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Monday 14 January, 2008
#1
Summary:
In We Love Katamari you play as the Prince the main character from the previous Katamari game. In We Love Katamari the controls are the same and so is the objective to make your Katamari as big as possible. The Katamari will stick to objects smaller than itself and as it continues to grow the Katamari is able to pick up bigger and bigger things which range from pencils, balls, cats, cars, houses and even planets. Throughout the game you perform tasks for people using your Katamari. After each task is complete the Katamari created is turned into a star, planet, or stardust. The game play mechanic is much like the original Katamari Damacy but what separates this sequel is the versus mode. In this versus mode you play head to head in a race to see who can make the better Katamari which you can now play against friends and family.
Gameplay:
Since I have never played the Original Katamari game I wasnt used to the game controls. But the Tutorial in the beginning helped a lot. I felt an adrenalin rush especially when times almost up and I didn't have a big enough Katamari. The game was very exciting because the Katamari dynamic it was fun seeing how big of an object you could actually roll up. I always tried to go bigger and bigger. I think the simplicity and the curiosity of how big you could go got me hooked for hours. What made it fun also was the interesting levels which were all very different. Your smaller in some levels over other levels which made it scary in away to see how small you were. They were really small and what was cool was that once you hit a certain size you could leave the area you were in to go to another area which you can only access once you reached a certain size. This concept made me feel anxious to discover all the areas and get my Katamari bigger. The new feature the 2 player versus mode was intense. Me and my brother went at it and its fun because you can smash into others and knock things off their Katamari making it very competitive.
#2
Gameplay:
What changed for me the second time I played was my understanding of the maps and objectives. The were some tasks with the Katamari that didn't involve making it as big as possible but to eat certain things or get it to a certain size. Sometimes I didn't know where certain items were on the map and took multiple attempts to beat certain tasks. Over mastery of the controls took time as well because the bigger the Katamari the harder it is to move so know how to change camera perspective is very important so that you know where to move. Knowing where to go is important because when your Katamari gets to a certain size the things around you wont give you as much growth for your Katamari so you need to find a better place to pick things up. If you don't know where your going then you waste time which means that you most likely wont meet the size you were aiming for. So by know how to control the camera and memorizing levels makes it easier to meet the tasks that you were faced with.
Design:
For design I am going to start with the bad then shift to the good. There isn't much bad to say about this game except that I felt the cut scenes were a waste. They didn't help explain much about the purpose of the game and why certain things occur in the game. Like why is the Katamari so important? Also whats the story behind the Prince's cousins that you find in some of the levels. Other then the cut scenes which were animated beautifully still made no sense to me. Maybe its because I didn't play the first Katamari game I am not entirely sure but its a fun game regardless. One of the good and probably most important things about this game next to the innovation of the Katamari ball is the level design. Each level is not only different but are divided into different levels which can be accessed through the size of the Katamari. You can only go to certain areas if your Katamari is a certain size. This concept in the level design was cool because it keeps the player interested or curious about the possibilities of the Katamari. I feel curious about how big could I actually get the Katamari and what were the hardest areas to reach in the game. The level design is what kept me interested into the game. The graphics were nice I think it was cell shaded but don't quote me on it. I also thought that the idea of rolling a ball around that picks up everything it touches was a very innovative idea and thats what made the game initially appeal to me because I haven't seen a game like that before. The game keeps players interested by setting theses goals or the player him or herself setting their own goals like my goal was to get the katamari as big as possible. One of the coolest things I liked about the game was how at the end of every level the Katamari you made was turned into a star, stardust, or a planet. This was cool and a nice touch because on the last level where your goal is to roll up the Sun you use all the stars and planets you created to make this HUGE and ultimate Katamari. What also made this game really fun to play was that its a very simple game and that anyone can pick it up without any previous experience with the game and be pretty good at it.
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