When I first tried out Katamari Damacy: REROLL as a Nintendo Switch Online game trial, I immediately fell in love with the series. The act of just rolling up everything around you into a giant ball is just cathartic, and I can’t get enough of it. We’ve seen a handful of remasters come out for the series in the past few years, but Bandai Namco decided to roll up with the first brand new Katamari game in 14 years! Since this game takes the Prince of Cosmos through different eras, I’d say it was “about time” we got a game like this!
To start, the story in Once Upon a Katamari is just as whimsical as any other game in the series. While the King of Cosmos was sorting through his belongings and doing some cleaning, he came across a random scroll. After playing around by spinning it in the air, he accidentally threw it so hard it went into space. It was when the scroll was near Earth’s orbit that it unraveled, and sucked up the universe. Oops!
With the universe’s history engulfed by the mystery scroll, it is up to the King of Cosmos, or in this case you as The Prince since he’s too busy doing other things, to roll up Katamari balls from different points in history to rebuild the universe. This plotline makes absolutely no sense, but it’s hilarious and I love it.
The gameplay in Once Upon a Katamari is about what one would expect from the series. There are both experienced and casual options for controls, making the game relatively accessible to newcomers. Aside from the standard controls, Once Upon a Katamari introduces powerups into the mix! Around each level, you can encounter a handful of items that make your rolling experience even better. The magnet has been my favorite one so far, as it draws in items that can be rolled up by your Katamari, allowing you to increase your size quite a bit if you use it in the right place.
These powerups are fun, but part of me thinks they expire way too quickly. Granted, levels are usually just a few minutes, so for those use cases it isn’t a huge deal, but there have been times where I’ll activate a magnet powerup and it’ll run out in just a couple of seconds.
As for traversing the different points in time, there are a neat variety of different eras to travel between. Each era has its own level select map that you can walk around, similar to selecting levels in a 3D Mario game.
I like the ability to walk around level select areas, but one little gripe I have with this is there’s nothing really going on as you walk around. Sure, there are some surroundings with characters running all over the place, and you can switch off and play as one of the many cousins that are walking around, but otherwise there isn’t exactly anything to do besides jumping into levels. I know this sounds like a strange complaint, but at least in other 3D adventure games with level selects, there were secrets to find or something. In this game, it just does the bare minimum.
While on the subject of level selection, the game really likes to drag you by the arm to check out everything there is to see. Every time I finish a level, it feels like I get a mountain of tutorials about customization and feature unlocks before I get to even think about what to do next, and then the game automatically takes me to where it wants me to go anyway. This is especially prevalent when you play through enough levels to be able to move on to a new era. Instead of having the option to go to your spaceship to move on to the next area, the game just takes you out of the level select and throws you in the next one right away.
I am not a fan of this, as I would rather choose when I move on to the next era in case I want to go back into older levels or try out a new one that also unlocked at the same time. It often feels like a flood of text boxes, and makes it harder to enjoy the game in general.
One thing I do enjoy is the customization options in Once Upon a Katamari. One of the most neat options is the ability to customize your own playable character with cosmetic features you find in the levels in the game. You can switch around colors, body shapes, faces, and accessories until you create your masterpiece of the cosmos. This is a fun feature to mess around with, and it is a welcome addition to the game.
Once Upon a Katamari goes pretty in-depth on customizability, as you can also customize the inside of the spaceship you take to embark on your timely journeys with themes from the eras you’ve traveled through. Plus, with the “King of All Sounds” edition of the game, you can have access to 60 music tracks from the series and change what music plays in levels. It’s a shame this is locked behind an alternate edition of the game, but for just $10 more than the original game’s price, it’s not a bad addition.
Aside from customization options, Once Upon a Katamari‘s biggest new feature is the addition of “KatamariBall,” which takes the place of local co-op. In KatamariBall, you are tasked with rolling up as many objects as possible and delivering them to the spaceship to count towards points. You can play against either a few other players or bots, and you only have a few minutes to scoop up items for points. You can also roll up other players, which no doubt makes this mode fun to play with friends.
While this sounds really neat, I didn’t get into it at all. It’s a cool concept for a mode, but I just don’t feel inclined to play against people in Katamari. I find that a game like Katamari Damacy is best enjoyed in single player, but all the power to those who enjoy it.
Since I played this game on Nintendo Switch, naturally there will be some questions about the performance. I am happy to report that the game runs stable and consistently at 30 fps, with the only caveat being that load times are only slightly longer than other systems, but that does not ruin the gameplay experience at all. You may occasionally see a bit of slowdown in the animation for ending the level where the King sweeps up your Katamari, but that is the only performance dip I ever got in my playthrough.
Once Upon a Katamari is a good addition to the series, opting for an entertaining theme of traveling between different points in time. The tried-and-true gameplay is as smooth as ever, and the new customization options allow for a more personal experience to roll through. That said, the game unfortunately gets held back by a constant string of tutorials and telling the player where to go instead of allowing them to explore on their own terms.
