Once Upon a Katamari Review – A Glorious Lineage Returns

I have the privilege to bring yet another review of an awesome game, this time being a Once Upon a Katamari review. The Katamari series has been with us for decades now, and its amazing to see this is one of the few evergreen franchises out there that keep things the same while building upon them and adding some more things that feel like Katamari. There is always a thing with many franchises “modernizing” and trying to appeal to different demographics that never cared about their product, but Katamari knows that we all love Katamari, so it always sticks to the same core ideas.

Once Upon a Katamari keeps the whimsical nature of the series intact, I would argue that this is perhaps the most whimsical one yet when it comes to the plot. After having restored the cosmos, the King of Cosmos decides to step on the same stick again and made a mistake. While cleaning the house along his family, he finds a scroll that ends up destroying all of the hard work from previous games. Now its up to the Prince to get rolling again to restore reality and time traveling is involved to be able to do such a thing.

The damage caused by the King this time is severe, since all planets have been reduced to nothing, everything in the cosmos got absorbed into the scroll. It is now that from nothingness, we have to make Katamari’s by rolling objects from different eras. The whole gimmick of the game is traveling in time and getting to know a ton of different locations in their ancient state, most of them being quite familiar such as Japan, where most of these games tend to happen. We Love Katamari for the PS2 had us traveling the entire world, but now we are not only traveling the whole world in a singular period of time, but all of them.

Controls are always the same, objectives are very similar to the early games, for people who have played an older game in the franchise they will instantly recognize the vibes that Katamari has. For those who never did, Once Upon a Katamari is an excellent starting point if you wanna get into the franchise, but its also neat to try the other ones too. This is perfect however, as this franchise remains evergreen, respecting the needs of those who have first jumped into it and becoming a bridge that can keep going through generations. Perhaps a parent can introduce their child to the series with this one too.

There’s a ton of value to be had from always doing something similar but adding a new mechanic that makes sense with the franchise, Once Upon a Katamari adds power ups to make things more chaotic. The Magnet and Rocket are new and relevant tools that can help grow your Katamari even bigger in case you are running low on time, this feels like an inclusion that fits with the general whimsical vibe of the franchise, and it even makes it feel more arcade-ish in a way. A ton of people have had fun with this series and the fun never ends with a single entry.

There is a ton of more collectables to get too, along with various cousins you can add to your collection, and even skins you can unlock have become more varied compared to other games. This makes it a sort of definitive edition when it comes to jumping in and getting to play, if you don’t care about following the whimsical and often nonsensical plot that can make any person laugh. Everything from the older games is intact, even the load menu from the PS2 era still remains there, yet there’s also something new in it too but not to the point it clashes with the feel of Katamari.

Once Upon a Katamari is more Katamari, and its a rather magical experience everyone should try out at least once. I’ve never had so much fun playing or even watching others play a game, Once Upon a Katamari provides the same fun I had back in the day with the older entries. Even the music has evolved yet it feels as chaotic as the first games too, you even have a whole jukebox to select and swap tracks in, they realize one of the best parts of the series is the amazing soundtrack. Once Upon a Katamari includes music DLC that adds a ton of music from all of the other games, including We Love Katamari.

If you are a fan of Katamari who is itching for more action, more levels, more missions and even more content, this is an obligatory grab. If you are someone new into the series who has doubts about getting it, perhaps you can try out the previous entries and see if they stick for you, but fret not, Once Upon a Katamari does not disappoint. The aesthetics are immaculate, and instantly recognizable, truly the mark of a franchise that never perishes and always keeps doing more of what’s good, more of the same yet unique type of game that no other series can have.

Originality and standing out seem to be shunned out in the ever growing video game industry, but since Katamari is a project of art it is not afraid to show its true and vibrant colors, along with its funky music and chaotic gameplay. Extremely original games are few and far apart, Katamari is a blessing in an industry filled with copycats or new games that play it too safe and avoid trying to experiment with weird things. Art is experimentation, tons of effort, and your own wacky ideas merged together to create something fresh and weird, Once Upon a Katamari is an iteration over said facts.

If you want something wild, if you really wish to try something new and break apart with regular gaming conventions, if you want to break free from arduous matchmaking in online live service titles, Katamari is a door to freedom. It’s highly addictive and fun gameplay will keep you playing for hours and hours, truly an amazing formula that can never be beat by anything, timeless regardless of how many decades have passed, and truly unique compared to others. Once Upon a Katamari keeps this great lineage of games strong.

Once Upon a Katamari Review – Verdict

[Editor’s Note: Once Upon a Katamari was reviewed on PC and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]