Ratalaika Games? Do you like them?

[TheHarryGamer99]

Not really. If people want to play them good luck to them.

[tjoe1bkhjtqxm]

People who don't like them, are those envious because they make easy money based on people's virtual addiction

[You]

A company that still releases games on the Playstation Vita can only be a good thing in my opinion.

[charxsetsuna]

People seem to have a view of if the trophies are easy then that means the games are awful.

 

Some of their games (powgi games too) looks genuinely fun, powgi games look like solid puzzles games and some ratalaika games also good fun like the tank one.

 

But if the trophies are always easy then that means the games are frowned upon here by default.

[You]

I have two of their games, Squareboy Vs Bullies and Hoggy 2 on Vita. But I have yet to start either of them due to still playing other games.

[cris3f]

On 2/24/2020 at 11:53 AM, Shadiochao said:

No, for several reasons.

 

Obviously the main one is exploiting the trophy system to sell games. I mean it's not really their fault, the opportunity is there thanks to Sony, but personally I just wish it wasn't possible to essentially sell platinum trophies.

 

 

It's really their fault, they're just exploiting the eager necessity of some people to think that they're really good gamers and trophy hunters by platting shit. However ultimately it's not their fault but of the ones that keep eagerly spending money on them, so kudos to them they're the smart asses and profiting from this. And Sony that could not care less either as long as they can profit from it (yes they could have stopped it long ago if they wanted it). Do most of their games justified a obnoxious number of stacks or to have trophies pop without any objective?

 

As usual it's all about the money, and lack of principles and honesty, nothing unusual unfortunately, nothing else.

 

I think I don't own anything from them (hopefully) and I would be disgusted to buy anything from them, but it's up to each one. If you're happy it's your problem.

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by cris3f

[SuchRemorse]

On 3/3/2020 at 7:44 PM, charxsetsuna said:

I wont lie , the tank game actually looks fun. I used to play wii play tanks years back and it looks like a similar game. 

Attack of the toy tanks? It's quick fun! lol... Reminds me of Combat back in the Atari days.

[PalaceOfLove706]

I disagree with people here saying these games take away trophy integrity from one’s profile, and this site. You know, a lot of gamers who play them play UR games as well, and Rata games provide a necessary mental break from going after harder lists. And people saying other sites like True trophies that try to track difficulty are better, well, there’s a flaw in that design too. Some ultra rare trophies that get flagged as hard aren’t, plain and simple, while some less rare trophies are hard to obtain and the rarity doesn’t speak to them always because some games have a cult following that plays them to completion. I’ve gone after 50% plats and failed while going after UR and had an easier time.

 

So where does that leave us? Are we just going to endlessly try to create a triumphant morality to gaming even though there will always be tricks and loopholes? Why bash a company for finding a way to make a buck? If people enjoy the games, which seems to be the case on this thread, so be it. I have total respect for gamers who rank high despite playing these games. It’s part of the battle and strategy.

[Yukiko Miyamoto]

I enjoy playing them, some of the games are very enjoyable.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Kimura Shikichi

[GUDGER666]

From what I've played, they are not bad at all. Some are pretty meh but a lot are actually pretty good, some also have hours of gameplay after you earn the Plat.  Some aren't even easy. Ratalaika is where the line should've been drawn, they are the perfect balance of easy. 

[Valzentia]

I like them (except Midnight). They help indie games that are genuinely enjoyable gain more attention that they otherwise wouldnt get and I have to give a hats off to them for that, and other than what I mentioned before I enjoyed what I played from them.

[SuchRemorse]

On 3/16/2020 at 7:51 AM, enaysoft said:

A company that still releases games on the Playstation Vita can only be a good thing in my opinion.

Too bad they stopped this. I would have loved if they kept doing it but there isn't anything left to release. RIP vita

[blacklight-nero]

I don’t mind them but I have never bought any at full price only on sales, I was curious on how many I have bought over the years and I have 22 of there games, I have to say the majority of the ones I’ve bought have been fun.
 

My Big Sister, Neon Junctions & Daggerhood are my favourites.

 

Zero Zero Zero Zero is my least favourite actually didn’t mind it initially but the game crashed on me 18 times while playing, Never has a game crashed on me this many times as such any enjoyment I may have had for it died.

 

Overall I do enjoy the occasional Ratalaika game.

[DrBloodmoney]

Sure, some of them.

 

Ratalaika publish games from a huge swathe of different small devs, so the games are naturally as varied in quality as they are in style and genre.

 

As with any cross section, there will be some that are good and some that are … not so much 

 

To be honest, given the sheer number of titles they’ve published, I’d say anyone giving a flat “no” as an answer has either been very unlucky in the specific games they’ve sampled from that cross section…

… or is judging games purely based on the rarity of their trophies.

