Penny Arcade and Psychonauts fans might recall this. One of the finest and most under-appreciated of last generation's impressive achievements in gaming was skipped by one of the community's most influential outlets because the guy who does most of the writing is neurotic about collectibles in games... And then he neglects to even mention it for months because he is ashamed of that fact. I was disappointed, to say the least. Now, I'm not saying those guys must play and promote every game that I feel deserves such publicity, and I'm certainly not suggesting that neuroses are trivial; but I cannot hide my frustration...
...Especially now that it seems as though he's done it again. Today's post mentions Patapon for PSP. I've been playing around with this one myself, and while I've barely scratched the surface, I can already say that I disagree with Tycho's personal take on the game. Like his Psychonauts nod, he doesn't suggest that the game is bad, but he makes sure to note that his annoyances with the sound design affect his gameplay experience, and I can't help but regard his impressions of the game as a sort of bad review. Personally, I love the graphics, audio, rhythm, and creativity of Patapon. The only downside for me is the strategy slant of the gameplay; the very aspect that will draw many further into the experience.
Does Tycho truly realize what kind of power he wields? I can't help but wonder if Psychonauts would've done better at retail if he had endorsed it outright, and I'm curious to see how Patapon fares after this line: "It's only twenty dollars I suppose, a savings over most games on that platform, but you can save an additional twenty dollars if you don't buy it at all." I mean, this man may have single-handedly relegated the pinnacle of 3D platforming (Psychonauts easily rivals Mario 64 in my books) and the first major foray into the interesting new genre of rhythm-strategy games into relative unpopularity simply because he has a hard time collecting things and can't find a rhythm through the sound effects.
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