Once Upon a KATAMARI took lots of players by surprise when it was announced back in July at a Nintendo Direct. That’s because, while the Katamari series has gotten releases over the years like Katamari Damacy Rolling Live for Apple Arcade and the We Love Katamari Reroll remaster for consoles and PC, the last mainline series entry was Touch My Katamari, which was released for the PS Vita back in 2012.
After quite a long hiatus, Once Upon a KATAMARI promises to delight long-time fans with familiar rolling gameplay that’s enhanced by some new additions that promise to make gameplay more interesting. What’s more, the game features a time-travelling tale that sees players roll objects across different eras.
Based on our hands-on a month ago, we were looking forward to finally playing the full game. So, is the new Katamari game worth the over-decade-long wait? Well, here’s what we think.
Crowns and Items Give Extra Variety to Levels
If you’ve never played a Katamari game before, here’s how they work. Players control the Prince, who is armed with a magical ball called a “katamari.” The Prince rolls this ball, and every object that the katamari rolls over will become attached to it, provided that it’s smaller than the ball. While each level has different objectives, the goal is pretty much the same – make the ball bigger by rolling through more and more items.
Since the first game in the series (Katamari Damacy), each mainline entry featured pretty much the same core gameplay, as well as controls. While some fans appreciated the continuity this provided, others didn’t exactly like how same-y the games are, especially the later entries. When it comes to gameplay, Once Upon a KATAMARI feels very much like the previous games; it even has the same familiar control scheme, but with the addition of a simplified control option for newer players (though I much prefer the original controls). While it keeps the core controls and mechanics, this new game aims to innovate with its level design and new features.
In this new Katamari game, players will go through levels across time, as the game features a time-traveling story where the Prince must roll various objects across different eras in Earth’s history. These include Edo Japan, the Ice Age, Ancient Egypt, and more, with a total of 9 distinct eras plus one final world. While I expected each era (or world) to have the same number of levels, the Edo Japan era is far and away the biggest. Essentially, this world is the main part of the game, with other eras acting as a brief sojourn of sorts, as they only have around 3-4 levels each.
While there are plenty of levels throughout the game, Once Upon a KATAMARI does reuse maps, meaning there aren’t that many unique maps to be found here. This wasn’t an issue for us though, especially as the contents of each map are shuffled for each level, not to mention that levels have different objectives that can change how you would approach a map.
While there are levels where your goal is to make your katamari as big as possible in a specific time frame, there are plenty of other levels with more unique objectives. For instance, some levels task you with collecting a specific item type, while others require you to enlarge your katamari to a certain size as fast as possible. Other, more hilarious objectives had me laughing out loud at times. These include a level in Ancient Greece where I had to collect philosophers (like Plato and Socrates), along with a level where I had to roll an Edo Period prince and gather food to make him big enough to fit a set of samurai armor.
Aside from the unique objectives (of which there are surprisingly plenty), another way that Once Upon a KATAMARI twists the series’ formula is the introduction of Items. When you roll these items, you can activate them at any point with the right trigger, though you can only have one selected at a time. These items include a Magnet that attracts nearby items, a Rocket that boosts your rolling speed, a Timer that freezes the world, and a Radar that highlights collectibles and objects on the map.
These items are only active for 10 seconds (30 for the Radar), meaning you shouldn’t just use them as soon as you get them. In fact, if you want to get an S-Rank finish in a level, you’ll want to use these items strategically. For instance, you may want to increase your ball’s size before using the Magnet, so that you can attract more objects to make it bigger even faster. Item use, coupled with how the objects are laid out in each level, means gameplay isn’t just mindless rolling.
Another addition in this new Katamari game is collectible crowns. In each level, there are three crowns hidden that players are incentivized to find. That’s because, in the game’s story, there are locked levels that can only be unlocked by reaching a specific number of crowns. While you don’t need to find every crown to complete the story, this collectible is a nice addition as it makes exploring each level more rewarding, not to mention that it adds extra replayability for completionists.
Speaking of replayability, the story mode isn’t the only thing you can experience here, as the game features the KatamariBall mode, where you can face off against three other players to make the biggest ball. In offline mode, you can play against AI-controlled players, though the game also has an online mode where you can face off against actual people. There is no couch co-op option for this mode, though.
Throwback Visuals with an Excellent Soundtrack
Upon downloading the game, I was a bit surprised by the fact that it was only a 2GB file. When I booted up the game, I discovered why. This new Katamari game looks a lot like the previous titles, even when it comes to texture quality. As such, this isn’t exactly a great graphical showcase for your console, but the throwback visuals do fit the game’s style. Plus, it is quite charming, not to mention that it’s hard to imagine how Katamari would look if it got overhauled visuals.
The game’s visuals are complemented by another banger of a soundtrack. While I would’ve liked a bit more tracks (as some songs are used a bit too many times), I love all the new songs in this new Katamari game. I particularly love that Bandai Namco tapped notable J-Pop singers like Daoko and suis from Yorushika. There are also some unexpected song choices, like a French song for a level that takes place in the Stone Age. These unlikely combinations are definitely something fans of the previous games will love.
When it comes to the soundtrack, Once Upon a KATAMARI is just as good as the original Katamari titles, at least in our opinion. What it does fall short on is the story. Katamari games aren’t exactly known for having gripping stories, but the original game did have some interesting elements, like the fact that it can be seen as a criticism of overconsumption and consumerism in general.
This latest Katamari game isn’t as deep thematically, though I did still enjoy it, thanks to the funny sketches interspersed throughout the 6+ hour story (though you’ll get more playtime if you complete all the collectibles). And while the story’s ending kind of fell a bit flat, I didn’t mind too much.
More than the story though, what I loved most about the game is the various eras. It may be a bit of bias on my part, as I love Edo Period Japan (and other historical time periods), but it was simply a joy to roll various Japanese food, objects, and even historical buildings, all while hearing some excellent J-pop tunes.
Once Upon a KATAMARI Final Verdict – 9/10
Katamari fans have waited for over a decade for a new mainline entry. Thankfully, long-time fans won’t be disappointed, as Once Upon a KATAMARI features the series’ signature rolling gameplay, but enhanced with new features and more creative level design, making it feel fresh throughout its run.
While the story did fall a bit flat, that’s not too much of an issue, especially as that’s not the main reason why you’ll want to play this game. The core appeal of Once Upon a KATAMARI is still the experience of rolling various objects while J-pop tunes are playing in the background.
[This article was made via a PS5 game code provided by the publisher.]