Review: We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie – Pleasant absurdity

Katamari Damacy takes pride of place on our list of the strangest games – the PS2 title will leave anyone who decides to play it at a loss.

https://youtu.be/Z5IPC5g2_fU

We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie | Launch Trailer (https://youtu.be/Z5IPC5g2_fU)

Developer: MONKEYCRAFT
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release Date: June 2, 2023

The plot of the series defies logical explanation, but it is worth mentioning so that you understand what is actually happening here. In addition, there is no Russian language in the game, so it will be especially difficult for those who do not know English to immerse themselves in what is happening.
The main figure in Katamari is the King of the Cosmos. The ruler of him is so-so: in the first part, he accidentally destroyed all the stars in the universe, and his son, the Prince, had to correct the situation. He went to Earth to create huge katamari – balls to which literally everything sticks. Having rolled up a huge katamari, the Prince launched it into space, and it became a replacement for the destroyed stars.

The king did not become more reasonable – he felt power and vanity, but people rejoiced and fell in love with him for his feat. The King did not stop there and ordered the Prince to continue rolling the katamari.
I know it’s strange – but it’s better to run the game with such knowledge than without it. We only need to understand that the hero will roll katamari balls at the will of the Prince, and he will always be dissatisfied with something.

The feature of We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie is an unusual gameplay similar to evolution games. But if in Spore we evolve on behalf of an organism, and in Maneater we grow from a small shark to a toothy predator, then evolution defies logic and is tied to an increase in katamari in size.
At the beginning of each level, we have a small ball in our hands and a spacious area in which there is a mess. Stationery, batteries, leaves – it seems that everything in the world is scattered around the location. Small things stick to the katamari as soon as they touch it – we are like rolling a snowball, which gradually increases in size.

As part of each task, there is a goal – to roll a katamari of a certain size or collect a certain number of items. It takes time (a few minutes) to complete the level, but it does not end when the goal is achieved – as you can understand from the dialogues, the King always does not like the result of the Prince, and he constantly demands better work from him. These conversations look funny, you involuntarily begin to despise your mentor.
The control migrated from the original and remained “tank” – the movement is carried out tangentially, you won’t be able to run diagonally, to change direction you will have to stop and spin around the katamari. The developers managed to adapt the control to the keyboard, but if you have a gamepad, then it is better to use it.

You can find fault with We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie only for tank control, which not everyone will accept, and fps drawdowns on weak devices.
It is impossible to scold the game for being absurdly fun – the plot is there and it is more or less clear, you will not find such gameplay anywhere, and various details, such as dialogues, make the passage even more fun.
If you doubted whether it is worth taking the time to such a strange title, we boldly answer – it is worth it.