Okami

"An incredible adventure that puts most Zeldas to shame."

Okami…where to start? This game has a truly unique charm. As you may have garnered from the title, Okami has some of that Zelda-ness we've all come to know and love. In some ways it is a lot like Zelda, but in other ways it's so different that it's a totally unique experience. You play as Okami Amaterasu (from this point on shortened to Ammy), a Japanese sun god. Joined by a Poncle named Issun, you set out to rid the land of Nippon of the evil that has awakened with the revival of the terrible dragon Orochi. Does it sound similar to Zelda yet? The hero with a sidekick battling against newly revived evil may ring a few bells. So why is this game completely unique? Well…

Gameplay:

Allow me to start with the basics. You travel across the land of Nippon through such places as plains and forests while stopping at towns and cities across the land. Although you can't talk back to people, you can listen to them. Any talking will be handled by Issun, but with his mouth that may not be a good thing. It's like any other game with a silent protagonist, so gathering hints and taking side-quests while exploring the land should come as no problem. Also, almost all new areas you come to will be cursed. To progress, you will need to locate the region's Guardian Sapling and bring it back to life. This will show a brief, awesome cutscene where the cursed zone is dispelled by a wave of flowers.

The exploration and talking can't really be that unique from any other game, but now we're getting into the good stuff: the combat. Ok, so you may be expecting to swing a sword around while shooting your bow at goblins by this point, but the reality couldn't be farther from this. While wandering around Nippon you will encounter Demon Scrolls. They leave you alone during the day, but will pursue you at night. Making contact with a demon scroll surrounds the immediate area in a barrier and monsters appear. You have three weapon types to equip: Reflectors (average powered short range attacks), Rosaries (weaker long range multi hitting attacks), and Glaives (slow powerful short range attacks). They have different function depending on if they are equipped as a Main or Sub weapon. You obtain these weapons by buying them or defeating bosses in dungeons. Attacking is performed with well timed swings of the Wii Remote. You may see people complaining about the controls, but they are probably waving the controller around like a maniac. The only iffy part of combat is the dodging move learned not too long into the game. It is VERY sensitive, but not uncontrollable. Each monster you encounter has a unique way of defeating it, so I won't go into too much detail here. After encountering a new one just experiment and check the Bestiary.

This next section ties into both combat and non-combat play, but it's so important I've saved it for its own section. Okami's most unique element by far is using Ammy's divine powers to call on the Celestial Brush. The Celestial Brush allows you to paint on the screen using the Wii Remote. Throughout the game you will learn new brush techniques, such as Bloom to revive dead trees and Power Slash, your bread and butter brush attack. There are 13 different brush gods that each know one type of Celestial Brush power. Now, there is one thing that I feel must be mentioned. In fact, I'm going to bold it. The Z Button draws a straight line! Techniques that require straight lines, like Power Slash, may be hard to pull off with the A Button. Z will draw a straight line, so before complaining your lines don't work, try Z!

Story:

Okami is actually based off of Japanese mythology, which provides an amazing story. As mentioned earlier, you are Amaterasu, a Japanese sun god. 100 years prior to the events of the game, a white wolf named Shiranui and the warrior Nagi battled Orochi. Orochi was defeated and sealed away, but Shiranui died in the process. Every year, Orochi demanded a sacrifice from Kamiki Village, so statues of Shiranui and Nagi were built in the village to commemorate them. Fast forward to the present, and Orochi is freed by an idiot (I will not spoil the name of said idiot), and the Wood Sprite Sakuya, who watches over Kamiki Village, calls on you for help. The statue of Shiranui comes back to life and is taken over by you, and the events of the game begin.

The story is not as linear as you might think. “Get the brush techniques, grab some healing items, and go finish off the final boss with a cool looking yet impractical attack.” Wrong. The story actually has many interesting turns and sub-plots along the way that will make you go “Oh, wow!” Of course, I am not spoiling anything here.

Graphics:

One word: breathtaking. The game is beautifully cel-shaded and colourful. Based off of Japanese art styles, enemies and characters have a charm that no other game has. You may hear that the “parchment effect” is not as good as the PS2 version. Although I have only played the Wii version, from what I've seen this does seem to be the case. Both styles are fantastic, though. The PS2 version is more washed out and looks like a painting. The Wii version has much brighter colours. Both games look great. Also, the Wii supports 480p and widescreen, which is a bonus. By far one of, if not, the most beautiful game on Wii so far.

Music:

Another word can summarize this game's soundtrack: stunning. Wow. The music just fits. It turns ominous when entering a very evil place. It's saddening when explored a cursed place. It's upbeat when exploring a big plain. It's calming when exploring a forest. It's invigorating when in a big boss battle. Okami's music is to the ears what its graphics are to the eyes. You'd be hard-pressed to find a SINGLE bad track in the entire game. The songs in this game may trump the ENTIRE list of songs in Brawl.

Length:

Okami's play time is nothing to sneeze at. Personally, to beat the entire game took me a smidgeon over 40 hours. That's with all side-quests, but not all stray beads. Expect the main game your first time to last over 25 to 30 hours, and even then you'd miss out on some exploring and collecting. After you beat it you'd probably want to play it again, too. There are bonuses for replaying, but I won't spoil them. I'll just say that they're fun.

Wii…or PS2?

I suppose no review can be completely positive, I feel obligated to mention the game's glitches and shortfalls for you PS2 owners out there. You may see users complaining about freezing problems or a certain side-quest not working properly. I have only had my game freeze once, personally, and have had no other problems. Constant freezing is almost certainly a problem with the disk. Also, the Wii version does not have the credits and epilogue found in the PS2 version, they are removed. Personally, I still prefer the Wii controls, but this may push people on the fence about the two versions to the PS2 side. The choice is yours.

Final Score:

Okami is perfect. Its only flaw is that it can't go on forever. When you reach the point of no return you'll probably feel sad that it's almost over. Okami pulls off the adventure genre better than most Zeldas, and that's saying something. Okami gets a…

10/10!

Buy it. Do not even THINK about renting it. As I like to say for all great games, RR: rent and regret.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/08

Game Release: Okami (US, 04/15/08)