52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[dhaabi]

01. Cozy || PC || 01.04.2026



While looking for a short game in my itch.io backlog to play, Cozy caught my attention. I don't exactly remember how I originally came across it, but I imagine it was from a while back when searching for free point-and-click games, or free horror games, or perhaps games with both genre tag descriptors.

Nevertheless, the game offers a casual point-and-click puzzle adventure experience that doesn't take long to complete, and its winter setting was a perfect complement to this time of year. When the game begins, the player-character has just driven into the wintry woods to check on their uncle, as he lives in isolation. When we finally reach his home, however, things are clearly awry; so, we as the player are required to interact with the environment to solve simple puzzles by using and combining found items to make progress toward continuing our search and then, later, escape the woods using our vehicle. Throughout the game, players will navigate a handful of rooms each with their own items to collect or to utilize in a specific order. And like in typical point-and-click adventure fashion, brief narration toward the actions being made or being attempted are present, alongside enough text relating to failed solutions that's engaging enough that will temporarily baffle players.

Despite its name, Cozy maintains an off-putting atmosphere that becomes more impressive as players venture further inside the uncle's cabin and the sun sets and then disappears to bring nightfall. To my surprise, the game actually managed to incite a sense of fear within me, though there is one trite implementation of a jumpscare midway through the playthrough, which is a tool I almost always find to be reductive toward crafting any meaningful horror. Regardless, the horror ambiance is subtle until it's all of a sudden not, which was unnerving. However, I didn't find the final moment before the game's end credits to be successful, as it botched the emotional turmoil that had just been elevated to a peak to instead deliver a lackluster concluding visual.

Overall, Cozy is an okay horror experience to pass a short fifteen minutes or so. It's not particularly original, but it manages to provide a thoughtful implementation of an interactive short horror story effectively.

[telekill]

And the first game I've completed for 2026 is TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (Arcade) from the Cowabunga Collection on PS5. Played some co-op with my son for a fun time.

[kamikazekeeg]

2 - Cassette Beasts (PC 2023) - BEAT - As someone that's fallen off Pokemon hard with the state of their games from the Switch era, it was nice to have a monster collecting game that calls back to the old sprite era, but doing it with a 3D world, and introducing some cool unique mechanics.  It very much follows what you expect of a Pokemon-like game, but does it in a way that doesn't feel so hand holdy like Pokemon usually is.  I know those are made for kids, but they just don't really take into account at all that a huge audience of the games is adults.  Not that this is super mature or anything, but it feels less like a childrens game while still being family friendly.

Good art, good music, some light voice work to add character, it's all a real nice package, highly recommend it if i you want a more old school feeling Pokemon experience.

[bikingjahuty]

5. Dead or Alive 6 (PS4)

Up until last year, most of my love for the DOA series was the result of one game in the series, DOA2. I played the hell out of DOA2 on my Dreamcast and PS2 back in the early 2000s. The combination of its fast, action packed gameplay and umm...certain female character attributes heavily appealed to my teenage brain at the time. While I have dabbled in some of the later entries in the series, I'm a little bit surprised and disappointed I didn't play some of the later mainline DOA games more until 2024. Having played so much DOA relatively recently has definitely helped me decide which games I like better than others. In all honesty, they're all pretty good, some do stand out as being better than others for one reason or another. The final mainline DOA game I still needed to get my hands dirty with was the latest entry in the series, DOA6. And well, DOA6 was in many ways one of the most surprisingly good entries in the series while also being somewhat of a disappointing step backwards for the series as well.


