Once Upon a Katamari Review – Stuck in the Past

Once Upon a Time Katamari Review

Once Upon a Katamari is the first completely new Katamari game since 2011. Modern consoles have excellent remasters of the first two games in the series: Katamari Damasi Reroll And We love Katamari + Royal Dream. Both remasters were lovingly put together and added new content in addition to quality of life improvements. However, a completely new Katamari game hasn't been seen since the PlayStation Vita's PS3 generation. Once Upon a Katamari was recently announced at the August 2025 Nintendo Direct as the highly anticipated new Katamari game.

Once Upon a Katamari has the same phenomenal puzzle gameplay as the other games in the series. The idea is that the player rolls a sticky ball, called a katamari, and all objects stick to it. Katamari starts small and collects tiny objects, but as he grows in size, larger objects stick to him. The further the player advances, the more ridiculous the scale of the katamari becomes. Once Upon a Katamari retains the series' tried and true gameplay, and it looks great on PS5.

Roll them up quickly

Each level has a goal. Usually this is the option “make a katamari of this size in such and such a time.” Sometimes the player needs to collect each item within a certain period of time. Sometimes the player needs to collect a certain number of items of a certain type within a given time. But the goal is a variation of the same rolling principle with time limits. This is a truly original concept. Many people will probably think of Once Upon a Katamari as a puzzle game, but it is a puzzle game in the same sense that Super Monkey Ball is. This is a completely original concept that assumes some control over actions.

To roll a katamari, the player must hold both joysticks in the same direction. They can move in different directions, but the katamari handles like a tank. To change direction, the player must change the direction of the joysticks. To move the prince who is pushing the katamari to the left, the player must press the left stick up and the right stick down. Then move both joysticks in the direction you want to move the ball. Pressing L3 or R3 causes the Prince to quickly jump 180 degrees. L1 and R1 change the camera view. R2 uses a collected boost such as magnet or acceleration.

Precise physics

The player has to be more precise than he thinks when turning over objects to collect them. Although the katamari itself has sphere physics, each item collected causes it to become skewed. The player should be careful when collecting oddly shaped items, as this can make the katamari unwieldy to control. But since the player is constantly limited in time, he has little time to choose what to flip. The end result is a truly unique, fun and challenging gameplay experience.

Of all the features of Once Upon a Katamari, by far the most desirable is the choice between normal and easy controls. Simple controls allow the player to control the Katamari with the left stick and change the prince's direction with the right stick. This makes the game a little easier, but more importantly, it feels completely different. I felt like the change was quite drastic and it felt like a new game mode. It was like a game Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistenceor trying Street Fighter 6modern controls for the first time. I wanted to preserve the old, but I equally loved the new. I really enjoyed playing with both control styles of Once Upon a Katamari and switching between them.

Same old story

The story of Once Upon a Time in Katamari is that the King of Space is still an arrogant asshole who causes trouble. His son, the Prince, must clean up after him. The King carelessly throws away a scroll that destroys the Earth, so he gives the Prince a time machine to zip his Katamari through Earth's past. Somehow this will restore the Planet. It's just a story, and it's so minor that Once Upon a Time in Katamari is a great starting point for anyone wanting to give the series a try.

The story of Once Upon a Katamari is really just an excuse for the levels to be set in a wider variety of environments. Each area has a small world map for the Prince to explore. They have an ugly appearance that perfectly imitates the graphical style of the PS2 Katamari games. Each level shows the Prince's goals. His time machine acts like a small menu. The maps of different eras range from modern day to Edo period Japan, Wild West America, prehistoric dinosaurs, etc. There is a lot of variety and moving into a new era is always fun.

Multi-level goals

Each level has several sub-goals that add a ton of replay value. Each level has hidden crowns that can be collected. A certain number of crowns are needed to remove barriers blocking new parts of each era. There are hidden gifts that have collectibles inside. You can find cousins ​​- new character skins for the Prince. Each level also keeps a record of the player's maximum score, so he can always achieve a higher score.

Many of Once Upon a Katamari's advertised features revolve around customization. You have to collect more than 50 cousins. The game has a “Customize Your Cousin” section, which I thought would be an avatar creation feature, but it actually isn't. There are only a few different faces and other customizable body parts. And none of them are unlocked from the start. I like the idea of ​​collecting cosmetics, but the level of customization is so shallow that the developer shouldn't even bother. It should be possible to customize your avatar first, and unlockable items should be power-ups.

Musical accent

Once Upon a Katamari also puts a lot of emphasis on customizing the music. There are tons of songs to unlock, and many of them can be purchased as DLC. But the music from the Katamari series is not very pleasant to listen to. It's a wacky, weird decision that fits the tone of the games incredibly well. But I can't imagine anyone just putting on the OST. It's basically elevator music mixed with circus horns and horns. I definitely didn't have to change the level's music to something else because I didn't have any favorite songs. For some reason, Once Upon a Katamari confidently pretends that one of the main reasons people play these games is for the music, and I just can't imagine that being the case.

Once Upon a Katamari features a four-player online multiplayer mode called KatamariBall. Players compete to roll up the biggest katamari and can even roll up their opponents. It's a fun addition, but not very deep. And this is the theme of almost all of the Once Upon a Katamari expansions. They are desirable and cheerful, but they are all too superficial. Once Upon a Time in Katamari doesn't develop the series in any meaningful way. It's more Katamari levels, but feels more like an expansion than a sequel. It's a real shame when the Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari remasters feel so solid.

Humor is not suitable

There's not much voice acting in Once Upon a Time in Katamari, but the English narrator sounds like he was told to voice a gentle preschool cartoon. Someone didn't understand that the game is a stupid Japanese comedy. The voice acting is terrible and completely ruins the tone of the scenes in which it is used. Fortunately, voice acting is not common. But for some reason, I always missed the humor in Once Upon a Time in Katamari. There wasn't a single moment when I laughed out loud. I know the gameplay is the main draw of the series, but the second draw is the quirky humor. It was disappointing to feel like the cutscenes were a slog rather than a pleasure.

Once Upon a Katamari has a great concept and great gameplay. The problem is that there are many Katamari games with the same excellent concept and gameplay. The new online modes and customization options are a great idea, but very shallow in execution. There's simply not enough development in any of the show's core ideas. If you are a player who wants more Katamari levels, then Once Upon a Katamari has it. But if you've been itching to create your own prince character and get lost in the endless online battle modes, then I'm sorry to tell you that these aspects remain minor despite being touted as key features. As a fan of the series, I can say that Once Upon a Katamari didn't have the same amount of care and effort put into the series' classic titles.

***PS5 code provided by publisher***