"Bang! Bang! Patapon!"
"... Mom, Ella is chanting strange spells again."
Little Allen helplessly covered his ears, giving the impression that he wouldn't eat breakfast if his sister didn't shut up today.
" Ella! Eat first, or you can forget about ' Patapon '!"
The mother shook her head helplessly as well, and reprimanded her in a slightly stern tone.
"Look at your brother, he's almost finished his share."
"Hey! No, I'm sorry, I'll eat it now."
Startled by the threat to her vitals, Ella quickly shut her mouth and grabbed a fork to smash the fried egg in front of her.
However, as she chewed, her mouth began to move involuntarily, and her legs under the table started to tap uncontrollably.
"Pat... cough cough, it's nothing."
As soon as Ella opened her mouth, she realized she seemed to have lost control again, so she quickly covered her mouth and gave an awkward laugh.
Ella, Ella, you can't keep doing this! Didn't you hear what Mom said? If you don't control your mouth, I won't buy you " Patapon "! She told herself.
It wasn't that she didn't want to control it, but this awful tune was just too alluring, too brainwashing!
Last night, she accidentally wandered into an MTV channel.
In just a few Kung-Fu Master, her head was completely destroyed.
Seeing her like this, her mother rubbed her temples with a headache.
Ever since the show ended last night, this little madman hasn't stopped for a moment.
Even when he's sleeping, he keeps muttering something like " Patapon ".
Even after she fell asleep, her lips were still moving unconsciously.
This music is just too lethal...
Fortunately, her younger son Allen, was playing video games at the time and wasn't watching TV with his sister.
Word-of-mouth communication is far less effective than watching television.
Otherwise, if those two little lunatics were acting crazy at home right now, she'd have a hard time dealing with them. "Alright, eat your breakfast properly, then go to school obediently. When you come back this afternoon, you'll see ' Patapon '."
That's what they say.
But it wasn't until Harper, the mother, actually visited the game store that she truly grasped the impact of Gamenova.
At the same time, I also regretted agreeing so easily to buy " Patapon " for my child.
There are just too many people here!
Forget finding a parking spot, she has to get out and walk even if she has to park the car just two streets away.
This place is practically a gathering place for some kind of fanatical believer.
No matter where you stand, you can hear a constant series of " Patapon " sounds around you.
Whether adults or children, they all seemed to be bewitched, endlessly repeating those meaningless syllables.
If you put a filter on this, and give it a yellow sunglasses look, people who don't know better might think that " Far Cry 5 " was inspired by this.
Standing in the crowd, Harper had a strange feeling; she sensed that her reason was escaping her mind.
Something called " Patapon " was rapidly encroaching on her thinking space.
The standard 4/4 time signature is the rhythm that humans most easily develop a habit of.
"Bang bang..."
Passersby unconsciously began to sing along.
For some inexplicable reason, Harper couldn't help but chime in with a comment:
" Patapon!"
"Bang! Bang! Patapon!"
Then, a new cycle begins.
If any passerby who hadn't seen that music video last night had walked by, they would probably have been terrified by this scene.
Perhaps none of the people present knew why they were repeating these meaningless syllables.
Only those players who managed to snag one of the first cartridges will be lucky enough to know the answer. Anyway, since Harper promised the kids, it looks like they'll have to wait in line today, whether they want to or not...
afternoon.
Ellen and her brother Ella finished their classes early and rushed home.
As soon as they returned, they saw the Patapon cassette tape, its packaging already opened, on the dining table.
Mother Harper is cooking in the kitchen.
Besides the sound of the tap, they also faintly heard a strange tune.
" Patapon!"
The siblings exchanged a glance, puzzled.
Allen didn't rush to play because he wanted to finish playing Biohazard.
Ella was happy that no one was going to take it from her, so she grabbed the handheld console and cartridges and slumped onto the sofa. [Once upon a time...]
[Ancestors of the Patapon Clan]
[The war drums that were once beaten by the gods]
Accompanied by the on-screen captions, a picture resembling an ancient parchment scroll appeared on the screen.
The text appears to be some kind of fabricated, original font, and its meaning is completely unrecognizable.
It's clear that this is a unique Civilization.
Those eyeball-like creatures in the picture are probably the "patapon clan" mentioned in the subtitles.
The background music has a grand, epic feel, but the volume has been adjusted so it's not particularly loud; you can occasionally hear the sound of war drums beating.
This seems to be in response to the "war drums struck by the gods" in the text.
[Through the power of the war drums, the Patapon clan gains wisdom, courage, strength... and miracles.]