I'll start things off on a positive note and say DOA6 might have the best gameplay in the entire series. Seriously, this game is so incredibly fun to play! Controlling nearly every character feels fluid, intuitive, and accessible than any other entry in the series. That's not to say this game is easy, but it certainly does make feeling like an absolute champion in a DOA game easier than ever as you're stringing together crazy combos and counters while the typical craziness of a DOA game plays out around you. This great gameplay is in no small part thanks to the knew Break system which acts as both a combo breaker and super system simultaneously. There is a gauge that fills up as you fight and once it reaches a certain level of fullness you can unleash a variety of supers on your opponent. The closest thing I can think of in terms of a similar system, both in implementation and how it looks (albeit WAY less violent) is the Xray special system in the newer Mortal Kombat games. I had a hard time wanting to stop playing this game, which isn't always the case when it comes to me playing fighting games.


Like most DOA games, DOA6 has many unlockables, mostly relating to costumes and accessories you can obtain for the fairly impressively sized toster of characters. Unfortunately, DOA6 has the distinction of having the most grindy unlockables system in any fighting games I've ever played. You don't just unlock costumes like you do in all previous DOA games. You literally unlock pieces of costumes by playing as the various characters, which also require you buy the costume with in game currency. Of course, being a modern video game, costumes and in game money can be purchased using real money, but I guess in a way it's nice they allowed you to unlock most of this content without needing to purchase it via DLC. Of course, there is plenty of content that is only paid DLC too, including a decent chunk of characters. But yeah, if you want to unlock anything decent in this game, be prepared to play this game for hours upon hours, sometimes for a single character costume. It's bullshit to be honest.


As mentioned, DOA6 was as much of a step forward as it was a fairly big step backwards. While DOA6 totes possibly the best gameplay in the franchise, it also tripped the series of a lot of its identity thanks to some questionable artistic decisions. Like it or not, DOA as a whole is loved just as much for its fun gameplay as it is for its overly sexualized female characters, over the top jiggle physics, and unapologetic promotion of TnA. While this part of DOA certainly appealed to me more as a guy in his teens, it's still an undeniable part of what makes a DOA game what it is and without it, the game just feels off. It's like if Mortal Kombat removed the blood and fatalities (MK vs DCU anyone?); it just doesn't work. Female characters have been undeniable defanged and the almost patented jiggle physics are almost non existent. I don't know whose decision it was to change these things or tone down the sex appeal of the female characters, but it honestly makes this game feel a bit generic and not as DOAish as nearly all other entries.


But even if DOA6 had all those staples of the DOA franchise in them, the game still doesn't look that much better than DOA5, a game originally released on 7th gen hardware. Stages are a noticeable downgrade as well. While there are a few memorable ones, many are simply generic looking Japanese villages or fighting rinks. There is far less verticality in stages too, meaning less opportunities to kick your opponent off rooftops or cliffs, and have them crash into the hard ground 50 feet below. Even the character models don't look as detailed or polished as they did in DOA5, which also includes the swear, damage, and dirt effects present in that game. This is still a fairly good looking game, but not nearly as good as a the previous entry in the series.


Finally, the soundtrack in this game is probably one of the worst in any DOA games I've ever played. DOA soundtracks jsut have this catchy, coolness to them that makes nearly all of them great. Unfortunately, DOA6 doesn't have a single track I really liked, yet at the same time none of them feel woefully out of place or offensive to the ears either. It's essentially a serviceable soundtrack, nothing more. Aside from the OST, the sound effects and voice acting is pretty good, at least if you turn on the Japanese voice audio.


I absolutely will be returning to DOA6 again at some point, albeit it will be almost exclusively for the game's stellar gameplay. It's a real shame this game didn't continue many of the staples the DOA series is known for or put more time and effort into the overall presentation of this game. This could have easily been one of the best DOA games ever made, if not the very best had they done so. But with how good this game plays, it's hard to be disappointed with DOA6 and I'd still strongly recommend people play it, even if it fell off the wagon in other ways. (1/5/26) [35/50]

[bikingjahuty]

First abandoned game of the year.


