Controller Controls Unintuitive?

[shinratdr]

I find the game super hard to control, even with the simple controls. I've never played the original but played the hell out the Vita version and the controls for that one were a lot simpler.

The problem I'm having is that even in Simple, where I would expect the left analog to control the Katamari's direction and the right analog to control the Prince/Camera, the left analog works as expected but the right analog controls are swapped, so up/down controls left/right camera movement.

WHY!? This makes the game so hard to control, and I can't get used to it. Just fired up the Vita version and as I expected, the default controls are as I describe. Just tried the Switch demo and controls are seemingly the same as the PC version, but I can't access the menu to switch to Simple controls so who knows.

Please add the Vita controls to this game, otherwise I don't think I can get used to it.

[eschaton]

yeah that was a total pain in the ass, simple was easier to control but it was frustrating to get it working like that until i finished the tutorial. still a pain in the ass now

[antipodal]

The default controls are the same ones the original games had. The idea was left stick = left hand, right stick = right hand. It's a spin on classic "tank" controls.

I'll agree that the "simple" setup seems broken at the moment. There's no way up and down should turn left and right.

[Pickupsticks]

Think like a tank/heavy machine. Left stick left side track, right stick right side track.

[Forgot7en]

It's a little bit confusing at first but once you get used to it, it's the most intuitive control scheme ever. You have to think of the sticks as the hands of the Prince pushing the Katamari. It's absolutely genius.

[Karmigula]

The normal controlls are pretty simple, though. You just... point your thumbs. :o

[ahaha.wav]

I would stick with the standard controls for a bit, there is a bit of a period of adjustment but the controls are supposed to feel heavy and unwieldy at first. You're rolling around a massive ball of junk, that's kind of the point.

[burdfishdemon]

Originally posted by ahaha.wav:

the controls are supposed to feel heavy and unwieldy at first. You're rolling around a massive ball of junk, that's kind of the point.

Exactly. Playing this game again after all the following titles, it seems like this one emphasizes ball shape more. Maybe I'm crazy, but I kind of thought this as a kid too. In Katamari Damacy, I remember picking up something long like a pencil first really messes with the katamari. :P It's what makes this one so fun.

[FredEffinChopin]

Actually, intuitive is *exactly* what they are. Right stick - right hand, left stick - left hand. Not to be semantic but that scheme is part of the charm of the game, as well as part of the mechanic that one has to learn to master in order to do very well in all the areas. The camera can be frustrating, especially when it decides it's not going to let you look forward very far. I feel you. Give the controller scheme a chance though. Not the "simple" one.

[Sir Taro]

Well I played the demo on switch just now. As a total Katamari Damacy noob at that - and I wouldn't call the default control scheme "intuitive". Whoever thinks that this is intuitive might want to consider the different definitions of "intuitive".

like: "using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning; instinctive."
or: "easy to understand or operate without explicit instruction"

As I said, I haven't played any Katamari-type games in my life before. So if the controls were truly intuitive, I'd argue anyone who picks it up would *instinctively* and *without concious reasoning* would understand the controls. From personal experience I can sadly say that this is definitely not the case.

Like the reasoning behind "yeah left stick = left arm, right stick = right arm" sounds intuitive on paper, but I've been trying to get any movement to work out the way I intended to for the demo and it didn't work out for me... neither did I catch on to that "stick = arm"-gimmick-thingy.

If I didn't use google to search for the control scheme I'd just think "wtf is this? Is there a trick involved or do I need to use only one joy-con?... *maniacly bounces into everything* come on, I got told this is a really beautiful game and all - why won't the controls work?"

Anyway maybe it's because the years of gaming rewired my brain to associate certain control schemes as intuitive because they're so common, and others as "unintuitive" which are pretty rare like the default one in Katamari Damacy - but also that would mean that almost any gamer would find the controls "unintuitive".

Nevermind, I'm digressing - Dear OP I agree that it can be quite unintuitive, if you're accustomed to common control schemes. Also the Game looks like fun anyway. I might want to try to wrap my head around this gimmick as it sounds really funny and quite original to me. Hopefully I can improve my movement beyond the "bounce everything" level.

[Forgot7en]

Maybe you lack the intuition that 99% of the people who played Katamari have, pretty much anyone else needed seconds to get used to it. Maybe you never picked up a ball in your life? That could explain it.

[Spy-Bait]

Originally posted by Forgotten:

Maybe you lack the intuition that 99% of the people who played Katamari have, pretty much anyone else needed seconds to get used to it. Maybe you never picked up a ball in your life? That could explain it.

That or he's trying to play this on a keyboard... In which case the controls for the keyboard feel super clunky...

[Forgot7en]

Originally posted by Spy-Bait:

Originally posted by Forgotten:

Maybe you lack the intuition that 99% of the people who played Katamari have, pretty much anyone else needed seconds to get used to it. Maybe you never picked up a ball in your life? That could explain it.

That or he's trying to play this on a keyboard... In which case the controls for the keyboard feel super clunky...

Maybe trying to play an early PS2 title on a keyboard is stupid by itself?

[Idlemind]

Katamari's controls are like that by design...

There's nothing redeeming about playing it with a keyboard, it was never intended for PC.

They could have made left stick direction and right stick camera but they deliberate went with old-school "tank" controls as part of its charm and appeal.

Is it outdated and not appealing to today's youths? Probably to the majority, but at the time the quirky controls and mastery of same lead to a sense of satisfaction and added some challenge.

It's not intuitive but its not bad. I'm just saying the creator of the game has talked about this design choice and stands by it, so hopefully you will grow to like it.

I don't know why others are personally attacking you, its a legitimate complaint with the game at first glance - especially in this day in age where accessibility is a big focus.

Hopefully this explanation has been helpful.

Edit:Sir Taro why would you necro this 2018 post, now I feel like I wasted my time here lol. BAD!

[Spy-Bait]

Originally posted by Forgotten:

Originally posted by Spy-Bait:

That or he's trying to play this on a keyboard... In which case the controls for the keyboard feel super clunky...

Maybe trying to play an early PS2 title on a keyboard is stupid by itself?

Or maybe he doesn't have a controller, and expected that the Mouse/keyboard controls work because they ported it to the PC and those are the controls all PC players have?

[Forgot7en]

It's unreasonable to expect keyboard/mouse controls to work properly on a 20 year old console game. If you don't have a controller, that's your problem.
In any case, TC is talking about controller controls being unintuitive, not keyboard controls, so this is irrelevant anyway.