The Wonderful End of the World (or, a Katamari-like game for the PC)

[Occulus]

So I was playing We Love Katamari on my PC (using the emulator PCSX2) and I wondered, "is there anything like Katamari for the PC?"

I already knew about that colored blob game, of course, but I wanted something that was more distinctly Katamari-ish. I would settle for nothing less than gathering up a big mass of various objects into a great big ball- or something like it.

Then I found something that was so obviously inspired by Katamari that I'm frankly surprised the developers haven't been sued. The name of the game is "The Wonderful End of the World", and you can buy it either directly from the developer or via Valve's Steam distribution platform.

"Wonderful End" is about as close to Katamari as PC gamers are ever likely to get. In this game, you play the part of a little guy made of sparkles of light. You walk over object smaller than you are and absorb them. Absorb enough objects, and you grow larger. You'll move from collecting small objects on the floor, such as apples and cans of soda, to rolling up walking over entire buildings.

As with Katamari, some levels are a little surreal; my personal favorites are the wordblock map (where you walk over simple white blocks with letters and words on them) and a map that uses 2D sprites that always face you (think the original Doom graphics here). While the graphics aren't quite as sophisticated as its PS2 inspiration, "Wonderful End" does utilize better texturing on the models and for the most part the framerate is smoother.

Comparisons to Katamari aside, "Wonderful End" is.... wait. What am I doing? This entire game is one giant homage to Katamari, and if you liked that game for the PS2 or the many other devices it's appeared on, you'll most likely enjoy "The Wonderful End of the World" as well.

A free demo is available both from the developer and via Steam, and the full price of the game is a very modest $10.

EDIT: Screenies!