During PAX East 2025, I played a whole bunch of games. But Patapon 1+2 Replay is the one that will forever be etched into my brain. Before walking into my appointment, I didn’t know a thing about Sony’s cult series. The only thing I knew was that I had a hard time pronouncing the name initially, and that it was some kind of rhythm-based game.
Before I entered the appointment, a colleague (let’s call him John) asked if he could join and watch. I had no problem with that, and Bandai Namco gave the okay. When I had begun talking to the team about Patapon 1+2 Replay, they immediately noticed that I had said the name wrong and engaged in some playful teasing as they corrected my pronunciation. It was foreshadowing of what was to come during a demo that would show me the comedic joy and tension of a classic series that’s built for casual, carefree entertainment.
Discovering Patapon
The second John and I sat down, we were greeted by Savannah Ho, the marketing lead for Patapon 1+2 Replay. After a short introduction, Ho gave me a simple elevator pitch to get me up to speed: “Patapon is a rhythm action game that’s perfect for people who love … Rhythm and action! This game has an easy entry level but a high skill ceiling. Especially with the Patapon 1+2 Replay bundle, we’ve added difficulty levels, which are new to the franchise.” The last piece of her pitch would become especially important as my appointment went on. As someone who was born with two left feet, easy mode sounded appealing.
After talking with Ho, I was instructed to load into the game and was given a series of commands to press that would allow my adorable little eyeball men to perform various actions. These included tasks as simple as moving forward, attacking, and jumping. The catch was that they needed to be pressed alongside the beat, and if I failed to do so, I would need to start said input all over again.
Not only did my little men perform an action when timed correctly, but I was also rewarded with an adorable, catchy bit of music. Ho assured me that the songs used in 1+2 Replay are also the same ones used in the originals. Hitting the combos on the right beat gave me a nice hit of serotonin. The cherry on top is the visual upgrade. It’s great to see games built for older handhelds polished up to feel modern once again.
For the first level, I was tasked with hunting down a handful of animals before they escaped from my tribe. I thought I was in for a good time because of the game’s cheerful tone and the fact that I was playing on easy mode. But my lack of coordination meant that getting past the intro took me much longer than I’d like to admit, so much so that John started to rib me over it. Ho even started to laugh at his jokes and chimed in at first. That may sound like bullying, but it made my demo of an already upbeat game even more enjoyable. It’s hard not to smile and laugh whenever you see your little men perform an action or hunt down a creature — or, in my case, messing up.
Although there weren’t real stakes in the first level, it did hurt to know that I let one creature get away and that it took me nearly ten minutes to complete it. Of course, without skipping a beat, John and Ho were right there to make sure I knew how badly I messed up, which made the situation funnier than it should have been.
The stakes only got higher from there. For the second level, Ho informed me that I would be fighting a T-Rex-like creature who would actively fight back. By this point in the demo, I was locked in and ready to prove them wrong — or so I thought. I was feeling the rhythm, and before I knew it, I made it to the T-Rex and was prepared for battle. The second it started, John and Ho began cracking jokes about my lacking skills. It immediately broke my concentration because I started busting up too.
The adorable dinosaur made quick work of my frontline troops, which was a feat. Ho made it a point to say that the ones who died are specially designed to withstand damage; the fact that I got them killed was impressive. Even though I had lost good folks in the battle, my eyeball creatures and I ultimately walked away victorious in a deadly fight full of catchy music.
As I learned during my demo, when I perform certain actions back to back, I begin to build up an ultimate attack. Every time I was getting close to obtaining it, John or Ho would taunt me with one-liners like “oh look, he’s getting closer!” Like clockwork, that would get me laughing and break my combo.
Even though I was the butt of a lot of the jokes while playing Patapon 1+2 Replay, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My playtime perfectly emphasized what Patapon is all about, giving me a crash course in a series that’s new to me. It’s meant to be carefree and fun, something casual that can be made even more enjoyable while playing with others. That’s why Patapon 1+2 Replay is worth checking out. Even if you’re someone like me who has no rhythm, that upbeat energy is infectious. And it’s only amplified while playing with friends who can bask in that joy with you. It’s hard not to smile when playing.
Patapon 1+2 Replay launches on July 11 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
