Okage: Shadow King

"Stan saves the day again!"

I had been awaiting this game ever since I first heard of it. Imagine my surprise when I go into the video store and see it just sitting there on the shelf, one copy, still not rented. Of course, I quickly snatched it up and thought I was dreaming since if a video store carries an RPG with only one copy, it's usually an eternal struggle to get ahold of it. I thought perhaps some stores got the game in early, though it turns out a lot of people just chose to not pay attention to it. Regardless, it is a good game, though it has quite a bit of problems. Will they be listed below? Strap in, buddy, 'cause we're about to find out!

Graphics: 9/10 - Let's get these out of the way first. Apparently, there's a problem with the camera blurring at some points, but I never really noticed it and I don't think it was a major problem to begin with. However, the dungeons were a bit bland and while there were some differences, they weren't major. Aside from that, I never really judge a game on graphics and as long as I know what's what, who's who, and where the hell I'm going, the game is fine with me. In this case, I really liked the graphics, especially Stan. It's a real shame the game didn't become a big hit, because Stan is one ''mascot'' I wouldn't mind seeing again and again.

Camera Angles: 6/10 - Okay, this got a bit annoying. Sometimes the camera will pan behind you while you run so that you can't see directly in front of you. Not very fun if a ghost appears RIGHT in front of you. And let me tell you...they WILL. Also, in certain dungeons in the game, the camera won't be able to show you where you're going, or will end up showing an object that blocks Ari from you. Very frustrating indeed.

Music: 7/10 - Loved the music. Well, the town music, any ways. It really fit the atmosphere. My favorite would have to be Madril, and the music in the fields was great, too. Unfortunately, the music you hear the most is the music I disliked. That'd be, of course, the battle music. *shakes his head* Be prepared to hear this music a LOT. Of course, it's not as bad as the dungeon music or the ''victory'' and ''level up'' music. Sure, they're short, but they occur a lot and they're quite annoying. Still, the music in the game did fit quite well.

Fun Factor: 3/10(10/10) - If you come into this game for a traditional RPG, take the first score. If you come into it for the story, take the second. The story is great and fun and blah blah blah, we'll get to that. The RPG elements, however...God, I couldn't believe how annoying they made it. When you begin the game, you may have a fun time with it. But once you notice the ghosts popping up after every few steps, especially the ones which appear RIGHT in front of you, and the fact that you can get up to about 9 or more enemies in a random encounter is just ridiculous. Add onto the fact that the 9 enemies can all mob characters and kill them outright with ridiculous damage and...well, it's not a fun sight. It might also piss you off to know that if Ari dies, the game is over. Meaning if you get into battle and they all mob Ari and unfairly kill him, it's game over. And it could quite possibly happen. Very often, too. You can put on equipment to help protect yourself, but equipment gives only so much protection, while most of it relies in your stats. Unfortunately, you don't get enough money until later in the game to really buy a whole lot. Well then, why not just gain levels, you ask? Because of the horrible experience system. It's so much fun to walk into a dungeon and kill an Urn, then get 2-3 levels out of the battle just because the enemies in there are that damn hard. Battle out in the fields and while you'll gain a good amount of experience at first, eventually those 500 EP will turn into 100, then 50, then 4....this carries over to the dungeons as well, of course. Once the game decides you've gained enough levels, the EP will stop rolling in. Nice if you like being told what level to go and fight the bosses at, but kind of a pain when the levels the EP goes down at are STILL not enough to deal with some of the ridiculous combat.

Battles: 1/10 - I never really had fun with most battles. Aside from the music not really motivating me, the enemies were annoying and cheap. Sure, they were awesome looking, and I'll certainly never forget ''Wild Cow'', but when an enemy rushes at me only to drag me into battle, steal 100S/1000S/10,000S/100,000S and then immediately run away, I get really, really pissed off. Fortunately, you can run away from every battle except for Urns/Bosses, but it takes LP. Not to mention that you need to fight to level. Thankfully this game is on the PS2, not the X-Box, because not only would I not get to play it, but you'd probably kill someone after throwing the controller in frustration, which you might eventually find yourself doing.

Storyline: 10/10 - Hands down the best aspect of this game. If you can overlook the horrible battle system, you'll find a hilarious world with many fun people to talk to. I won't get into great detail, but as the storyline progresses(which is very nicely set out, BTW), you'll find some incredibly funny conversations which will also prompt you to make decisions ranging from bland to completely out of place. The way Ari is treated throughout the game is quite funny, and Stan alone saves this game from the Very Bad Battle System Evil King. Everything in the game from names of townspeople to the names of the Evil Kings is funny, and although you might think the game is all comedy, it can and does get serious when it needs to.

Glitches: 10/10 - This definitely gets a score of 10 for ''most bastardly glitch that can occur in a game''. Be sure to make multiple save points as you go along. I cannot stress this enough. Nothing sucks more than turning on the game and finding your save erased. And yes, this game will do it to you. I had it happen at one point, when I went to save my game and noticed it was gone. Thank God I didn't die/turn off the game at the last save, but if I had...poof. So if you play this, do not hesitate to make multiple saves.

Overall: 7/10 - My review for this game as I played it started off as a 10/10. ...Then it slowly dropped down to 7 after I realized how annoying the battle system was. It really drags down the game. Stan and the plotline can save it, but only if you give it a chance. I'd suggest you rent the game first. It has a fairly good replay value and there are plenty of sidequests to keep you busy along the way, but you might want to test it out and see if it's for you.
If you're a fan of Earthbound and A Nightmare Before Christmas, however, I'd say to go out and play this right away. The setting is similar to A Nightmare Before Christmas and the humor and fun of the game is almost as bizarre and off-the-wall as Earthbound was.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/01, Updated 10/17/01