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 just want the same exact game as before, retaining the look, feel and vibes of the original, with just new levels and maybe one or two minute new features… especially when we’re talking about a long-dormant franchise. Case and point, Once Upon a Katamari.

I think that, visually-wise, the only difference between this game and other Katamari entries is the amount of stuff onscreen.

Once Upon a Katamari is the first actual brand new game in the series ever since the release of, gasp, Playstation Vita launch title Touch My Katamari back in 2011. The plot is the same as always (restoring the sky in the name of the magnificent King of All Cosmos by rolling a Katamari ball onto everything in sight), the music is top notch, the homoeroticism is hilarious, and the visuals, whilst a bit sharper than the previous Katamari remasters have delivered, are still the same low-poly magnificence we’ve grown to love over the past two decades. It’s the same formula from back in 2005, with more content, some new levels, and just a very minute amount of brand new inclusions that are worth mentioning.

You know what to expect. It’s Katamari. It’s a bunch of sticky balls. It’s endless fun with said sticky balls.

Honestly? Absolutely fine. In the case of a franchise that was dormant for so long, making a brand new game in the same vein as its predecessors, and not trying to reboot it or modernize to a newer audience, is exactly what Once Upon a Katamari should have been. There are some new features, such as an optional competitive multiplayer mode (I’ll be honest, it’s just passable) and a brand new control scheme, one that only uses one analog stick in order for you to control the Katamari ball. Oddly enough, the older dual-stick system just feels more intuitive. Maybe it’s some weird kind of muscle memory, virtual Stockholm Syndrome, or whatever else; I appreciated the inclusion for inclusiveness’ sake, but I stuck to the original formula.

If you ignore the optional new mode or the optional newcomer control scheme, Once Upon a Katamari is just a brand new level package. In no moment did I care about that. The cathartic and chaotic gameplay loop we all know and love is still present, is still amazing, and is still as addictive as ever. To be fair, the only thing that disappointed me about this game was the fact that a chunk of the franchise’s most iconic songs are locked behind DLC paywalls. That’s not to say that the game’s brand new OST isn’t good, but that felt a bit unnecessary. There’s no need to overly monetize something like Katamari, of all damn things.

Teach me, my liege.

In brief, Once Upon a Katamari is not an inventive game in terms of new features, but there was no need to reinvent the wh, I mean, the rolling sticky ball anyway. What we wanted was a new Katamari game after fourteen years, retaining everything we love about the franchise, and that’s exactly what we got. There’s no need to complain about it not being innovative. It’s stupidly fun, addictive as always, and downright charming, and that’s what really matters at the end of the day.

Once Upon a Katamari is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.