What the hell is this?
It's probably a reference to Gamenova's other timeless classic, the Legend of Zelda. It's the Triforce to the Past, isn't it?
[The ancestors of the Patapon people, led by God]
What exactly are they seeking?
[Its goal is the end of the world.]
[We must defeat all the enemies ahead.]
[Gain fame for all ages and acquire all the treasures]
[We must take root in all the land within our sight]
[They should dedicate everything to their God.]
Ella's expression was somewhat strange.
If the preceding content was merely a basic introduction to the world's setting...
That's where things started to feel off. It sounds like some kind of primitive tribe.
Aside from enjoying the thrill of combat, all they know is how to worship gods and Buddhas.
As the text on the scroll disappeared, a new line slowly appeared.
[For those who journey to the ends of the earth]
[If you hold the war drum with both hands,]
[Then you, as the god of patapon, must do your utmost to help it prosper.]
Even if your ability to perceive rhythm is not as strong as others,
[And we must never give up learning the arts of the gods.]
[The end of relentless effort,]
[A dazzling glory will surely surround you.]
[If you agree to this covenant,] [then you will become the god of Patapon,]
[Hold this war drum with both hands.]
[agree]
"Wait a minute?"
After reading this passage, Ella suddenly realized what was going on.
It turns out that the role players will play is not some so-called Patapon clan.
Instead, it was the "God" they idolized.
This design... has a bit of a feel to " The Populous," a game recently released by a small studio under Gamenova.
I haven't actually played Ella because I don't have a PC, but I have heard my friends talk about her.
After this incident, the eccentric and mysterious feeling of the Patapon clan suddenly didn't seem so unpleasant anymore.
After all, they are worshipping themselves.
As Ella pressed "agree," the screen slowly went dark. Then... a blue bucket appeared in the center of the screen.
No, it's not a bucket; this thing is more like some kind of... tribal totem.
"Pon pon po poooon!"
It wriggled its body, making a series of strange noises.
Then, a magic circle appeared beneath it.
Upon closer inspection, four glowing orbs were visible on it, forming a diamond-shaped array.
The blue bucket stopped directly on the sphere of light on the right and "whoosh" darted inside.
In the dim light, Ella seemed to see the letter "b" displayed inside the sphere of light.
[Gibberish gibberish...]
[Gods, please save the Patapons...]
There's a lot of text, but the story it's trying to tell isn't actually that complicated.
It was simply that one day in the past, the gods suddenly disappeared. The Patapon people, deprived of their divine protection, were plunged into a perilous situation.
Even the warriors who went out to search for the gods collapsed from exhaustion on the road.
It's clearly a classic, tried-and-true tactic to start in a desperate situation.
[pon pon pon pon...]
[Please strike the war drum in rhythm]
[pon is the b key]
As the operation instructions appeared on the screen, a 4/4 rhythm, seemingly played by a maracas or similar instrument, began to play in the background.
Ella seemed to sense something and pressed the 'b' button in time with the beat.
"Pon pon pon pon..."
In the video, a Patapon man lying in the ruins seems to hear the drumbeats.
It struggled to stand up, its eyes wide open.
[This war drum...] [I feel a surge of power!]
[Huh? Could it be a deity!?]
After rattling off a whole bunch of compliments, it pulled a red African drum out of its pocket.
By this point, Ella had finally understood.
The blue bucket from before should be like this one, a drum.
However, they were all specially decorated with various divine artifacts, like totems used in tribal rituals.
"Pata pata pa! taaaa!!"
The same scene as the blue bucket from before.
The difference is that it's inside the left-side 'x' key.
[Let's beat the war drums in order!]
[God beats the war drums > Patapon sings...]
"Pata pata pata pon!" Hearing the voice coming from the speakers, Ella was stunned for a moment, then her face immediately lit up with joy.
Here it comes!
My beloved Pon, whom I've been longing for day and night, has finally come to me!
"I see! So that's what it means!"
Ella listened to the rhythm in the background and tried to fight along with it.
"The right side is 'pon', the left side is 'pata', so..."
"Pata pata pata pon!"
The voice that had been repeating itself for two days rang out again, but this time, she typed it out herself.
The little patapon in the picture, holding a flag, also sang along to the rhythm she had just played.
The innocent little noises, the catchy and addictive syllables...
They're here! They're all here!
[Find the Spear of Protection Pon who will fight for you!] [Make him your partner!]
"Whoo--yahoohoo-yi!"
Almost subconsciously, Ella kept tapping out the simplest instruction, "pata pata pata pon," as she moved forward.