can be a nice way to play some levels from some great games! as long as you don't mind worse performance and worse object pop-in and worse balance due to new mechanics and worse writing. there's some pros here like a new game+ "go really fast" mode and like 2 new levels, but hardly anything essential even if you're a fan of the series. the remixed soundtrack has some highlights but feels less consistent to me compared to the PS2 entries in the series.
it's also a little off-putting to me that it doesn't really seem to advertise that it's more of a level remix/repack than a full new game? maybe I'm being unfair or maybe I'm missing something but nothing on the game's case really indicates that fact. when I picked this up at a retro gaming store I was under the impression that it was brand new stuff like the xbox 360 one, so it was a bit disappointing to figure out that wasn't the case.
well it's still katamari anyways, so it's still fun. not much of a point in seeking this out now that the modern HD ports exist. maybe listen to the soundtrack on youtube?
it's also a little off-putting to me that it doesn't really seem to advertise that it's more of a level remix/repack than a full new game? maybe I'm being unfair or maybe I'm missing something but nothing on the game's case really indicates that fact. when I picked this up at a retro gaming store I was under the impression that it was brand new stuff like the xbox 360 one, so it was a bit disappointing to figure out that wasn't the case.
well it's still katamari anyways, so it's still fun. not much of a point in seeking this out now that the modern HD ports exist. maybe listen to the soundtrack on youtube?
More Katamari is good Katamari.
But it must be said that the soundtrack is no where near as good as the first game. Personally I did find some of the new challenges a little frustrating at times while others were quiet fun.
Overall this game is great and I would say the replay value is very high if your including the bonus modes and collectibles.
But it must be said that the soundtrack is no where near as good as the first game. Personally I did find some of the new challenges a little frustrating at times while others were quiet fun.
Overall this game is great and I would say the replay value is very high if your including the bonus modes and collectibles.
Can't go wrong with some rolling
This was my first Katamari game. Didn't expect much, but it turned out to be one of my all time favourite games and one of the best games PS3 has. Gameplay was perfect, soundtrack was best I've ever heard in a game & humour and writing won me over instantly. Levels were all fantastic, varied and difficulty was spot on. There is nothing I would change in this game.
Fantastic collection of the best katamari levels. I love the different visual styles the game uses and the soundtrack has some nice remixes. Overall I loved this as a whole experience but its still a "best of" collection in a sense so I cant put it above we love. Definetley the 2nd best in the series tho 100%
the argument could be made that this is the best katamari game, that'd be an opinion
Katamari Forever is such a strange game in the context of the series, at this point the franchise was only about 5 years old and to celebrate this event the game is basically a complication of the best katamari levels from the franchise at this point. The game I think is most similar to this would be mario party super stars since that is also a complation game with new additions. However, katamari forevers biggest downfall is that it is too reliant on this premise and decides to celebrate katamri in a somewhat shallow form. Is this neccessarily a bad thing yes and no, yes because this is the most fun katamari since we love katamari, never was I bored or felt like the game was dragging because it did such a great job at varrying up the gameplay. This title isnt just a bunch of size objectives with uninspired or boring layouts but actual varriaty not seen since we love katamari and the new art style change helps to make these levels feel different to experience and with absolutly incredible and creative remixes of previous tracks that breeds new life into them and kind of transforms them into new songs in and of themselves. Also the new art style is great, for the most part, the one seen most throughout the game is this illistrative art style that makes the game look like it was sketeched and it looks great making enviroments realy stand out and feel unique from their original forms. However, the wood art style doesnt really acomplish in making the game look like wood more so looks like everything was drenched in gasoline making for a greasy and unappealing look for katamari. Another major improvement would be control, this is the best a katamari game has controlled period, they're so tight and responsive however, the new ability to jump isn't taken advantage of since the level design is taken from the previous games meaning that the levels weren't made with jumping in mind making the jump pretty redundant and more or less used to get out of areas that you are stuck, the only time it really feels like it's taken advantage of is the last level. Also I would actually like to praise the narrative a bit here, I dont think it's as meaningful as the original or we love, there isnt really any commentary on connsumerism or capitalism here, but the king is explored a bit here through the roboking who, throughout the game is constantly talking about the pressures of him being king and never having any time for himself, its nothing incredible but its much more than what was in beautifle or me and my katamari. So I don't have much in the way of complaints other than I think the game should've been more of sonic generations or sonic mainia type of celebration game where level themes and asethics are used from previous games but the layouts are mostly original and work to the games specific movement and mechanics but the new additions are nice like the couple of original levels and the fantastic katamari drive which does a great job at making the levels feel fresh to replay. If I had to lobby another complaint it would be that the heart 'power up' is mostly used poorly and is completly anti thetical the design of katamari. The power up sucks in all the objects around you, in most levels this comes as a poor innovation to the series as it negates some the appeal of the game that being rolling up objects in a big ball but in some levels such as the frugal living one and the temperature one they are used more as obstacles rather than power ups which is great as it punishes mindless rolling but this is not how it is used for the most part.
