my, earth really is full of things.

if you asked me what my favorite game is, i'd probably give the default answer of Persona 3, 4, or 5. if i'm feeling ballsy, I'd say ULTRAKILL or Trails of Cold Steel 1. if you asked me what my favorite niche game is, however, the answer would, without a doubt, be Katamari Damacy. i had first played Damacy back a year and a half ago, and it quickly became one of my favorites. Everything from the artstyle, relaxing and satisfying gameplay, soundtrack, and even the runtime all click together to make something perfect. throughout the year, I went through most of the rest of the series, including a replay of Damacy on PCSX2 (so I could slot in the better cover art on my profile) and a replay of the recently rerolled We Love. but Damacy remained my favorite. there's just something about it. being that it's a relatively cheery game and I've been feeling down recently, i decided to replay it.

one of the first things i noticed on the replay was how inspired by japanese art the entire game is. being that i first played it before i became (at least somewhat) knowledgeable about JP art history, there's so much references i missed on my first two playthroughs. im not sure if it's in damacy, but i know at least in one of the entries you can roll up haniwa figurines. you can also roll up hina dolls in this game, of course there's more blatant homage like samurai armor in some levels as well. there's also the soundtrack being full of shibuya kei. far and away, however, i think the biggest reference to art culture i found on this replay is the aesthetic itself. it's definitely a love letter to takashi murakami's pop art. sorry if this section was boring bc i didnt really know what to do with it lol but i just thought knowing these things about art history enhanced my experience with the game this time around. maybe it gave you some little factoid too, hopefully.

the gameplay of damacy is simple. you roll le katamari, it gets huge, and you win. based on how big it gets, the king either praises or verbally abuses you. the narcissistic banter of the king is not only really funny, but it also just makes you wanna do better. i dont know if i just got better at rolling but i didnt have to redo a level once here. its a simple control scheme and easy to pick up. definitely something id wanna show my parents at some point, lol. its also addicting to roll, tickles my brain seeing the prince roll in the corner and all the sfx just piling on top of each other. dopamine overload better than vampire survivors any day. hes just such a silly lil guy. love the prince.

anyway, something i often see this game criticized for compared to the later entries is it's worse level design. frankly, i think it has more intuitive level design than we love. WLK's levels were all over the place, and that makes for some great memorable levels like the race track, but at the same time, there's a level of intimacy found in damacy. i think there's a total of one or two maps used entirely, and it just pops you into different spots at different sizes for each level. you could say that's lazy, or unfun, but i disagree. i think it provides a level of intimacy with the map, learning all the shortcuts and entrances to areas you need to be bigger to unlock, learning where to find a plethora of stuff to roll up for your specific size, it all becomes second nature, you learn the map like the back of your hand. hence why i think it's intuitive. this is not to mention damacy also has pretty memorable levels as well, such as the one where the king goes "BANANA", the one where he remarks about quadruplets not being twins. or the one where you fall off the clouds at the start, or slingshotting your way across the map in the final level. i think it's unfortunate people dont see damacy's level design the way i do, because the small map selection enhances it i think. this doesnt even touch the hub level design. all future hubs in the series suck. we love in particular is slow to navigate, but that criticism can be levied to all future games to an extent. however, there's also so much shit everywhere in beautiful/me and my katamari's hub it's hard to find the next level. in damacy, its so simple. you got the cousin planet, your save planet that also has extras, and then level select planet. levels you already beat are clearly marked as such, too it's perfect and quick and i dont know why they changed it in future games.

the music in this series is goated. 95% of the songs are bangers. the rest arent bad even i just wouldnt listen to them regularly. there's so many classics in damacy's ost too. you got the obvious, like lonely rolling star, but also roll me in, katamari of love, gin tonic, moon and the prince, lovely angel and my personal favorite, que sera sera. now, i think beautiful katamari has a teensy leg up on overall ost , cuz damacy still has a few stinkers like you are smart which just grates on my ears. but damacy's ost rarely misses, and i love it. its definitely in the top 5 osts, and hovers around 1/2. i didnt directly cry at que sera sera this time, but i came close. i did cry at katamari of love yet again, though!

there was this video i saw a while back about how the theme of damacy was cosmic insignificance, how you mean nothing in the grand scheme of things to these godlike beings. i think this reading of damacy is not only depressing but flat out wrong. i think the theme of damacy lies in connection to others. throughout the game you roll things and people up, the game ends with you rolling every country up. the song that plays during this sequence is literally about how people in the world misunderstand each other and its why we dont get along. it's literally the game's thesis, rolling everything up is just an allegory for world peace, solidarity with everyone despite disagreements, finding compromise and the beauty that comes from that. it's not about how you dont matter in the cosmos, quite the opposite. it's about how we're insignificant alone, but by joining forces we hold so much significance that we dont even realize it. i think katamari of love is probbably my favorite ending sequence in a game, though never more and i miss you is also up there as well.

i think katamari is one of those rare lightning in a bottle experiences. you can tell there was never meant to be a sequel, let alone a franchise, because it all wraps up so perfectly. the galaxy is saved, and the prince grew a bit. you roll up the entirety of earth and go have a party. thats a pretty bold ending for it to only continue afterwards. and despite loving beautiful katamari for replicating the vibes of damacy, something which i still think we love did not, it still feels somewhat.. sad that the series continued after this. its such a perfect experience, easily beat in a few sittings and it sticks with you. but it was milked dry, yknow. that kinda sucks. i liked the rest of the series, yeah, but none came close to beautiful, and even beautiful doesn't quite match damacy. i dont know where im going with this, but i think damacy and beautiful are the only ones ill be replaying in the future. unless forever is also super goated. but i dunno, i just see something in beautiful and damacy that i dont in the others. there's something so heartwarming about katamari and im super glad i got into it. whenever the prince waves "see you later" i know ill be back. the next one ill play is probably forever. but im glad i replayed this one, and im glad i got more out of it than any other time. such a good game. so go on and…

roll, prince, roll!

