I feel the cosmos -
touched by a constellation?
like that's possible
Additional Comments:
Where do I even begin? Katamari Damacy is undeniably worlds apart from anything that has come before it...or since for that matter. From the moment you lay eyes on the beautiful cover artwork depicting a pair of cows standing beneath a rainbow as a giant Katamari shouldering a stadium, Ferris wheel, sperm whale, some sort of ginormous psychedelic mushroom, and other loony devices looms in the distance, the quirky mystique that is Katamari Damacy immediately sets in, only to blossom once the disc is put into action. The colors, the characters, the story, the gameplay, the world - it's all so very...bizarre. But bizarre isn't exactly the term I'm looking for. There's more than enough weirdness going on out there in the world of video games, but there's something about Katamari Damacy that raises it to a whole new level of awe.
First off, I find Katamari Damacy a very difficult game to explain to people. It's one of those games, that despite its totally addictive tenure of brilliance and fun, there's just no way to express that thrill of play into words, especially when the gameplay is nothing more than rolling a ball, er...Katamari around and collecting everyday objects. Honestly, that sounds boring as hell no matter how hard you try to sell it. Collection games as a whole can be pretty trite in the fun department and it takes something truly special to make such a game stand out and survive more than a few short hours of gameplay, or heck even ten minutes of trial play. For me, collection games usually lose their charm fairly quick. A simple comparison can be made to a lot of the turn-based rpg's - they grow stale over time. But Katamari Damacy never befell that perilous rut; no matter how many times I had to run through Make the Moon just to pick up a couple of advertisements or Make Taurus to try and finally pick off the Holy Cow - how much I hated trying to bounce down into Seagull Park perfectly without either bouncing out or hitting one of those damn Cow-Men.
Explanation aside, even showcasing the game somehow leaves little to the imagination. Big deal! You roll a ball of glue around and snatch up everything in the world. I'll admit that when I first saw footage of the game, while it piqued my interest, I had my reservations. What sold me was everything that went along with it: the King of All Cosmos and his arrogant attitude, the nutty cutscenes about a couple of block-headed kids who appear to retain a certain intimacy with the heavens, and that oh so wonderful soundtrack. Are you kidding me!? The soundtrack is pure win!!! (But I'll get to that later...)
Once you get your hands on it though, it's something else entirely. The intro itself, for a lack of better words, is fucking orgasmic. Honestly, I've found that the best way to describe this game to anyone left in the dark, or perhaps the old naysayers, is to simply show them the intro. I somehow feel like I'm being subjected to an awkward Japanese reinterpretation of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. What the fuck is going on - or am I just stoned out of my mind!?
But seriously, the introduction is a genuine hook. And once you get into the game you just can't put it down. Unfortunately, the game is short and easy. But that's only a problem if you're just out to beat the game and move on in your tirade of video game conquests. However, if you wish to collect every object, every cousin, every named object, every gift - and heck, every country, it can take some time, especially, as I said, trying to track down some of those advertisements. Normally, I'd find this to be a fault in collection based games as a cheap way to elongate the playing time, but here it works and could almost be referenced as a godsend. Unlike most collection games, at least in my experience, Katamari Damacy forces you to look at each level in a sort of outside-the-box fashion as you try and track down the remaining objects needed to fill out your lists. This is because relative size versus world size can become an issue under certain circumstances. You have to be aware of when you need to pack some girth and where you need to be within a certain size limit. Sure, you can play the game blindly; rolling around collecting haphazardly, or you can play with some strategy as you try and tackle specific objects when necessary. Mostly, it's just fun to knock everyone about as you clumsily build your Katamari even while you're trying to buckle down and make goal.
Then you have your storylines. Between each level are some of the oddest cutscenes I've ever come across in a video game. First, there's the pompous King of all Cosmos. Whether he's carelessly throwing Royal Presents away, constantly chiding the Prince for his overall puny stature and general ineptness, or continually boasting his own efforts despite never lifting a finger except to inexplicably destroy the heavens, I have to say that the King of All Cosmos is a complete and total ass. Yet, he's strangely engaging and charismatic - like that's possible. Somehow I feel drawn to his words and find him a trusting lord of the skies.
Stacked on top of the Royal Family's dilemma is a secondary story following the Hoshino family. What a weird boat this lot is. I think I got an even bigger kick out of these scenes than I did with the Royal Family's. As the haiku says, "I feel it. I feel the cosmos," will stick with me for far too long. There's something wholly disturbing about hearing Michiru repeat this line time and time again. Maybe I'm just not in tune with the universe like she is. Sigh.
What really makes this game pop more than anything though has undoubtedly got to be the soundtrack. I don't think there's a single weak link in the chain. Every song is a total earworm; not the type you'd willingly suffer tinnitus to detract yourself from, but a series of catchy melodies that drive you to question how you ever got along without them. Seriously, the opening theme, Nana-Nan Katamari, has been stuck in my head for weeks now and I catch myself humming it all the time. No complaints here. Of course, there's incredible tracks like Katamari on the Rocks, Overture, Lonely Rolling Star, or Que Sera, Sera, but my absolute favorite(s) has to be Lovely Angel and its reconstructed form: Flavored Angel Gift. Given my soft spot for those beautifully wet synth sounds, I could listen to an endless loop of Lovely Angel for hours on end.
In the end, the game is completely out of this world, yes, but it is one of the best games I've gotten my hands on to date. It's very rare for a game to impress me so much that I want to jump immediately into its sequel. Well, Katamari Damacy managed just that. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to add We Love Katamari into my collection as of yet. A downer for sure, but I suspect I'll scratch the indelible itch soon enough.
Nano-Win:
Namco is right - the first tissue in a newly opened box of tissues is always two! What's up with that!?
Rating: 5 Smelly Cat's out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment