Everything that I could say in my negative review has already been said more or less by the user Switzerland--the game feels clunky, the physics are off, and the soundtrack does not live up to the expectations of the game.

Personally, one issue I have with the game is that the level design seems to mimic that of the later katamari games. Rather than giving you plenty of time to relax, and roll up items as you please in a zen state, Once Upon a Katamari asks you to move exceptionally quickly, and form more concise routes through stages to collect things as quickly as possible in a somewhat limited amount of time. Given how the game's physics just do not feel right, even for an expert at manipulating the katamari, I found this to be more stress than it was worth.

I really did want this game to be better than it is. But unfortunately, it seems as though the series is in fact cursed without the direction of Takahashi-san.

This is a real sequel. This right here, this is as transformative of a sequel as ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Super Mario Bros 3. You really can't understate how good of a sequel this is. Genuinely the only complaints I have are that bows aren't super fun to use, and Ranger basically has no reason to exist over Rogue, even after Ranger was buffed and Rogue was nerfed.

Eleven years ago, I got the flu, and while stuck at home, someone dear to me told me to play a little game called Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.
Seven years ago, I finished Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and realized I had come to this series ten years too late. It was over.
Yesterday, I finished Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania, and I realized; 'When' never mattered. The only thing that mattered was that I did.

It's okay that it's over, because it got to end like this.