Yes. That is the point. There is humor in it. This was in the first game on playstation 2. The Oni are savoring your delicious rage. MUAHAHAHA. But seriously. I feel for you.

Of course I see the humor in it, but due to how much time it takes to retry, I just ignore these stages altogether. I played Katamari Forever some time around creating this post and needless to say, I didn't even try to make a large "cow/bear" at all in that game. I pretty much just completed every stage once or twice, trying to find as many Cousins and Presents as I could, and had a lot of fun. This franchise is just so loveable for the most part and I'd say the Bear/Cow stages are the only truly endless pits of annoyance I get in them.
There were other challenges in Forever that I didn't like much but, yeah, that's the only one I'm going to hate to the grave.
Still, I hope the rest of the series get PC ports too. I was so happy to see Damacy on Steam and I'll gladly buy the rest if they get ported.

First time, OP?

Originally posted by l1z4rdbr34th:

First time, OP?

Haha, absolutely not! I played We Love Katamari first, and I played the PS2 version of this game as well way before this port came out. I also completed Katamari Forever. These stages simply suck the hard lemon.

Seriously, these levels blow. It's like a dev took a look at the game and said "This is too fun for a budget title. We need to add some incredibly frustrating levels to ruin the experience."

I think this game is perfect just the way it is on the playstation 2, and the port manages to preserve that. It needs to boot in full screen, though.

They can definitely be REALLY frustrating but also very fun (and really funny) if you like challenges. Katamari would get boring very quickly if it wasnt for these stages inbetween the 'get big' ones.

Originally posted by piopio:

They can definitely be REALLY frustrating but also very fun (and really funny) if you like challenges. Katamari would get boring very quickly if it wasnt for these stages inbetween the 'get big' ones.

Thanks for bumping this 5.5ish year old post, laughed at my own self
But seriously though, these stages suck poopies out of a banana and yes that is a euphemism.

I always found them disappointing back in the day too. I guess it is a challenge to make it kind of a minefield so it's a different way to experience the mechanics, but I always preferred the constellations that boil down to "get a ton of fish/crab/etc"

I also hate these levels. I've been playing Katamari games since the first rolled out. The game itself is fantastic, these levels are tedium and anti-fun. I get that that is by design, it just should have been relegated to a side challenge rather than one of the standard levels. Technically you don't /have/ to get a particular size and can be done with the level faster than it takes tKoaC to blab about it. I've already played this game through several times on PS2, I just never realized that you unlocked 'eternal' levels after beating the game and am going back through it again so I can do what I always wanted to do in the first place and be able to casually roll around and just explore the world instead of be under a timeline.

Getting a better Bear/Cow isn't directly tied to that, but I still have that need to 'complete' the levels and am spinning on this one.

And, actually, it isn't the level or the setup. it's that they make you go through the complete cycle of map menu, king explanation, king intro, level. All they had to do was include the ability to immediately restart and there would be no issue. But, no, you have to fume through a minimum 30 second cycle to start over despite that the levels load instantaneously on modern hardware.

Those stages are the most enjoyable ones for me. I'm really glad they designed these cause without them the game wouldn't have explored its unique gameplay potential fully.

Originally posted by Teverant:

And, actually, it isn't the level or the setup. it's that they make you go through the complete cycle of map menu, king explanation, king intro, level. All they had to do was include the ability to immediately restart and there would be no issue. But, no, you have to fume through a minimum 30 second cycle to start over despite that the levels load instantaneously on modern hardware.

Yeah that's the only issue I have with them. For some reason adding QoL features is alien for Japanese devs, especially at that time.

You know, I know that ultimately, this is a level of philosophy, This is like one of those invisible cultural barriers where someone in the know sees from the sidelines and just gets ultimate joy out of watching someone go into a fury over what is intentionally infuriating.

This level is Buddhist in design, and I'll tell you why: It has nothing to do with any layer of its Japanese nature. It is Buddhist because it demands that you be present at all stages, at all sizes, at all moments. Be aware of where you are, where you are going, why you are going there, what is there. What is here. All of it.

You do indeed have the control literally in your hands to move with a deceptive level of grace once you've really got a hold on things, and all the information is around you and available to be seen and known. You can just sit up on a high hill and watch how the pattern unfolds for 12 minutes and go 'Ah' and see the windscar, the ki point, the pattern, the way.

But ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is that boulder hard to push up hill with a smile the 75th time and forward when a cab comes around the corner and you've unlocked Katamari Pinball, and Jackpots are all over the map.

Winnar!

I will admit it has been a comedy of ****ery. I have the very top of moderen (that is not a misspelling) analog stick technology in my hands with a reliable enough absence of drift and calibratable and configurable to enough degrees of sensitivity to make an unnecessary entendre.

I am being defeated by a cardboard sign or the odd calf on a floating balloon. And I know it's my fault.