1. Castlevania (NES) - ABANDONED

Even though I was born in the mid 80s and many of my family, friends, and neighbors growing up had NES consoles, I'm still a bit ashamed to admit that the NES is just a little too old school for me. Most NES games I've played, even the ones that are considered among the best on the console, I typically get minimal enjoyment out of. The combination of archaic gameplay, annoying old video game mechanics, and just general technical limitations keep me from enjoying vast swaths of the NES's library. Still, with that said I'll occasionally I'll get the urge to play an NES game.


Given how much I've fallen in love with the Castlevania franchise in recent years, I decided I was going to play some of the game that started it all. Keep in mind this isn't my first rodeo with the original Castlevania. Many years ago when I still collected NES games and thought I liked the console way more than I actually did, I got my own copy of Castlevania, played it quite a bit for about a week, and then just never had any desire to pick it back up. I can't remember how far I got, but all I remember is not beating it back then. I decided I was going to try it out again and see if maybe I had misjudged the game or possibly I'd find myself enjoying it more if I played it now. Unfortunately, that was not the case.


Like many "hard" NES games, its difficulty is more the result of technical limitation and poor game design than the deliberate planning of Konami back in 1987. The placement of enemies, the slow, stiff controls, the annoying knockback, and of course needing to restart a stage when you die, all will drain your motivation to continue playing. As you play through Castlevania more and more, you will learn to compensate and adjust to its meh gameplay, even at times tricking yourself into thinking it's maybe not that bad. But then you'll reach some section later in the level or on the next will will make you wish you were playing a better game. As I'll soon discuss, there is so much I do like about the original Castlevania, however its gameplay is definitely not one of them and had me quitting just before I reached the boss, Death. I do not enjoy playing this game or think it's fun, but that's not to say I hate everything about Castlevania.


From a visual and audio standpoint, Castlevania is a very appealing game. I'm a sucker for horror aesthetic and art direction in video games, and Castlevania nails it with its gorgeous 8-bit pixel artwork. The is a surprising level of detail in every stage. Enemies and especially bosses all look great and do an excellent job of representing whatever monsters they were meant to look like. This game's art is a true love letter to the horror genre and I could not get enough of it as I trudged through actually playing this game. Castlevania's audio is also pretty excellent and has some truly catchy and iconic tunes. I also am a fan of the sound effects weapons made and just the overall sound design Konami was able to accomplish here.


Castlevania is a game I really, really want to like. I can almost forgive this game for being the first entry in the series and creating the blueprint that future titles would improve upon (well, except Simon's Quest maybe). Unfortunately by the time i get to the Frankenstein boss battle, I'm just so burnt out and honestly a little bored with playing this game that I just don't really want to play anymore. At this point, I'm fairly certain I'll never actually beat Castlevania, but that's honestly okay with me. I've played enough of it at two separate times in my life to know this game isn't for me, and luckily i have a ton of newer titles that I enjoy significantly more. (1/6/26) - ABANDONED

[ssj4yamgeta]

1: Tomb Raider II

The first game was rough, but thankfully the second game was a massive improvement. By itself, getting rid of the horrible single-use save crystal system and replacing it with a save-anywhere system was such a massive improvement that it made the game playable without resulting to save states (though I still used them to avoid sitting through a loading screen every time I died). TR2 was also a considerable improvement both visually and in level design. There were two levels in particular, Barkhang Monastery and Temple of Xian, that I actually enjoyed playing and look back on fondly. I feel like TR2 will be the high point of the original trilogy. Now on to TR3, which I'm already 2 levels into... and brought back the damn save crystals... yeah, not looking forward to this one.

Completed:

Tomb Raider II

In Progress:

Tomb Raider III (Evercade)
Mafia: The Old Country (PS5)
Final Fantasy IV Advance (PC via emulation)

[bikingjahuty]

6. Castlevania (NES)


I'd originally given up on Castlevania yesterday due to how little fun I was having just prior to getting to the Death boss. After trying years ago to beat this game, and once again the other day, I fully realized once more that I'm not a fan of the first Castlevania game, or really most NES games for that matter. Still, a little voice in my head kept on egging me to return to it, if for nothing else than to say, "yep, I beat the original Castlevania." And stubbornly, that's what I chose to do. However, after beating Castlevania, I somewhat wish I hadn't.


