Katamari Forever first impressions

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

The latest and greatest in the Katamari Damacy series (or is it really just "Katamari" series at this point since only ONE game in the series has had the word Damacy in it) was released this week for the PS3.

The short short on the story for this entry - The King of the Cosmos falls into a coma after being hit on the head by a passing "dark star". The Prince and his cousins make a "Robo King" to take his place (nice right?) and the Robo King acts surprisingly correctly by destroying all of the stars.

So, you need to roll in both star-creating levels with Robo King (which are largely new) AND help Regular King revive via memory replacing levels (which are sort of "greatest hits" levels from previous entries with some new graphical and play mechanics).

Prince can now "jump" with a Wii-mote esque flick upward on the Sixaxis/Dualshock controller ... helpful in reaching higher areas.

I find that the controls are as tight as they've ever been, and Katamari rolling speed seems to be tweaked a bit (faster than usual) which I do like.

The game runs in HD 1080p and looks to keep a solid frame-rate throughout even the most densely populated levels. The new graphical filters are fantastic, everything from a more cel-shaded look to levels with a charcoal pencil look, black and white with punctuations of colors as you roll through and bring the scene to life.

There are also completely new levels where you don't "stick" anything to the Katamari, rather you use it as a sponge/watering can to "grow" flowers/grass/trees etc. one of those levels is available on the DLC demo on the PSN.

I'm a bit saddened by the lack of online multiplayer which was featured on the 360's Beautiful Katamari ... but I'm not sure if that really worked as well as it could have anyway.

There are some 2 player co-op and competitive modes but Lis and I haven't spent too much time with them (we've just been plugging away at the story mode). The game also features an online leader board ... which, I suppose is neat if for no other reason than to see how ridiculously huge other people have made their Katamaris.

I believe that Namco says no DLC levels for this version, and I'm pretty glad as Beautiful Katamari wound up being very expensive (over $60) if you bought the game at launch and all of the DLC packs.

So far there's enough new stuff in there to please a Katamari fan, and other than that it's the same great Katamari that you're (hopefully) used to by now.

Roll on!

[Sailorneorune]

The only thing stopping me from getting this game is the fact that it's $50. The Katamari console games have gone up in price $10 for each sequel (with the exception of Me & My Katamari) - has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me?

[CDiablo]

The only thing stopping me from getting this game is the fact that it's $50. The Katamari console games have gone up in price $10 for each sequel (with the exception of Me & My Katamari) - has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me?

Same here not I love all things Katamari but it aint worth 50.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Well, that's true but I don't think it's a fair expectation at this point to expect the series to remain a budget title.

The 1st game in the series came overseas at $20 as what I'd imagine was an experiment with an accessable price point.

I think that the series has certainly graduated from "budget" title or "quirky Japanese import".

It's a full-fledged franchise for Namco Bandai and I don't mind dropping the coin on the titles for the amount of enjoyment I get out of them.

[meancode]

The only thing stopping me from getting this game is the fact that it's $50. The Katamari console games have gone up in price $10 for each sequel (with the exception of Me & My Katamari) - has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me?

You also should consider that with the newer console generation, everything went up $10. I consider a new Katamari on the PS3 at the $50 price point a good deal. Sure, $40 would have been better, but as the OP said, this game has graduated from 'budget title' territory.

[PapaStu]

Started to play it last Thursday. I figured it would be a good first game to play (for me) on the PS3, since its only been hooked up since May and had no retail games played on it.

This really is the Katamari Rehash game that they set out to be. So far in what i've gotten done i've experienced one new level (the Desert level) and thats been it. Of the soundtracks this one is also the weakest. It's full of remix songs (since its a remix game) and really most of them arn't all that great. I do like that there is a ful English translated 'Everlasting Love' and of what i've heard so far this is my favorite 'new' song.

They did make one major play mechanic change to the game. The rolling up walls has been removed completely. The Katamari can no longer roll up any of the walls, you might try but all you'll do is just sit there and crash into anything thats much higher than the Katamari itself.. In its place is a is a new 'Katamari Jump', while though it takes you high, its really hard to shoot off and do any type of real controlling of the Katamari. I've overjumped, just jumped straight up and been unable to really move with the jump, much more than i've been successful with the jump. I'm sure it'll get a bit better, but I don't know if i'm even really loving it.

Leaderboards seemed to me to be really broken. Only seeing the top 100 people for each level rollup/time stinks. I want to know where I am in the levels. They also take a very long time to load and the loading sound (a chirp) gets real annoying, real fast.

I do like the 'cel shaded' graphics the game now has. It gives it a nice look IMO and I really enjoy the King levels because of the Black & White aspect of it. Since the King can't remember anything, you've got to roll it up to bring it back into color (once an item has been rolled up once in a level, all the rest will be in color for the rest of the level). It gives the level a real cool look as you see the greytones and then some random item in full color as you roll about.

I'm glad to hear that online has been removed. It was a total waste in Beautiful Katamari and got incredibly old just a few rounds in. I played online to get my 1k cookies, and 50 wins and I never went back to it. The Co-Op/VS has always been a weak link in Katamari due to its one sidedness. Once one gets just a bit bigger, its normally game over for the other player(s). That's just no fun.

[Snapple]

Thanks for the reviews, Frankie and Stu. I enjoyed previous Katamari games. I'm debating whether or not to get this one still. I have some personal bad memories that I associate with Katamari, through no fault of the games. That kind of saps my motivation.

[Arkhan]

I never really paid any attention to katamari games, but I was at a friends and they were playing it and I found myself going ADD to watch him play it. Its surprisingly fun, funny to watch, and the art themes are excellent.


I thought the soundtrack was boss as well.

[Oobgarm]

This one intrigues me but I'll be waiting on a significant price drop. I don't think that the new content can justify spending $50 to basically re-play what I already have.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

For the record (and it's not clear in the training level that you can use the R2 button for jumping) for anybody who finds the sixaxis jumping frustrating ... just use the R2 button. Much easier to time a perfect jump.

[NayusDante]

Amazon has it for $40, free shipping. I'll be jumping on it when I finish the stuff I'm playing right now (MGS4 and Metroid Prime Trilogy). Honestly, I thought it came out later this year, would have preordered it if I had known.

[Julio III]

How is the music?

The music in We Love Katamari was one of the best things but the songs in Beautiful Katamari weren't great and greatly diminished my enjoyment of the game.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

How is the music?

The music in We Love Katamari was one of the best things but the songs in Beautiful Katamari weren't great and greatly diminished my enjoyment of the game.

Lots of cool remixes of classics. I especially like the 8-bit/chiptunes ones.

[PapaStu]

How is the music?

The music in We Love Katamari was one of the best things but the songs in Beautiful Katamari weren't great and greatly diminished my enjoyment of the game.

IMO,

This is by far the worst soundtrack of all the Katamari games. I wasn't a massive lover of Beautiful Katamari's soundtrack at first, but it grew on me pretty quickly, much more so than Me & My Katamari's. Yes i've pumped almost countless hours into this series and own all five soundtracks, so i'm not just listening to level shortened versions of the songs.

I'm currently trying to listen to this album, and I keep finding myself skipping the songs. Every song on the album is either a remix or its a mashup remix. Most of them are very lack luster. A few of the 8-bit remixes are alright but they really arn't anything to write home about. I still stand by my earlier post that the best song on the album is the Everlasting Love Mashup 'Everlasting Love + You'. I have noticed that there is a very heavy 'happy hardcore' influence on a number of the songs, so they are more dance than in previous albums, not that its a bad thing, but again the remixes to me feel weak and it doesn't really help make the songs memorable.