Despite this clearly being a cyinacle and corporate product from the higher ups its clear that the developers did not see that way and managed to make a game that feels so genuine and loving to the franchise and the fans of the franchise and I'm assuming that their would be more new levels and modes if the developers were given more time but still I do think that this game does enough to warrent being a distinct entry in the series and builds upon the franchise more than the previous two games did. This may be imblamatic of katamari becoming the exact product that it critised in the first two games but I can't deny that this game is really fun and I think its definetly worth your time. Also one benefit of playing this game was seeing how good ps3 emulation is right now, obviously not perfect but still way better than it used to be and same goes for psp emulation, and with me mentioning that, I must say that I didn't have many technical issues with the games framerate but I've heard that the framerate is unstable on ps3.
Despite this clearly being a cyinacle and corporate product from the higher ups its clear that the developers did not see that way and managed to make a game that feels so genuine and loving to the franchise and the fans of the franchise and I'm assuming that their would be more new levels and modes if the developers were given more time but still I do think that this game does enough to warrent being a distinct entry in the series and builds upon the franchise more than the previous two games did. This may be imblamatic of katamari becoming the exact product that it critised in the first two games but I can't deny that this game is really fun and I think its definetly worth your time. Also one benefit of playing this game was seeing how good ps3 emulation is right now, obviously not perfect but still way better than it used to be and same goes for psp emulation, and with me mentioning that, I must say that I didn't have many technical issues with the games framerate but I've heard that the framerate is unstable on ps3.
Okay so I don't understand why but ig I was able to play this game without motion controls? And I've read no mention if this online so I'm gonna assume I'm being gaslit and everyone is able to jump with r2 like I do.
Anyways it's the same game yet again but the level gimmicks really help elevate it as a swan song of this series, holy shit this was like 50 or so levels though. King and robo king are some hater ass bitches Goddamn.
Anyways it's the same game yet again but the level gimmicks really help elevate it as a swan song of this series, holy shit this was like 50 or so levels though. King and robo king are some hater ass bitches Goddamn.
Katamari Forever is one of those games that's so unique and so out there, it has to be experienced, as it's impossible to understand it just from reading about it. I know this because I experienced this first-hand, originally having bought it on the recommendation of a friend, knowing nothing about the series except that it was supposed to be incredible. Even with the game in my hands, reading the back of the box only made me more confused.
The King of All Cosmos bumped his head and lost all his memory. The Prince and his cousins created RoboKing to replace the King, but it went out of control and destroyed all the stars in the Cosmos. Now, you must clean up the mess made by RoboKing and bring back the King's memory by rolling up everything in the Cosmos!
Not that helpful, huh? Most of what it says regards the plot of the game. The King of All Cosmos hit his head while performing a stunt of sorts and fell in a coma. The Prince and company, unable to awake His Majesty, decided the best course of action would be to build a robot that would replace him in his royal duties; however, due to a bug, the robot went berserk, flew into the Cosmos and destroyed the stars. This leaves you, the player, with two tasks: one, rolling up new stars to refill the sky, and two, rolling up memories inside the King's head to restore his consciousness.
