The book may have left me cold, but the concept is working for me.

I did more in the last two days than most people do all day. But that's an improvement for me! The experience is one of smooth competence. I like being competent. Highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, my We ♥ Katamari time has been suffering as a result, but that's okay. This isn't a reflection on the new game: it rocks, it's weird, it is in every way an incremental improvement on the delightful original. At this point I would have bought it practically as a sort of gratuity to Namco and designer Keita Takahashi, but it is so much more. If you liked the original, the only reason to hesitate on the sequel is that the basic mechanics are nearly identical (hard to improve on perfection, methinks), and the higher price than last time: $40 vs. $30 in my homeland. Even so, The Lovely One declares it the best game ever. And you can roll that up.