Though the game really shines the brightest when you get 20 minutes to roll up a storm, going from a one metre nuisance to a 500 metre monster, devouring anything and everything in your way.
Not all the levels are as fun however, some have objectives that are more frustrating than fun.
In one instance, you’re required to only pick up a single item, a cow or a bear, and the level ends as soon as you do. So you’re trying to avoid rolling over anything cow or bear-like (even a picture on a billboard or a person dressed in cow print) so you can get large enough to eventually roll over a BIG cow/bear to get more points. It was finicky, slow and dull.
Unfortunately the same clunky controls and less than ideal camera are also still present. I’d often find myself really fighting to turn the ball the way I wanted it to go, wiggling the joysticks to create a speed roll is still just that little bit awkward, and the amount of times I was completely blind, because the camera had clipped inside of something, was too high to count.
There can also be considerable pop-in of objects in the levels, which is an issue when you can’t see what there is to roll up before you’re a few meters away from it.
My biggest gripe was the mid-level loading screens. You’ll be ‘on a roll’ and hit a certain size, only for a 10 second loading screen to pop up so the game can switch to another instance of the level, where you’re much bigger and the objects to roll up are different.
There are often multiple of these in one level, which really kills your momentum.
I’m not sure why long loading screens are needed for a game like this releasing in 2023, it’s not exactly a graphical powerhouse. The hardware it runs on can handle a faster change over, so I can only assume it’s a hang-up from the original release that hasn’t been given any love for this remaster.
The trappings surrounding the gameplay are all great.
The music is whimsical and delightful, I would often find myself singing “Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Katamari Damacy” a real earworm that one.
The sound effects are punchy and satisfying, from the record scratching dialogue, to the pleasing ‘blip‘ of successfully adding another item to your junk ball… Or the cartoonish scream when you roll up a person!
Graphics and animation are simple but effective, fitting perfectly in with the bonkers gameplay. There’s good use of colour and you can’t help but smile while taking in the quirky settings, characters and eclectic assortment of objects.
The newest features to the game feel more like filler than meaningful additions.
The eccentric Royal Reverie cinematics give an entertaining backstory to the king; but the levels themselves just felt like rehashes from the main game.
The addition of photo-mode is also a weird choice. The game is so chaotic that seeing something you want to take a picture of, stopping and lining up a snap just doesn’t feel fluid. While in photo mode the level timer keeps counting down, so you either feel rushed to take a quick picture, or are wasting precious time in a game where every second counts toward your score.
Final Thoughts
I love the Katamari franchise, but I was expecting a little more from this remaster. The setting and tone is fantastically absurd, and the music is a delight. But the technical hang-ups hold We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie back from greatness.
Quest Daily scores We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie:
7.5/10
Quest Daily was supplied a copy of We Love Katamari Reroll by Bandai Namco for the purpose of this review.
