I as soon as had a buddy describe Katamari Damacy to me as a “cool uncle sport”–a assertion I discovered hilarious contemplating the one that launched me to the collection was, in reality, my cool uncle. What he meant by this, although, was that whereas the Katamari collection has by no means fairly reached a degree of true, mainstream recognition, it is definitely managed to foster a cult following of followers who adore its peculiarity–fans who experience absurd ideas like “rolling up the world,” and seemingly at all times have some niche-yet-utterly-engrossing New Factor to indicate you. A fanbase of “cool uncles,” if you’ll.
Although I am unable to declare to be an uncle and positively will not declare to be cool, after taking part in As soon as Upon a Katamari, I’m keen and able to be part of their ranks. The most recent entry in Bandai Namco’s nonsensical action-puzzle collection has transformed me from a Katamari appreciator to a Katamari fan. As soon as Upon a Katamari is a joyous return for the long-stagnant collection, bringing with it small tweaks that make moment-to-moment gameplay extra enjoyable and result in numerous intelligent ranges. A tighter narrative, extra participating overworld, customization options, and up to date visuals assist set the sport aside from its predecessors, whereas its playful writing and eccentric nature retain that distinctly Katamari really feel. Whereas As soon as Upon a Katamari may stumble a bit on the subject of innovating, the top result’s a extremely polished (and enjoyable) new entry within the Katamari collection.
As soon as Upon a Katamari kicks off the best way these items so usually do: with our beloved King of the Cosmos doing one thing tremendously silly. Throughout one of many royal household’s much-needed cleansing days, the King of the Cosmos stumbles upon a peculiar scroll. What ensues is an embarrassingly relatable sequence of occasions, because the king grows distracted by the scroll, decides he’d fairly be doing actually something aside from cleansing, and in the end finally ends up hurling the thing into area after utilizing it as a baton. Naturally, this motion winds up destroying the whole thing of the cosmos, prompting the king to recruit you, The Prince, to assist repair this even bigger mess.
So as to restore the universe to its former glory, The Prince is tasked with touring again in time aboard his spacecraft, the S.S. Prince, to seize humanity’s essence in Katamari kind previous to its premature destruction. This formidable mission in the end takes you to over 50 ranges unfold throughout 9 distinct eras, together with every thing from Japan’s Edo interval, the Ice Age, and Historic Greece. This setup–plus the addition of brief cinematics throughout–makes for a much-tighter narrative from the Katamari collection. And whereas it won’t sound notably grand in scope or scale, this free, foolish framework seems like exactly what the collection must be each participating and absurd.
Your hub on this grand, new journey is the S.S. Prince, a saucer-like spacecraft that serves as each your time-hopping shuttle and residential away from house. Along with deciding on which period or degree you’d prefer to go to through the primary console, you should utilize the ship’s facilities to customise your character with the gadgets and character fashions you discover, and alter the look of your room. Although there’s not an excessive amount of you are able to do on board, the ship’s inclusion is a pleasant contact and makes the sport really feel extra full. The identical could be mentioned for customizing your character; it is not a strong course of, however being allowed to create and identify your personal cousins–the iconic little characters discovered trapped in varied ranges in each Katamari game–is new for the collection and totally pleasant.
Off ship, the assorted eras are introduced equally to Mario worlds, with an honest quantity of open area obtainable for aimless wandering whereas precise ranges are located on massive squares. Eras and ranges are unlocked at a brisk tempo as you play, with every accomplished Katamari additionally serving to to generate the gas you could journey to a brand new time limit. A number of ranges, nonetheless, require you to seek out particular gadgets all through the sport to unlock them, with the gadgets typically being the three misplaced crowns hidden in each course. The great factor is, you do have some say through which ranges you wish to do. Whereas I used to be a little bit of a completionist, eager on beating each degree and getting as most of the collectibles inside them as I may as quickly as they have been obtainable to me, the truth that you need not get all three crowns in each single degree to progress means you possibly can select to disregard ranges that you simply may discover mundane or troublesome. And to be clear, a few of these ranges is usually a bit robust by sheer advantage of the Katamari collection’ gameplay.
By and huge, gameplay stays unaltered in As soon as Upon a Katamari. As soon as once more, you’ll be able to select between commonplace and easy controls whereas rolling your lil’ (or large!) Katamari, with commonplace mode requiring fixed use of each analog sticks and easy mode being a bit extra streamlined, relying as a substitute on utilizing one keep on with push the ball and one other to regulate your character’s place behind it. Navigating throughout junk-covered flooring and slender alleys stuffed with bustling individuals is as clunky and chaotic as ever–but that solely makes getting higher at doing so all of the extra satisfying.
