This year, 2025, is shaping up to be the year of the Katamari, and I, for one, am extremely excited. Once Upon A Katamari is the first new console entry to the Katamari Damacy series since 2011, and alongside Apple Arcade's Katamari Damacy Rolling Live, it's breaking the hiatus with a bunch of new features alongside the classic charm.
Once Upon A Katamari returns us to the quirky world of the Prince and the King of all Cosmos, but this time, we're rolling up various time periods in human history to repair the Earth after the King destroys it. I got to chat to the game's producer, Ryo Ishida, about its development, new features, and legacy, and it was very insightful.
Like I said above, this is the first new console game in the series in 14 years, so I ask Ishida why 2025 feels like the right time to continue the Prince's story. He says, "There are still many fans who have been waiting for a new entry in the series after all these years," and after the positive reception from two full remasters, it's time to give it to them. The remasters themselves are wonderful, as you can tell from my 8/10 We Love Katamari review.
Once Upon A Katamari retains the previous games' cousin collection mechanic, featuring all 68 cousins from the main games scattered around the various levels. However, they now serve an extra function thanks to the Cousin Customization feature, letting you use your favorite cousin as a base for your very own character. I want to know why the team is adding this feature. Ishida expresses that "in many recent games, players can create avatars that allow them to express their individuality. We felt that if we were going to bring that kind of expression into a Katamari Damacy game, it made the most sense to let players personalize the cousins they roll with."
The team at RENGAME and Bandai Namco came up with Once Upon A Katamari's historically linear adventure by getting into the nitty-gritty of what makes the series so good. Ishida recalls, "Since this is the first brand-new console title in 14 years, we had to build it with a new team. Early in development, we interviewed team members who were deeply familiar with the Katamari Damacy series to explore what gives the franchise its unique charm. Drawing from those insights, we held further discussions within the team and used our findings to shape the world and setting of this installment."
While the game does loosely follow the path of human history, it's not exactly historically accurate, and that's on purpose. "Rather than having a strictly defined time period, we aimed to capture the feeling of 'that moment' as you would picture it in your mind. Within that concept, we carefully considered how to create and place objects that feel distinctly Katamari Damacy-like," he adds. So it's a lot more focused on whimsical recreations of landmarks and civilizations, rather than the Black Death and world wars.
Despite the colorful and quirky series feeling incredibly at home on the Nintendo Switch 2 alongside Mario games and other family-friendly titles, it didn't actually make its way to Nintendo hardware until 2018's Katamari Damacy Reroll remaster. Ishida comments that this move, plus the multi-platform release, is so that the team can share the game "with as many people as possible." As well as the Switch, Once Upon A Katamari and its predecessors run wonderfully on handheld PCs, so consider adding them to your Steam Deck game library.
This title also introduces a multiplayer mode called KatamariBall, where you can compete online against three others to earn points. Ishida explains that the idea came from the "thought that it would be fun for everyone to roll together through online multiplayer," but the mode needed more depth, otherwise it would just feel like a single-player experience.
"So, we designed a shared space that we call the 'point conversion area'. This adds a strategic layer, where you not only have to decide when to convert your katamari's size into points, but also whether to interfere with other players. We felt that this kind of interaction would create a more engaging and dynamic multiplayer experience," he continues.
One of the biggest highlights for me when Bandai Namco announced Once Upon A Katamari was the news that the game includes new songs. Katamari Damacy has one of the most iconic videogame soundtracks ever written, in my opinion. So, how is the team creating new music that fits in with the existing library, but also feels new?
"We understand that the music from past Katamari Damacy titles has been highly praised, so we aimed to create tracks that can stand proudly alongside them as a new entry. We collaborated with some of the composers from previous games to ensure the music truly captures the unique Katamari spirit."
I can't wait to dive into Once Upon A Katamari, which is out now on Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. Katamari Damacy is one of the best puzzle game series out there, and if you want to give it a go on a more portable platform, the Apple Arcade game, Rolling Live, is much of the same chaos.