Okage: Shadow King

"Only if you're in need of an RPG fix."

Okage: Shadow King tells the tale of a young boy who's shadow has been possessed by evil King Stan. It's somewhat entertaining, albeit quite slow...

--]Gameplay: 6
Battles for the most part go at a snails pace. Choosing which attack to do is easy enough, but the actions the characters and enemies do takes too long, and drags the battles out. The worst part about them is when you beat them. The characters, in stereotypical-RPG fashion, HAVE to do a victory dance. They are long, corny, and just down right stupid! And spell casting...Ugh, spell casting! Spells do little to no damage on most monsters (especially bosses), and casting takes a very long time, like everything else in this game.

Traversing through the world is also painfully long. It's super easy to get lost. There are rocks that are in the formation of a circle in certain areas that act as teleporters, but they only become activated if you've been to the area that they teleport to, so they're pretty much useless for most of the game. Have fun trying to beat this game without a walk through!

--]Sound & Music: 5
I understand that this game is suppose to be somewhat like a cartoon, but cartoons are WAY more realistic with their sounds than this. Sword slashes sound like a hammer hitting...something. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it sounds NOTHING like what it should. Music isn't memorable at all either. I've had the game since it came out, and even played it yesterday and I don't remember any of the songs from it.

--]Graphics: 7
The animations in this game are actually quite nice. The character models and designs are cool and interesting, and many of the places you visit are lush and beautiful. They sometimes give you the feeling that you could actually go there.

--]Story: 7
The game tells the story of Ari, a boy growing up in a village called Tenel. Around Tenel, ghosts sometimes creep out of the dark forests and scare villagers. Some turn into horrible beasts that attack drifters and village folk. Some are left with ghostly curses. One night, Ari's sister Annie is found lying on the path to her house, under a curse. Annie's family holds a seance with a mystical bottle that Ari's father has found. The ceremony resurrects a spirit from the bottle named Stan. He is the spirit of an evil king, and Annie's only hope. To save his sister, Ari makes a deal with the king: In exchange for lifting Annie's curse, Ari will allow the evil king Stan to become his shadow and his master. This is how the game starts out. It's interesting, and somewhat funny; nothing to marvel at, but good.

Gameplay: 6
Sound & Music: 5
Graphics: 7
Story: 7
AVERAGE SCORE: 6.25
OVERALL SCORE: 6

Should you pick up this game? If you've played most of the RPG's on the PS2 but still crave more, I'd suggest picking this up. If you're not a major fan of RPG's, rent it first. You may end up hating it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/03, Updated 02/09/03