Manged to unearth my vita to play this and it wasn't the worse game in series I still think thats me and my katamari mainly since the controls here are much better and the game doesn't drag like that game did but this is still a low point of the series and is still the last new main entry in the series and I think thats for the best. I don't say that because I think this game is nesessarily bad, its not, but I do think amplifies many of the aspects of the series that it has struggled with ever since keita takashi left the series. Those were a lack of originality, a lack of artistic purpose, and lacking original content. Touch my katamari new selling point is that you can actually manipulate the katamari itself through the use of the vitas duel screens, you can strech the katamari to make it longer horizontally or squeez the katamari to make it longer vertically. On paper I don't think that this is a bad idea, the main problem every katamari game has had after we love was a lack of new ideas and orginality to the point where forever was just a compilation title, a very good one but still a collection of old katamari levels and this new gimick could offer new ways to interact with the enviroment more than any offer game in the franchise however the level design is not built around this new gimick and as a result this more of an idea rather than an actual gimick. The only time they utilise this is by having items be more spread out horizontally or by having some more narrow areas of the levels but nothing that has you interact with the levels any differently making the gimick feel uncesessary for the most part. The level design also suffers from a general lack of openess, the levels feel restricting and linear with items being spread to thin which makes the game feel somewhat unfair at points and sometimes the game starts you off way too small and the lack of many other objectives other than size objectives can make the game feel poorly paced, this is a 2 hour game that feels like a 5 hour game, which is a similar problem with me and my katamari and beautifle katamari. Also the microtransactions in a katamari game come on now, this shit is predetory and shouldn't be here, its clear namco knew katamari was a more niche IP and decided to milk their fans for all they're worth and its honestly disgusting especially since it lacks levels behind these transactions or tedious grinding which I refuse to do.

Although I did have many negative things to say about this game there are also many positives such as the soundtrack being fantastic once again. The games ost decides to go some directions I haven't heard from katamari before such as the expirementally edm banger known as alien or the synth pop from hello world blending in some more jazz and shibuya kei from the other games and some remixes such as the jazzy remix of lonley rolling star which is great. Also, this game looks really great on a vita, colours just pop and everything still fits in that katamari artstyle but everything is much more round making for a very visually pleasing game which extends to the cutscenes which are actually great and genuienly pretty funny. Animation group akbu who embue a strong artistic direction for the series and manages to make the story of goro the slacker into something incredibly entertaining to watch. Speaking of story its honestly one of the things I enjoyed the most here, its clear that the king is comentating of the katamari series as a whole and how the games have declined in quality wanting to make katamri fun and pleasing the fans. Its clear that developers really wanted to make this a great katamari game maybe as good as the originals but clearly they weren't given enough time or budget to make that a reality and its a shame because there are good ideas here that are brung down by the level designs and the microtransactions that were probably put in due to some dumb corporate mandate.

While I didn't love this or really think much of this game at all and I can't really respect it due to the predetory nature of the microtransactions I can still respect the devs for putting a lot of passion into this project, maybe in a different world this game would've came out great but that isn't the reality that we live in which is kind of ironic. Katamari Damacy was a game that critised the nature of consumerism and capitalism through its gameplay, you were this little guy rolling up a bunch of junk to solve a problem you didn't cause and the person commanding you to do so takes all the credit for your hard work. It was a game that while cynical was also balanced out by a huge sense of senerity and love for the world that we live in. Those two first katamari games were some of the purest expressions of joy and love for the world through the artistic medium of video games and that was what made katamari so fun to play but after Keita Takahashi it's clear that was no longer the goal for katamari. It was seen as something to pump out and make money rather than make something that felt as sincere as those two first games. This isn't to say that the devs were lazy or untalented, I'm sure that they were doing the best with what they had to work with that being namco who clearly saw the series as something to make money from. Katamari became obsessed with it's own world rather than the world we live in and I think that lead to a decline in quality of the series, not a huge decline I don't think any mainline katamari is bad, they are all games that are fun but only in bites and never offer that much of a fullfilling expirence maybe outside of those first two and katamari forever and thats a shame, in a perfect world katamari damacy wouldn't have gotten a sequel but unfortatly the game was birthed in a system that nessetates growth so if anything is mildly successful from a financial perspective then it must be milked for all its worth.

