[Thanks to my good friend Square for the banner image!]
After Katamari Damacy was released, creator Keita Takahashi wasn’t sure about making another game in the series, citing that he didn’t see much fun and excitement in creating sequels. However, after seeing the significant fan response to the original game, and knowing that Namco was going to create more Katamari games with or without him, Takahashi decided to helm the production of We Love Katamari, which would end up being his last involvement with the series.
“I’m very honored that Katamari Damacy received various awards, and that it was called ‘innovative,’ but the most important thing is that people can laugh and enjoy themselves.”
-Keita Takahashi, Director
We Love Katamari is a puzzle-action game released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, and a direct sequel to Katamari Damacy. The story is metatextual, focusing on the King of All Cosmos’ surprise at the success of the original Katamari Damacy and working to appease the people of Earth, who have become huge fans of him and the concept of Katamari. As before, the King is far too busy to do any work and actually handle any requests from his fans, so it’s up to the Prince to roll the world up once again. The gameplay is more polished but nearly identical to the original game, focusing on rolling around large environments and picking up progressively larger objects in order to create new celestial bodies. The improvements made were to enhance and expand upon that core experience, including being able to play as the Prince’s cousins and adding additional accessory slots, as well as providing more environments and alternate tasks to the levels. And with the humor as sharp as before, We Love Katamari is just as much of a joy to play and experience as the original.
“It may look like I’m just messing around, but really, that’s what’s really lacking in games today. We’re making games, so come on, we need to make [them] more silly and fun…I wanted to make this game something that anybody could play casually and lightly, even more so than the original Katamari Damacy.”
-Keita Takahashi, Director
I’m LP’s miniscule Prince ChorpSaway and I will be rolling you along as I show the ins and outs of this very special game. Joining me are my Second Cousins TheJayOfSpade, FutureFriend, and Taoc, who all have varying experiences with the Katamari series. Together we’ll play among the stars and banter our way through the cosmos as our celestial king belittles us from afar.
I will be collecting and showing off all of the Cousins and accessories, as well as completing every unique level in the game. That’s right, even THAT level.
