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Katamari Damacy ships! Anyone get it yet?
- Thread starter Rhage
- Start date
Pretty disappointing so far. The camera sucks ass, and I thought that the ball-control was going to be more straightforward, rather than all this nonsense about having to rotate around the ball.....it's like some fucked-up variant of Tomb Raider controls.
I don't like that you can't just roll up an incline....you have to stop, then push, bonking stuff off the katamari a couple times before it actually goes up a hill.
It's only really fun when the ball is pretty large, but that's only for the last 20% of the time you spend in each stage. Most of the time you are just pinballing off of crap because there's never any way to tell whether you can pick it up or if it's a barrier. A lot of times it seems like something is small enough to pick up, but it isn't. It takes forever to get your ball to a decent size, but once you have then the size increasing comes pretty easily.
I can't see myself bothering to go back to any of the stages for a better score, it's just not really fun enough for that.
I don't like that you can't just roll up an incline....you have to stop, then push, bonking stuff off the katamari a couple times before it actually goes up a hill.
It's only really fun when the ball is pretty large, but that's only for the last 20% of the time you spend in each stage. Most of the time you are just pinballing off of crap because there's never any way to tell whether you can pick it up or if it's a barrier. A lot of times it seems like something is small enough to pick up, but it isn't. It takes forever to get your ball to a decent size, but once you have then the size increasing comes pretty easily.
I can't see myself bothering to go back to any of the stages for a better score, it's just not really fun enough for that.
border said:
To each his own. I had the same camera and control gripes near the start of the game, but they faded as I got better with the controls and learned to control in a way as to not get the camera stuck places.
Most of my replaying hasnt been for higher scores but just for fun. I love going about levels different ways.
I kinda agree. I havent touched the game since the day i got it. I mean, its.. fun to a certain degree, but the camera system is beyond flawed. Rolling over stuff is fun for a while, but even when I got it, i only played for 20-30 minutes runs. I dont see myself replaying it after finishing every level. I know you can unlock infinite modes and so on, but thats it. My interestin the game faded very quickly.
My gf can't stand the controls either... but she's a videogame neophyte and doesn't get what I mean when I say "it controls kinda like Battlezone"
I, on the other hand, absolutely adore the game when I have a katamari larger than 2m. Picking up people, then cows, then cars, then buildings, and so on, rocks.
I am surprised that more people haven't chimed in with negative comments. Katamari has flaws and it's the kind of game that some people "just won't get." At $20 though, it was sure worth the risk for me to find out.
I, on the other hand, absolutely adore the game when I have a katamari larger than 2m. Picking up people, then cows, then cars, then buildings, and so on, rocks.
I am surprised that more people haven't chimed in with negative comments. Katamari has flaws and it's the kind of game that some people "just won't get." At $20 though, it was sure worth the risk for me to find out.
I like that the controls are more like Battlezone and less like Billy Hatcher. The camera does get stuck behind things once in awhile, but it's not as bad as a lot of the highly regarded games of today. The ball is a bit slow moving though, tracking down people running from you isn't really worth it often. I use the switch-around manuever a lot to change directions quickly or to get around wall issues.
I wholeheartedly agree. To some, it's just a short, shallow, and somewhat flawed game. To others, it is pure joy pressed onto a disc, "flaws" be damned. I fall further into the joy camp.Yusaku said:
I've played the game basically daily since I got it. Sometimes for brief sessions, sometimes for long sessions, but it's a game I keep coming back to just because I genuinely WANT to play it. There haven't too many games I've felt that way about lately.
For example, as much as I love Phantom Brave, I haven't gone back to play it in a couple of weeks. Now that's a game I really love, but I just don't feel compelled all the time to play it.
Geezus christ. The controls are some of the most simplistic in any game ever and yet you complain? And the camera, eh? That's definitely reaching. Best camera ever? No. But the size of the ball is supposed to restrict your view until it "upgrades" at certain sizes. Its not even that hard of a game. Its not as if the bad camera is going to cause you to jump into a bottomless pit or fall off a platform and die or something.
Game Challenge shouldn't be in the controls, but rather in the game design.
I think Monkey Ball controls would be much better suited for this title.\
But I don't have any problem with Katamari's controls now.
EDIT: any of you ever see a street sign or a line of fences while driving and wish you could roll them up?
I think Monkey Ball controls would be much better suited for this title.\
But I don't have any problem with Katamari's controls now.
EDIT: any of you ever see a street sign or a line of fences while driving and wish you could roll them up?
bobbyconover
Member
shuri said:
I don't think you're dealing with that kind of crowd here. Who could possibly get uppity about Katamari? It exudes joyous whimsy and peacefulness!