Like most "hard" NES games, the game's difficulty stems more from gameplay limitations of the time, poor game design, and just really outdated mechanics. Castlevania is a prime example of this, and this game drives me crazy even when it's not at its most relentlessly difficult. Moving is very stiff and slow, jumping and even basic platforming is overly difficult, navigating stairs sucks, and certain sections of this game feel very half baked in terms of their design. This game is a literal test of patience and endurance over how many cheap shots and needless deaths the player can endure before wanting to turn the console off and just walk away. The gameplay isn't all bad however, but whatever it does right, it easily does two or three other things wrong.


The presentation in Castlevania is fantastic and I adore the gothic horror art direction of the game and how well the artists at Konami portrayed this with 8 bit pixels. Bosses and enemies are mostly all great and memorable, and there is a level of detail not seen in many other NES games for the time. The soundtrack is also very memorable and catchy and goes so well with everything else going on. In many ways, Castlevania's presentation really carries it and makes it a standout game on the NES.


While I am happy in a way that I beat Castlevania, I didn't necessarily feel a sense of accomplishment or even really relief. I was just sort of pissed off and a little annoyed with myself that I just HAD to go back and play this game again. I didn't enjoy it when I played and dropped it yesterday, and I enjoyed it even less getting through the rest of the game, include two of the most obnoxiously annoying bosses in the entire game. I definitely don't plan on playing Castlevania ever again and will instead spend my time with the newer entries that definitely refined nearly everything from the first game. (1/7/26) [29/50]

[bizzgeburt]

01 - uDraw GameTablet - uDraw Studio: Instant Artist [DE] (PlayStation3)
https://vgcollect.com/item/286773

Hardware: PlayStation 3 fat + uDraw GameTablet
Playtime: About 10 hours

I swapped this item and game along with Pictionary Plus, that I played and reviewed a few weeks ago. uDraw Studio: Instant Artist seems to be the must-have title to compliment the uDraw GameTablet and I enjoyed this game far more than Pictionary Plus.

The bundle uDraw GameTablet - uDraw Studio: Instant Artist was released in Germany on march 6th 2012 by publisher THQ. The game uDraw Studio: Instant Artist itself is the sequel to uDraw Studio and was delevoped by Pipeworks Software, a company based in Eugene/Oregon founded in 1999. Bought by Foundation 9 in april 2005 and then bought by Digital Bros in september 2014, and then again bought by Northern Pacific Group in february 2018 and renamed Pipeworks Studios, this company is responsible for developing a few known games such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones for PSP, Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening for Xbox360 and PS3 or Zumba Fitness for Xbox360, Wii and PS3, amongst some lesser known partially licensed titles.
uDraw Studio: Instant Artist is essentially a digital art studio to use the uDraw GameTablet as intended - for drawing.

Logically, the core gameplay-element (is gameplay even the correct term?) is the quite impressive drawing-editor, where you pick your tools, colors and so on and start drawing something. Being somewhat graphically skilled since childhood, this "game" actually appealed to me. It takes a little while to get used to the tablet's attached pen, but I was slightly blown away by the capabilities of this graphic drawing editor. The color palette to choose from offers literally endless options and there are more than enough useful and sometimes funny tools to choose from, such das pen, brush, spray can, paint bucket, and many more. This is where uDraw Studio: Instant Artist really shines in comparison to Pictionary Plus with it's own very simplified editor.
You can either use all those functions freely in the free drawing mode, or absolve a digital art course, or try out some of the minigames and drawing puzzles in the so called artist camp section. The drawing-with-numbers puzzle felt specifically relaxing and cozy within this section. I don't know if this was intentional, but one of the minigames (Alien Swatter) seems to be a modern ripoff of the fly swatting minigame in Mario Paint - C'mon, how dope is this please? 

