Announced years ago, Wattam is finally coming out for real this time! Publisher Annapurna Interactive announced that the kooky game, from the mind of Keita Takahashi (director of Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy), will be hitting PS4 and PC -via the Epic Games Store- on December 17, 2019. It's currently going for $20 with a 15% off pre-order bonus.
Wattam is a wacky adventure title where players will control sentient pieces of poo and dance around a field with a giant toilet. The game kind of defies explanation, similar to Takahashi's previous titles. In a Tweet, Takahashi stated, "6 years constipation has been relieved finally." I love this man.
Wattam seems to have more in common with his later work than the comparatively structured Katamari titles. Think more sandbox than missions and goals and you'll be closer to Wattam's execution. It's definitely charming, exhibiting an art style that is very bright, vibrant, and funny.
Some fans may be upset that Wattam is coming to Epic first, but Annapurna has confirmed the game will eventually hit Steam. It was listed on Valve's platforms for many years (dating as far back as 2016), so it would be a little silly for the publisher to completely ignore Valve's platform. At the same time, Valve hasn't really done anything to cultivate strange games like this getting noticed, so one can't fault Annapurna for going with Epic.
At any rate, it looks like the many years of hard work will finally be coming to an end. Takahashi's past speaks for itself, but his work on the Katamari series has still yet to be topped by Bandai Namco. His desire to craft a game that commented on the surge of consumerism in this world mostly flew over everyone's heads, which is what led to him stepping away after the release of We Love Katamari.
His work after those two entries has been similarly abstract. Noby Noby Boy is all about reaching the stars, which seems to be a lofty goal instead of an actual mission. It's not difficult to actually obtain, possibly telling its players that anything can be accomplished if you put your mind to it. Wattam might have a similar message, though it could also just be about dancing pieces of poo. Either one is fine.
Source: Twitter