I honestly don't "get" the comments about the camera, though. I've played a million games and have had major problems with the camera in many of them, but this one has always seemed fine - good, even - to me. Same with the tank-style controls. And the bit about never knowing when you can pick up larger items (from border) is debatable, too. I actually like having to keep mental note of which items I can pick up when. It didn't take long at all for me to be able to play through the levels with a minimum of pinballing around off of too-large objects, because after one or two tries I already had a "feel" for which objects could be picked up at each size increase.
I dunno though. I really do doubt anyone will throw fits over your comments, or even border's. We (for the most part, going on other posts in this thread) just kinda agree to disagree. And really, it's pretty lame to try to incite belligerence in one of the few rare instances where it doesn't appear naturally on the GAF. Oh I know, you were kidding. But kinda not.
p.s. - Kirby's Air Ride rules!
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Truelize said:
Dragona Akehi
Retired
It it talks like a parrot, is it not a parrot? 
If there's a reasonable explanation, he's free to PM me about it. (No I'm not being sarcastic.)
If there's a reasonable explanation, he's free to PM me about it. (No I'm not being sarcastic.)
Geez, it looks like I'm just about to beat it. I just started playing like a few hours ago =P
As for the camera -- it just seems like it is always pulled in too close, and objects should g translucent when you're between them and the camera. It's difficult to track moving objects, and the fact that they have to have an alarm that goes off when a vehicle is too close is pretty much evidence that they knew there were problems.
As for the controls -- I just don't like the tank/Tomb Raider stuff. It doesn't exactly help that once your ball reaches a certain size, you can't see your character anymore, and thus don't really know which way you're facing or which way to rotate. Why not just have the ball roll in whatever direction you push?
This game kind of strikes me as Grand Theft Auto for kids. Partially because there's just a funny moral ambiguity to it. But also like GTA, either you are going to get such a kick out of the craziness and mayhem that you overlook some rather obvious technical problems, or you probably don't quite get it.
I'll keep at it, because the later stages have been better. So far I would advise people looking to support quirky niche games to just save their twenty bucks and put it towards Alien Hominid. Kinda wish I had...
As for the camera -- it just seems like it is always pulled in too close, and objects should g translucent when you're between them and the camera. It's difficult to track moving objects, and the fact that they have to have an alarm that goes off when a vehicle is too close is pretty much evidence that they knew there were problems.
As for the controls -- I just don't like the tank/Tomb Raider stuff. It doesn't exactly help that once your ball reaches a certain size, you can't see your character anymore, and thus don't really know which way you're facing or which way to rotate. Why not just have the ball roll in whatever direction you push?
This game kind of strikes me as Grand Theft Auto for kids. Partially because there's just a funny moral ambiguity to it. But also like GTA, either you are going to get such a kick out of the craziness and mayhem that you overlook some rather obvious technical problems, or you probably don't quite get it.
I'll keep at it, because the later stages have been better. So far I would advise people looking to support quirky niche games to just save their twenty bucks and put it towards Alien Hominid. Kinda wish I had...
Yesterday night, I said to myself: "Ok, I'm only going to do Stage 6 tonight, and that's it. I have two quizzes in tutorials I should be studying for, so I can only stand for about 10 minutes of game. Here we go."
...I ended up studying on the bus on the way there the next morning.
Yeah, I did the last 7 stages I could and I beat it. I just couldn't get enough of it. And seriously, I felt like rolling up tons of stuff today. Sitting, waiting for the bus, I thought the little rocks on the side of the road would be a nice start for a katamari, though I'd have to watch out for the cars in the beginning. And sometimes I find myself talking like the King of Cosmos... it's great.
For the record, I've called two people "dimwit prince," and when asked what I did the previous night, I respond "I made mine over 450 meters big last night. IT WAS CRAZY, you should have been there." Yes, plenty of awkward faces.
...I ended up studying on the bus on the way there the next morning.
Yeah, I did the last 7 stages I could and I beat it. I just couldn't get enough of it. And seriously, I felt like rolling up tons of stuff today. Sitting, waiting for the bus, I thought the little rocks on the side of the road would be a nice start for a katamari, though I'd have to watch out for the cars in the beginning. And sometimes I find myself talking like the King of Cosmos... it's great.
For the record, I've called two people "dimwit prince," and when asked what I did the previous night, I respond "I made mine over 450 meters big last night. IT WAS CRAZY, you should have been there." Yes, plenty of awkward faces.
I don't know. The controls feel VERY natural and intuitive to me. Just pretty simple and straightforward dual stick control. I wouldn't have expected anything else. Just making it go in whatever way you push the stick doesn't make that much sense. A gigantic ball of crap just wouldn't be that easy to control.border said:
I've played enough of Alien Hominid to know it'll be awesome =) I don't really see how they can screw it bigtime.