Graphics (menu, layout, minigames) are all humble and basic, and a game like this doesn't require anything more sophisticated. At the end of the day, the player's own paintings and creations are ment to build the graphical heart of uDraw Studio: Instant Artist. And, given all the different tools and options, it is really possible to create impressive pictures with depth, lighting and effects. It takes some practice though.

Same as with graphics and similar to Pictionary Plus, the music in uDraw Studio: Instant Artist is not worth examining in detail. But let me at least point out who's credited with this unmemorable, highly generic drivel: Michael Jones, American freelance composer and sound engineer, who already composed the soundtrack to uDraw Studio and actually won the 2021 MPSE Golden Reel Award for outstanding achievement in audio editing (game Audio) with his contribution to Call of Duty: Vanguard. I quess he himself doesn't consider this particular soundtrack as one of the milestones of his career...

Nevertheless and thanks to it's fine working editor, I totally enjoyed playing uDraw Studio: Instant Artist and am looking foward to getting more uDraw-titles to tinker with this funky uDraw GameTablet.

First game finished in 2026 - on to the next one 

[ssj4yamgeta]

2: Mafia: The Old Country
THIS is how you make a cinematic game. Straight to the point, no pointless busywork, no grind, absolutely nothing that distracts from the main story. If Rockstar is working on Red Dead Redemption 3, they need to learn some lessons from this game. It feels like RDR2 if that game was story-focused, had cars, and took place in Italy. And because there's absolutely nothing unnecessary to get in the way, it's a much more enjoyable experience. Mafia: The Old Country does more with its 11-hour run time than most modern games do with 70. Thoroughly enjoyed it, looking forward to playing it again some time.

Completed:

Tomb Raider II (Evercade)
Mafia: The Old Country (PS5)

In Progress:

Tomb Raider III (Evercade)
Final Fantasy IV Advance (PC via emulation)

[realpoketendonl]

2. Chaos Faction*
3. Chaos Faction 2



Well these certainly weren't games I was planning to add to the list this year, but here we are. Chaos Faction is a Flash game from back in the day that I liked a lot as a kid. I remember beating it on a school computer, with a friend watching, and I felt so cool when I did. I was surprised to find that Chaos Faction and its sequel were ported to native PC and rereleased together as Chaos Faction Legacy Collection on Steam. Hell, I didn't even know Chaos Faction had a sequel. But for nostalgia's sake, I decide to give them both a go again. Flash games are odd in general: do they even count for this? Well, I say they do. Sure, many of them are 5-minute long crap, but there were also some genuine gems on Flash, sometimes with substantial amounts of content. And I don't see how Flash games are that different from bite-sized experiences that we still see on platforms like Steam, itch or even the Nintendo eShop nowadays. So as far as I'm concerned, they count.

Starting with Chaos Faction 1, I played through the game again, and usually when I play through games for the second time I do count them with an asterisk here, so that's what I'm doing. This is pretty much a 1-to-1 port of the original Flash game. Almost to a fault: they didn't even bother to include built-in controller or Steam Deck support, so I had to manually map the buttons. That's a bit cheap guys, but thankfully the game is simple enough that mapping the buttons is easy. Apart from that, the only difference is some music and sound effects which I'm assuming is because in the original release they didn't have the rights (I mean, it was still an online Flash game).

Chaos Faction is a platform fighter. You jump around, attack your opponent, and collect items to attack your opponent harder. It's pretty simple stuff, but for a Flash game in the mid-2000s, this was legitimately good. Among the endless piles of junk and extremely basic or repetitive stuff on Flash game sites at the time (or, well, the Flash game sites I frequented as a kid), this game was a breath of fresh air. It's hectic, but with some strategy and skill to it. However, you really need to see it in that context of Flash games of the time. If you're looking for a platform fighter, there are so many options out there nowadays that are far better. The campaign mode has 15 stages and I beat it in half an hour. It's fun to look back on and still pretty enjoyable to me, but if you're not nostalgic for it like I am, there's probably little here to make it worth searching out. (And let's be real, if you're curious, you can also just try it through Flashpoint first.)

