Gameplay: Have you played Okami yet? Hold on, “no”?
Okami is easily one of the most underrated games of ever. No seriously. If you were one of the many who passed this up because it was “too-Japanese” or for any other equally stupid reason, you need to read this. And you need to go out and buy the game.
The game follows you, Sun Goddess Amaterasu, in the body of a wolf. Set in traditional Japanese history and folklore, you are summoned by a wood sprite, Sakuya, to help save Nippon. An evil being known as Orochi has sucked life from every living thing and now Sakuya wants you to return things to how they were. Following ancient Japanese legends, you travel across Nippon restoring cherry blossom trees to grant life to the land with the help of your bug-like friend, Issun, all the while learning “Celestial Brush techniques”. Jeez, sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn't it?
That's the beauty of it. Here you are, a Goddess in a wolf's body saving the world from evil by painting things with basically your tail. If that's not brilliance then I don't know what is. Trust me, it really works. You'll find yourself so enthralled by the story that you won't want to stop playing. At first I was a bit put off. I got to the fight with Orochi and I thought, “hold on a minute, I haven't got all the brush techniques and I've barely been playing all that long – why am I at the final boss already?”. Oh, was I wrong. What appears to be the final boss turns out to be just the start of things, and you'll find yourself thrown even deeper into Nippon in order to restore things to the way they should be. And gosh, is that effective.
The game itself is absolutely gob smacking. The main reason I got the game in the first place was the stunning art. Sure, maybe not the finest graphics on the PS2/Wii, but heck, that doesn't matter. If they were the finest graphics we'd have a problem – the game just wouldn't feel the same. Maybe I'm seeming a bit too overly fond of this game, but I was really suckered into it. The art style (which I believe is an appreciative nod to the traditonal Japanese “sumi-e” style – correct me if I'm wrong) is perfect – it really brings together this feeling of you literally running through Japanese history. Throughout the game I was overwhelmed by the locations, Ryoshima Coast and Kamui especially. The transition from day to night time is illustrated with a brief cutscene, which I will admit is undeniably annoying. I felt good every time I restored one of the sacred trees. There is a beautiful short cutscene of the world returning to colour and un-cursedness afterwards and I felt thoroughly rewarded after each and every one.
There are however a few downsides. I found the game on the whole ridiculously easy, which was a bit of a downer. I defeated the final boss on the first attempt. That's always a bad sign – I'm not the most adept at these kind of things. Despite this, the game still retained it's enjoyment throughout. If you'd been dying every few minutes it would've been a pain. You'd've been so concerned about dying you wouldn't have been able to fully appreciate the game! There are some moments (BLOCKHEAD, YOU BASTARD) where you'll find yourself almost ready to tear your hair out in anger, but they are few and far between (thankfully).
Maybe I am praising this game a little too much, but the fact is there is still something wonderful about it. Yeah, it's not the most difficult or maybe it is in fact just that bit too Japanese for Western gamers to truly appreciate, but this is not a title you should pass up straight away. If you liked the wolf elements of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess then you'll probably love this too. If you didn't like the wolf elements, rent the game! I've spoken to plenty of people who hate the wolf in TP but love Okami more than their family. The fact is: this is a truly special game, not perfect but still worth every second you'll spend on it.
As for console differences, apparently the Wii's graphics are slightly different or something... I've played both and I can't tell the difference, seriously.
Gameplay: PS2: 4.5 / Wii: 4.5
Controls: PS2: 4 / Wii: 3.5
Both control systems have flaws, though on the whole they don't detract too much from the gameplay. As far as the PS2 goes, the whole brush strokes system is pretty awkward. You're stuck with your D-pad or analogue stick to draw and I've never been particularly steady with my stick, so I had a load of trouble. The combat system is best on the PS2
however. Despite the PS2 allowing you to button mash, this is better than shaking your Wiimote and nunchuk about in anger because you can't get an attack to actually land properly. It took me a long time to get used to the motion sensing of the attacks on the Wii, but once you get over the initial barrier (which may take a long time depending on your wrist flicking abilities) you'll find yourself rewarded with a brilliant brush system. The ability to point at the screen and draw what you want as you want it was something I was incredibly grateful for, and I'd even say it's what rescues the controls. Still, the awkward battle system really drags it down.
Graphics: PS2: 5 / Wii: 5
Yes, 5. So what they're not the best graphics in the world? They are perfect for the game. Perfect. The beautiful landscapes may feel a bit empty when you look out ocean bound sometimes, but I can quite honestly say that you won't really care that much, considering the beauty of the rest of the game. The cursed zones actually creeped me out they looked so menacing (yes, go on and laugh at me, I don't mind). The art style, as I sai
d earlier, really makes you feel like you're a part of Japanese history. It is so effective it hurts. Not only does it make for brilliant gameplay, but obviously the art must be astounding if it can warrant an art book to be released on the back of it. (If you would like to sell me said art book, please do not hesitate to contact me. I'm not kidding, I need that book!)
Sound: PS2: 3 / Wii: 2.5
The music is beautiful and that alone would get 5, but alas, there are a few faults with the rest of the sound. The voice acting, sorry, the lack of voice acting is quite annoying. Instead you get an almost kind of “simlish” type approach, something that won't really bother you if you're a great Animal Crossing fan. But even I (I live more in AC than in real life) found myself turning down the sound during lengthy talking bits. The pitch of Issun's “voice” is particularly grating. And, I never thought I'd say this, the voices aren't loud enough in the Wii version (I didn't seem to have this probl
em in the PS2 version anyway). It's annoying to say the least. They could have balanced them a bit better. Sound effects are, in general, alright. Can't fault them really. I didn't have this problem in the PS2 version, but in the Wii version I found sometimes a change in camera angle during a cutscene (such as before and after the fights with the canine warriors) can result in an unbearably loud growling. Can't blame the dogs for that – that's what they do, but I can blame whoever the hell thought it'd be a good idea to make it overwhelm the music so much. I find myself reaching for the remote during these scenes because of it. Kind of detracts from the feeling, really...
Length: PS2: 4 / Wii: 4
The game is a brilliant length. On my first play through I was worried that it really was the shortest game I'd ever played (minus Zaboomafoo which I finished in an hour, but we won't go into why I ever even held that game in my hands). Offhand I can't remember how long it took me to play through the whole game, but I took my time about things and I think I racked up over 30 hours easily. Here I'll admit something: I got this for the PS2, played it – loved it and was about to replay it to finish collecting all the stuff when the Wii version came out. I cried in joy and purchased it and I played through that. I am looking forward to playing through it for a third time. And this is the deciding point: I'm probably going to replay it on the PS2. Something about it feels a lot more natural for some reason.
Here's the breakdown.
PS2 – Okami – EU: Feb 9, 2007 – Action-adventure – Single player – Devloped by Clover Studio, distributed by Capcom
Wii – Okami – EU: Jun 13, 2008 – Action-adventure – Single player – Port by Ready At Dawn and Capcom
Overall Score:
PS2: 20.5/25 – Must Buy
Wii: 19.5/25 – Check It Out
-there's only a point between them – honestly, just buy it for the system you've got or the one you can get for cheapest. (:
stolen reviewing system from supermegapodcastbros.co.nr (:
