REVIEW: ‘Ratatan’ Is A Quirky And Charming Roguelite

If variety is the spice of life, then roguelites have access to the entire spice rack. Ratatan, developed by TVT Co. and Ratata Arts, is a unique take on the popular genre, mixing rhythm game mechanics with a lot of variables. Published by Game Source Entertainment, Ratatan is more than just a fun roguelite; it’s also an experience that begs players to say, “Just one more run.”

In Ratatan, you play as, yes, you guessed it, a Ratatan. As you move through strange worlds toward The Everafter to meet the Goddess, you’ll come across many dangerous enemies. To help you navigate the perils of your journey are small creatures called Cobun. Your Ratatan starts each run with as many as 9 Cobun, but that number can increase up to 18 during a single run.

Ratatan is a spiritual successor to Patapon, and it’s easy to see Patapon’s fingerprints all over the art direction. The character models, including the one-eyed Cobun, the visual hierarchy that positions Ratatan as conductor, and even the world-building choices, directly callback to the PSP classic.

With nostalgia at the forefront, Ratatan is an explosion of color and chaos. It works incredibly well, adding to the unique, charming, even quirky vibes that make it so endearing. It’d be fair to call the art direction cute and also bizarre, but the two ideas marry together in a fantastic visual feast.

Encountering enemies means exacting a musical genocide of cuteness.

Where it really gets fun is when you encounter Teshita and Dark Ratatan. Often fighting alongside local fauna, the Teshita and Dark Ratatan are also working to get to The Everafter for their own purposes. Encountering enemies means exacting a musical genocide of cuteness.

That’s because your adorable Cobun are largely treated as disposable warriors, sent into battle to give you every chance to reach The Everafter. Not unlike Pikmin being ordered around by Captain Olimar, the Ratatan give orders to the Cobun and the Cobun carry them out.

Even if your Cobun die, they eventually regenerate, and you don’t spend too long without them. There’s something deliciously dark about the concept. You’ve got these poppy rhythmic beats that you call out orders to, followed by ankle-high Cobun charging into battle without any thought for their own safety.

The Cobun are Ratatan’s greatest source of humor.

What makes it even darker is the fact that Cobun are incredibly dumb. If you miss a beat, they don’t hear the command and just stand there. They’ll take whatever damage is coming their way without so much as flinching. If you’re unfortunate enough to miss a second attack command in a row, they’re still not going to attempt to dodge anything. They just keep standing there.

The Cobun are also Ratatan’s greatest source of humor. They charge into battle yelling for murder and other nonsensical battle cries. They are fully committed to the cause and to earning treats. Don’t forget to pick up some candy and donuts. They go crazy for those donuts.

Along for the ride is Fortrun, a giant airship that escorts you to The Everafter. Fortrun has an HP bar that needs protection because your success or failure may come down to whether the giant airship stays alive. That, however, is generally not the case. Instead, it’s possible to play long stretches without Fortrun even taking damage, much less having their HP bar determine success or failure. In fact, Fortrun mostly just offers passive healing if you fall back during battle to keep from dying.

Ratatan has a lot going on, yet it feels fairly small. Between runs, there are ways to maximize success, like upgrading weapons or earning objective-based rewards. You can change to a different Ratatan or customize your Cobun’s weaponry and accessories. There’s a lot to do, but fundamentally, the gameplay loop is still very simple.

During your run, the goal is to reach The Everafter, but to fight increasingly difficult opponents, you’ll need to build bonuses that complement each other. Because the run is procedurally generated, a cohesive set of bonuses will sometimes come up relatively easily. Other times, it will feel impossible to get anything meaningful.

This is one of Ratatan’s greatest strengths and biggest weaknesses. As a strength, it reinforces the random, variable nature of a roguelite. There are five worlds, but Ratatan’s replayability comes from its unpredictability. It is the very reason why at 2 a.m., you may hear the words, “Just one more run,” escape from your exhausted lips.

Unfortunately, because each run takes you through the same five worlds and the same set of bosses, Worlds 1 and 2 and so on get progressively easier. World 1 becomes so easy that you might fight the boss without ever taking any damage.

Repeating the same levels over and over does get a bit repetitive, but the gameplay is still so satisfying.

It’s necessary to build up your army of adorable Cobun into something stronger than a throw pillow holding a sword, but the early novelty of Ratatan turns into a grind the longer you play. It’s perfect for when you have just a few minutes, but beyond that, it’s hard to get excited about attempt number 4,853 to reach The Everafter, knowing the first bit will have the same aesthetic and difficulty as the first few thousand times.

The game tries to help with that by letting you change Ratatan. Each Ratatan has a bonus for using it, plus specific Cobun classes you can deploy. Of those Cobun, one is a melee fighter, and the other is a long-range fighter. There’s some skill in deciding how many of each class you should bring into battle, but the weapons they carry aren’t fundamentally different.

A Cobun throwing a bomb won’t do much differently than a Cobun shooting an arrow. Similarly, a Cobun charging in with a spear or a sword won’t be much different. Yet each Cobun needs upgraded weapons to be any bit effective in battle.

Ratatan is worth staying up for just one more run.

That said, the most important question is, “Is it any fun?” The answer is simple: If you like roguelites, you should enjoy Ratatan quite a bit. Between the dark humor, the chaos, the strategy, and the swarm of adorable but ferocious Cobun, there’s a lot to enjoy.

There are also significant issues with Ratatan that shouldn’t be overlooked. Fortrun is completely underused as a gameplay asset. There is a repetitive nature to the early stages of Ratatan. The Ratatan themselves should feel like significantly different experiences, but they simply aren’t.

Yet, despite these issues, Ratatan remains an enjoyable rhythm-based roguelite. The sacrifice of many valiant Cobun charging into battle is even more entertaining and humorous than you might expect. The core gameplay is intensely satisfying, even considering the flaws in its design. Ultimately, Ratatan is worth staying up for just one more run.

Ratatan is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.