Rolling up is the keyword, the one piece of information on that text blurb that relates to the game's mechanics: in every stage, your character is placed on some kind of place from Earth -- a table, a garden, a city -- with a ball in front of them. Any objects touched by it stick to it, so long as they are smaller that what you currently, forming an ever-growing mass of objects that the game calls a Katamari (a word that literally translates to 'cluster'). Your job, as the Prince, is to take a Katamari of a certain starting size and grow it to a certain diameter so it can be flung into space to make a new star in the sky.
There are often special conditions to this that make the trip to Earth more tricky: it could be that there's a time limit, or a limit on the amount of objects that can be rolled up, or a certain type of object that must or must not go into the Katamari. This variety of different challenges combined with ever transforming stages where greater Katamari sizes open up new pathways and interactions, as well as a fantastic soundtrack about as iconic as the game itself, keep the game feeling ever fresh even after rolling dozens of Katamari.
Which is to say, just talking about Katamari Forever makes me want to go for a spin, or rather, for a roll, even though I've completed the game a couple of times on all of its modes. It's fantastic on so many levels, unique in all the things it does, from how it's visuals, to its sound, to how it tells its story, but it's the mesmerizing gameplay that really ties it all together. It seems simple enough at first, and its frantic pacing might make one think they can roll everything and win, but there's a lot of strategy into when and how to visit certain parts of the stage to get a good time.
And I do want to emphasize "mesmerizing": the game creates a bizarre spin on the idea of a power fantasy, turning the "I bet can kill that" thought that's so common in games into "I bet I can roll that". Every slightly larger item is taken as a challenge and made into a mental note, culminating into the amusement of seeing your ever-increasing ball of mayhem grow even larger by trapping household items, bikes, horrified screaming pedestrians, houses and so on. It's that Hotline Miami feeling of behaving like an absolute lunatic, and not even noticing it until the music stops.
It's such a thrill. Katamari Forever is one of my favorite games of all time, and even within its series it shines as one of the largest and most varied entries. I wish Bamco would port it everywhere instead of drip-feeding ports of older releases.
The King of All Cosmos bumped his head and lost all his memory. The Prince and his cousins created RoboKing to replace the King, but it went out of control and destroyed all the stars in the Cosmos. Now, you must clean up the mess made by RoboKing and bring back the King's memory by rolling up everything in the Cosmos!
Not that helpful, huh? Most of what it says regards the plot of the game. The King of All Cosmos hit his head while performing a stunt of sorts and fell in a coma. The Prince and company, unable to awake His Majesty, decided the best course of action would be to build a robot that would replace him in his royal duties; however, due to a bug, the robot went berserk, flew into the Cosmos and destroyed the stars. This leaves you, the player, with two tasks: one, rolling up new stars to refill the sky, and two, rolling up memories inside the King's head to restore his consciousness.
Rolling up is the keyword, the one piece of information on that text blurb that relates to the game's mechanics: in every stage, your character is placed on some kind of place from Earth -- a table, a garden, a city -- with a ball in front of them. Any objects touched by it stick to it, so long as they are smaller that what you currently, forming an ever-growing mass of objects that the game calls a Katamari (a word that literally translates to 'cluster'). Your job, as the Prince, is to take a Katamari of a certain starting size and grow it to a certain diameter so it can be flung into space to make a new star in the sky.
There are often special conditions to this that make the trip to Earth more tricky: it could be that there's a time limit, or a limit on the amount of objects that can be rolled up, or a certain type of object that must or must not go into the Katamari. This variety of different challenges combined with ever transforming stages where greater Katamari sizes open up new pathways and interactions, as well as a fantastic soundtrack about as iconic as the game itself, keep the game feeling ever fresh even after rolling dozens of Katamari.
