Patapon 2: Donchaka

No matter what some questionable critics say, Patapon 2 is a huge improvement on the first game. If there is something that the sequels always fail, it is to keep the good of the previous one and fix/add more things that improve the experience. As I always say, if it's not broken, don't fix it (although this partly takes its toll, I'll comment on it later). Adding a class evolution system for each Patapon explaining what each one is for as it should be, improving controls and timing remarkably, a pretty good multiplayer mode, a good difficulty curve, new types of units, new types of levels, and a great etc... If it is true that some might think that it is a simple expansion at first glance, but when playing it for a couple of hours the difference is noticeable, mostly thanks to the hero. Now it is very important to worry about doing good rhythms and not leaving them halfway. This added to the improved timing and feedback make achieving the hero special something very satisfying. And while it's not perfectly balanced, the game still has difficult moments that if you don't take advantage of every unit of the army you won't do as well.

If I have to talk about some problems, there are a couple. There is still the problem of the tutorial of the first game, but if I have to talk about more serious things, the story is mediocre at best. More than anything because they start introducing new characters out of nowhere, and with the exception of Ormen Karmen, the others hardly have any charm and we don't know exactly who they are and what they want to do apart from putting up an obstacle for us. The hero also stops being relevant to the story until the penultimate mission of the game, and although this story that they tell us is more or less interesting, it does not compensate for all of the above (and while it also repeats some story scripts from Patapon 1, it didnt bother me since i dont enjoy too much the gameplay of that title, being able to play the same missions but with Patapon 2 gameplay is something i appreciate). The mini-games (which already existed in Patapon 1) are not bad, in fact they are a good option to earn materials and take a break from the routine, however these cease to be important once we are near the end of the game, due to the pathetic amount of materials that these give.

Some would think that I should also criticize the grinding of this game and while they are partly right, the truth is that it does not affect the campaign at all, only the postgame, and you do not have to waste more than 400 hours to improve the units if you dont want. It is completely optional and even while playing on hard grinding is not an issue.

Patapon 2 has to be one of the most satisfying games i ever played, it rewards you constantly thanks to all of its new aspects, rebalance of stats, bosses fun to fight and so on. Is what Patapon 1 should have been on the first place. Again, i could understand if some people think this game is more of an expansion of 1, but after playing it so many times i think the game has enough differences to being worth it. Besides, being an expansion or a game that its similar to its prequel isnt automatically bad (especially being a portable game in 2008, i dont think nobody would really matter). Is not 100% perfect like any game on existence, but of all of the games in the series, is the only one i consider it the real underrated one. One of the best PSP and RPG games i ever played.