Katamari Damacy REROLL

Katamari Damacy was released in 2004 and was unlike anything available at the time. It not only spawned the Katamari franchise, but it also indirectly supported the growth of absurdist gaming in North America - my opinion of course. Personally, I loved it and my love of all games Katamari. Katamari Damacy REROLL was released on Steam in 2018 and I'm commenting here in 2026. Neat. The best thing to say about this game, and this port, is that it's the best place to get started in Katamari. Like, if you have never played any Katamari game before, maybe found it kinda curious, then this is the best place to get started. The game is short and sweet, the controls are simple (and much improved in 20 years), and it still sparks the same joy. Oh, and the soundtrack is worth the price of admission alone. Definitely buy on a discount. Due to being a BANDAI IP and the OG Katamari, it goes on sale often enough. If the premise and gameplay appeal to you, then there are a ton of followup games with all sorts of improved gameplay, games, and ways to play.

I LOVE DRAGGING MY BALLS

Katamari Damacy REROLL turned out to be one of the most fun experiences I’ve had this year. I had never played anything from the franchise before, but on a friend’s recommendation I decided to give it a try, and I don’t regret it. The game combines catchy, creative, and beautifully composed music with simple yet extremely enjoyable gameplay, resulting in something unique and engaging.

How could you not like this game? Go roll around in real life and tell me how happy you felt

An extremely purist remaster of one of the most addictive games of all time. Katamari is probably my most played PS2 game and for better or worse, this basically is identical to the PS2 version in most aspects. That's not to say the re-release was lazy, they clearly put effort into re-authoring UI elements and cutscenes for widescreen, but it is clear that the intent was to preserve the original experience as closely as possible. The only real change to the art assets I think I noticed is it seems like the Prince's character model, and maybe the Katamari itself seem to have a higher triangle count, but they fit the aesthetic perfectly and the rest of the models are untouched. If you've never played the game, it's basically the concept of a snowball rolling down a snowy mountain, except you're the snowball, rolling along and getting bigger and bigger with every object you scoop up. It's one of those games that very easy if you're just trying to beat the levels, but if you're trying to do [i]well[/i] it can be quite challenging which is what gives the game it's near-infinite replay value. Even back in 2004 the game had a deliberately kind of retro artstyle that looked more akin to an N64 or PS1 game, with blocky models and pixelated textures that give you the feeling of exploring some kind of toy diorama, The low detail was likely there to compensate for the sheer amount of [i]stuff[/i] on screen at once, which is still insane to see in a PS2 game, but despite being deliberately lo-fi the visuals are deeply appealing, colorful, and full of personality. The choice to make a vibrant, stylized world made this one of the best-looking PS2 games and even today the graphics have such a timeless charm to them that the don't feel like they've aged a day or need updating. Each level is incredibly full of life and detail, with all kinds of wacky things going on around you and the fact that you can play in HD had me noticing some funny background details I hadn't caught back in the day (such as some dude's hanging from the ceiling of the gas station for some reason). While I generally laud [i]Reroll[/i]'s faithfulness to the original, since the game truly has aged gracefully, there are some things that could have been enhanced. The fact that you have to manually save after each level rather than having an autosave feature is downright silly given this remaster came out in 2018, but even in 2004 it was a bit goofy since most PS2 games do have an autosave feature. While it was also refreshing to launch the game and go straight into playing, the fact that you have to play through the tutorial before being presented any kind of options menu will also be problematic if you're playing on PC. I started [i]Reroll[/i] on my Steam Deck so I didn't actually notice but when I first launched it on PC it was windowed which will be a problem if you start playing on a proper PC. I think it would have also been nice if they'd added an option for endless play on all levels rather than keeping it limited to only three. I do get why they did that in the original, because there's only three unique maps and the difference between each level is the goal and where you start, but the different spawn locations actually can make for a pretty different experience starting out and each level does have unique objects and theming, so I think it would have been a fun option to add. There are also a few aspects of the original game that are just kind of annoying, and I think I actually do prefer them being retained for the sake of faithfulness, but they are worth mentioning. It's always irksome when you feel like you [i]should[/i] be able to scoop up an item just from eyeballing the size of your Katamari only to find that you're not big enough which leaves you crashing into the item and having the stuff you've collected fly off, but that's part of the challenge I guess. The constellation missions where the objective is to collect the largest of a single item were always a letdown since they're kind of a minefield and can end in seconds, but they are sort of funny I suppose. The dash move always felt like more of a liability than an asset until you become absolutely massive, but again, these are all issues from the original and not the fault of the remaster. The only other real critique I have of [i]Reroll[/i] is that they don't have the English voice acting for the cutscenes with the human family. I imagine it maybe had to do with licensing rights or something and I certainly don't have a problem with the Japanese voices (especially since I'm trying to learn so it's good listening practice), but the deadpan comedic delivery of the English voices in the original was legitimately hilarious so it is sorely missed. There is actually a mod to restore the English voices, but I only found it after beating the game, so it is out there with some googling. Perhaps my favorite thing about this re-release though, is the fact that it runs flawlessly on Steam Deck. I used to play the PSP Katamari game between classes in college so having Katamari on the go again is a wonderful thing indeed. The Steam Deck's haptics are a bit weak so you don't have quite the same satisfying [i]plop[/i] you get when you pluck up an item as you would playing with say, an XBOX controller, but Katamari is the ideal portable game since most levels are only about 10 minutes or so but there's a ton of replay value. So yeah, if you loved the original, you'll probably love this re-release, and if you've never played Katamari you're in for a treat. While there are a couple things the remaster could have pushed further and a few things that have always been jank, I think Katamari is one of the true timeless classics that everyone should try and anyone can enjoy.

