Okage: Shadow King

"A Great PS2 game worth the low cost!"

I had heard, before getting this game, that it was a bad game with even worse gameplay. Between getting it and playing it, my family told me this. After playing it for 15 minutes at first, I also believed this. But if you're patient with Okage, it turns out to be actually a fun game with a good story, likable characters, and a pretty good battle system.

Okage starts out like many games in the simple aspect that you are a simple boy who goes around with little care in the world, running errands for your mother. But when you cross that path of a formerly powerful evil king, Stan, you begin a quest to rid the world of evil... for the sake of more evil.

After a circus one day, Ari's sister is found cursed, only able to speak in pig latin. In order to save his sister from life as a ''comic-relief girl'', Ari's parents summon the descendant of the great evil king, Gohma. It turns out that Stan, the evil heir, has lost nearly all of his power to some impostor evil kings in the region. So, Ari, now Stan's servant to save his sister, has to defeat the fake evil kings in order to return Stan to his original evil state.

In my opinion, the best part of this game is the characters. They are all so confusing and strange that somehow, they all create a perfect balance of strangeness in the game. From a womanizing paranormalist to an umbrella wearing, rapier-wielding female warrior, to the disgruntled evil king who is sick of nobody believing his ultimate evil, the characters all work together hilariously and well.

The graphics, although not FFX wonderful by any standard, are decent enough. The enemies in this game, though, are well drawn for what they need to be, and are funny to look at, along with some being unusually satisfying to defeat, like the chicken chickens. The story, though, is easily the best part of the game. Hilarious and full of twists, the game's storyline is laughable and goofy. The control in Okage is exactly what it needs to be. Simple. The sound, unfortunately, though, is the worst part. But, that isn't saying much. It's kind of repetitive.

In all, the game would have gotten a 9, but the price sealed a 10. We got it for $15 at target! This game is definately worth it.

A word of advice, though. Not everyone will like Okage. My parents hated it. You might like it, but if you're into sports games and constant action, this isn't your game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/02, Updated 11/11/02