Once in a while I like to try out rhythm games just as a change of pastime. Usually they provide a good challenge with the hand-eye coordination and, theoretically, musicality. Rhythm games tend to have fairly upbeat music, and usually little or no storyline, focusing only on its gameplay. Lanota isn't much different, but it does have a unique take on the rhythm mechanics.
In a Nutshell
Overall Opinion: Middling
Pros:
- Unique mechanics while still being in the rhythm genre
- Lovely character designs
- Good story concept
Cons:
- Tracks have wait times after a certain point
- Lack of variety in music selections
- Slow progression
Story
A disaster called "Al Niente" has rocked the world and eliminated sound and colour. You play as two characters, Ritmo and Fisica, in a quest you revert the world to its original state by tuning a resource called "Notalium." The story progresses as you finish objectives set forth in each song, with each song representing an area of the map. Once you finish a song, Ritmo and Fisica successfully restore colour to that part of the world.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Lanota is a rhythm game in that actions are in sync with music chosen for a level. There are four actions to be used in the rhythm of the song: tap, hold, catch, and flick. Tapping is the common feature for all rhythm games. The player taps the screen in the designated area as a note or a graphic reaches the point, and the player is awarded points for how close to the proper timing the note is pressed.
Holding is another common rhythm game mechanic. In Lanota, it works just like the tap mechanic, except once you make contact, you press the digital button for a time until the visual cue tells you to let go. Similar to holding, catching in this game is when the player holds the digital button to 'catch' the visual cues. In a sense, catching is a hybrid of holding and tapping.
The final primary mechanic is flicking. The mechanic is very similar to tapping, except the player must swipe in the direction indicated by the visual cue. This action is fairly unique to Lanota in my experience, and I haven't seen this used in other rhythm games. This, coupled with another twist defines Lanota's gameplay.
The other twist is the moving interface. The play area rotates and translates across the screen, forcing the player to adapt accordingly. Sometimes the play area shrinks as well, adding a level of complexity to the gameplay. Fortunately, from the time I've spent on the game, it doesn't make it too difficult. The changes in the orientations don't happen randomly or suddenly, and there's usually a precursor to it in the music or the visuals that a player's instincts might pick up on.
Sound and Music
This section is largely biased on my part, but it's difficult not to be. The music selection in this game is very generic for my taste. It's a mix of Asian music, collecting pop tracks in Chinese and Japanese. I didn't encounter any Korean language songs, but I would not be surprised if there were any.
This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the music tracks that I did come across generally had the same instrumentation and feel. The beats per minute did seem to differ a little bit, but in general it felt like I was playing one song cut into different levels. This may not be a negative point for some players, but this does make it feel monotonous in the early stages of the game.
Graphics and Aesthetics
The art style of the game is endearing, but at the same time a little bit childish. I don't dislike it, mostly because it reminds me of drawings from a younger time when drawing anime was popular. I believe that this is an intentional decision, as because of this art style, I was more invested in playing the game and exploring what I could see when not playing to music.
The graphics in-game during the levels were not too bad. Unfortunately this also means that they weren't that good either. The assets themselves were quite nice to look at, but how they were implemented looked a bit off. There was something about how the play area was overlayed on top of the back ground that made it seem like paper over paper. Perhaps this was a deliberate choice, but I felt it made the game look a bit less professional.
Time Gates
This is the reason I stopped playing this game for the most part. At a certain point in the game, after learning how to play and getting a taste of what the story could be like, they hit you with the timer. After a few levels, they introduce a minute of wait time after each attempt at a song. There ads are optional, but with the length of time you're waiting you might as well watch something in the meantime. The benefit from watching the ads is also not that great, with only ten minutes of no wait time. That's roughly two full songs of time.
This waiting time explicitly asks you to consider purchasing the game to remove the wait time, so it's specifically there as a marketing tool. Whether or not it works is debatable, but for me it's a huge turn-off. Paying for the game or waiting isn't worth the content from what I've experienced.
Final Thoughts
My experience with Lanota nets a very middling feeling from me over all.
While I did enjoy the core game mechanics and the unique spin it has on the rhythm game genre, there wasn't much of it that was readily accessible. Time gates and a lack of diversity in song choices really hurt its chances of being a very good game. The aesthetics, while endearing and nostalgic, weren't perfect either.
As always, thanks for reading!
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