Patapon’s delayed spiritual successor Ratatan gets a new early access release date

The developer of Ratatan, the spiritual successor to Patapon, has announced that it will be released next month on Steam Early Access, following a delay.

The game was originally set to arrive on July 25, but was then delayed by its developer Ratata Arts.

The studio has now announced that the Early Access version will finally arrive on Steam on Friday, September 19 at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm BST / 12am JST.

Ratatan is described by its creators as “a rhythmic roguelite packed with beat-driven battles and colourful chaos”.

“Recruit allies and dance your way to victory, march across the world of Redo, build your Cobun army, and combine forces with your closest friends to defeat any evildoers silly enough to stand in your way,” the game’s description reads.

Ratatan was Kickstarter’s most-funded video game campaign of 2023. The title hit its ¥20 million ($137,000 / £108,000) funding goal within an hour of its launch and went on to raise over 10 times that initial goal.

Almost 15,000 backers had pledged over ¥219.3 million ($1.5m / £1.19m) by the campaign’s end, resulting in the project hitting multiple stretch goals.

These included the development of a console version of the game and a collaboration with David Wise, the former Rare composer who created the music for the Donkey Kong Country series, He has composed a guest track for Ratatan’s soundtrack.

Last month Ratatan received the top honour, the Vermillion Gate, at Japan’s leading indie game festival BitSummit.

James Mielke, BitSummit founder and head of the judging committee, said: “Ratatan revives the indie spirit once present in Patapon, combining roguelike and rhythm elements with notable polish, and shows clear potential for lasting influence in the indie space.”