My Review of "Katamari Damacy REROLL (PS4)"

Katamari Damacy REROLL (PS4) came out in 2020 just 16 years after the original had come out. Only recently was it put on sale on the PlayStation Network Store. At $15 Canadian I couldn't pass it up because I had so many fond memories with this game. Plus it was an easy way to score more PlayStation trophies. Yes I'm that guy that collects trophies...

Right from the get go this game screams nostalgia for me. All the wonderful music is still there from the original and the incredibly weird cut scenes. This new REROLL version has new cut scenes but lets be honest, I don't really play this game for the ridiculous story. There are a ton of people that really like this wacky sense of humor though. For those that love the story from the PS2 version, you'll feel at home with the new revisions. I unfortunately, skipped all that because I just love rolling.

And that's what you're going to do for a lot of the game. It's all rolling this ball and like a snowball effect. You will continue to get bigger as you roll and collect more and more objects. That's the beauty of this game though. It's so simple but yet so satisfying when you get gigantic and start eating people and cars.

Some notable updates to the game is that the colors are more vivid on your new high definition television and the horrific slowdown that plagued the PS2 versions of the past are absolutely gone. I didn't notice any slowdown when I played this game. In the past, a whole slew of things could be happening on the screen at once and the PS2 wasn't capable of keeping up. So often there was slowdown when the game got chaotic.

That's not to say that they updated the graphics. The graphics seem pretty much the same as they were back in the PS2 days but with slightly more vivid colors and everything remained sharp even in 4k (I was playing this on a PS5 so that may have had an effect on the slowdown too).

Really nothing much has really changed other than some graphical touches and the story. That's not a bad thing at all but why didn't they do this with We Love Katamari as well. That's the sequel to Katamari Damacy in 2005. I remember loving that game even more because you could grow into a bigger ball and eat worlds and galaxies. That game really suffered from the PS2 slowdown and would have really benefitted from the new REROLL upgrade.

Then again if you look at the game, it really feels like they can just slap this game on a cell phone. That's what they've done as well. I'm sure this game actually lends itself way better on the cell phone as well because it's just a pick up and play kind of game. However, I do truly appreciate being able to play a game like this one the big screen.

There's something therapeutic about it. I can't really explain it. I think it's just because it's simple. Although you start off small with everyone picking on you, you will soon grow big enough to eat your bullies later on in the game.

Overall, I still had a blast playing this game. I'm hoping that this REROLL version will spawn other REROLL editions of the Katamari series. They had one for every PlayStation system from the PS2 and up. I have to give this game a 7 out of 10. I really wished that they included both PS2 titles in this update. It would have made me give it a way higher score. With only the original, I would say the gameplay is a bit limited.