It’s that time of the year again, with the Lords attending NYCC 2025, with one of the many games I had hands-on time with being Once Upon a KATAMARI. The latest in the long-running KATAMARI franchise, my short demo experience at NYCC presented a familiar experience with some new wrinkles, keeping things fresh.
Gotta Roll ‘Em All – What is KATAMARI?
As one of Bandai-Namco’s longest-running franchises, Once Upon a KATAMARI continues the wacky tone and premise from its predecessors. As the Prince, you help the King of Cosmos craft beautiful stars, but to craft them, you need to build them up.
How does one craft a shining star? By rolling up a Katamari, of course! The main difference from prior games (at least the PS2/PS3 era installments) is that the Prince explores a 3D map, interacting with NPCs to start levels. There are no restrictions on your movement, either, and you can freely fly across the map.
A Modern Touch – Demo Impressions
The only playable level took place on a pirate ship, with the Prince slowly navigating his way through hungry pirates and getting across two pirate ships by the level’s climax. Overall controls mirror prior games, as the Prince moves around using both analog sticks.
A nice touch for accessibility, the game offers a different control scheme, where movement is fully mapped to the left stick only. You can still execute actions that the dual-stick approach allows, offering the best of both worlds.
Magnets and Watches Galore – Power Ups/Items
The newest addition to the series appears to be items that the Prince can use to make building up the Katamari easier. Present in the demo were two items: a watch and a magnet. The former freezes time for a few seconds to roll up moving objects, while the latter magnifies your Katamari, drawing in objects toward it.
These items helped ensure I got the best score possible. I’m eager to see what other items are in the full release, as they could craft strategies for creating the biggest Katamari possible. Overall, I felt the items added to the core gameplay systems.
Na-Na-Na… – Presentation & Audio
As games become more realistic, I will forever be impressed when games decide to offer something stylized and unique. The KATAMARI series continues to retain its iconic style, having lower-poly character models with bright colors and abstract designs.
Generations later, this stylized art direction looks fantastic on modern hardware. My favorite moments in the demo were seeing human-sized pirates trying to fight one another with limb movements that wouldn’t look out of place in Minecraft.
The music was also quite enjoyable, having the catchy vibes of prior games. But the sound design was a big highlight, as rolling up objects has a ‘pop’ sound, making it an addictive feeling trying to roll everything up.
Closing Thoughts on Once Upon a KATAMARI
While my experience with the franchise is surface-level, only playing the PS2 original a few years ago, it’s one of those franchises that sticks with you. Rolling up the world around you as a cute little dude in an even more surreal, wacky world is timeless.
Once Upon a KATAMARI, with its item system and seemingly more free-form progression, will delight players when it releases on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 24th, 2025.
Stay tuned for additional coverage from NYCC 2025, here at Lords of Gaming!
