Highlight On: Okami

PS2 Boxart

Okami is a game that came out in 2006 for PS2 (2008 for Wii) that didn’t have the greatest sale figures. It’s also a game I got just before Christmas of last year that I fell in love with immensely. It’s not your typical strategy, puzzle, platformer, but instead, it’s a game so enriched with Japanese history, visuals, mythology and culture that if you didn’t have even the smallest idea of anything dealing with Japan, it’d blissfully fly over your head and you’d be none the wiser. Instead of your typical anime-esque human caricature as a lead, this time, you use a god — but not just any god, you’re in control of a wolf… god… with paintbrush abilities. I’ll allow that to sink in.

Okami takes place around the classical Japan era as you journey through the country of Nippon. Like any good vs. evil story, you’ll travel from place to place ridding the world of darkness while simultaneously restoring the people’s faith in the gods. While Orochi, an eight-headed dragon, is set up as the main baddie in the beginning of the game, as you progress, you’ll eventually come to learn that there is no real main villain — only “big bads” of a particular story arc all the way until the end of your adventure. Although the main story is quite linear, you’ll find that this game is full of side-quests and some mini-games to keep you busy for a significant amount of time.

Gameplay

Battle Time!

As the main characters of Okami, who happen to be Amaterasu (Ammy) and her sidekick Issun, you’ll find yourself running, swimming, and jumping through the countryside as you complete puzzles and objectives, gain new brush abilities, and fight minions, which is one of the quickest ways to gain money and to test how to use and chain your powers together. Amusingly, while fighting minions may be the best way to gain combat experience and spending change, you’ll notice that large chunks of battles are mostly avoidable. Why is this, you ask? Because the minions, for the most part, reside in floating “demon scrolls” that you can affect and elude in a variety of ways. If you don’t feel like fighting, then just avoid the scrolls. Cut them down with a power slash, set them aflame, freeze them, or just blow them away from you (all are brush abilities, btw) but you never have to engage in random battles unless a scroll chases you down. Even when that happens, you’ve the ability to escape at any time, though you will be penalized for this action. However, not every battle is escapable, and every so often, you’ll find yourself in a rumble you must compete in.

Celestial Brush restoring a tree (IGN).

The brush techniques aren’t just used in fighting encounters, but for a variety of other situations that’ll help you progress through the game. Sometimes you’ll need to use your brush to solve puzzles or to remove obstacles. If a boulder is standing in your way, rip out the ol’ paintbrush and cut it in half. If you find a bridge is missing, draw it back in and cross it. If you need the power of the wind, the sun, or the moon, you’re free to create it at your disposal once you learn the appropriate skills. Your abilities just aren’t limited to your paintbrush, as you proceed through the game, you’ll be given the chance to pick up other techniques such as double jumping, combo expansions, and weapon skills that allow you to spar much more effectively.

Even though the game may sound great, it does have its own set of problems. A frequent issue I ran into is not knowing exactly what I should be doing at certain parts of the game. While it’s not a deal breaker, it can lead to some major annoyances from time to time. Speaking of nuisances, the camera can also be a minor problem from time to time in combat and in the main world. Another matter of concern is the “fake” speech the game employs. Some may find it amusing, or even cute, but after awhile it loses its novelty. Interestingly, whereas the main brush powers you gather throughout the story will work correctly the majority of the time you draw them, I have found that the extra techniques took a bit more effort to draw, or sometimes set off other powers I didn’t want to summon. It’s a semi-amusing problem, but probably not one you would notice immediately because the extra paintbrush skills serve no purpose outside of combat.

Graphics

Ammy vs. Orochi (Capcom)

Okami utilizes a highly stylized, but stunning, cel-shaded look that makes the visuals come across like fluid artwork. The style and direction of the game are very appropriate, and I found the outcome to be engaging and immersive. The true beauty of the game, in my opinion, seems to come out the most when the cutscenes are playing. A few of them left me breathless and truly entertained. While I think the 3D look they originally started with would have looked just as dazzling, I’m glad they decided to change their mind during development. It really feels like you are a part of Nippon drawing and painting your own masterpieces as they come to life before you.

Sounds

Outside of the squeaky voices the game uses instead of actual speech, I found the music and general ambiance to be non-distractive, but somewhat addictive. Everything seems to fit into place and nothing sticks out to me as being bad or cringe-worthy. Well, there is the customary jpop song near the end of the game, but not even that is bad, per se. The truth of the matter is that every sound you hear while playing only serves to pull you further into Okami’s atmosphere. It helps that the game seems to come with a high production value in the sounds department, and everything gives off this traditional Japanese flare.

Value

There’s a lot to do in Okami if you really take advantage of the side-quests, but even the main storyline is lengthy. It easily fits into the 20-30 hour mark and if you’re a casual gamer, that could easily expand into 40-60 hours depending on what objectives you choose to do. The game also makes use of the “New Game+” option, which allows you to replay the story with some of your powers, experience, and items from your first play through.

Final Thoughts

Amaterasu in action (IGN)

Even though there are some people out there that call this game a Zelda clone, I can honestly say that Link never crossed my mind as I was playing. Okami is an innovative game and it has more good things going for it than negative; and though you could classify it as easy at some parts, the boss battles, and especially some of the side quests, mini-games and demon gate trials, help to even out the challenge and difficulty aspect. If you’re looking for something where you can truly affect your environment to a degree and have fun, this is the game for you. However, if you have both a PS2 and a Wii, I’d suggest picking up the PS2 version. The Wii version is said to be an exact port with motion control, but it removes the end credits and the control scheme is looser than its PS2’s counterpart is. Regardless, either version is highly recommended.

Still don’t know if you’re interested? Check out this video below: