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Amazing 'Katamari Damacy' Review

Same acid trip, new package!

By Such A GeekPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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This is actually one of the loading screens.

(Writers note: I will try my best not to provide any sort of spoilers for the game or any of the games but...I don't even know if you can spoil the game?)

If you've ever met me in person and you've got a Playstation, you'll know that I would most likely suggest the game Katamari Damacy to you.

Now, just what the hell is Katamari Damacy, you might ask?

Well, if you're looking at the image above and trying to unpack whatever the hell is going on with it, let me help out.

Katamari Damacy is a sleeper hit game created by Bandai-Namco that came out in Japan back in March 2004, with the game releasing in North America in September of that same year, in which you play as "The Prince," the son of "The King Of All Cosmos." But whereas your father is thousands of meters tall, you're only about five cm tall, a fact in which your absolutely loving father (I use this in the most sarcastic way possible) does not let you forget or live down...especially after he's done something that has prompted him to destroy the cosmos, which he then sends you down to earth with a "katamari"—a magical ball that allows objects smaller than it to stick to—to roll up objects and help him recreate the stars and celestial bodies...because, for some reason, it's your fault?

(I'm not joking. The first game's storyline is that the King went on a bender and destroyed every star and celestial body in the sky, but this isn't about that!)

In the newest game in the series, currently available on mobile, it takes the premise of the game and turns it into an endless runner, with the same technicolor dreamscape and amazingly cheerful music (it will get stuck in your head), and the King being...the king, has sent you on a mission to roll up as much as you can for him. Because you're short.

The controls schemes are pretty simple; touch or joystick, with swiping up being your "jump," for when there's an object in front of you that you can slam into, prompting the King to start to get angry, with three "hits" being a game over. No spoilers, but if someone downloads this game, bump into an object twice.

As you play through the game and go on your neon-filled journey, there are numerous objects in which you can roll up;

  • Regular objects—these are simply just regular objects, mainly counting towards the size of your katamari, allowing you to grow bigger and roll up larger and larger objects.
  • "Rocket bits"—These are represented by glowing objects, and after collecting five, allow you to launch a rocket, the equivalent of a lootbox, which unlocks after a specific amount of real world time (eg: three hours, eight hours, 12 hours), similar to chests in the mobile game Clash Royale.
  • Cousins—Cousins are family of the King and also to the Prince as well, and when you roll over them with your katamari, different effects may happen. As an example: one attracts nearby objects, another gives you coins for breaking through objects, etc.

Now, you might say, "Well, it's a mobile game, so where are they making money?"

The game does have microtransactions enabled, allowing you to purchase the in-game currency of coins, or the premium currency of "rubies," however, these are not mandatory to purchase, as you can earn these by simply playing through the game or launching rockets.

Coins allow you to upgrade your cousins, going for longer durations of effects, or strengthening the effects of whatever cousin you have rolled up, and rubies are for things such as "continues" if you get a game over.

I would highly, highly, highly suggest giving this game a try; even if you don't enjoy the game, the bizarre story, the delightfully cheerful music, and just, in my personal opinion, the feeling of, "I don't know what's going on...but I like it," would give even the darkest heart a slight cheering up.

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Such A Geek

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