First of all I would like to say that I basically live and breathe music, it is a pillar of my life and without it I cannot function optimally, it is as simple as that. I have to listen a little every day and last but not least I have to listen a little every day whether I'm playing one of the guitars or playing in Logic with the MIDI pad and just making sounds. I think it's the closest thing to meditation in my life. However, I've never been a big fan of games that play music. Partly I find it quite difficult, and partly it's because the guitarist in me is going crazy pushing a few buttons on a small plastic guitar. That's why I never liked Guitar Hero; Put a real guitar in my lap or sit me in front of a drum set and I'll be fine, music is in my blood. However, I have to put in a lot more effort in the game form and it feels somehow wrong. But where games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have died out, Taiko has continued to play drums for twenty years, and of course that's admirable, perhaps because they've decided to carve out a niche for themselves by simply playing drums. I understand that is a traditional Wadaiko Japanese. But the more I study Taiko, the more I understand how it has survived all these years, because it is so much more than just playing drums.
I head to the fictional town of Okimo and immediately come across several game modes. There are three different modes to choose from in Taikoland: Great Drum Toy War, which is essentially duels against the computer or someone online, Run! Ninja Dojo, where you compete against three others and have to come first, by smashing as many notes and tones as you can as quickly as possible, and Don-cha Band, where you play a song with four other players, either four friends if you have a lot, or offline with AI players. It's by far the most fun to play, you don't want to be the one ruining the rest of the band with your bad playing, and it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to everything. In Taiko mode you play yourself and can freely choose between the 76 songs in any order and level of difficulty. Finally, there's Dondoko City, the online mode, where you can of course matchmake with players from all over the world. However, it should be noted that you can play against others in all modes and not just in Dondoko City, even if it is the purest online mode.
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Before each game mode, you can choose between playing with the regular controller or the specially designed drum controller; However, I don't have access to the latter, so I had to use the normal controller, although the playing experience is guaranteed to be better with the second option. However, it has to be said that it works perfectly with normal controls. However, I don't think such a controller is even available for Xbox, but it is likely that this option was simply added by porting the game from the Nintendo Switch.
At first glance it may seem quite simple, but in reality you only need to use two keys because you only need to play two notes. Plus, it's very easy at first, and after warming up on the easiest difficulty level, I felt ready to take it up a notch. Then of course it immediately becomes more difficult, there are still only two buttons to control, but the tempo increases significantly and then obviously it becomes a real challenge to keep the rhythm and control the fingers, I think I need sharper reflexes .
For starters there are 76 different songs included to play, you can also purchase songs separately or there is also the Taiko Music Pass with over 700 additional songs if you think that's not enough. The 76 songs available may not necessarily be songs that we necessarily have on the charts here in the Western world, but rather original Namco songs and probably Japanese pop songs or maybe a bit of K-Pop I know not familiar with this genre, so don't believe me. When “Bad Guy” came on, I thought for a second that I recognized a song, but it wasn't Billie Eilish, I realized that immediately. Where I recognize the music is in the area of classical music, which includes Beethoven's Fifth as well as a number of other classics. There's also plenty of game-related music for those nostalgic, especially for the Japanese gaming world, such as the theme from Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man, which is nice, but unfortunately there are very few tunes that I recognize.
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Of course, in games of this nature it's important that the control of the game is tighter than a sumo wrestler's cycling shorts, and fortunately I can only complain about my own incompetence and slow reflexes when playing. If I play simply and normally, it usually works quite well, but if, as I said, I increase the level of difficulty, it becomes much more difficult to hit all the notes. Although it's not unfair at all. However, it probably would have been easier if there were songs that I actually recognized and knew, but with a little effort I think I'll get it pretty good in the end. As with many things, the simple arrangement is easy to learn and play, but difficult to master. There's no tutorial required either, you just need to learn which keys to use and start playing.
There's a story, of course, but it's absolutely nothing remarkable or particularly profound, but I wouldn't have expected that either. The setup is pretty simple and as Don-chan you head to the fictional town of Omiko where you simply have to become the best taiko master. There's not much more than that and sometimes it's enough, although it's a bit scattered and chaotic as there's no clear story mode; I have a feeling it would have gone a little more smoothly if you had chosen this route instead. But it's so full of charm and fun that it doesn't really matter, it's something I don't pay much attention to.
The Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival has the potential to entertain for seemingly endless hours. Not only thanks to the fact that you can buy 700 songs if you need it, but also thanks to the fact that there are so many game modes to choose from that will keep everyone entertained in their own way. I love it and it's great to play in all modes. Plus, it's just as fun to play alone as with friends on the couch or online. I've never played any of the Taiko games, even though the series has been around for over 20 years, but this one certainly seems to set the bar high. A very pleasant surprise for me, but old fans of the series may not find much new to discover here.