Which is to say, just talking about Katamari Forever makes me want to go for a spin, or rather, for a roll, even though I've completed the game a couple of times on all of its modes. It's fantastic on so many levels, unique in all the things it does, from how it's visuals, to its sound, to how it tells its story, but it's the mesmerizing gameplay that really ties it all together. It seems simple enough at first, and its frantic pacing might make one think they can roll everything and win, but there's a lot of strategy into when and how to visit certain parts of the stage to get a good time.
And I do want to emphasize "mesmerizing": the game creates a bizarre spin on the idea of a power fantasy, turning the "I bet can kill that" thought that's so common in games into "I bet I can roll that". Every slightly larger item is taken as a challenge and made into a mental note, culminating into the amusement of seeing your ever-increasing ball of mayhem grow even larger by trapping household items, bikes, horrified screaming pedestrians, houses and so on. It's that Hotline Miami feeling of behaving like an absolute lunatic, and not even noticing it until the music stops.
It's such a thrill. Katamari Forever is one of my favorite games of all time, and even within its series it shines as one of the largest and most varied entries. I wish Bamco would port it everywhere instead of drip-feeding ports of older releases.
This is the perfect Katamari experience...
...almost.
This game's main draw is that it compiles stages from the previous games in the series into a delicious little collection.
This, in and of itself is really great, but the game does have some drawbacks.
Mainly, the lag is really bad at times. The game can really start to chug when a lot of items are on screen at once. This doesn't happen often enough to become a severe problem, but it is an annoyance.
Moreover, the remixed songs aren't as good as the originals, in my opinion, and I think that the 5cm Prince Remix of Katamari on the Rocks is downright awful.
The new prince-hop would've been a great addition, if it weren't for the fact that it barely works half the time when it really matters. When it eventually does decide to work, the delay between you doing the motion with the controller and the actual hop is insanely long. This could've been fixed by having an option to map the move to one of the unused buttons, instead of being forced to use motion controls.
Despite all this, I can easily sink many an hour into this game without getting bored. Katamari Forever manages to be that great despite its shortcomings.
...almost.
This game's main draw is that it compiles stages from the previous games in the series into a delicious little collection.
This, in and of itself is really great, but the game does have some drawbacks.
Mainly, the lag is really bad at times. The game can really start to chug when a lot of items are on screen at once. This doesn't happen often enough to become a severe problem, but it is an annoyance.
Moreover, the remixed songs aren't as good as the originals, in my opinion, and I think that the 5cm Prince Remix of Katamari on the Rocks is downright awful.
The new prince-hop would've been a great addition, if it weren't for the fact that it barely works half the time when it really matters. When it eventually does decide to work, the delay between you doing the motion with the controller and the actual hop is insanely long. This could've been fixed by having an option to map the move to one of the unused buttons, instead of being forced to use motion controls.
Despite all this, I can easily sink many an hour into this game without getting bored. Katamari Forever manages to be that great despite its shortcomings.
Katamari is such a weird and creative franchise, one of the most fun and unique puzzle games I have ever played, if not one of the most fun and unique games I've ever played. Katamari Forever serves incredibly well as what is currently the final game of the franchise.
Despite being just a compilation of Katamari's best levels, it remains fun, fresh and unique. Perhaps this is because I didn't play Beautiful Katamari, but I have played Damacy and We Love Katamari. Many of those levels return in this game and instead of feeling dry, uncreative, and lazy rehashes of already existing levels, I found it fun and enjoyable to revisit those levels. This game has an identity of its own even if it recycles those levels. It has an incredible art style, incredible soundtrack and probably some of the most fun mechanics and physics in the series.
Even though I adore the game and don't really mind the fact it recycles levels from the other games in the franchise, I wish this game had more original levels. There is a lot of potential to be had here to create many new and unique challenges, especially with the addition of jumping into the game. I am not sure why they didn't just make this game a whole new title instead of a compilation, but either way its a good time.
Katamari Forever is absolutely worth your time as a fan of the Katamari series, so just kick back, boot it up, and have some fun that most other games can't seem to offer.
Despite being just a compilation of Katamari's best levels, it remains fun, fresh and unique. Perhaps this is because I didn't play Beautiful Katamari, but I have played Damacy and We Love Katamari. Many of those levels return in this game and instead of feeling dry, uncreative, and lazy rehashes of already existing levels, I found it fun and enjoyable to revisit those levels. This game has an identity of its own even if it recycles those levels. It has an incredible art style, incredible soundtrack and probably some of the most fun mechanics and physics in the series.
Even though I adore the game and don't really mind the fact it recycles levels from the other games in the franchise, I wish this game had more original levels. There is a lot of potential to be had here to create many new and unique challenges, especially with the addition of jumping into the game. I am not sure why they didn't just make this game a whole new title instead of a compilation, but either way its a good time.
Katamari Forever is absolutely worth your time as a fan of the Katamari series, so just kick back, boot it up, and have some fun that most other games can't seem to offer.
i like BALLZ
found this one randomly hidden in a corner of a GameStop for like 15 buckaroos i had no idea what this franchise was really cool discovery
found this one randomly hidden in a corner of a GameStop for like 15 buckaroos i had no idea what this franchise was really cool discovery
Definitely the best Katamari game post-Takahashi involvement. Basically takes levels from the original game, we love katamari, and beautiful katamari and fuses them together to make this best-of type beat. The music is also remixed from previous games and is marvelous as always. They also added a jump mechanic that makes moving around a bit easier. If you have a PS3 this is absolutely worth putting in your library.
GAS!!! PEAK!!! GOATED!!! GREATNESS!! FUCK BANDAI FOR NOT MAKING ANOTHER ONE!!!
Forever is a great game worthy of your time, but I do think being a "Tribute" game without Takahashi in the director's chair definitely lets it slip a tiny bit.
While filled to the brim with content and looking absolutely gorgeous visually, it loses that sense of charm and spice that the original games offered and acts as more of a comprehensive way to enjoy the content and mechanics that have been added in the Post-Takahashi era.
While filled to the brim with content and looking absolutely gorgeous visually, it loses that sense of charm and spice that the original games offered and acts as more of a comprehensive way to enjoy the content and mechanics that have been added in the Post-Takahashi era.
I'm a big Katamari Damacy fan, and replaying/playing through all of them in one big marathon a couple years back, I stopped after my 4th game and left Katamari Forever on the shelf. I finally took to trying to finish it these past few days, and while I'm glad I waited, this was still a fantastic experience. It took me about 12 hours to do the whole game, and that was mostly just playing each stage once (although failing some quite a few times XP).
The main reason I'm glad I waited is because this is more of a greatest hits collection than a brand new game. This is a collection of 32 stages, almost all of which are comprised of a selection of the best levels from the previous 4 Katamari games. However, as a result of how previous entries reused actual stages for many levels, you don't often actually repeat the stages, meaning this has the best stage variety out of any previous Katamari game. On top of that, there are tons of remixes of songs from previous games as well as a "Katamari Drive" mode that you unlock upon completion of the main game where your Katamari is SUPER fast (making some stages very easy and some SUPER hard).
Other than that, it's the same old Katamari you know and love. You use the joysticks to roll the Katamari around the stage, rolling into smaller things to clump up your main Katamari into a bigger and bigger destructive force as you try and meet the goal of the level before time runs out. The physics engine is great, so it plays as well as you could hope for. The load times are also SUPER fast, and there's FINALLY an instant retry button on the pause menu, and those two quality of life features alone make this a very easily recommendable game. The only slight negative is that when you start getting REALLY big or in really item-packed levels, the framerate tanks pretty hard. This doesn't really affect play though, as the whole game slows down too, so you aren't losing time or anything.
The story is as light as ever and the writing is as silly as ever. The King of the Cosmos has knocked himself unconscious by hitting his head on a star, so The Prince and the Cousins build a giant Robo King to replace him until he wakes up. Going back and forth between the Robo King's more general "build it really big" missions (as he contemplates the terror of his existence as an explicitly temporary sentient being) and the sleeping King's dreams (which are more specialized levels, like the first game's "get one cow or bear" level) while he spouts nonsense about how he's supposedly lost his memory are both very entertaining.
