Dubbed We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie, the remaster not only brings the classic back with a fresh coat of paint, but also brings with it some new content. How well does the PS2 classic hold up in this day and age, you might wonder, and that’s exactly what we’re here to discuss in this review.

"While the story is largely just an excuse to get you into the rather excellent gameplay, We Love Katamari REROLL features some rather clever meta-commentary."

Much like its predecessor, We Love Katamari is a strange game where you essentially try and roll up every single item in a level into a giant ball in order to make it into a new celestial body. The sequel’s premise essentially picks up from the events of the first game, which had the King of All Cosmos somehow destroying every single star in the universe, and enlisting his son—referred to as the Prince—into helping him repopulate the night sky. In We Love Katamari, the King of All Cosmos realizes that he should capitalize on the success of Katamari Damacy, and enlists the Prince yet again to fill up even more of the night sky with new celestial objects.

While the story is largely just an excuse to get you into the rather excellent gameplay, We Love Katamari REROLL features some rather clever meta-commentary, but completing the game’s various levels also gives us a look at the childhood life of the King, and how he eventually grew into the insane ruler of the Cosmos that we know today. We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie also brings with it a few new levels that go further into the King’s backstory, if you’re into that sort of thing, but honestly, even without the storyline, additional levels for a Katamari game would always be welcome.

"Even without the storyline, additional levels for a Katamari game would always be welcome."

When it comes to gameplay, We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie plays almost entirely like its predecessor. Rather than having direct control of the Prince and the Katamari he uses to roll things up, you instead have to think of both analogue sticks on your controller as controlling individual sides of the Prince’s body. Push the left stick forward and the prince will start rolling with his left hand, and likewise for the right stick. Moving forward is done by pushing both sticks forward, and any turns you might have to make will involve you pulling the stick on the side you want to turn to back.

While it might sound awkward when you first hear about it, and it will be quite awkward to play with for your first few levels as well, the controls ultimately start making sense in a strange way. The dual-analogue movement starts feeling incredibly intuitive, especially in the context of the item-finding and navigation puzzles that We Love Katamari’s levels can quite often devolve into.

Each level will start you off small—around the size of an eraser. Your Katamari will grow as you roll it into similarly-sized objects. If something’s too big, you’ll bounce right off it. As you grow your Katamari, you’ll start needing bigger and bigger objects to roll up. For example, an early level might have you start out with grabbing erasers, staple pins, and matchsticks, and after a minute of rolling, you’ll start grabbing bigger objects like crabs, flowers, and pencils. Get big enough and you can roll entire humans, their houses, and even their neighborhoods up into your Katamari.

Speaking of levels, there are several of them, and they aren’t as breezy as you’d imagine for such a bright, cheerful and colorful game. You’re given a strict time limit and a minimum size to which you need to grow your Katamari, and your first attempt at any level is quite likely to end in failure. Much like Katamari Damacy, We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie relies on you actually understanding the level, and figuring out more efficient routes through subsequent attempts.

"We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie relies on you actually understanding the level, and figuring out more efficient routes through subsequent attempts."

The general gameplay loop in We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie feels like a refinement over the original Katamari Damacy in quite a few ways. Levels feel better thought out, and routes look more intuitive, gradually guiding you into grabbing appropriately-sized items up into your ever-growing mass of random objects. Despite—or perhaps because of—the simple gameplay loop, it’s quite easy to end up spending hours on any level of We Love Katamari in an effort to get the best possible score you can get.

Visually, much like Katamari Damacy REROLL, We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie feels like an acid trip in all the best ways. The game never really takes anything seriously, and just about every character you meet in the story or its various levels look like insane caricatures of what a person might look like. The King of All Cosmos himself has an absolutely absurd design with proportions that make no sense, and the Prince being so tiny just adds on top of the already-absurd aesthetic.

When it comes to the visuals in levels, everything seems to have been designed with the idea of things being understandable and legible at a glance. You’re never going to be confused about the object you’re rolling the Katamari into, and the flat color palette adds quite well to this aspect of the game. 

Of course, the soundtrack and sound effects for We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie are also absolutely insane, with the soundtrack featuring quite a few incredibly-catchy songs that will end up haunting your dreams and staying with you forever. Characters never really talk using any understandable language, and instead just generally make sounds that get subtitled for you. Just about every bit of the audio/visual side of the game adds on to the surreality of the game as a whole.

"The soundtrack and sound effects for We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie are also absolutely insane."

