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Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
to a T review – surrealism and empathy from the maker of Katamari Damacy
Having your arms stuck in a permeant T-pose leads to a wonderfully surreal narrative adventure, in this new indie treat from Katamari creator Keita Takahashi. Keita Takahashi seems to be a very nice man. We met him back in 2018, and liked him immensely, but we're genuinely surprise he's still working in the games industry. He rose to fame with the first two Katamari Damacy games but after leaving Bandai Namco his assertion that he wanted to leave gaming behind and design playgrounds for children seemed like a much more obvious career path, for someone that absolutely doesn't want to be stuck making sequels or generic action games. That's certainly not been his fate and while titles like Noby Noby Boy and Wattam were wonderfully weird and inventive they weren't the breakout hits that his bank balance probably needed. His latest refusal to toe the line probably isn't destined to make him a billionaire either, but we're sure that was never the point of to a T. Instead, this is just a relentlessly sweet and charming game about the evils of bullying and the benefits of being nice to people. It's frequently surreal and ridiculous, but also capable of being serious, and somewhat dark, when it feels the need. Which given all the signing giraffes is quite some accomplishment. The game casts you as a young schoolkid whose arms are permanently stuck in a T-pose, with both stretched out 90° from his torso. If you're waiting for an explanation as to why then we're afraid we can't tell you, because your character (who you can customise and name as you see fit, along with his dog) doesn't know either. You find out eventually and the answer is… nothing you would expect. This has all been going on for a while before the game starts, as you're by now well used to sidling through doors and getting your dog to help you dress. You're also regularly bullied at school, which makes it obvious that being stuck like this is just a metaphor for any difference or peculiarity in real-life. Although the specific situations in to a T are fantastical, including the fact that the Japanese village you live in is also populated by anthropomorphic animals (most notably a cadre of food-obsessed giraffes), its take on bullying is surprisingly nuanced and well written. There're also some fun songs that are repeated just enough to become unavoidable earworms. The problem is that as well meaning as all this is, there's no core gameplay element to make it a compelling video game. You can wander around talking to people, and a lot of what they say can be interesting and/or charmingly silly, but that's all you're doing. The game describes itself as a 'narrative adventure' and that's very accurate, but what results is the sort of barely interactive experience that makes a Telltale game seem like Doom by comparison. There are some short little mini-games, like cleaning your teeth and eating breakfast, but the only goal beyond just triggering story sequences is collecting coins that you can spend on new outfits. This is gamified quite a bit when you realise your arms give you the ability to glide short distances, but it's still very basic stuff. One chapter also lets you play as your dog, trying to solve an array of simple puzzles and engaging in very basic platforming, but while this is more interactive than the normal chapters it's still not really much fun in its own right. More Trending Everything is all very charming – the cartoonish visuals are reminiscent of a slightly more realistic looking Wattam – but none of it really amounts to very much. The overall message is about getting on with people no matter their differences, but while that doesn't necessarily come across as trite it's also not really the sort of thing you need a £15 video game, with zero replayability, to tell you about. It also doesn't help that the game can be quite frustrating to play through, making it hard to know what you're supposed to do next, or where you're meant to be going. The lack of camera controls means it's hard to act on that information even if you do know what destination you're aiming for, either because the screen is too zoomed in, something's blocking your view, or you keep getting confused because the perspective changes. As with Wattam, we don't feel entirely comfortable criticising the game for its failings. We'll take a game trying to do something new and interesting over a workmanlike sequel any day of the week – whether it succeeds or not – but there's so little to the experience it's hard to imagine this fitting anyone to a T. In Short: Charming, silly, and occasionally profound but Keita Takahashi's latest lacks the gameplay hook of Katamari Damacy, even if it is surprisingly well written. Pros: Wonderfully and unashamedly bizarre, from the premise on down. A great script, that touches on some dark subjects, and charming visuals and music. Cons: There's very little gameplay involved and what there is, is either very simple or awkward to control. Barely five hours long, with no replayability. Score: 6/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: £15.49Publisher: Annapurna InteractiveDeveloper: uvulaRelease Date: 28th May 2025 Age Rating: 7 Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Elden Ring Nightreign is From's worst-rated game in years but it is a hit on Steam MORE: Hell Is Us hands-on preview: 'AAA games are so bloody bland' MORE: Cyberpunk 2 release date narrowed down as production ramps up
