Talk about odd couples. One of the least likely pairing in the videogame world has occured, and it's in a cult Japanese rhythm game with a penchant for doing things a regular rhythm game normally wouldn't dare.
Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Dororon! Youkai Dai Kessen! is released today! (I'm trying to contain my excitement as much as I can), and the main attraction besides the 50-strong list of songs is the RPG mode. Yep, the odd couple. Rhythm-RPG. Ever heard of it before? You have now.
Sample battle video. Yep, you actually lower the opponents HP using the power of hitting beats at the correct time. This sort of thing would have been impossible without Taiko no Tatsujin's great diversity of themes. You can put the drums in any Japanese setting at all and they'll work. You don't see an RPG mode in Guitar Hero now, would you? Nor would it be suitable without feeling tacked on.
Costumes you wear act as your armors to increase your defense. The different sounds your drum makes become your attack stat modifiers. Each monster you fight has a different way of presenting beats even using the same song, which keeps things fresh. Granted, this mode is short, but then what's the point of making it long if the ultimate goal is to blaze through the effort of unlocking every song the game has?
Speaking of the songs...since that's the most important part of the Taiko series, I'll review Taiko no Tatsujin DS 3 based on that in a bit.