Это определенно видеоигра

One of my favorite games of all time! This game is bursting with so much charm and personality that I have yet to find anything else quite like it. Featuring unique and entertaining mechanics, this game stands out for its silly humor rather than a traditional narrative. The soundtrack is so good I still listen to several songs frequently and I've known the game since it came out for the PS2 Just a short, sweet and fun experience... Perfect for chilling on a sunday!

It's freaking Katamari Damacy! This game is a remake of Katamari Damacy, originally released in 2004 on the PS2 in North America. I never owned a PS2 as we were a Nintendo household and only had a Gamecube until the PS3/360 generation, but thankfully I had friends that had PS2 and I was a total nerd who immediately gravitated towards any videogames when I went to friends houses, so I got the chance to play Katamari Damacy early on, My friend hated the game, but I was attracted by the very Japanese art style on the box, so he let me play it for an hour. To no surprise, very Japanese it was. If you haven't played a Katamari game before, here's the plot. The King of the Cosmos has destroyed the universe by accident. The stars and the moon. The only thing not destroyed is Earth. When the king realizes his mistake, he instructs the prince, his son, to go to Earth with a Katamari, which is a magical ball things stick to. The prince's job is to roll up as much as he can on a Katamari so that the King can use the material to recreate the stars, moon, and other celestial bodies. If the prince is successful, everything is returned to normal in the universe. The players job is to control the prince as he rolls the Katamari around the world gathering materials. The catch is that Katamari can only roll up things smaller than it, so its a puzzle to build it up into a ball. Kinda like building a snowman. It's super weird, but super fun. The soundtrack is a vibe too. Overall Katamari Damacy is a game I feel like most people should try at least once in their lives and definitely should be where people start in the Katamari series. Highly recommend for some casual fun.

The premise is quite simple: The King of the Cosmos went on a bender and wiped all the stars in the sky out. No more stars, only boring darkness. It is up to you, O Prince, to restore the sky's brilliance by creating new stars ... out of ordinary objects found on Earth. Sounds silly, right? - But that is the way it is done, apparently. Roll your ball over objects to pick them up. The more objects you pick up, the larger the finished star will be. OF course, there are the King's orders to follow, and it is he who decides exactly how large each star must be. Avoid running into objects larger than your ball of objects is at any given time, because collisions will send your objects flying, thus decreasing the size of the finished star. Pro Tip: Try to make the ball of objects uniform as odd bits sticking out will affect the way the ball rolls. The more even the ball, the easier it is to navigate. ... And that's about all I have to say except I recommend using a controller for this game. Happy Rolling~!