WIRED
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- WIRED
‘Katamari Damacy' Creator's New Game Is About Teen Angst, Cute Dogs, and Eye Boogers
Mar 28, 2025 7:00 AM Keita Takahashi talks about his latest game, To a T , which lets you navigate teenage hardships while your hands are stuck in a T-pose. Still from to a T. Courtesy of XBOX As a child, beloved Japanese game developer Keita Takahashi was picked on in school, so he never felt like going. His latest game, To a T , emulates some of those challenges. It tells the story of Teen—a kid struggling to fit in, dealing with eye boogers, and finding themselves through song and exploration, all while their arms are inexplicably stuck in a T-pose. To a T, to be released by Annapurna Interactive May 28, follows Takahashi's trajectory of creating colorful, playful games that are undeniably cute but incredibly odd. His best-known game, Katamari Damacy , is about rolling up everything in sight, from pens to people, in an ever-growing ball, featuring an unforgettable soundtrack and the most flamboyant king to ever grace games. Others, like 2019's Wattam , are eccentric, vibrant, and full of poop. Created with the game studio Uvula, To a T follows Teen's struggles navigating the bathroom, getting dressed, and dealing with bullies as their arms are trapped in a T. Fortunately Teen's dog, a shockingly adept creature who puts modern service dogs to shame, is there to help whenever Teen needs an extra set of movable hands. (Annapurna Interactive aptly describes Teen's furry helper as being 'a very cute dog.') The episodic tale opens with an upbeat song about the game (not to be confused with 'The Giraffe Song,' sung in a teaser video by Rebecca Sugar). During a brief demo I played, I guided Teen through washing their face, picking outfits, and getting ready for school. Hoping for some deeper insights into the game, I tracked down Takahashi at an Xbox event in San Francisco during GDC, where he was hiding in a back corner away from the bustle of the day and the bar. But, while he's loath to answer too many questions about his game and what it all means, he'll still gamely, gently troll anyone who comes his way. Below is an abbreviated version of a very puzzling interview. WIRED: Tell me a little bit about what is, generally, going on in this game. Keita Takahashi: [ Laughs ] What's generally going on with this game? We'll start there. It's a game about a teenager who's stuck as a T-pose and trying to figure out where the T-pose is coming from. It's a game about—umm. [ Long pause ] Do I need to explain? [ Another long pause ] No. [ Laughs ] That's fair. Who is this character? How would you describe them? A teenager, 13-years-old, female or male, whatever I mean, I don't care—stuck in a T-pose, for some reason. What makes T the perfect pose? Because it's perfect! You are perfect. I think it's just perfect. What do you think the hardest thing to do when you're T-posed is? Go to the bathroom. That's why the dog helps [with] everything. Changing the clothing, bathroom, washing your face. I've never played a game that had me start by going to the bathroom. Really? Yeah. Why? WIRED: It's an excellent question. Tell me about the decision to— Decision? [ Laughs ] Yeah, decisions, yes. I decided. Because our life could be more fun. What do you think would make life more fun? The path that you had before, then forgot—when you were younger, and there was more fun. People, for some reason—it's easy to forget. What do you think people lose from kids to adulthood? What do you think? How much time you got? What do you think? Hmm. I don't know why it's easy for other people to forget more innocent or pure [times.] I don't know why! Did making this game help you rediscover innocence for yourself? I'm not a teacher. [ Laughs ] I don't want to push my soul to the people. I just want people to get some perspective on what a video game can do, rather than fighting or RPG stuff. This is for the next generation of game devs. They don't need to stick to a platformer or something. They can make a new genre or category of game. What genre would you call To a T ? No. [ Laughs ] I hate the concept of a genre. It's just a marketing tool. You know, what Beyoncé said. ['I believe genres are traps that box us in and separate us,' Beyoncé said in a GQ interview.] The concept of the genre is kind of funny. That's right! It's hard to define your games, but I'm curious how you, when forced into a corner by a red-headed journalist from WIRED, define your video games. That's part of the reason why I'm making this game. What's the definition of a video game? It's—no wait, no, this is an interview of you. [ Laughs ] What do you think is a video game? At least interactivity. That's it. I just realized, what I want to do is make people smile and have fun. It doesn't need to be interactivity, or it doesn't need to be video game video games. I can make a cartoon or animation to make people have fun and laugh. This time, I just don't care about the genre or what the video game is. This is just what I want to make. I had another question but … I forgot. That's OK. Just forget.
