Katamari Damacy innovated with its controls and presented it with a quirky Highlights-style level design. A very Japanese-centric game with a robust soundtrack led it to be one of the best PlayStation 2 games in the catalog. In 2005, its sequel, We Love Katamari released with more stuff to roll up and a new soundtrack.
We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royale Reverie brings that experience back for modern consoles and PC. Updated graphics, a new additional story, new modes, and new collectibles make their way into this great bundle for an excellent price. What did we think of We Love Katamari? Here’s our review to tell you more.
We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royale Reverie
Developer: MONKEYCRAFT Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC (Reviewed)
Release Date: June 2, 2023
Players: 1-2
Price: $29.99 USD
Following up from the original, fans of Katamari Damacy all over the world loved rolling up items and meeting the King of All Cosmos and the Prince for the first time. Space is still missing stars after the events of the first game since the King of All Cosmos destroyed them from a night of drinking. In order to fill in more of the gaps in Space, the Prince is tasked with completing requests from fans.
Through completing requests, the King of All Cosmos reveals his humble beginnings. His father, who strived for perfection, was very strict and aimed to have him take over as the new King. Through a new additional story, the young King completes objectives in familiar stages with small twists. Requests from fans can be as simple as cleaning a child’s room to helping a sumo wrestler’s dream come true to making Mr. Katamari more friends.
A simple story for all ages and adds more content via its additional story which is welcomed as it doesn’t feel like a standard remaster. It was a joy to revisit this classic game that is still the best in the franchise.
We Love Katamari’s staple gameplay of rolling up items returns with no unneeded changes. Roll things up according to their size into a Katamari of the specified size, within the time limit, or collect certain objects in a category. Some stages require a bit more thought such as rolling up the largest cow or bear or making a fire for Camper Man.
Completing stages as quickly as possible can reward you with comets in addition to your newly made planet. Some stages have multiple versions requiring multiple runs to finish entirely. The game is short, meaning you can beat it in under 3 hours if you’re fairly adept at playing it but longer if you look for all of the Cousins, Royal Presents, and Stickers throughout each stage. Additionally, using the camera you gain from a royal present is how you collect stickers and use the newly added selfie mode.
If you happen to have a friend, you can roll up items together with co-op together on the same screen or utilizing split screen, which makes its return, allowing you to compete to see who can collect items faster. There is more added to the gameplay that already feels as simple as can be, it’s really the whole package.
Without going over the obvious too much, the long and short is that the sounds are ever so slightly tweaked but not outright different. For instance, the alarm sound when time is running out is different and some NPCs you get requests from are not in English anymore and are defaulted to Japanese. It’s a small issue that shouldn’t need to be changed for a remaster like this where it has all been put together so meticulously.
One of the biggest draws to the franchise is the amazing soundtrack, which is still present in all of its glory. There’s not much to say about it other than it still gives the same effect and nostalgia as when it was released on the PlayStation 2 those years ago. A downside is the DLC that you can purchase separately or with the special edition that adds in Katamari Damacy Series Music. It doesn’t add ALL of the songs, which is fine, however, it missed some like “YOU ARE SMART” from the original game and “Sayonara Rolling Star” from the Xbox 360 exclusive, “Beautiful Katamari”.
Katamari Damacy as a whole has always had graphics that were retro-looking from the beginning, but this remaster gives options for depth of field and adjustments to shadows. The Prince’s appearance has slightly changed with his eyes being laid flat and a bigger nose than the original. There is even a disclaimer at the beginning of the game giving context to the player to be aware that this is a remaster of the 2005 game.
We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royale Reverie does an ample job of being a remaster with modernizations like saving anywhere and a list to get to requests easier. Some of its minor drawbacks are what I feel to be essential to the game and somewhat puts it in a weird place of being ALMOST perfect. I’d recommend this game still even for the minute gripes I had, especially for the price of $29.99 USD for the base game and only $39.99 for the series music DLC and additional items.
We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royale Reverie was reviewed on PC using a retail copy purchased by Niche Gamer. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy can be found here. We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royale Reverie is now available for PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series S|X, and Nintendo Switch.