When I first tried out Katamari Damacy: REROLL as a Nintendo Switch Online game trial, I immediately fell in love with the series. The act of just rolling up everything around you into a giant ball is just cathartic, and…
When I first tried out Katamari Damacy: REROLL as a Nintendo Switch Online game trial, I immediately fell in love with the series. The act of just rolling up everything around you into a giant ball is just cathartic, and I can’t get enough of it. We’ve seen a handful of remasters come out for the series in the past few years, but Bandai Namco decided to roll up with the first brand new Katamari game in 14 years! Since this game takes the Prince of Cosmos through different eras, I’d say it was “about time” we got a game like this!
To start, the story in Once Upon a Katamari is just as whimsical as any other game in the series. While the King of Cosmos was sorting through his belongings and doing some cleaning, he came across a random scroll. After playing around by spinning it in the air, he accidentally threw it so hard it went into space. It was when the scroll was near Earth’s orbit that it unraveled, and sucked up the universe. Oops!
With the universe’s history engulfed by the mystery scroll, it is up to the King of Cosmos, or in this case you as The Prince since he’s too busy doing other things, to roll up Katamari balls from different points in history to rebuild the universe. This plotline makes absolutely no sense, but it’s hilarious and I love it.
The gameplay in Once Upon a Katamari is about what one would expect from the series. There are both experienced and casual options for controls, making the game relatively accessible to newcomers. Aside from the standard controls, Once Upon a Katamari introduces powerups into the mix! Around each level, you can encounter a handful of items that make your rolling experience even better. The magnet has been my favorite one so far, as it draws in items that can be rolled up by your Katamari, allowing you to increase your size quite a bit if you use it in the right place.
These powerups are fun, but part of me thinks they expire way too quickly. Granted, levels are usually just a few minutes, so for those use cases it isn’t a huge deal, but there have been times where I’ll activate a magnet powerup and it’ll run out in just a couple of seconds.
As for traversing the different points in time, there are a neat variety of different eras to travel between. Each era has its own level select map that you can walk around, similar to selecting levels in a 3D Mario game.
I like the ability to walk around level select areas, but one little gripe I have with this is there’s nothing really going on as you walk around. Sure, there are some surroundings with characters running all over the place, and you can switch off and play as one of the many cousins that are walking around, but otherwise there isn’t exactly anything to do besides jumping into levels. I know this sounds like a strange complaint, but at least in other 3D adventure games with level selects, there were secrets to find or something. In this game, it just does the bare minimum.
While on the subject of level selection, the game really likes to drag you by the arm to check out everything there is to see. Every time I finish a level, it feels like I get a mountain of tutorials about customization and feature unlocks before I get to even think about what to do next, and then the game automatically takes me to where it wants me to go anyway. This is especially prevalent when you play through enough levels to be able to move on to a new era. Instead of having the option to go to your spaceship to move on to the next area, the game just takes you out of the level select and throws you in the next one right away.
I am not a fan of this, as I would rather choose when I move on to the next era in case I want to go back into older levels or try out a new one that also unlocked at the same time. It often feels like a flood of text boxes, and makes it harder to enjoy the game in general.
One thing I do enjoy is the customization options in Once Upon a Katamari. One of the most neat options is the ability to customize your own playable character with cosmetic features you find in the levels in the game. You can switch around colors, body shapes, faces, and accessories until you create your masterpiece of the cosmos. This is a fun feature to mess around with, and it is a welcome addition to the game.
Once Upon a Katamari goes pretty in-depth on customizability, as you can also customize the inside of the spaceship you take to embark on your timely journeys with themes from the eras you’ve traveled through. Plus, with the “King of All Sounds” edition of the game, you can have access to 60 music tracks from the series and change what music plays in levels. It’s a shame this is locked behind an alternate edition of the game, but for just $10 more than the original game’s price, it’s not a bad addition.
Aside from customization options, Once Upon a Katamari‘s biggest new feature is the addition of “KatamariBall,” which takes the place of local co-op. In KatamariBall, you are tasked with rolling up as many objects as possible and delivering them to the spaceship to count towards points. You can play against either a few other players or bots, and you only have a few minutes to scoop up items for points. You can also roll up other players, which no doubt makes this mode fun to play with friends.
While this sounds really neat, I didn’t get into it at all. It’s a cool concept for a mode, but I just don’t feel inclined to play against people in Katamari. I find that a game like Katamari Damacy is best enjoyed in single player, but all the power to those who enjoy it.
Since I played this game on Nintendo Switch, naturally there will be some questions about the performance. I am happy to report that the game runs stable and consistently at 30 fps, with the only caveat being that load times are only slightly longer than other systems, but that does not ruin the gameplay experience at all. You may occasionally see a bit of slowdown in the animation for ending the level where the King sweeps up your Katamari, but that is the only performance dip I ever got in my playthrough.
Once Upon a Katamari is a good addition to the series, opting for an entertaining theme of traveling between different points in time. The tried-and-true gameplay is as smooth as ever, and the new customization options allow for a more personal experience to roll through. That said, the game unfortunately gets held back by a constant string of tutorials and telling the player where to go instead of allowing them to explore on their own terms.
by Michael Fertitta