It's sequel, Chaos Faction 2, I played through for the first time. It also only has 15 levels in its campaign mode so that also didn't take too long to beat. Compared to Chaos Faction 1, there are some clear improvements here. More variety in the challenges per level, there's actual hitstun this time, movesets are expanded a little, in addition of course to the new skins, stages and items. It's clear some effort and skill went into this, and it's probably objectively the better game. However, my views on it are similar to Chaos Faction 1: if you're not nostalgic for these titles, they probably won't wow you. There's some fun to be had in these games, for sure. Including in multiplayer. Some of the items, if aimed right, can be blunt 1-hit kills, which creates a fun chaotic dynamic of trying to run for them and creating some "What was that?!" moments. If you're looking for a smooth, fast, hectic game with Flash-feeling fun, this'll do the trick. But I just find it difficult to see people who don't know already know these games really fall in love them.

So yeah, Chaos Faction was fun to go back to, and I'm sure I will again in the future when I'm feeling nostalgic again. But should you search them out? Well, if you're nostalgic for the mid-2000s Flash game era, maybe give them a try through Flashpoint, or support the developers by buying it if you want to (I mean, I'm assuming they're getting a cut). But otherwise, eh, as much as I will always have a soft spot for these games, you'll probably be all right skipping these.

(Also, if you haven't heard of Flashpoint yet: it's an archival project intended to archive as many Flash-based games and applications as possible, and make them playable on modern hardware. Do check them out and support them, they do great work: https://flashpointarchive.org/ )

[dhaabi]

02. Once Upon a Katamari || PlayStation 5 || 01.07.2026



For about twenty years, I've been a fan of the Katamari series, and fourteen of those were spent long dormant apart from the occasional mobile title. So for much of my time as a fan, the series has long been dormant apart from the occasional mobile title, though I have spaced out my time playing the games released long ago and am still yet to play one original title which has been beneficial in some way for when I'm wanting to play a new game (to me) in the series. However, that's now changed after an original follow-up console entry was introduced, marked by Once Upon a Katamari (OUaK)'s release this past October. A new entry has been greatly anticipated for many years, and I decided to play it sooner than later this time.

Now, as part of a long-running series that's best summed up as an action-puzzle experience that tasks players with rolling up houses, cities, countries, the world, and beyond in an effort to create a mass of stuff, OUaK is the first game since the debut title that tries and succeeds on expanding upon its core mechanics. As its title implies, OUaK is a game that divides its myriad of stages into historical eras as players navigate throughout time. And, because of this gimmick, what's presented actually plays like a proper follow-up to the series that had grown stagnant which ultimately led to its lengthy hiatus. Before, every game centered around modern-day Japan, whereas now there are appropriately themed levels that brings forth a sense of innovation even from a design standpoint. And while there are still uniquely Japanese-themed stages, they too differ from past games that so regularly reused the same environments and assets.

At the same time, this new title introduces other mechanics and changes, most of which are welcome additions. The most important of these is the power-up items system, which are tools spread through each stage that help the player reach their goals more easily. There are only three tool types in total, and they're limited in number during each stage attempt. At first, I was hesitant about their inclusion, but they're fine additions since stages are designed with their use in mind. I'm still not thrilled by their inclusion, but I think it may have to do with how easy it is to find them. Should the game instead be designed in a way that their placement is random or even hidden from plain view like they presently are, it would make using these tools feel more fulfilling. Another aspect that's existed to some degree but is now expanded upon is the inclusion of narrative cutscenes. In certain stages, they'll feature short story scenes that provide context and the passage of time; while they serve no actual purpose to a game that largely features no plot, they're still fun animations. Meanwhile, perhaps the most interesting changes to the game is its single use of branching paths. Depending on what sort of actions one takes, the stage being played changes to one of two outcomes that results in a different environment to play and different items to collect. It's actually the kind of novelty I think would elevate the series in a stronger direction, so I hope that this mechanic returns in future installments and is more fully realized. And, lastly, a small but still negative design decision is the choice to feature the player's letter grade rank on-screen at all times, as it greatly trivializes the stage completion screen and how fun it traditionally is with The King's totally dismissive and selfish personality.