Also the vita was way ahead of its time like its such an impressive console and its a shame that it didn't catch on because it really is a special device.

i was on vacation and brought my vita with and as such decided to download cold steel 1, a few snes games and ofc touch my katamari. i’d heard mixed things about this one.

the controls cramp my hands far too often and the game feels artificially lengthened. i had to retry more than a few levels multiple times because the time limits were super strict, something id never experienced in katamari. the ost is really hit or miss. some are great while others are katamari exotica. the worst part of that song is it sounds like inevitable struggle(from trails) for just a bit then it promptly goes back to sucking. one of the songs in the ost reminded me of that fucking song featured in the dokev trailer.

the story kinda felt like a meta commentary on the decline of the franchise, as well as a final farewell to it in a way with the whole goro the slacker cutscenes.

at the end of the day, it’s katamari. the ost, while not as good as the other two, has highs of its own. i loved the lonely rolling star remix, don’t give up, and katamari lovemin. overall, it’s a pretty damn good game for whats thought of as the worst in the series. which just shows how good katamari is. in the words of goro the slacker, “as i took my final breath, i saw the king’s noble face, and courage flowed through me. a single thought took hold in my mind: katamari damacy is really awesome.”

ps the 3d model of the king is terrifying. should've never changed.

weirdly ok? it feels like the devs had no idea what katamari was about and sorta made the game about it somehow. like if someone was like "well katamari is quirky. we gotta make this game quirky" and it kind of worked out. kind of.

the rear touchpad mechanic feels so natural though?? like i think i expected it to be gimmicky and only to excuse the touchpad's existence, but it felt really good to stretch the katamari in order to do stuff. almost to the point where after playing this i missed this mechanic in other katamari games for a while

i really genuinely love the soundtrack for this one. it feels so fresh and having listened to the entire library of katamari soundtracks this one is almost on the same level of the first two games. fresh!

Gameplay shortcomings and egregious monetization aside, this Katamari iteration is worth experiencing just for that fuckass 3D model of the King. His hyper-realistic face and individually modeled teeth are the most upsetting thing I've seen in a while. The mo-cap for the King is uncanny as hell too, I don't want to see that creature dancing on my screen ever again thanks!

The cutscenes in this game are also completely bonkers, moreso than ever before - for example, the father in the opening cutscene has simply the fattest dumpy that would put even the King's exaggerated bulge to shame. I don't know what was going on there but it sets a very strange tone for what's to come.

Probably the worst Katamari I've played yet but I still enjoyed my time with it nevertheless. Too bad I'll never play those free DLC levels since they're locked behind currency that seemingly can only be obtained by spending Real Money on the PSN now.

Some of the most under-the-radar egregious microtransaction bullshit sours what otherwise is an excellent portable Katamari experience. All the expected compromises are here: noticeably less populated levels (which sometimes feel a bit barren), pop-in, collection requirements feeling padded out, runs more slowly than the others - but none of them are enough to ever once take away from the core experience. Stealthily might be the weirdest one? 3D low-res King is nightmare fuel, but also feels oddly fitting here - his horrifying Play-Doh visage, bug eyes, and celebrity veneers fitting this series' particular brand of strangeness like a glove. And it's a nice change of pace to see him being shit-talked by the quest-givers for a change, rather than the other way around. Its stretch gimmick is yet another nice new addition to add to these games' docket of quirky mechanics that feel insanely satisfying and responsive to pull off. Great OST, terrific graphics for the system, and maintains not only the nihilistic sense of humor about the human condition we've come to love from the franchise, but also its fun factor. For a lot of this I was honestly enjoying it more than Katamari Forever - but then it gets upended by the fucking Fan Damacys which are the worst addition ever to be put in one of these, and ONLY exist to steal your money. Still essential for Vita owners imo, in awe that this even exists.