The graphics have a kind of style that makes them look less matte and flat as previous entries and now have more of a sketchbook look, like there are pencil hashes on textures instead of them just generally being flat, bright colors. It looks nice, but has some occasional very annoying problems. The King's levels have a monochromatic tint to every type of item you haven't collected yet, and this can make already hard levels (like where you need to collect/avoid very certain kinds of items that were made more obvious in their original games by their coloring) far harder than necessary. That poor decision on how to color the King's levels is really the only serious complaint I have with this game.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. If you're only gonna get one Katamari game, make it this one. It has a crazy amount of levels and stages, online play, local co-op, smaller mini-games, and tons of high-scores to aim for as well as presents & cousins to collect. This game's mission statement was to be a Greatest Hits collection for everything Katamari, and it has succeeded in flying colors. Considering how well Katamari ReRoll sold on Switch, I really hope we can get this game a Switch port because it absolutely deserves it~
The main reason I'm glad I waited is because this is more of a greatest hits collection than a brand new game. This is a collection of 32 stages, almost all of which are comprised of a selection of the best levels from the previous 4 Katamari games. However, as a result of how previous entries reused actual stages for many levels, you don't often actually repeat the stages, meaning this has the best stage variety out of any previous Katamari game. On top of that, there are tons of remixes of songs from previous games as well as a "Katamari Drive" mode that you unlock upon completion of the main game where your Katamari is SUPER fast (making some stages very easy and some SUPER hard).
Other than that, it's the same old Katamari you know and love. You use the joysticks to roll the Katamari around the stage, rolling into smaller things to clump up your main Katamari into a bigger and bigger destructive force as you try and meet the goal of the level before time runs out. The physics engine is great, so it plays as well as you could hope for. The load times are also SUPER fast, and there's FINALLY an instant retry button on the pause menu, and those two quality of life features alone make this a very easily recommendable game. The only slight negative is that when you start getting REALLY big or in really item-packed levels, the framerate tanks pretty hard. This doesn't really affect play though, as the whole game slows down too, so you aren't losing time or anything.
The story is as light as ever and the writing is as silly as ever. The King of the Cosmos has knocked himself unconscious by hitting his head on a star, so The Prince and the Cousins build a giant Robo King to replace him until he wakes up. Going back and forth between the Robo King's more general "build it really big" missions (as he contemplates the terror of his existence as an explicitly temporary sentient being) and the sleeping King's dreams (which are more specialized levels, like the first game's "get one cow or bear" level) while he spouts nonsense about how he's supposedly lost his memory are both very entertaining.
The graphics have a kind of style that makes them look less matte and flat as previous entries and now have more of a sketchbook look, like there are pencil hashes on textures instead of them just generally being flat, bright colors. It looks nice, but has some occasional very annoying problems. The King's levels have a monochromatic tint to every type of item you haven't collected yet, and this can make already hard levels (like where you need to collect/avoid very certain kinds of items that were made more obvious in their original games by their coloring) far harder than necessary. That poor decision on how to color the King's levels is really the only serious complaint I have with this game.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. If you're only gonna get one Katamari game, make it this one. It has a crazy amount of levels and stages, online play, local co-op, smaller mini-games, and tons of high-scores to aim for as well as presents & cousins to collect. This game's mission statement was to be a Greatest Hits collection for everything Katamari, and it has succeeded in flying colors. Considering how well Katamari ReRoll sold on Switch, I really hope we can get this game a Switch port because it absolutely deserves it~
cosmos
Banger soundtrack. Made me feel like a true disappointment
Didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would sadly. Found the controls more complicated than they needed to be, and despite seeming like a rather zen game from a distance, the requirements for succeeding were far too great. I enjoyed the free rolling so much more than the levels at the first time of asking.
Estaría bueno que salga de PS3 y poder probarlo alguna vez
Every katamari game is kind of the same, but that doesn't make them any less fun.
