 at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET.

Ratatan will be crowdfunded, with the project going live on Kickstarter on 31 July 2023. Given the wistfulness around Patapon, which was first released for the PlayStation Portable in 2007, there are unquestionably high expectations for the crowdfunding avenue.

Patapon and its various sequels each collected basic recognition. While it’s been several years since the last entry in the franchise, it’s still highly respected. A spiritual successor with the original makers in charge could positively track down a passionate audience.

Per detailing from VGC, Ratatan will incorporate roguelike elements, and multiplayer for up to four players, as well as various new elements to check out from Patapon.

“Patapon was a really unique experience at the time of its release and reflected the development environment of that era. We wanted to make another game like that for the modern age,” Kotani said. “There’s a possibility of maybe doing a Patapon sequel in the future, but for this, we really wanted to make our own game, in our own style, with specific types of gameplay that reflect what we want. After that, if there’s a chance to speak to Sony about doing a Patapon sequel, then we’ll go from there.”

Patapon isn’t the only beloved property with a new recovery of sorts. Prior in July 2023, it was reported that underrated mascot Gex will likewise return, with a new trilogy collection set to show up on modern consoles.

Nostalgia for the late 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s is at present developing, making ready for the arrival of numerous beloved franchises. We expect Ratatan won’t be the only spiritual successor to turn out of this exemplary time in the coming years.

Patapon was first released on the PSP in 2007 and was co-developed by Pyramid and Japan Studio. Two sequels – Patapon 2 and Patapon 3 – followed in 2008 and 2011. The initial two games were ported to PS4 in 2017 and 2020, however Patapon 3 remaining parts elite to the PSP.

The game featured the player as a god of sorts to these Patapon who could be directed to act by using drum beats. In Patapon’s review, said, “rhythm game, strategy game, mini-game collection, action game, light RPG – Patapon is all of these and much, much more.”