Listen To The Beat / Feel The Beat | Orgarhythm Review

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<p>Have you ever played a game so unique&comma; so different&comma; that you had trouble explaining it&quest; Well&comma; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>is one of those games&period; Simply put&comma; the game can be described as a 3D version of the <em>Patapon <&sol;em>series&comma; but it is more than that&period; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>is a unique blend of the rhythm and real-time strategy genres&period; Co-developed between ACQUIRE and Neilo&comma; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>had a few big names working behind it&period; Most notable are director Takashi Hirai &lpar;<em>Space Channel 5<&sol;em>&rpar; and composer Ayako Minami &lpar;<em>Armored Core <&sol;em>and <em>Enchanted Arms<&sol;em>&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The gameplay revolves around the triple-tap mechanic&period; You start by tapping the god&comma; then tap one of four elements&comma; and finally&comma; tap one of four troops &lpar;or one of five magic spells if you picked light&rpar;&period; Once you finish the triple-tap&comma; you must drag your finger across the screen to direct your troops or to cast your spell&period; Trust me&comma; it sounds more complicated than what it really is&comma; plus there is a useful tutorial that will show you the ropes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Besides the gameplay&comma; the soundtrack is central to the <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>experience&period; The soundtrack is composed by Ayako Minami&comma; and I am confident in saying that this is her best work yet&period; She has expertly blended tribal&comma; rock&comma; and electric sounds perfectly in the crafting of the music for <em>Orgarhythm<&sol;em>&period; What sets the game&&num;8217&semi;s soundtrack apart from the rest of the pack is the fact that it is dynamic&period; Each stage starts with the song at level 1&comma; so the music will just be a simple beat that you must tap&period; Tap to the beat three times in a row&comma; and you increase it to level two&period; With each new level&comma; a new element will be added to the song&period; So what starts out as a simple drum beat ends up a full-blown tribal&sol;rock song&comma; complete with electric guitars and chanting&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As stated above&comma; the gameplay and soundtrack are intertwined&period; In order to be successful in <em>Orgarhythm<&sol;em>&comma; you must listen to the beat of the song and tap in unison with it&period; There is a visible circle that will pulsate with the beat to help you out&comma; but you really need to use your ears&period; Each successful triple-tap not only increases your song level and score&comma; but it also increases your number of units&period; For example&comma; you tap the god&comma; then water&comma; then archer without missing a beat&comma;  and your water units increase by one&period; <em>Orgarhythm<&sol;em> lets the player know that they are tapping on beat by producing the sound of a clap&comma; or a snare drum if you were off beat&period; You can have a maximum of 16 units at any given time&period; Now&comma; if you miss a beat at any stage of the triple-tap&comma; your song level goes down by one&comma; your combo meter restarts&comma; and you miss out on increasing your unit size&period; Once again&comma; this system sounds more complicated than what it really is&period; It is&comma; in reality&comma; a very intuitive mechanic&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;listen-beat-orgarhytm-review&sol;orgarhythm8&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-28345"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28345" title&equals;"orgarhythm8" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093508&sol;orgarhythm8&period;png" alt&equals;"Orgarhythm Screenshot 1" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"320" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Besides rhythmic gameplay&comma; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>is also a real-time strategy game&period; You have four elements to choose from&semi; you have earth&comma; water&comma; fire&comma; and light&period; There is a rock-paper-scissors element that the elements are based on &&num;8211&semi; earth beats water&comma; water beats fire&comma; and fire beats earth&period; Light is composed of magic which can be used as offensive and defensive buffs&comma; regaining health&comma; a speed de-buff&comma; and a powerful attack spell&period; Magic is gained through a meter that is above the god&&num;8217&semi;s head&comma; and this meter is gained by defeating enemies and fallen allies&period; On top of the magic&comma; each of the elements has four troop types&period; They are melee&comma; archer&comma; catapult&comma; and kamikaze&period; Each troop has their specific uses and the number of units that will move to a specific area will depend on how far you drag your finger&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>One should know that besides a single&comma; full-meter spell&comma; the god is completely defenseless&period; It is always good to have a few units hanging back to defend the god&period; You could always recall all of your troops by tapping the rear touch-pad repeatedly four times&comma; but this will reset the song&&num;8217&semi;s level to one&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There are three difficulty levels in <em>Orgarhythm<&sol;em> &lpar;casual&comma; normal&comma; and hard&rpar;&period; Casual allows you to move the same troop constantly&comma; whereas normal and hard allows for one move per complete attack cycle&period; I recommend playing on Casual until you really have a great ear for the songs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;listen-beat-orgarhytm-review&sol;orgarhythm5&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-28342"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28342" title&equals;"orgarhythm5" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093600&sol;orgarhythm5&period;png" alt&equals;"Orgarhythm Screenshot 2" width&equals;"845" height&equals;"475" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Outside of ad-hoc co-op and competitive multiplayer &lpar;which could not be reviewed&rpar;&comma; there is still a good amount of replay value&period; Whether you are trying to unlock all of the perks &lpar;such as god&&num;8217&semi;s health is increased by 25&percnt;&rpar;&comma; trying to best your high score&comma; or you just want to listen to the songs again&comma; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>will keep you busy despite its short length&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Graphically&comma; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>is passable&period; All of the units on screen are either red &lpar;fire&rpar;&comma; blue &lpar;water&rpar;&comma; or yellow &lpar;earth&rpar;&period; The environments are barren wastelands&comma; and they do not look very impressive&period; However&comma; the bosses do sport unique designs and look rather impressive&period; Make no mistake though&comma; this game is not pushing the Vita&&num;8217&semi;s hardware to the limit by any stretch of the imagination&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It is worth noting that everything in <em>Orgarhythm<&sol;em> utilizes the Vita&&num;8217&semi;s touch screen&period; From the gameplay to the menus&comma; you will not use a single button or move a single analogue stick&period; The interface works&comma; and not once did I run into a problem of choosing the wrong menu option or tapping on the wrong unit&period; The on-screen prompts are large enough and spaced out enough that even people with large hands will have no problem navigating the game&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;listen-beat-orgarhytm-review&sol;orgarhythm3&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-28340"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28340" title&equals;"orgarhythm3" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093639&sol;orgarhythm3&period;png" alt&equals;"Orgarhythm Screenshot 3" width&equals;"845" height&equals;"475" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you are looking to play <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>for an engrossing story&comma; you should look elsewhere&period; Outside of some text in the manual&comma; and an opening and closing cutscene&comma; the story is completely absent&period; Basically&comma; the game revolves around two brothers who were gods&period; One decided to live underground&comma; and the other decided to live on the earth&period; Both gods created their own creatures to keep them company&comma; but the dark god wanted more&period; As a result&comma; he ventured up to the earth&&num;8217&semi;s surface and attempted to take over his brother&&num;8217&semi;s domain&period; As the god of light&comma; you have no choice but to fight your brother&&num;8217&semi;s forces&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I have a feeling that <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>is going to be criminally overlooked by the average gamer&period; Even though it just has ad-hoc&comma; the story is non-existent&comma; and it does not push the Vita to the limits in terms of graphics&comma; <em>Orgarhythm <&sol;em>has heart&period; The gameplay is addictive&comma; the soundtrack is therapeutic&comma; and it is just a fun game to play&period; Give it a try&comma; and I guarantee that once you start quick-tapping to <em>Orgarhythm&comma;<&sol;em> you will be tapping to every song you hear for a very long time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div data-amp-carousel&equals;"true" id&equals;'gallery-1' class&equals;'gallery galleryid-28258 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-large'><figure class&equals;'gallery-item'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;'gallery-icon landscape'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<a href&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093714&sol;orgarhythm&period;png'><img width&equals;"845" height&equals;"475" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093714&sol;orgarhythm&period;png" class&equals;"attachment-large size-large" alt&equals;"" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093714&sol;orgarhythm&period;png 845w&comma; 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845px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 845px" &sol;><&sol;a>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><&sol;figure><figure class&equals;'gallery-item'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;'gallery-icon landscape'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<a href&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093621&sol;orgarhythm4&period;png'><img width&equals;"845" height&equals;"475" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093621&sol;orgarhythm4&period;png" class&equals;"attachment-large size-large" alt&equals;"" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093621&sol;orgarhythm4&period;png 845w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093621&sol;orgarhythm4-300x168&period;png 300w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 845px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 845px" &sol;><&sol;a>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><&sol;figure><figure class&equals;'gallery-item'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;'gallery-icon landscape'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<a href&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093600&sol;orgarhythm5&period;png'><img width&equals;"845" height&equals;"475" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093600&sol;orgarhythm5&period;png" class&equals;"attachment-large size-large" alt&equals;"" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093600&sol;orgarhythm5&period;png 845w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093600&sol;orgarhythm5-300x168&period;png 300w" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 845px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 845px" &sol;><&sol;a>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><&sol;figure><figure class&equals;'gallery-item'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;'gallery-icon landscape'>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<a href&equals;'https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093543&sol;orgarhythm6&period;png'><img width&equals;"845" height&equals;"475" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093543&sol;orgarhythm6&period;png" class&equals;"attachment-large size-large" alt&equals;"Orgarhythm Featured Image" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2012&sol;10&sol;06093543&sol;orgarhythm6&period;png 845w&comma; 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