Ok, this isn’t a review but I think it’s worth a read.

Katamari introspective:

Ahh Katamari, I love you so much. Your wacky story lines, colorful graphics and crisp J-pop music – it’s all so wonderfully Japanese and so childish that no one can help but love it. But wait, does Katamari hold a darker, more grown up secret? Does the game involving a prince and his father bonding hold more of a social commentary they we all thought? Is it not just a game about replacing the stars? No, no it’s something much more sinister.

The game itself revolves around a Prince and his larger than life father. Nothing, in truth, could be better than that… that is, until reality’s ugly head encroaches upon the Japanese fantasy world. The father? A drunk. The mother? Nowhere to be seen and where does that leave the little Prince? Desperately seeking the approval of his alcoholic father. Our story starts out with the King out with a few of his buddies, and after slinging back a few cold ones, the gigantic monarch decides it’s time to head home. While drunk, flying though the cosmos, the King hits and knocks out every star in the sky, including the moon (not a star, shhh). The next day he charges his only son with a quest to restore the heavens to their former glory; the son is more than happy to do this, thinking that maybe his father will notice him or even praise him for doing a good job.

Each mission is centered around the prince using his Katamari to pick up stray objects that will later be flung into space and set ablaze in an attempt to re-create the stars. I’ll get into the meaning of this later, but for now let’s stick to the Prince’s faulty family. After you complete a goal you must present the Katamari to the king so that he may toss it skywards, being that you are too tiny to do so yourself. Despite this being a simple matter, the king always feels the need to butt his own opinion into everything he does or sees. Depending on the size of the Katamari the King will give you different levels of “praise”. If you miss the goal or just hardly make it the king will mock you, and rightly so. If you beat the goal by 10%-20% he will simply state “Ours would have been much bigger.” If you do really well he will say something along the lines of “Well I suppose this is all I can expect from one as small as you,” and even if you double the goal and he is impressed, he will then just fling it into the sky and set it on fire with little to no remorse. And once again, the mother is nowhere in sight. That can’t be good for a kid’s self-esteem.

As I said before, you use a Katamari or giant sticky ball to pick up everything that will fit. Now think about this – the game is about a prince trying to earn his father’s respect by collecting trinkets. In the beginning of the game, much as in real life, you start out collecting little things; cards, gum, and toys. As you progress you work your way up to bigger things like cars, houses and people. Think of it: you work so hard to collect these things and then present them as a gift to your father and he mocks their worth and then sets them on fire in front of you. By the end of the game you have collected enough stuff to rebuild the sky and the King stands up and says “Yes, the stars are back, and now you may thank your king”… not even a whisper of gratitude to his son…