Once Upon a Katamari Reviews

What do you expect from a sequel? What makes one worth the wait? Most of the time, you want the continuation of a well-estabilished story, the addition of new features, more content, improved visuals, and so on. If a studio decides to release a sequel to a well-liked game in which very little has changed, more often than not we call that a cash grab. Just look at the yearly releases of sports titles for further proof. But there’s always an exception to the rule. There are cases in which we ...

Once Upon a Katamari is the new high point of this bizarre ball rolling series, will expertly crafted stages and loads of silly objects to roll up.

Once Upon a Katamari is a love letter to all the other games, for a game that doesn't always love you back. If there's ever been a time you wanted to shut a king up, it's here. There's still a sprinkle of happiness to roll over any and everything, but my Katamari may be getting a little flat.

GORO GORO to MAWARU

Once Upon a Katamari brings back Bandai Namco's cult classic franchise with an all-new game that feels ripped straight from its PS2 prime.

Once Upon A Katamari delivers an amazingly fun time. It may be derivative with its graphics and story, but the impressive level variety across nine eras and sheer wealth of content ensure fans and newcomers will be rolling until they're sick of smiling. This is easily one of the best games in the series and one of the most charming games of the year.

A soaring exercise of how to refresh a franchise, Once Upon a KATAMARI consistently stays neck-and-neck with its history, sometimes surpassing it.

Once Upon a Katamari proves its worth as a mainline sequel and differentiates itself from other action-puzzlers with its irresistible game feel. Rolling the katamari and sticking things to its surface with a satisfying pop is a continuous, sensory delight not dissimilar to vacuuming up gems in Vampire Survivors. Refined controls and the introduction of power-ups like the Magnet simply enhance this core experience, making for a deeply satisfying roll-’em-up.

It sticks hard to the formula established two decades ago, but Once Upon a Katamari’s tumble through history has enough new ideas and relentless charm to make it a worthy entry for fans old and new.

Bandai Namco really hit a home run with this latest entry in the Katamari Damacy series. It's calming, cozy, and whimsical—in other words, everything you expect from a Katamari game. The time travel theme works well, and the ability to customize your appearance based on your gameplay performance really sells it. Once Upon A KATAMARI is now my favorite entry in the series, setting new standards and introducing mechanics that I hope will become franchise staples. This is a perfect introduction to the series for newcomers, while also making veterans very happy.

The first brand new Katamari game in years, Once Upon a Katamari doesn't disappoint. While it suffers from the same issues the series always has, like wonky controls and camera, there's no denying that it's as fun as ever to play. There's nothing else like it, and we'll never grow tired of the utter weirdness of rolling up items with a special ball.

Once Upon a Katamari is a delightful return for the series, offering the same core gameplay fans know and love while also adding even more fun and cleverness.

Once Upon a KATAMARI is a strong return to the series that every fan should experience. Everything that made the originals great is still here, along with a few new additions. Not all of them land perfectly, but none take away from the fun. While it’s on the shorter side, the game’s replayability and incredible soundtrack keep me coming back for more.

Once Upon a Katamari has an excellent concept, and excellent gameplay. The problem is that there are lots of Katamari games with the same excellent concept and gameplay. The new online modes and customization options are great ideas, but are very shallow in execution. There just isn’t enough evolution in any of the series’ core ideas. If you’re a player who wants more Katamari levels, then Once Upon a Katamari has that. But if you were excited to create your own Prince character and get lost in endless online battle modes, then I’m sorry to have to share that those aspects are afterthoughts, despite being advertised as key features. As a fan of the series, I can tell there wasn’t the same amount of care and effort in Once Upon a Katamari that went into the series’ classic titles.

Evolving arcadey mechanics that have already been perfected is a tough challenge that Once Upon a Katamari rises to meet. Time travel and set pieces across Edo Japan, cowboy escapades, and more make this the most inventive evolution of the series yet. Katamari is on a roll.

Once Upon A Katamari is the first true sequel in the long-rolling series since 2023, bringing with it a plethora of levels and multiplayer action to keep fans pleased while being approachable to newcomers alike.

Once Upon A Katamari's appropriately ostentatious, energetic return is the best the series has been since the PlayStation 2 era.

Unless you’re sitting in the ludicrously small mid-section of a Venn Diagram comparing “Katamari Damacy fans” and “Apple Arcade subscribers,” you’ve probably been waiting upwards of 14 years for a new Katamari game that isn’t a remaster or wacky spin-off. And Touch my Katamari was a PS Vita game, so that’s a barely deeper pool than the Apple one. Once Upon a Katamari is the series’ return to the “main” platforms, bringing a brand-new Katamari experience to consoles and PC. The goal here seems to be packing as much gosh-darned Katamari gameplay into this bad boy as possible, for better or worse. Yeah!

Once Upon A Katamari feels like a confident step back into the series after having a crack at some remasters, and feels like a game that perfectly follows up on what those remasters set out to do. Everything that we all love about Katamari is still here and absolutely kicking. Small reservations with the progression system do precious little to take away from what is - ultimately - one of the most pure and appealing game concepts ever put to players. An absolutely fantastic return to form for a legacy franchise.

Once Upon a Katamari is a fantastic new entry in the series and provides an incredibly entertaining experience in all the right ways, despite its tedious parts

It's been a long time but the prince is back and Once Upon A KATAMARI is certainly the best entry in the series so let's get rollin'.

Once Upon a Katamari is a wonderfully charming return to form for the ball-rolling series that is unlike anything else. The new gameplay elements don’t distract from the satisfying core loop, the time-travel theme brings lots of pleasant humor, and the characters are as delightfully quirky as ever. This is simply some top-notch Katamari.