Katamari Damacy series

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for the Katamari Damacy series for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[DaMonth]

A bit of a shame to see how hard they cashed in after the first two because Kamatari Damacy is basically one of the most genius ideas for a game ever and We Love Katamari is one of most genius concepts for a sequel ever. There's no greater shame in gaming than the King blasting you for having a pathetic small Katamari. I think it's a testament to the design that half the levels are kinda just annoying but I'd still put either of the entries in my top 20.

By the way, what kind of Katamari would you ask of the king, what would the level gimmick be, and how would you compliment him?

[Jobobonobo]

Since us poor Europeans did not get the original Katamari Damacy, I played this through the Reroll remake that came out a few years ago. It was nice to play the original Katamari for the first time. Music, visuals and the satisfaction of making your katamari bigger all added up to a really fun experience. It does a nice job of building up from small to big as the game progresses and the final level where you are rolling up entire buildings and landmasses is a glorious way to finish the game as long as you don't think too hard about the almost Lovecraftian horror elements of a giant ball consuming everything it touches and the traumatic experience of being rolled into an ever expanding mass. Definitely recommend if you want a nice carefree experience and are not adverse to some Japanese silliness. If you want to experience one of the most quirky series in gaming I would say this is a great introduction.

My actual introduction to the series was We Love Katamari which a friend of mine lent to me. Within seconds of the madcap intro with the surreal graphics and bizarre music I was intrigued. After a brief tutorial I was rolling up all that stood before me. It also does enough to stray from the basic “roll your katamari to a certain size” formula such as building a snowman and competing in a F1 race. It also has an absolutely bonkers finale with you rolling up entire planets throughout the galaxy which definitely ones up the fantastic finale of the original. The music must be singled out here as it is such a fun array of different genres and styles with upbeat singing that it cannot help but put you in a good mood. We Love Katamari has some real delights such as Angel Rain, DISCO PRINCE , Katamari on the Swing and Baby Universe. All of this cements We Love Katamari as one of my top PS2 titles, a gloriously silly delight.

My time with the series has only been the first two games but hopefully time and money will enable me to try out more of this series as what I have seen, I very much dig.

TWR: Sublime and bizarre

[BearFishPie]

Gleefully silly, splendidly clad in a royal rainbow of colour and utterly unlike anything out there before (or since really, sequels notwithstanding), Katamari Damacy/Damashii is a bundle of pure joy, as frustrating as it can be at times. Although I recognise that the sequels are largely redundant and offer diminishing returns I've merrily been part of the problem, having also played through the PSP, Vita and 360 entries in the series and (mostly) loving every minute. The shift in scale over the course of play never ceases to delight me.

Update:
I've played through the 'Reroll' version of the original game over the last few days, marking my first time through it. It's remarkably impressive how much it nailed on the first pass, with the only real sources of frustration being the Taurus and Ursa Major levels; instantly ending the mission with a cruddy rating after rolling over something tiny I could barely see isn't fun, and being unavoidably dumped right back at the menu screen afterwards even less so. Still, this is the only real blemish in an otherwise reliable good-time generator.

TWR: See me rollin'

[Mr Ixolite]

The Katamari series are games of great contrast to me.
The baseline satisfaction of cleaning up clutter to make yourself bigger is matched by the frustration at getting stuck on table legs and failing to move up narrow ramps with the slightly inflexible movement.
The pleasant music and relaxing atmosphere is eventually accompanied by a horrible, screeching countdown timer.
And when you're finished, palms sweaty, with what you consider a good effort Katamari, you're often greeted by a condescending shrug from the King of All Cosmos.

Playing Katamari is a soothing and cathartic experience that nonetheless stresses me out, one I can't play in too long sessions a time. Eventually the limitations of the gameplay start to show as well, as even when you're rolling up food with a sumo wrestler, the fundamental gameplay doesn't change that much.
Even so I Kamarari dearly. Finally reaching the magical threshold where your now gargantuan Katamari can roll up anythinng unapposed is a completely singular piece of video game catharsis. I'm absolutely not a high score chasing kind of guy, but I find myself returning every so often just for the sake of trying to make a Bigger Ball Than Last Time. It's a perpetual loop of "What do you mean my Katamari is "boring"? It's three centimeters bigger than you wanted! Let me try that again. I'll show you, stupid Space Dad! I'll show you this time for sure!!"

[moobaa]

Extraordinary soundtrack for the first Katamari Damacy game. EXTRAORDINARY.

[Megadirt]

I had this on my backlog for a long time, and after getting my hands on an original ps2 copy of Katamari Damacy in 2022 I introduced my girlfriend to it as an example of how creative and mental some games can be. We both fell in love with it immediately, and discovered and bought the Re-Roll version a week or so later.

It is an example of a game that is not much more than a single superb game mechanic done incredibly well, and I would have said, that like Tetris, that is all you need. Except, also like tetris, a different version can somehow be exactly the same and terrible somehow.

Touch My Katamari on Vita seemed to completely miss the point in many ways, it felt like playing a game I loved but while I had a terrible stomach bug or a migraine. There were many irritations, but it was particularly bad in the writing and the King's personality. Instead of coming across as child-like and whimsical rascal, he would come across as an arrogant condescending bully. This made me realise, especially after playing the Reroll games on the switch, just how perfect the original game was. The characters, the mechanics, and the aesthetics were all perfectly absurd and complimentary. Though as good as all that is, the thing I will remember forever, is the music, which is incredibly haunting. Not in tone or in mood, but in the respect that it now lives in me and there is no exorcist qualified to help. naaaaaa na nana nana na na na na na na na naaaaaaaarghhhh!

[Alex79]

I'd never really played a Katamari game until I put a couple of hours in to Reroll on Switch this week. I thought it was fun, but I also felt like I'd really seen all the game had to offer within those first two hours. What comes next? Getting bigger? I'm sure I'll go back to it at some point, but it felt like I'd already had enough after that relative short time I'd spent with the game. Amazed they managed to make a full game out of that singular concept, let alone a series spanning decades.

[Jobobonobo]

Listening to this podcast was a nice blast of nostalgia in regards to We Love Katamari. I forgot about the firefly level, the one where you have to take down a gingerbread house and helping a sumo wrestler gain weight by rolling over food. It really was a title just brimming with creativity, what a classic. Great episode as always!