One of the most under-appreciated aspects of the franchise is just how much fun it can be with another player. Sure, We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie features an absolutely hilarious local co-op mode that has each player trying to roll the same Katamari, but in case you only have a single controller, even just an evening of passing the controller between you and your buddies can be a great time. Once you get the hang of the controls, the objectives are instantly obvious, and the time limit in each level means that no one really ends up hogging the controller for too long.

If it hasn’t already become obvious, we absolutely adore the insanity that is We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie. It has addictive gameplay with clever level design that just begs you to keep trying to get better scores, as well as a hilarious story that gives us a glimpse into how the mind of the King of All Cosmos might work. All of this is capped off by an incredible soundtrack and fun visuals, making We Love Katamari an easy game to recommend.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

The base game is still the quality, rolling experience that fans know and love. However, an Eternal Mode allows players to keep playing with no time limit. A Selfie Mode is available to take pictures and customize them with stickers. Other changes include creating track lists while playing, indicators for barricades and goals, and more.

The new content is Royal Reverie, which offers five new challenges starring the King. Set during his youth, he undergoes rigorous training from the Great King. It showcases some of his backstory and potentially how he meets the Queen. We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

For those that missed out on these delightfully cozy two games, Klonoa started out as a charming 2.5D game that, despite feeling almost exclusively aimed at Japanese audiences, has always held on to a solid following in the west. It never came close to the bigger mascots of the 90’s that everyone knows, but it wasn’t totally obscure either. A sequel to the 1997 original would launch on the PS2 a few years later with bigger levels, fully 3D designs, and more gameplay variety, but it still stuck with the 2-D gameplay style. In both games you, guide Klonoa through 3-dimensional levels on a 2-D plane with the (at the time) unique ability to grab enemies and throw them at each other, objects of importance, or use them to double-jump and reach higher areas or close large gaps. All the while interacting with criminally adorable characters and letting the perky music continuously whisk you forward.

"That’s probably the two games’ strongest qualities; they are really good at letting the characters, levels, and music work their magic."

Levels often have alternate paths and hidden items, so some exploration and replayability is encouraged. Enemies rarely ever pursue you, but rather just go about their little routes, so it’s more about finding the spots where you fit in to grab them or just avoiding them than actually fighting with them. Because of this, difficulty is mostly a breeze in both games, but they do have some challenging moments as the different arrangements of enemies, platforms, locked doors, and objects that need enemies thrown at them provide a good amount of variety for the relatively small handful of elements that make them up. Like any good platformer, fun bosses and creative level design- that occasionally has you doing things like gliding through the air or careening down a waterslide- keep things moving well.

That’s probably the two games’ strongest qualities; they are really good at letting the characters, levels, and music work their magic. It’s also important to note that, despite clearly being inspired by more formidable platformers like Sonic and Yoshi that preceded it, you don’t really come to Klonoa to have your skills tested as much as you do to relax and enjoy the heartening levels and endearing characters. Between the personality of the two games, the variety and pacing of the stages, and the outstanding presentation of visuals and audio, it’s hard to not be enamored with these games- especially if you’re a long-time fan of the genre.

As remasters, the two games are from two very different eras, and thus, have entirely different levels of effort put into them to bring them on par with each other. Klonoa 2 on the PS2 still looks great by any measure, so here you see a more conservative touch up that seems mostly focused on performance and making everything sharper and brighter. Door to Phantomile also does this but in addition to all of the pre-rendered 2D character sprites being replaced with 3D models like Klonoa 2 has. It’s basically the Wii version but with an even newer coat of paint that I think is an improvement to that one.

"As remasters, the two games are from two very different eras, and thus, have entirely different levels of effort put into them to bring them on par with each other."

The levels have been mostly remapped with modern textures that are sure to look great for the foreseeable future with plenty of movement and personality in the backgrounds giving a nice rich look to each stage. Newer players will almost certainly appreciate this take, but I suspect some fans of the originals might prefer the slightly darker colors of those games’ levels as they do seem to help the foreground characters pop a bit more in those versions. I also feel like there is a little something lost in translation for the remaster of the original game with them dropping the sprites and redoing the pre-rendered cutscenes.

Because of this I would have liked to have seen the original version of at least Door to Phantomile playable here for preservation or even just curiosity’s sake if nothing else. The remasters look great by all accounts, but they do have a different vibe in some ways. That said, it’s hard to argue with the performance boost, that brings both games up to 60 frames and even in 4k on current gen hardware. Load times are also quite fast as they should be. There are some reports saying the Switch version has some trouble hanging on to it’s target frame-rate, but at least on the PS5, without a doubt, both games have never felt better to play, that much is for sure.

