Back in the day, I used to throw crazy Halloween parties.  These parties birthed new dance moves, memorable quotes, and they also forced me to purchase new living room furniture.  In 2008, Patapon was released for the PSP.  I didn’t play Patapon because my PSP was stolen at one of the aforementioned parties.

Listening to certain podcasts at work, I would hear the praise of Patapon over and over again.  This sounded like a franchise I would like.  I just didn’t want to buy a new PSP yet, so when Patapon 2 came out last year, I borrowed my brother-in-law’s PSP and downloaded the game for myself.  Patapon 2 was a download only game and it was only $20.  How could I not buy it?

I now knew what all those people were talking about.  Patapon 2 is a very fun game!

For those of you who might not know of the Patapon series; Patapon is a rhythm/rts/rpg.  You (the player) are a god who plays the drums for your servants.  The manner in which you play affects what your servants do.  For instance, if you hit the square button three times then the circle button (pata-pata-pata-pon), your dudes will march.  If you hit the circle button twice, then the square once, and the circle once more (pon-pon-pata-pon), your guys will attack.  You have to keep drumming to the beat or your ‘pons will get confused.  So the point of the game is to get to the end of the level with as many of your ‘pons alive.  Inside these levels, you’ll find other ‘pons as well as giant monsters, loot, and enemy lairs.

The rpg elements lie between the battles.  All the loot you pick up can be used to create new weapons, armor, and even ‘pons.  There are three basic classes (close, mid, and long range), but you can change things up between each of them.  Soon, your ‘pons will be riding on “horse”back, with elemental weapons and crazy armors, facing off against giant dragons to a crazy beat.

Now, the Patapon 3 multiplayer demo was just released on the PSN.  The demo consists of one single player tutorial and a few levels you can play online.  Here’s the problem; No one is playing Patapon 3 online.

While I was at San Diego Comic Con, I visited the Sony booth to see what they were showing off.  In the middle of the booth were two lonely PSPs with Patapon 3 playing.  Now, the rest of the Sony booth was full and even the other PSPs with other games were being played.  Do the public really not know what Patapon is?  It seems like after many websites named Patapon (1 and 2) PSP’s game of year, Sony still can’t spread the word on Patapon.  What is going on?

Even when I load up Ad Hoc Party on my PS3 to see what other PSP players are playing, I get no luck.  Hardly anyone used Ad Hoc Party and those who do are only playing Monster Hunter.

Patapon 3 is changing the way Patapon looks while keeping the game familiar at the same time.  It feels like the transition I made when going from Mega Man to Mega Man X.  Do people already have Patapon fatigue or do people just now know about it?  Either way, I’ll be picking this game up when it’s released and I hope I’ll have someone to play it when I do.