Now that Metal Slug is officially dead, a successor has gotta step forward.
A map function or something might have been nice. When the King of Cosmos tells you where to go next, it zooms across the map so quickly that unless you're really close you won't have any idea how to get there. Kinda defeats the purpose of doling out hints in the first place...
Now that Metal Slug is officially dead, a successor has gotta step forward.
A map function or something might have been nice. When the King of Cosmos tells you where to go next, it zooms across the map so quickly that unless you're really close you won't have any idea how to get there. Kinda defeats the purpose of doling out hints in the first place...
border said:
I don't think you could miss the point of Katamari more if you tried. I can only think of two times where the camera/controls were ever an issue. If you haven't noticed, the camera adjusts every time your katamari gets bigger to compensate for the additional size.
If you can't enjoy this game I honestly feel sorry for you. You're missing out.
I can understand complaints about the camera. I don't necessarily agree with them, but I can understand them. But the complaints about the controls I don't get. The controls are VERY natural, VERY intuitive, and absolutely perfect for this kind of game. It feels as natural to me as using a d-pad to run around in a 2D platformer. It's simple, it's straightforward, and it's very easy to control, while at the same time maintaining the notion that you are in fact rolling around a giant ball of crap that has its own inertia and doesn't really want to be controlled once it gets moving.border said:
Personally, I don't see any other control type even working for this game, let alone being as engrossing and exacting as the game's control.
I don't think the controls are inordinately "hard" per se, I've just never enjoyed the tank setup where you have to rotate your character along an axis just to turn. You can get used to the way it works of course, but it's not what I would call intuitive or fluid. I think there's a reason that the major games that used tank controls (Tomb Raider, Resident Evil) have tried to evolve beyond it =)
carbonbased
Member
:lol
I love this game.
I beat the game last night. Quick remarks:
--One of the best games I've played this gen, or last.
--The length was just right: the game had the good sense to stop offering content before it repeated itself too much. $20 was the right price for the game, too. I don't see the need for a Katamari Damacy 2, but I'll buy it if it comes out, on general principle.
--Some complaints in this thread about controls. The controls are perfect. PN03 is the classic example of crap, tank-like controls that gamers defend under the pretense that the controls make the game "old-school" or "hardcore." KD's controls have none of the craptitude of PN03's. As long as you don't get a light pole or a suspension bridge stuck in the katamari, you can steer that thing all over the place. PN03 will never control well.
--The music RULES. Every single track.
--This is a good instance of designing the game around the limitations of the hardware. In order to render a world with so many objects and still have a high framerate, all of the objects had to have a low polygon count. But the designers turn that into an aesthetic advantage. So in the cutscenes, where there are no artistic restrictions, the characters still have square heads and stiff animation. Genius.
--More games should be rude to gamers when they screw up. The King of the Cosmos RULES.
--One of the best games I've played this gen, or last.
--The length was just right: the game had the good sense to stop offering content before it repeated itself too much. $20 was the right price for the game, too. I don't see the need for a Katamari Damacy 2, but I'll buy it if it comes out, on general principle.
--Some complaints in this thread about controls. The controls are perfect. PN03 is the classic example of crap, tank-like controls that gamers defend under the pretense that the controls make the game "old-school" or "hardcore." KD's controls have none of the craptitude of PN03's. As long as you don't get a light pole or a suspension bridge stuck in the katamari, you can steer that thing all over the place. PN03 will never control well.
--The music RULES. Every single track.
--This is a good instance of designing the game around the limitations of the hardware. In order to render a world with so many objects and still have a high framerate, all of the objects had to have a low polygon count. But the designers turn that into an aesthetic advantage. So in the cutscenes, where there are no artistic restrictions, the characters still have square heads and stiff animation. Genius.
--More games should be rude to gamers when they screw up. The King of the Cosmos RULES.
Wow, this game is very cool! definetely worth 30$ CAN.
I've been bored lately but my september month of games really did refresh my views!
thanks to Pikmin2 + Gradius 5 + Katamary Damashi!!
EDIT: wanted to ask you guys, does the game freezes on you? It happened to me 2 times in 2 days so far. I was just rolling (pretty fast i must say) and then it froze without apparent reasons.
I've been bored lately but my september month of games really did refresh my views!
thanks to Pikmin2 + Gradius 5 + Katamary Damashi!!
EDIT: wanted to ask you guys, does the game freezes on you? It happened to me 2 times in 2 days so far. I was just rolling (pretty fast i must say) and then it froze without apparent reasons.
bobbyconover
Member
Wyzdom said:
Never here, and I've played both the import and the US version a ton, not to mention that my PS2 typically does freeze up pretty easily.