Taiko no Tatsujin : Rhythmic Adventure Pack (Nintendo Switch)
Developed By : DokiDokiGrooveWorks / Bandai Namco
Published By : Bandai Namco
Category : RPG, Rhythm, Adventure
Release Date : December 3, 2020
Being a lifelong fan of music of all kinds, rhythm games have always fascinated and drawn me in. With the exception of DDR that is, because I couldn't dance if my life depended on it. For the longest time though, I missed the bill on a lot of rhythm based games. In fact, the first one I ever personally experienced was an in-store demo at a GameStop for Guitar Hero III. Yeah, I even missed the PS2 era of those games.
It always made sense for the music and rhythm games that came with a music peripheral to go along with it. But then I started finding older games that simply relied on the controller, games like Amplitude and Frequency introduced a simpler yet more complex way to knock out music tracks, and are probably the reason why I started to tap out drum beats in real life using just my thumbs and fingers instead of full-blown arm and foot movements.
Taiko no Tatsujin : Rhythmic Adventure Pack manages to take advantage of both the peripheral and button approaches to a rhythm game. Although, for the space of this review we'll be focusing on playing this duo-release pack of games with the buttons. Well...mostly with the buttons at least, since in certain modes you are able to make use of the Switch's touchscreen.
This title sees two games from the franchise that had been exclusively released on the 3DS brought to the Switch. Both titles are played as RPG adventures as you use your drum and music skills in battle across two wild plots. One game sees you racing across different era's of time trying to find the pieces of a friend, Tocky, before he can be stolen and used by an evil group. While the other drags you into a world-saving adventure after one particular ne'er-do-well steals a powerful necklace from a museum.
Outside of the music battle screens, the games RPG adventure unfolds. You'll play in direct control of Don-chan exploring a number of different areas. These areas typically are very linear and lead into others in order to progress the narrative, but there are also extra areas for exploration, to keep you happy item-collectors happy.
In these areas you'll find item chests and typically other characters to talk to. Most of the time you'll just get some flavor text from the characters, but occasionally they may ask you for a favor with some task which will trigger a song sequence and a chance to earn a special reward. These can be healing items, outfit pieces to equip to your character in order to tweak effects in battle, or items to be given directly to your battle members in order to raise any number of their stats.
The majority of your time will be spent on song battles. Here, while the track plays, a series of notes will run across the bottom of the screen. You'll need to hit the correct note when it gets into the designated zone, and your hit will be rated as either Bad, Okay, or Good. Each note is marked with a color, red for a hit in the center of the drum, or blue for a shot on the rim. There are also drum roll sections, noted by long yellow bars, and balloon notes. In the Rhythmic Adventure 2 title they introduce Clash Notes which are drum roll sections where you must directly defeat your enemy in a sort of drum-off.
Combat is decided on by the notes you hit and how well you hit them. Your characters attack based on your combo of notes hit in a row, and how often they attack is based on their attack speed. As far as your enemies go, if any of your notes are missed or Bad hits they will attack, and they will still have a chance to attack on Okay hits too, but these are less of a chance.
After a battle is complete you'll earn some money and experience, and most of the time you'll catch a new member to add to your party. These can be re-named and then added in and out of our party at will. At maximum, you can have four members in your active party for fighting. However, some enemies are labelled as "big" and take up two fighter spaces meaning it can reduce your party size down to three, or even two.
While I was instantly drawn into these titles because of their focus on rhythm, what kept me drum rolling through them was how much they reminded me of Pokemon. Everything from wandering through the games maps, leveling up fighters and capturing new ones after battles really had me hooked.
Outside of the story mode you can just play the songs in the Taiko game mode. While you're playing in this mode, you can continue to use the buttons for striking the drums. Or, you can take advantage of the Switch's touchscreen (obviously only if you're playing in handheld mode), and actually tap out the song's rhythm. Certain areas of the screen are designated for the inner or rim areas of the drum, and could prove to be very useful in the harder game modes where the notes are much more frequent.
As I said, I've been a fan of music my whole life. I started learning to play guitar when I was in sixth grade, and I picked up the drums just after high school. So I've always been drawn to the music and rhythm games but Taiko no Tatsujin : Rhythmic Adventure Pack was one of the first to really pull me in. I had never experienced these games before but I will absolutely be looking for as many of them as I can for my library. My four-year old son even found his way into playing these and he loved them just as much, even naming his first captured monster after himself.
The only thing I can't speak towards his how this game stacks up to the others in the franchise. This series has seen releases across multiple platforms, both handheld and home console, and even a massive arcade cabinet complete with equally massive drums. Some of the home releases even come with a small drum peripheral, including Taiko no Tatsujin : Drum 'n' Fun which is also on the Switch. So basically, look for more reviews in this series to pop up on this blog.
Game Rating : 9.5 / 10
Pick up the game HERE on the Nintendo eShop
A code for this game was graciously provided
to the website for purpose of a review
