The core gameplay of Katamari is fine. I think it's weaker here than the original but it's still fun.

This game though wraps it all up in so much extraneous nonsense. It seems people love it and find it charming but I find it just obnoxious. It's just soooo much irreverent and "quirky" talking and time wasting and dumb little cutscenes that I just find it dreadful. Even mid gameplay it's constantly just interrupting you to try and be funny when 9/10 it is in fact not being funny. Everything is stated in lengthy and satirical terms that make even the simplest of statements take forever. The game is like an energy vampire, like it's trolling me. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ everything makes a sound like it's from a soundboard with an entire row dedicated to fart noises, literally ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ everything. I just want to push around a ball of crap and make it bigger and it just will not leave me alone and let me. It's an onslaught to the senses the moment you're in. This game is "relaxing" in the same way paying $30 to have a clown scream in your face while balancing a basketball on the tip of your penis might be.

Try "Wonderful End of The World" here on Steam, a Katamari copy that is really old but solid and with arguably superior controls and it doesn't yell at me all the time.

It's just like what I played as a kid but with more stuff; All I could really ask for.

for a game about rolling things into a ball, i had so much more fun than i had expected.

the music for the game is absolutely banger. its great to listen to while playing, especially on the longer levels where youll be listening to the music for a while. theres also quite a few character customization options, as you can play as any of the cousins and pick from a variety of accessories (granted youve collected them). it was also quite a bit of fun to play the royal reverie portion of the game, learning more about the king's childhood.

ill admit the controls on pc are a bit janky. i got used to them after a few hours of playing, but it was definitely a bit odd. i havent played using a controller, but i assume the joysticks would make rolling the katamari and looking around much easier.

overall, the game can be a bit repetitive and may be boring to some. however, theres numerous hours of content and in my opinion, seeing my katamari grow as i rolled around was a lot of fun. theres collection aspects, speedrun modes, a solid story, and more! i highly recommend adding this to your library!