It's very satisfying to see progression and funky characters and music throughout
The framerate is kinda janky sometimes but it's not terrible
It's very satisfying to see progression and funky characters and music throughout
The framerate is kinda janky sometimes but it's not terrible
Very good but the lack of coop in regular stages made this worthless for if you have siblings or later a girlfriend
"ACTIVATING JOY MODULE"
One major flaw in an otherwise splendid experience - and it's that, holy shit, even by PS3 standards this framerate can CRAWL at what feels like nearly a dead stop. Still, this is a spirited and gushing love letter to the series that more than stands on its own two feet. The heart powerups and prince hop (as long as you don't rely on half-responsive motion controls) are great new additions, as is the Roboking - there's a nice balance between his insecurity and the King of All Cosmos' narcissism that keeps this feeling fresh on a level-to-level basis. Even the remixed music is fun - sure, not all of them are as good as the originals (looking at you, "The Moon & The Prince" remix) but some of them are imo, and are seriously evocative tunes in their own right. Hub menu not as good as We Love Katamari, gameplay more engaging than Katamari Damacy Reroll. Has your usual repetition problems as can be expected with the series, but this is a sadly overlooked entry. Innovates just enough without taking away the core experience, which many game franchises were guilty of doing around this time. "Even Eternal mode can't last forever", "Why do humans adore what can hurt them so badly?".
One major flaw in an otherwise splendid experience - and it's that, holy shit, even by PS3 standards this framerate can CRAWL at what feels like nearly a dead stop. Still, this is a spirited and gushing love letter to the series that more than stands on its own two feet. The heart powerups and prince hop (as long as you don't rely on half-responsive motion controls) are great new additions, as is the Roboking - there's a nice balance between his insecurity and the King of All Cosmos' narcissism that keeps this feeling fresh on a level-to-level basis. Even the remixed music is fun - sure, not all of them are as good as the originals (looking at you, "The Moon & The Prince" remix) but some of them are imo, and are seriously evocative tunes in their own right. Hub menu not as good as We Love Katamari, gameplay more engaging than Katamari Damacy Reroll. Has your usual repetition problems as can be expected with the series, but this is a sadly overlooked entry. Innovates just enough without taking away the core experience, which many game franchises were guilty of doing around this time. "Even Eternal mode can't last forever", "Why do humans adore what can hurt them so badly?".
HELP MY DAD KEEPS MAKING ME PLAY WITH HIS BALLS
damn
What a great finale for the Katamari franchise, it's the last one right?...
This game is more like a "best of Katamari" where each stage comes from the previous four entries, with each stage being remastered in the style of Beautiful Katamari.
Now you may think "What's the point of this game since Katamari Damacy already received a remake in the style of Beautiful Katamari and by the time of this review soon will get a remake for We Love Katamari" Honestly there's not really a reason to come back to this game... Actually, there is one good reason to come back to this game, first of all, this game has a complete soundtrack which is mostly just remixes of previous songs but most of the time sounds like completely original songs, and my last argument is "Katamari Racing".
No, it's not a Katamari racing spinoff, it's a new game mode you unlock after clearing all stages where you replay them with your speed multiplied by three or four, it's really really fast and really really fun and makes me wish the two new Katamari remakes would have it too.
It also has an endless mode for big stages where you can roll till you get bored and that's a really cool feature I love big stages.
Other than side modes this game doesn't have anything else to offer to anyone playing in 2023, but in 2009 this was one of the biggest gems of the platform. But even if you already played the remakes and the original games who can say no to replaying more Katamari?
This game is more like a "best of Katamari" where each stage comes from the previous four entries, with each stage being remastered in the style of Beautiful Katamari.
Now you may think "What's the point of this game since Katamari Damacy already received a remake in the style of Beautiful Katamari and by the time of this review soon will get a remake for We Love Katamari" Honestly there's not really a reason to come back to this game... Actually, there is one good reason to come back to this game, first of all, this game has a complete soundtrack which is mostly just remixes of previous songs but most of the time sounds like completely original songs, and my last argument is "Katamari Racing".
