Great game, but a bit lacking in content
I haven't played any Taiko No Tatsujin since arcade version 13 so I'm unaware of recent movements in the series. Last time I checked Saitama 2000 was a 9-star song but it's now 7-star. Wow time has changed. That's why when news of this game came out I pre-ordered without hesitation: it's time to play Taiko again.
All the good stuff I loved is still there: the festive atmosphere, the lovely Don-chan (in 3D!) and customization items, the vast selection of songs, and the satisfaction of hitting that 999 combo in Kurenai. They put quite a few trendy songs in there: Zenzenzense, PPAP, Let It Go, and more; old classics also make their return: Natsumatsuri, Kagekiyo, Saitama 2000, and again, more.
As the name suggests, this game puts heavy emphasis on sessions, and it all starts with the game saving replays of whatever song you play. Then, these replay data are used in creative ways: you can play against your own replay and try to improve, or play asynchronous sessions with friends, or play ranked online matches, also asynchronous. There are also guest characters, with a pre-made replay, that you can session with: Doraemon, Heihachi Mishiba (yes seriously), and more.
Having always played Taiko alone I find these features really enjoyable, because I finally have a 2P to play with me! I never knew Taiko is so fun to play with 2 players. And it's not just any 2P: it's either myself at my best level, or a friend, or a cute guest, or a random online opponent at a similar skill level. This is so eye-opening that I now actually prefer playing in sessions more than playing alone.
There's a mission system behind the songs: each song comes with 18 missions. You complete them in any difficulty, you get a stamp. When you line up 3 stamps, you get a bingo and a Don-coin, which are then used to buy treasure boxes, which contain random customization items. This sounds scary but it's not loot crates as we hate them: there are only so many items to get, and the boxes never contain items you already have, so no worries there.
There are only 2 main modes in this game: Taiko mode and online matches. In Taiko mode you can pick a song and play, or session with yourself/friends/guest characters, or practice sections of songs, but that's all there is. In online matches, well, you play online matches and strive for higher ranks. Coming from the Nintendo DS age I expected some kind of single player adventure/career/RPG mode, but it's not there. This makes me worry that the game may become boring quickly: in Taiko mode, once I complete all bingo cards of all songs, there won't be much to do other than challenging the few hardest songs; in online match mode, once I reach rank 50 and get a trophy, I don't see the point of going any further because I'm already terribly behind the leaderboard on the points.
There are also no song unlocks, which is actually a good thing, but personally I think it takes even more sense of progression away from my experience. Since the game is not released in North America and I don't have an Asian PSN account, I cannot buy DLC songs either. This means there's absolutely nothing to unlock or upgrade or look forward to, other than customization items, but I already collected a set of items I really like and don't need any more.
In conclusion, great series, great installation, delivers something awesome I didn't expect, but doesn't deliver something I did expect.
No Region Protection
Music & Party
