Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2

Genre: Music-Rhythm

Players: 1

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Review:

Note: This game is included in the Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack bundle along with Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1

Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2 is the second of two family-friendly Taiko No Tatsujin Music-Rhythm games released at the same time for Nintendo Switch in 2020, with the first one naturally being Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1. Both games are very similar in many ways, but feature different track lists, as well as some differences in each game’s Story Mode. As the two games are very similar, I am copy-pasting these reviews and only changing the pertinent parts.

Those who follow the Taiko No Tatsujin series will know that the Rhythmic Adventure games are not this franchise’s first appearance on the Nintendo Switch, having been preceded by 2018’s Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun!. The Rhythmic Adventure games borrow some elements from Drum ‘N’ Fun!, such as the controls, core gameplay, and presentation, but trade out that game’s multiplayer features as “Party Game” mode for the aforementioned RPG-style Story Modes.

As you might expect, featuring the same core gameplay and controls brings with it both the upside and downside of Drum ‘N’ Fun!’s features. Namely, the motion controls here are still absolutely terrible, the gamepad controls are still soulless, and the touchscreen controls are still surprisingly excellent despite being hidden away in a sub-menu where most players won’t see it. If you’re going to play this game without buying the expensive taiko drum accessory ($40-$100 for an accessory that as of this writing only works with the three Taiko No Tatsujin games on Nintendo Switch).

Much like Drum ‘N’ Fun!, the presentation in this game is extremely childish and cartoony, and very Japanesey, which characters constantly speaking in high-pitched Japanese voices. Quite simply, this game will not appeal to everyone.

And much like Drum ‘N’ Fun!, Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2 features a mostly Japan-centric tracklist, although Westerners will find some songs they’re familiar with here too. This game includes a library of J-Pop, anime themes (including songs from a few super-popular animes), a few classical songs, and some videogame themes. All in all, this game includes 66 songs, which is shy of Drum ‘N’ Fun!’s 80, but this game is also $30 compared to the earlier game’s $50 price tag, so this seems like a good amount of content for the money.

Okay, but now let’s talk about what has changed here since Drum ‘N’ Fun – this game drops some of the earlier game’s best features, the multiplayer support and Party Mode, and replaces it with a Story Mode that has RPG elements. So the question is… is this a good trade-off?

No. No, it is not.

Let’s start with the story itself. This mode focuses specifically on those parts of the game I said will not be for everyone – the cartoony characters with their squeaky high-pitched Japanese voices. In this game, these characters are exploring a museum when they run into a magical girl who claims the heroes need to stop a witch from destroying the world, in an adventure that will have them travelling around the world. This is inane stuff that wouldn’t even be fit for the must juvenile children’s cartoons, but here it’s force-fed to the player, who is unable to skip through the majority of it to just get to the gameplay.

That may be just as well, though. The graphics of the RPG are just cutouts of the cartoony 2D characters on some laughably bad simple 3D visuals, and the incorporation of RPG elements into this game was ill-advised. The gameplay hasn’t changed much (aside from the existence of notes the player must now avoid), but now players must play the same segment of a song over and over again as they “fight” enemies in “battles” with enemies that appear randomly on the map, with the songs ending prematurely when the enemy is defeated. Want to frustrate a player of a Music-Rhythm game? Make them play the same song over and over again but never let them finish it. Seriously, who thought this would be a good idea?

Not only does the Story mode add nothing of value to Taiko No Tatsujin, but its inclusion means we lost some of the best features from Drum ‘N’ Fun!, and what’s worse, some of those features were much-needed balancing elements to make up for this game’s poor controls, with the Party Game mode still being decent using a traditional gamepad. With that mode no longer present, and with multiplayer stripped out of the game, this is now a game that’s only worth playing in handheld mode with a touchscreen, unless you have that taiko controller.

If you enjoyed Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum ‘N’ Fun! and want more of that game’s core gameplay with a 66 song setlist and none of Drum ‘N’ Fun!’s best features, I suppose you’ll find some enjoyment to be had in Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1. But I think that for most players, this game will be a disappointment. It’s still a decently fun game if you just play the Music-Rhythm stuff in handheld mode using the touchscreen, but if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re better off getting Drum ‘N’ Fun!.

tl;dr – Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2 is a family-friendly Music-Rhythm game that takes the core gameplay of the prior game in the series, Drum ‘N’ Fun!, and strips away some of that game’s best features in favor of an awful new RPG-style Story Mode. The gameplay is still terrible unless you’re using the taiko drum accessory of the handheld mode’s touchscreen, and while the gameplay is still fun and the 66 song setlist is a good value for the price, there’s still little reason to get this game when Drum ‘N’ Fun! is far superior.

Grade: C

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