70. We <3 Katamari (PS2)
Back around the time We <3 Katamari first came out, I was working a crappy retail job. Two of my coworkers and I had bonded over our love of video games and anime, which led to one of them inviting us over to his apartment after work one night to play some weird game he had just bought. What ensued is the three of us playing We <3 Katamari until the sun came up the next day while listening to J-Pop and Dir En Grey. It was an excellent experience and beyond just the fond memories of that night, it also made me a fan of the Katamari series with We <3 Katamari being the came that started it all.
This was really a cool read! Reminded me of a simpler time back when late night, a PS2 and some Dominoes Pizza, the dim lit glow of the screen is all you needed. Carrying a gamecube next door after work. Gaming felt so social back then.
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43. Lego Rock Band [PS3] - finished June 24th, 2025I think Chinese water torture and dog dander scented nasal drops are better than this game. It is probably the worst rythym game ive played. And I didnt expect that. But thats just the blunt reality of it. So let's begin there lol.
Lego rockband is yet another rythym guitar/ instrument made by hermonix. Now with lego branding and you level up and basically play multiple different brick venues. But where lego rockband shines in cute lego fun. It dies in its complete disregard for the human soul, its incessant reliance on repetition, it's overwhelming need for bloat like a beached sun rotted Salmon and lastly. It's cliche plotless joke of a linear path that makes you feel like you're sitting through a spoken word circle at the local rec center. It gets old so fast.
Lego Rockband.... ya know. What can be said truly other than it was like sitting at the dmv attempting to finish this game and I couldnt quite put my finger on to why. I'll explain why later. I almost felt the game itself ruined Rythym based games for me... I had lost it. The love for it all. until I began Guitar Hero III right smack dab after. Guitar Hero III was the catalyst to show me what went wrong. The legendary epicness of that game where not a single song feels out of place. Not a single fret wasted. Shows in mirror contrast how bad Lego Rockband is. I now realize I stuck out the bloated soundtrack not because I was bad. The game had me tangled in stockholm syndrome missing what could be. A life I never seen.
Lego Rockband divides your playtime which is already incredibly bloated into forcing you to play the same songs 27 times to progress. Some venues require 40 stars to proceed. Which means you gotta sit there and play the games setlist over and over. The same "choose 2 songs" that become stale because the game unlike guitar hero 3 doesnt roll out a buffet for you. It basically leaves two bins of cold leftovers and recycles that for 2 weeks. I played the song "boys and girls" by good charlotte solely because otherwise id be delegated to playing synthy pop music on guitar, dad rock songs that have aged like crud. And even the songs that are fun. Like Sum 41's in too deep. Are mapped like shit. The notes feel mundane. The solos?? It will pop up on screen "solo time" and it will require you the player to nail these action sequences. Except you can tell they spent no actual effort to make the solo harder, faster, funner or more epic. It feels like a bridge. The notes are bland and lifeless. On hard difficulty it feels medium.
Then the game gets the idea to make a set list that is required to beat to progress. Guess what that entails? You must beat 5 songs in a row. All about 5 minutes each. Without stopping. By force. So I gotta sit here. For 30 straight minutes and play the lifeless dad rock. It doesnt even have the class to let you get bored in 4 minute increments at a time lol. Guitar Hero yet again at its peak would never insist on a 5 song binge because 1. Its a terrible idea that adds nothing to the game. And 2. Perhaps more obvious is that you cant stop. Some people dont play long game sessions. Fingers cramp. Ect. I just dont get it. I really dont.
Then you got the longevity. Theirs a certain tact in brevity. A bit of love in simplicity. The greats like Beatles Rockband knew how to do this. Imagine if beatles rockband like a clingy tinder date demanded "nope. Beat helter skeltet 7 more times. Because we didnt count the 1st one. Oh and do all these yoko ono B sides. These bizarre John Lennon unreleased solo tracks. And perform the entire Ed Sullivan show without taking a break. It'd ruin it all.
Even the lego concept isnt done great. All that is lego about the game is you play as a lego toy character. Id argue thats lamer. Games like Forza Horizon 4 prove how massively special a lego experience can be. Why not breaking fret boards? Blocks smashing? Notes that are lego bricks and as you play you build designs? Something more than a skin? It feels just cheaply pasted.
Also here is the sheer bloat im talking about. The game has 260 gigs covering over 1200 possible stars to collect and 10 vehicles to buy. While the game has numerous venues, each one is essentially the same in terms of gameplay, with variations mainly in the visual decor. So you end up repeating set lists. Because the game only has 45 songs. And of them songs. Maybe 30 dont fit the style of play to be considered good. So whatdaya got? Lol.
All and all. Lego Rockband suffers from a lot. Nothing is blaringly bad at face but it has maybe 10 bad things that make it overwhelmingly mundane as a cohesive unit.
Rating -
32/100