No, it's not a Katamari racing spinoff, it's a new game mode you unlock after clearing all stages where you replay them with your speed multiplied by three or four, it's really really fast and really really fun and makes me wish the two new Katamari remakes would have it too.
It also has an endless mode for big stages where you can roll till you get bored and that's a really cool feature I love big stages.
Other than side modes this game doesn't have anything else to offer to anyone playing in 2023, but in 2009 this was one of the biggest gems of the platform. But even if you already played the remakes and the original games who can say no to replaying more Katamari?
this is my first Katamari game and there is so much to love. such a wonderfully absurd style and genuinely fantanastic collection of songs to roll around to. the controls take some getting used to but if they were any simpler I'm not sure if this would be nearly as fun/addictive?
the name says it all
I want to beat this, but i really struggle with the visual filters, and the fact you have to replay levels to unlock a normal, filterless visual option, surely that should be default.
If its the only game in the series you are able to play, then its fine. You will get a gist as to why people enjoy those games.
If you are familiar with games it lifts stages from tho...
I dont think there is much meaning to "best hits collection" for the series that didnt meaningfully iterate its gameplay systems, as to make appealing proposal to revisit old stages with new gameplay systems.
Another perspective it would appeal with is to see those old stages reinterpreted with a new visual style, and for me this new style wasnt appealing. I felt like like image became busy, everything kinda blending together. Not that you can see how those new levels look with this new style, cuz they done in black and white. Remember Firefly stage from We Love Katamari? Now its black and white, kinda sums up a lot about this game for me.
Overall visual style just felt less unique than what PS2 games went for, when stylisation of menus is taken in considaration I would argue that Forever tries to style the game after all those other things, instead of taking advantage of Katamari's own unique elements.
Its obvious Katamari being very simple concept that was stretched to become a franchise with many entries lies at the root of all those issues.
How do you even make a new Katamari game?
How to make visuals NEW and NEXT GEN? Certainly not by introducing pop in of objects and framerate drops.
How do you aproach storytelling?
I dont want to blame the team for this game, they did what they could with creating like 7th game in the series that shouldnt have been a series to begin with.
I dont want to argue that original director Keita Takahashi is somehow the only person who allowed to direct Katamari, nor that his opinion of "No sequels" should be absolute.
But as it stands this game reflects its own story:
King went to sleep (Takahashi) and a robot was created to do his work and it did so poorly despite the good intentions.
Or is it perhabs exactly intention of this game?
If you are familiar with games it lifts stages from tho...
I dont think there is much meaning to "best hits collection" for the series that didnt meaningfully iterate its gameplay systems, as to make appealing proposal to revisit old stages with new gameplay systems.
Another perspective it would appeal with is to see those old stages reinterpreted with a new visual style, and for me this new style wasnt appealing. I felt like like image became busy, everything kinda blending together. Not that you can see how those new levels look with this new style, cuz they done in black and white. Remember Firefly stage from We Love Katamari? Now its black and white, kinda sums up a lot about this game for me.
Overall visual style just felt less unique than what PS2 games went for, when stylisation of menus is taken in considaration I would argue that Forever tries to style the game after all those other things, instead of taking advantage of Katamari's own unique elements.
Its obvious Katamari being very simple concept that was stretched to become a franchise with many entries lies at the root of all those issues.
How do you even make a new Katamari game?
How to make visuals NEW and NEXT GEN? Certainly not by introducing pop in of objects and framerate drops.
How do you aproach storytelling?
I dont want to blame the team for this game, they did what they could with creating like 7th game in the series that shouldnt have been a series to begin with.
I dont want to argue that original director Keita Takahashi is somehow the only person who allowed to direct Katamari, nor that his opinion of "No sequels" should be absolute.
But as it stands this game reflects its own story:
King went to sleep (Takahashi) and a robot was created to do his work and it did so poorly despite the good intentions.
Or is it perhabs exactly intention of this game?