Don Don-Don Don-Don!

Well, I've gotten addicted to a nice, cheap game I got for $20: Patapon for PSP. It's an odd mix of the rhythm and strategy genres. The patapons are a race of cute little monochrome eyeballs, and you're contracted to be their god, to lead them to Earthend to see IT. The controls consist of drumming the buttons to guide the patapons into different actions. You'll get drums and songs for marching, attacking, defending, retreating, etcetera. You have to maintain the beat if you want the benefits of Fever Mode.

Outfitting your patapons is where some of the strategy comes from. You start out with Yaripons (spear throwers), and over the course of the game pick up tatepons (melee fighters), yumipons (archers), kibapons (cavalry), and a couple others I haven't gotten to see myself just yet. Pick up weapons, helms, and shields from zigotons (enemy eyeballs), as well as the occasional big monster. Create new patapons with resources you gather and the equivalent of money: Ka-ching. Annoyance I've had a bit of, though: You've got minigames where you can get resources, but not so much for ka-ching. Suppose a few hunting trips are to be expected, though. They move faster now that I can maintain a fever pace, though.

Anyway, I've gotten my $20 worth so far, and I'm curious enough about what IT is to keep playing. For those who haven't played: Thread is open to speculation about what IT is, and why the zigotons portend the end of the world or whatever if the patapons reach IT again. Before the doomsaying, my initial thought was that IT is the ocean, since it's supposed to be at Earthend, and reaching an ocean is one way of knowing you've conquered the known world.