[StraightVege]

Like games from any publisher, I enjoy the ones which are well-crafted, and actually require you to finish the entire game for platinum. Sagebrush and Dreaming Sarah were both surprisingly worthwhile, and The Count Lucanor could've been worse (if only it didn't crash and corrupt your save). Squareboy vs Bullies was crap, on the other hand. I believe that's the extent of my experience with Rata games.

 

Also considered buying Himno recently, but it's another one where you earn the platinum a few levels in, so I don't see much point.

[LadyGallethX3]

The games are great, had plenty of fun with some of them but the problem is the "easy" trophies people have with them. I bet if there was no trophies associated with them they would be completely fine.

[Maverick6146]

I bought quite a few POWGI games and some others, midnight series(?) back then and use them as a "filler" between proper, long trophy hunting for relaxation, and of course, boosting the platinum number a bit.

However I didn't really check their latest products as I found other alternatives for the above mentioned purpose.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Maverick6146

[RadiantFlamberge]

I like them, but what for? That would be the Turrican compilations, Gleylancer, and Cannon Dancer Osman.

 

Gleylancer costs $100+ for the original Mega Drive release, so it's nice to have had the chance to pick it up on PS4 for just a few dollars. Cannon Dancer Osman has been in MAME for years, but never had an official release until now. Osman is one of Rata's higher priced entries at $30, but worth it. It's a Strider type game originally created for arcades by none other than Strider's original designer, Isuke. The difference is you're not carrying a sword, but instead kickbox and grapple the daylights out of your enemies. I wish they also put this on the Vita so I could have it alongside Strider 1 & 2.

 

The Turrican packs have some extras like the Super Turrican Director's Cut (look for an extra level) and a mapping system.

[Umdytr]

Some are pretty good, others not so much. In any case, I enjoy playing bite-sized games now and then inbetween the bigger time sinks, so their stuff suits me just fine.

 

Most of them are little projects from small devs with actual effort put into them, so the people who frequently equate them to shovelware sound rather insane to me.

[ChilledBrandon]

Started playing some of these recently, although I didn't know they were Ratalaika games when buying them. Just been picking up a ton of cheap indies on sale.

 

Thunderflash I thought was fantastic little retro experience and I just started My Big Sister which has a nice art style, kind of gives me some Undertale vibes.

[Tweeked_Demon]

Yup they're actually decent, lots of them remind me of Arcade/Retro titles from the 80's /90's

 

Literally just platted Gun Crazy this afternoon. That game is an obvious attempt at the old Gunstar Heros from the SEGA Megadrive.

[widdok]

I like Ratalaika games but not the trophy lists that come with them, simply because I think Ratalaika are selling themselves short. The trophy lists can often be completed within an hour or so, even for games which are much, much longer. For example, Hoggy2 is a massive and rather difficult (and excellent) game with hundreds of levels but the platinum can be gained in about 20 minutes and has >80% completion percentage on PSN - this not only influences the trophy hunters' views of these titles (which, let's be honest, shouldn't really matter), but more importantly the 100% community and/or casual gamers (the non-trophy hunters). Quite often, if I'm looking for a walkthrough/guide for a Ratalaika game, I can only ever find a trophy guide and not a full walkthrough - and despite Ratalaika having a reputation for dishing out easy games, it's (in my experience) often only the trophy lists which are easy and not the actual games. It's a mixed message which can put off some gamers.

 

Off the top of my head... Robozarro, Hoggy2, League of Evil, Random Heroes... All of which I have the platinum, all of which have been platinumed to a high percentage (both here and PSN), yet all of which are actually quite difficult to fully complete or even to get far into the game (or maybe I'm just a rubbish gamer?). If Ratalaika provided decent trophy lists for these games, ones which cover the full games and not just the first few levels (and which will prompt people to produce full walkthroughs/guides), I have a feeling they would not only receive more respect within the trophy hunting community but in the gaming community as a whole, resulting in more sales.

 

Be honest, how many of you keep playing your Ratalaika games (and to completion) once you have the platinum? Not many, I'm guessing. The games are good, often great; the trophy lists are not.

[BrettyBoy]

You do get quite a few decent ones.

[Jelly Soup]

There are lots of good games published under Ratalaika that are ignored or otherwise not fully explored because of the easy trophies. What really bugs me is every title gets lumped together. I don't think it's fair that otherwise great games get ignored by dint of a 10 minute platinum. Metagal, as an example, is a decent Mega Man clone that gets smooshed cause it takes all of four minutes to 100%. Ketchup Story is a good example of how to put together a clicker/idle title (which.....isn't really a genre at it's best on console) but is ruined by a dumb trophy list. Not all games are created equal.

[Viper]

A lot of Ratalaika's games are actually solid video games, they just attached very shallow trophy lists to them to upsell to trophy hunters. Like Jack n Jill DX has one of the highest Platinum achievement score on all of PSNP...but if you look past that, the game is a pretty solid and increasingly difficult platformer...you just don't have to do much of anything to earn that Platinum.