The most important change to gameplay comes with the addition of things, or Freebies, which consist of 4 objects: a magnet, a stopwatch, a sonar system, and rockets. Equally to Mario Kart or Monkey Ball, you possibly can get hold of this stuff just by rolling over them, and should then press a button to activate them. Every merchandise’s energy is pretty self-explanatory–the magnet attracts objects, the sonar helps you find key gadgets, the stopwatch pauses time, and the rockets provide you with a velocity boost–and are all comparatively useful. That mentioned, I discovered myself wishing there have been extra of this stuff, and to them. Among the finest components of a Katamari sport is if you attain that time the place you are feeling all-powerful–when the once-too-large-to-roll-up buildings impending your enjoyable get sucked up into it. Actually. These Freebies fail to introduce the extent of chaos and energy I hoped for. They’re short-and-sweet little perks, certain, however they do not revolutionize gameplay.
Nevertheless, everybody is aware of the actual appeal of Katamari lies in its ranges, and relaxation assured that these in As soon as Upon a Katamari are an absolute blast to play. Infectious J-pop–or extra suiting instrumental music, relying upon the era–accompanies every course and at all times appears to deliver the precise power you want; objects and levels are thoughtfully (and humorously) designed, and are visually splendid; the final conceits of most ranges are extraordinarily humorous and make for memorable experiences. The most effective of those ranges are those that break expectations, or amplify the sport’s theme of rediscovering and celebrating our historical past. For instance, one course in Historic Greece entitled “Thinker Hunt” duties you with discovering a handful of well-known philosophers on the map. As you roll them up, a big portion of your display screen’s actual property is then taken up by one in every of their well-known quotes. My private favourite degree, “A lot of Yokai,” duties you with rounding up demons to affix the Night time Parade of 100 Demons, a procession described in Japanese folklore. Your entire degree takes place at the hours of darkness, and depends on you discovering and rolling up eerie blue lights to raised illuminate the map.
As soon as Upon a Katamari additionally introduces a brand new multiplayer mode: KatamariBall. In it, you are tasked with gathering gadgets after which bringing them again to your spacecraft to be beamed up whereas three different opponents do the identical. Although the mode is launched throughout a random degree that sees you face off towards AI opponents, it appears as if that was merely the teaser for what shall be a completely on-line expertise. Because the servers weren’t but open, I could not experiment an excessive amount of with this characteristic, however what I did play appeared enjoyable.
But as enchanting and creative as these ranges have been, the draw back of their existence is that they made me extraordinarily conscious of how simplistic the vast majority of As soon as Upon a Katamari’s different ranges are. When there are programs that cleverly discover folklore and historical past, or play with dimension, scale, and form in thrilling methods, visiting a degree the place your process is to make one thing comparatively massive in eight minutes, by some means, turns into mundane. After I went again to replay sure ranges, I gravitated in the direction of those that did one thing different–something revolutionary. Merely put, as soon as you have had a style of how thoughtfully designed these programs could be, it is more durable to seek out pleasure in merely rolling up a bunch of food–well, until you are doing it in that degree that requires you to assist a younger inheritor up his positive factors. That one was fairly enjoyable.
In the end this can be a reflection of As soon as Upon a Katamari’s largest subject: It simply does not push the envelope sufficient for me. Whereas there aren’t any collection fairly like Katamari, there are many titles that do one thing considerably similar–that make room for individuals of all ages to enter an odd, little world and play inside it as casually or sweatily as they want. What in the end units them aside, and determines which of them persist with you or merely develop into “one other entry,” is that if they will efficiently create these common moments of pleasure that showcase their playfulness and innovation. Video games like Mario Marvel and Astro Bot, each of that are wanting to current gamers with their seemingly countless concepts and toolkits, are the varieties of video games that stand out. And whereas sure moments of As soon as Upon a Katamari are each bit as joy-inducing and memorable, I discover myself wishing the sport fired on that degree persistently.
Regardless, As soon as Upon a Katamari remains to be a unbelievable time and the brand new must-play title within the collection. It manages to completely seize what has at all times made Katamari so charming and special–the writing, the humor, the music, the absurdity of it all–and refines it into one of the simplest ways to expertise the collection, no matter if it is your first time taking part in or when you’re a long-time fan. Although it appears absurd to assert I needed Bandai Namco to commit even extra to the bit with this sport, extra intention and innovation is all that retains As soon as Upon a Katamari from being actually nice. Regardless, it is nonetheless a wonderful–and much-welcomed–return to the world of Katamari.
