Taiko no Tatsujin (or Taiko: Drum Master) holds a lot of sentimental value for me. It was the ‘family present’ waiting under our Christmas tree just a few months after my dad returned home from his deployment in the Middle East. It was our first entry into Japanese culture—fitting, as we were scheduled to move from California to Okinawa that next summer. It was my first rhythm game, first accessory, first time throwing drumsticks across the room.
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! hits all the right notes. And, with character customization and a competitive mode, is an excellent addition to the series.
Look at dis colorful menu
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session!
Developer: Bandai Namco
Price: $49.99
Platform: PS4 (reviewed)
Drum Session! plays similarly to the first game, though I didn’t have access to a drum (only a controller) so I can’t compare those experiences. There are over 70 songs (including DLC) to play—from Anime (!!) and Pop to Game Music and Variety—all with Easy, Normal, Hard, and Extreme modes. The red and blue notes scroll from right to left, and DON, your Taiko character, reacts according to how well you can hit each note. Higher combos, of course, mean higher scores (we’ll come back to the extended importance of this later). There’s even a new mechanic, Bingo Card, that awards you DON coins and costumes based on specific combos or total points you get after finishing a song.
What’s always impressed me about Taiko no Tatsujin is the amount of detail they put into the game. Colorful menus, detailed, dynamic backgrounds and characters that change as you land nice combos or gain enough points to pass, killer soundtracks—everything just kept me excited to play. And Guest Sessions playing alongside characters like Pac-Man and Hatsune Miku? Count me in.
That attention to detail takes on a new form with the Customization Room. See you never, generic red and blue (but still painfully cute) Taiko drums. Here, you can dress up your DON with accessories from Treasure Boxes, save up to eight outfits, and set your player title and greetings. The sheer amount of customizable features is astounding. Your DON can sport hats, clothes, face paint, and costumes, and have their very own mini character to cheer them on during a song. I probably spent waaay too much time in this part of the game, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it. Sorry not sorry.
HOW CUTE IS DON-CHAN
But the most welcome and compelling change is Ranked Matches. Because let’s face it—Taiko no Tatsujin is better when you get to show off your skills, and sometimes your friends get tired of losing all the time. In this new competitive mode, you play five matches against a DON bot (which I assume is the average player performance on a given song) to get an initial ranking. After that, you can compete with players’ ghosts from around the world and see who’s the actual Taiko drum master. I ranked 20 (Taiko Artisan!) but the highest you can go is 99. You do need a Sony account and Internet to play ranked, but PlayStation®Plus is not necessary. There’s also a leaderboard and a player summary so you can see how you stack up against the rest.
I didn’t realize how devastating missing a single beat could be until I played a few competitive matches. With rhythm games that’s a huge “Duh,” I know, but maintaining a combo is more important than accuracy (Good vs Okay beats), so it felt horrible when my finger would slip and I’d hit more Goods than my opponent but their combo was higher so they’d end up winning. It sounds funny writing it out like that. But having a lower combo automatically puts you at a “Disadvantage” status, and your opponent climbs higher and faster than you before you have the chance to pull it together. One mistake, and the game’s decided. Sure, you plead for them to mess up. But they never do. *cue the world’s smallest violin*
Literally THE closest ranked match I’ve had
I was hesitant about playing Taiko no Tatsujin without the drum, but that comes with its pros and cons. Some of the experience is definitely taken away with using the controller, but it’s easier (at least for me) since you don’t get as tired as quickly. I’d definitely recommend investing in it if you plan to play often, though—get a good workout in AND feel like a badass drummer. If not, though, DON still makes Drum Session! worth it.
The Final Word
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! marches gracefully to the beat of its predecessor’s drum. With DON customization, unlockable content, and Ranked Matches, I can see myself and others putting a good number of hours into this game (with or without a Player 2).
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
