Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival Review (PlayStation 5)

Summary

Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival offers a delightful rhythm action gameplay experience with its decent cartoon-like graphics and a manageable download size of 4.41GB. The game features a Platinum trophy and its own achievement system called Taiko trophies, adding to the replayability for dedicated players. The drum controller support is a highlight, providing an immersive experience exclusive to this game. The opening tutorial section is tailored to your selected control type, and in-game cutscenes and interactions can be fast-forwarded or skipped, ensuring a smooth and engaging experience.

The game includes various note types, such as blue and red drums, drum rolls, and balloon and mallet notes, adding variety to the gameplay. Players earn Taiko points from Taiko mode, which can be used to buy rewards, while Don coins serve as a different currency for purchasing items in shops. The end-of-song breakdown provides detailed feedback on hit counters, score, and max combo, making it easy to track progress. Playing on the controller is comfortable and easy to grasp, with excellent vibration integration enhancing the experience.

The rewards map, resembling a Battlepass, is how the game progresses, with landing on squares granting rewards or advancing the story. There are three ways to play: Taiko Land, a mini-game collection; Thunder Shrine, the main mode; and online multiplayer. The in-game store offers a variety of items, including outfits, toys, instruments, nameplates, and greetings. Your room allows for character customization, game settings adjustments, and managing six-character save slots. Calibration mode is available for both the controller and the drum controller, with three layouts for each.

Players earn experience points from playing songs, contributing to an overall player level. Cutscenes and interactions can be rewatched within your room, and the game supports two to four local multiplayer and local co-op play in the main mode. Fast loading times and four song difficulties (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Extreme) cater to different skill levels. The game features five playlist slots, each holding up to 100 songs, and improvement support allows players to practice specific areas of a song. Best Replay can save up to 300 replays before sorting them.

The game boasts a vast library of songs from Anime, Namco games, and various categories, including game music, Namco original, pop, Anime, Vocaloid music, variety, and classical. Songs are rated on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being extremely challenging. The gameplay is visually engaging, with many animations and flashes, and the HUD displays score, combos, and song timer. The game is very accessible, even for newcomers, and can become quite addictive.

However, there are some drawbacks. All trophies are written in Japanese, which may be confusing for some players. Getting disconnected online results in a hefty penalty, and there are many loading screens. The initial experience can be overwhelming due to the numerous pop-ups and interactions in every menu. When booting modes for the first time, a lengthy in-game download occurs if you have or buy the music pass, preventing any other actions until it finishes. Additionally, there is no countdown when returning to the game after pausing.

In summary, Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival is an engaging and accessible rhythm action game with a variety of gameplay modes, extensive song library, and immersive drum controller support. While it has some minor issues, such as language barriers and loading times, it remains a fun and addictive experience for rhythm game enthusiasts.