Katamari Damacy’s creator just wanted to make a ‘normal game’ with To a T

digitaltrends.com:

I’m sitting on a couch next to Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi playing his upcoming game, To a T. Midway through my wacky demo, I turn to Takahashi and comment on how I’m always happy to see that he’s still so committed to making completely out-there games. He goes quiet for a moment, a puzzled look coming across his face.

“Is it? I thought I was making a normal one this time,” he says with an almost sad sincerity.

That speaks to Takahashi’s limitless creativity; his version of normal is still unlike anything in the video game world today. Where else are you going to find an adventure game about a teenager eternally stuck in a T-pose? Though it may be more traditional than something like Wattam, To a T is shaping up to be an utter delight that finds one of gaming’s most playful designers embracing anime, physical comedy, and singing giraffes.

• Katamari Damacy creator’s new game is about a teen stuck in a T-pose
• Everything announced at Annapurna Interactive Showcase 2022

A new kind of adventure

My demo takes me through the first episode of To a T. I use the word “episode” instead of mission because the entire game is modeled after anime TV shows. Every chapter has an anime theme song as well as a closing theme in which a giraffe sings about running a sandwich shop. The more I describe all this, just keep Takahashi’s words in mind: “I thought I was making a normal one this time.”

After the intro song, I’m placed in control of a 13-year-old, whose gender is purposefully undefined. They’re our average kid — other than the fact that their arms are permanently outstretched. The episode I played started off as a mundane, slice-of-life comedy about their life. The bulk of my time is spent getting ready to go to school as fixed camera angles follow me and my adorable dog around my house.

The idea for the game started with the controls. Takahashi says that he got the idea to make a game where players control their