I've finally been able to get my hands on the Sony PlayStation 2 title Katamari Damacy, the quirky ball-rolling action puzzler from Namco. After hearing so many people sing the game's praises I decided to had to try it, but since it wasn't produced in overly mass quantities and few people want to give the game up, it's been hard to find. I wound up renting the game and have finally been properly introduced to the King of All Cosmos and his assignments for the Prince.
I like the rolling. I like rolling the katamari around to pick up things, and Earth really is full of things: coins, fish, eggs, beach balls, flowers, fences, people... the list goes on and on. I like watching the katamari grow in size. I hate how big people kick the katamari around and cost me precious time, but I like returning to those same people later with a larger katamari and rolling them up like they were a coin, a fish, an egg...
So what don't I like about Katamari Damacy? I don't like to fail the King. As video gamers we've all learned to shake off our digital failures. I've been blown to bits and failed missions more times than I can count, but for some reason when I fail at Katamari, I take the failure personally. Why? Because the King of All Cosmos comes down from on high (all three kilometers of him compared to the little five centimeter Prince) and berates me. The catch is that his insults are written in such a way that I feel bad for letting him down. I feel like I need to try harder to win his favor, something that never seems to happen no matter how many things I roll up. Say what you will about gameplay and graphics, but when a game character makes me feel like an incompetent failure, that game has to have something special going on at some level.