There's no disputing that OUaK is a content-rich game as it has the most amount of stages in any game thus far. However, it forgoes a lot of what makes these games feel concise while providing a cohesive sense of progression. In every past game, there was only ever one set goal to accomplish, whereas now there is a full list of objectives that, admittedly, are optional but seem so obtrusive to the experience. In short, there is a complete disregard to focus. Besides the main stage goal, there are crowns to find, tokens to earn, the performance rank to improve upon, and a series of objectives that can only be completed one at a time. As a result, OUaK abandons much of what makes the franchise great. There is a common opinion that most if not all of the games developed after series creator Keita Takahashi's departure suffer in a similar fashion, but as someone who's played nearly all of the home console titles, this is the only one that's imparted this feeling. Perhaps related to this emotion is the topic of this game's quirkiness, which the series is known for. Before, it was this strange amalgamation of consumerism and over-consumption paired with this far-out wackiness that's uniquely Japanese (especially for its debut) that shouldn't complement another but does while being so organic too. But now, that design philosophy has never before felt so forced and formulaic.

On the topic of stages, there's a little more to discuss. While the stage count total is at an all-time high, I do appreciate that some have condition barriers to meet before they're accessible. In short, this decision further incentivizes focused play and, more than likely, repeated stage playthroughs. Although unless I'm mistaken, only two stages have these sorts of unlock conditions. If implemented correctly, I think such a mechanic could make the play experience more engaging. Right now, I don't think how level conditions are being utilized is particularly successful, but though I do see greater potential in it. Conversely, an annoying aspect is that Cousins (alternative characters to play as) routinely appear one at a time after selecting a stage, even though the menu states that there's a higher number of Cousins to find. It's a small detail that's probably more annoying than anything else to the casual player, but this is a new change and only artificially inflates the time it takes to earn all the game's collectibles.

And, lastly, I'll mention some miscellaneous details worth pointing out. As any fan of the series knows, the games' soundtracks are almost paramount to the play experience, and without it, the game's ability to provide fun greatly lessens. On that note, the game's music doesn't manage to come close to the high standards that early titles established, meaning it's lackluster but fine. It really didn't leave any memorable impression on me even after a considerable amount of time was spent playing, which really means it serves as actual background music more than a crucial stage design element. Conversely, visuals remain fun. They maintain their low-poly, colorful nature but again, are much more varied and engaging than since the series began on account of the game's varied levels that go beyond modern-day Japan both in time and location. But even for some stages set in Japan, they're quite novel and more than just a simple room or neighborhood but something else entirely, and they're some of the best stages in the game because of it. I played through OUaK as a single-player experience, but there is a new co-op mode called KatamariBall that exists. While this minigame does offer capability to play with three CPU players, it's a bland experience that I imagine is far superior when played online though still significantly worse than the game's primary single-player campaign. This isn't necessarily a surprise, though, because no title has been able to provide a worthwhile multiplayer experience.

On a general level, Once Upon a Katamari has notable strengths and weaknesses, but it does show promise for what's to come in the series. Still, it's far too gimmicky with its multitude of systems and overload of in-game achievements. Perhaps that's ideal for some players, but for me, a game all about amassing a colossal ball of clutter doesn't need to be more complicated than that straightforward premise. Sometimes, what's simplest is best.