Ratatan is a Delightfully Charming Roguelite That Should Be Verified On Steam Deck

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Ratatan is an early access title; performance and content are subject to change. A copy of Ratatan was provided by Game Source Entertainment.

Some of you may remember the classic PSP series, Patapon, which coincidentally got brought to PC back in July. Now, the original creators of Patapon are back with the similarly named Ratatan. This spiritual successor aims to bring back the rhythm-based fun of its inspiration and a different take on gameplay.

Ratatan - Gameplay Impressions

Ratatan differs from its spiritual predecessor in one key way. Ratatan is a roguelite, which adds twist to the formula. As you lead your army of Cobuns across the battlefield, tapping buttons to the rhythm to command them, you'll be met with classic roguelite gameplay, with decisions on what to upgrade, whether to take on additional challenges, or get more Cobuns in your army. This roguelite element was a surprise twist, and fortunately, Ratatan feels more unique than a lot of other roguelites I have played recently.

One of the "fresh" things about Ratatan that hits you is the music and art style. With plenty of vibrancy in both, Ratatan is quite a joyful game. You lead your army of Cobuns by pressing a series of buttons to the rhythm, whether that's B, B, B to attack, X, X, X to follow, or various other combinations at your disposal, all the time with your Cobuns chanting alongside you to the beat. For a game about "war", it's delightfully charming and cheerful.

And as you would expect in a roguelite game, at the end of each "run", you'll retrieve any loot you collected, and then be able to equip your Cobuns with new weapons, upgrade your weapons, or even spend some loot to give you advantages in future runs. There's a fair bit of progression unlocks you can get here. It's better than many other roguelites I've played recently. There are even quests you can fulfill for extra rewards.

As you beat the game's bosses, you also get transported to the next world, which freshens things up with new enemies.

All of this comes together to make a pretty nice package. The gameplay here is pretty solid, with having to move your player character whilst tapping buttons to the beat to launch your attacks while staying alive yourself; it's very engaging, if a little overwhelming at times, with how busy the screen can get.

If I were to pick at the game, I would say that the music can get repetitive. The chants don't change, and it's quite constant, so after playing for an hour, you might have been driven slightly insane. So this might be one to play in short bursts, but the game does have a "suspend run" option, so it's perfect for 15-30 minute play sessions.

Ratatan - Steam Deck Performance

Ratatan doesn't support 1280x800 as a resolution, so we'll have to make do with 1280x720 and have black bars along the top and bottom of the screen. The game does have good controller support, though.

The game does not have graphical options, but fortunately, it's pretty easy to run anyway.

The game runs very well, but I would limit it to 60 FPS instead of trying to run at 90 FPS on a Steam Deck OLED, purely for the fact that the game can drop frames into the 80s, as well as get occasional stutters lower, which isn't the best in a game based on rhythm. However, it's a very stable experience at 60 FPS.

Power draw was around 8W-11W, and temperatures were around 60C-65C. So you can expect a solid 5 hours of battery life from a Steam Deck OLED and around 3.5 hours from a Steam Deck LCD.

Strangely, the game does hold an "Unsupported on Steam Deck" rating from Valve, but I saw nothing in the game to warrant that rating. If anything, I would call it Verified.

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