I would have a hard time coming up with a solid list of games I would consider to have absolute perfect game design, but I know for sure Katamari Damacy would be on there. Despite how antithetical Katamari Damacy may feel to our collective perceived notions of videogame conventions and norms, Keita Takahashi still managed to tap into that same escapism primeval soup that characterizes so many of our favorite games, abstracting its violence to a family friendly degree while maintaining its appeal and utilizing it to create one of the most cathartic power fantasies in the medium.

What’s truly brilliant about KD is how much of its chaotic and free form nature ends up dictating its narrow and tightly focused design by default without resorting to any hand holding or pushing the player in any particular direction beyond the main premise of rolling a ball over stuff to make it bigger. Its progression naturally unfolds before you, as you increase the scope of your katamari and more things become available to be consumed by it, immediately a consequence of every choice the player makes in their unconscious toddler rampage. And whatever frustration that might arise from its more clunky mechanics and physics is quickly subverted when you finally get big enough to roll over that annoying bear that would always stop you on your tracks.

Funny then how that stroke of incredible originality and genius seems to have sparked by mere accident from just approaching video games from an outside perspective and being dissatisfied with the industry’s modus operandi and never taking itself too seriously. The final stage that beautifully represents the apex of the experience unveils the artifice of the game in its final moments, showing that you have been playing in a playground all along, and that recess time is over, the self indulgence was fun. Pardon my boomer-ism, but it’s a major bummer that we probably will never return to an age like the PS2 gen where people like Keita Takahashi get the opportunity to take the wheel and produce a unique title like this one that sits nicely next to its big budget pals.

It might come across as corny or histrionic of me, but the feeling I get while playing Katamari Damacy is one of love. This is a labor of love, a life affirming appreciation of all things that encompasses our planet, and while it does have something to say about consumerism or capitalism, it does it in a humorous and non condemning way in the same vein as Jacques Tati would with his films and without ever sacrificing the joy of rolling up everything on sight as people scream and a cheerful jazzy song plays in the background. Katamari Damacy is above analysis or interpretation, it is an achievement of ludology, up there with the likes of Tetris, and you don’t have to question where the art is because you can see it right in front of you, and you can play it. Truly a lonely rolling star in a sky filled with static dust.

Looks like a painting, reads like the best kind of detective story.
The characters have delightful designs and personalities, the narrative is incredibly tight and gripping, and the OST is, dare I say it, one of the best in the series.
Most of the non-basic mechanics are perfectly suited to the game, but the circumstances setting up the summation examinations can really drag out trials and lower engagement. Other than that I personally want nothing more from this game.
Maybe a little less of the period-accurate slurs, though.

Since it isn't a fairly known game, I will try do make a brief presentation of it first. Pause Ahead is a flash game developed by Askiisoft, the indie team behind the best-known Katana ZERO. It's a puzzle-platformer with levels and a unique gimmick: when the game is paused, the protagonist enters a particular status in which he is invincible and in which he moves "by momentum" in the direction you were pressing before pausing.

Despite being a free game that lasts an hour, it is really nice, also thanks to the high general difficulty and the true ending. The soundtrack, composed by flashygoodness (peak) and Bill Kiley, features quite memorable melodies and is probably what stuck with me most about the game even years after my playthrough.

This game main problem is a lack of identity for being extremely derivative of xenogears and xenosaga, reusing story bits and plot lines of those games but lacking the detail of what made those stories so compelling and not going far enough in certain areas and character writing, gameplay wise the game is both an improvement and recession due to on the good side removing some of xb2 worst mechanics (gacha and field skills) but combat wise the return of cooldowns makes this game combat feel so frustrating at points, still the game still manages to touch on the importance of the time we have and how people should be free using as they see fit

Overall a good concept but I didn't really like the execution. The game is extremely frustrating for many reasons, such as :
- the terrible aiming and how precise you need to be to hit with guns
- hell, even melee weapons sometimes, why can't the character redirect himself with the left joystick like it does in the non combat areas???
- janky IA that randomly doesn't notice shots
- a screen that easily becomes unreadable AND enemies constantly out of your sight
- enemies that are so similar you can hardly tell which weapon they're holding
- the instant reaction speed of enemies and their 100% precise aiming
- the disastrous boss design (thankfully there's only two of them)

It feels very cheap to die when it's so easy for it to happen and how things are outside of your control. It also doesn't encourage me to learn and better myself at the game, I'm done playing it once.

The story part feels pretty poor, while it's interesting the execution is also mediocre. After playing Katana Zero, I'd say that game is a straight up upgrade in every concept that Hotline Miami wanted to execute.