Additions to the gameplay are few but include new difficulty options to make the games even easier, and a two-player support mode which pretty much just boils down to a 2nd player being able to provide you with a massive jump on command. This can easily lead to comradery or conflict but either way it’s an amusing little touch. You also have some DLC goodies like cosmetics and a music player that you can grab separately if you want.

"Additions to the gameplay are few but include new difficulty options to make the games even easier, and a two-player support mode which pretty much just boils down to a 2nd player being able to provide you with a massive jump on command. This can easily lead to comradery or conflict but either way it’s an amusing little touch."

The audio seems very well handled here in both games all things considered- sounding slightly cleaned up in some tracks to completely reworked in others. All of it sounds good. Dialogue for Door to Phantomile sounds strikingly aged, but outside of re-recording everything there wasn’t much for developer Monkey Craft to work with here, but you can definitely hear it. As a fan of older 32-bit games and somebody that still regularly plays them, old crushed audio from the PS1 era doesn’t bother me one bit, but juxtaposed with the modern visuals here, you will notice it. Klonoa 2 doesn’t really have that problem, as the original version had the luxury of the space the PS2’s DVD-rom discs provided, so the audio has aged much better. Most importantly, the music for both games sound great across the board. All-in-all I think Monkey Craft clearly spent most of their time focusing on the areas that mattered most.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is an excellent remaster of two already-excellent games. It might not be a de facto replacement of the originals for Klonoa purists, though. The liberal overhaul of the visuals – especially of the first game – do create a slightly different tone that might not be every OG fans’ cup of tea, but I imagine if you’re in that camp yourself then you probably already have a way to play those games anyway. For everyone else, even long-time fans like myself who feel the new look is a net positive, the performance boost and reworked music is more than enough of a reason to jump in. Additional content is minimal, and I can’t stress enough how having those original versions on here would really sealed the deal, but for how well the games are handled it’s hard to not enjoy yourself with the Reverie Series. And thankfully, with the collection now available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch and Steam, Bandai Namco has made it easier to do so than ever before.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series is a bundle of two remastered titles – Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on the PlayStation One and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil from the PS2 era. Both titles have received significant improvements in character models, environments and bosses. The lighting has also changed with some scenes having a different vibe from the original games. Check out this trailer for some of the differences.

The titles support two-player co-op, but in terms of new gameplay additions, there are new difficulty settings. New players can select an Easy Mode which provides five hearts from the start, infinite lives and damage reduction.

KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series is scheduled to release tomorrow for PC via Steam. Stay tuned for when it goes live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCnxnsagRdk

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is compared with its 2008 Wii remake while Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil is compared to the original 2001 PS2 release. As the footage reveals, this isn’t a simple remaster but a complete revamp of both games’ visuals. There are major differences in character models, enemies, lighting, environmental design and much more.

KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series is out on July 8th worldwide for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. Along with co-op, it also offers new difficulty settings like Easy Mode. To check out the opening cutscenes for both games, head here. You can also watch some new gameplay footage from the Alpine Wonderland stage in Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil below.

KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series is a compilation of the first two games, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil. While the former sees our hero fighting to save Phantomile from nightmares, the latter involves investigating the mysteries of Lunatea and ultimately saving the world. Both titles offer two-player co-op and difficulty settings, including the new Easy Mode.

In this mode, you take less damage, have infinite lives and five hearts for health. Wind Bullets also travel further when shooting, making combat easier. KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series releases on July 8th for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. For more gameplay footage, check out the announcement trailer here.

There will also be physical and digital versions of the collection for Europe and Japan so collectors take note. Along with revamped visuals and two-player co-op, there are also difficulty settings. This includes Easy Mode with five hearts for health, damage taken being reduced to one-third of a heart, infinite lives and Wind Bullets traveling further when shooting.

KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series includes Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil. To see both titles in action, check out the first trailer here and stay tuned for more gameplay in the coming months.

The bizarre and wonderful world of Katamari has come to Nintendo Switch and PC. Bandai Namco Entertainment have announced that Katamari Damacy Reroll is now available on the Nintendo eShop and Steam. Check out the release trailer below to familiarize yourself with the title’s unorthodox gameplay.

The concept is fairly simple – players must use a Katamari and go around collecting all kinds of items. These are rolled up accordingly, and as the ball increases in size, you can roll up buildings, cars, entire continents, and so on. With remastered visuals and cut-scenes, Katamari Damacy Reroll ensures that the classic has never looked better.

For Nintendo Switch users, motion controls have been included. Two-player mode is also supported, with users using a single Joy-Con to control the game. It’s a weird experience for sure, but new players and veterans alike won’t be able to resist the glorious aesthetic and clever gameplay mechanics.