Okami

"A Wii owner looking for the next, great adventure? This is your game."

Wii owners hankering for some quality adventure games, after having long since completed the likes of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime 3, had every reason to be disappointed by Nintendo's last E3 showing, where a new installment in a fourth tier franchise and a parade of casual games was all that was offered. But when Nintendo gives you rotten lemons you might as well look elsewhere for lemonade, and as luck would have it, Capcom has delivered: Okami, a game flying well under most people's radar, is the kind of masterpiece that would be a must buy during the most competitive of times, let alone a gaming drought. A port of the PS2 classic (also shamefully ignored by the masses), Okami now offers Wii owners something that's more than a mere distraction, but rather one of the most beautiful, entertaining and engrossing experiences they'll find on Nintendo's system.

Concept

Okami is an action/adventure game originally released in 2006 for the PS2 to rave reviews and rubbish sales, that's now been ported over to the Wii. The main character is Amaterasu, the sun goddess of Japanese mythology, here incarnated as a wolf. The gameplay combines exploration, puzzle solving and action, as well as interaction with various non-playable characters and enjoyable mini-games, in a way that's familiar to any veteran of the Zelda games. However, the game is by no means a clone and especially the Celestial Brush technique really brings something new to the table. Allowing you to freeze the action at any time and draw on the screen, the Celestial Brush gives you the ability to slash obstacles in half, create water lilies that enable you to cross dangerous waters, draw bombs out of thin air, make the sun appear and much, much more. These abilities are essential for solving puzzles, as well as useful in combat.

Graphics

As a game belonging to the previous generation, you'd imagine Okami's visuals would look rather dated by now. But no, the game is still gorgeous, due to its beautiful and timeless style. Okami's visuals are cel-shaded, full of vibrant colors and with a completely unique look to them. The landscapes are fabulous and the characters (especially Amaterasu) look great as well, and the animation is very well done. It's all so pretty you'll sometimes want stop playing and just admire the view, whether you're looking at an open field, running through an idyllic village or swimming in a lake.

However, while Okami is a piece of art visually, the graphics are not state of the art. By that I mean that there are some blemishes marring the game's visual impression. One issue is the pop-ups, how stuff like trees and animals invisible from afar suddenly pop up in your view when you're closing in on them. Okami gives you the illusion of great draw distance when you're standing in the middle of a field surveying the massive surroundings, but when you're actually running around and exploring, the illusion shatters and the pop-ups of objects big and small alike turn out to be a common occurrence. Another problem is the frame rate, which will often drop noticeably when you're in a big, open environment with a lot going on. Most of the time the game does flow smoothly, but occasional drops in the frame rate are certainly something you'll experience. Overall Okami is still a stunning game to look at, but the graphics are far from flawless.

Sound

Okami's soundtrack really is very impressive. It got a distinct eastern feel to it, but that certainly doesn't make it any less appealing to western ears. The number of tunes is simply huge, and they fit every mood and every environments, as well as being excellent in their own right. The sound effects also work well, though the gibberish spoken along with the text by the game's characters might have seemed more appropriate in early 3D platformers like Rayman 2 and Banjo-Kazooie, rather than in this epic adventure. Still, the superb music more than makes up for some gibberish.

Story

The backstory of Okami tells the tale of Amaterasu's battle with the eight-headed monster Orochi 100 years ago, when Amaterasu (then known as Shiranui) fought alongside the legendary warrior Nagi and sacrificed her life fighting Orochi. Our story begins with Orochi being brought back to life and again bringing chaos and destruction to the land of Nippon (or as we know it, Japan). In order to stop Orochi Amaterasu is revived, and along with the tiny creature Issun the white wolf sets out on a great adventure.

This, it turns out, is only the tip of the iceberg, as Okami's story will take you to places you'd never expected to visit and meet up with characters you'd never though you'd encounter. It's an interesting and unpredictable tale, with many unexpected twists along the way. Well written dialogue keeps your interest, and the cast of characters is huge and compelling, especially the main characters: Amaterasu is no aloof deity, but rather an authentic, playful wolf, who barks, howls, whimpers and is very easy to like. Issun, Amaterasu's traveling companion, is also memorable, a diminutive guy with a big mouth and a special fondness for well endowed women. Speaking of which, the game is actually very funny, with plenty of humorous situations along the way to balance out the drama. It all comes together very well.

Gameplay

In terms of gameplay Okami is truly masterful, seamlessly blending action, adventure, puzzles, side-quests and mini-games into one epic adventure. In addition you'll be able to use your Celestial Brush to make trees bloom, and feed the various animals in the game with food you can buy from merchants. All of this earns you Praise, which neatly ties into the game's story. See, in this time period people no longer believe in gods, which is good news for Richard Dawkins, but bad news for Amaterasu. However, by helping people, displaying your powers, feeding animals and otherwise healing the world, you'll make more and more people believe, which in turn earns you Praise. If you get enough Praise you'll be able to upgrade various attributes of your choosing, like your life bar or your ability to carry around certain amounts of cash. This ensures doing extra tasks is both rewarding and neatly tied into the overall story.

Variety is excellent, with plenty of different places to visit, tasks to perform and enemies to fight. Most fights take place in a relatively small, encircled area, where you'll have to use your main weapons, the Celestial Brush and various items and skills to defeat your foes. As you gain more and more abilities along the way, combat gets all the more entertaining, and works very, very well. When it comes to the puzzles I can safely say they put all of your abilities to good use, setting the stage for lots creative and clever problem-solving along the way. Okami can be very addictive, as you'll always want to see what happens next, and it's far less predictable than your average Zelda fare.

There are however some issues, the most important of which have to do with the motion controls. As it applies to the Celestial Brush, the motion controls make it quite sensitive, and this makes it much harder to draw straight lines for instance (this can be remedied by holding down the Z-button though). In the end the Wii version of the Celestial Brush still has the clear advantage of enabling you to draw far faster than in the PS2 version, but there's certainly a learning curve. Worse, one of the main weapon types in the game is very difficult to wield in the Wii version, so much so you'll probably just avoid using it alltogether. Finally, the control over a (pretty insignificant) dodge move mapped to the Nunchuck is quite simply broken. The other control aspects work great and the port job is overall solid, but in the light of the exemplary Resident Evil 4 port to the Wii, it's understandable that some people will feel disappointed. Other gameplay-related gripes have to do with the easy difficulty level and mini-games that are recycled a bit too much, but in the big picture these are just nitpicks. Okami is the majority of times a divine experience and a dream to play.

Longevity

Okami is a huge game, 30 hours + long and that's without doing the side-quests. And yes, Okami is jam-packed with side-quests to do, the most extensive involving collecting a whopping 100 stray beads. While the world you inhabit is massive in terms of sheer scope, what most impresses me is how every part of it is so vibrant, with secrets and hidden goodies around every corner, whether it'd be secret brush skills, weapons, abilities, hidden treasures, animals to feed etc. There's so much to do that I can easily see your completion time doubled just because you're trying to find every last secret and earn every last bit of Praise. And even once you've completed it, the rewards gained and carried over on the completed file could well tempt you into attempting a second playthrough. Make no mistake, this game is well worth the full price.

Closing Comments

Whether you're getting the PS2 or the Wii version of Okami, you're guaranteed an incredible, unforgettable experience like no other. But especially Wii owners, currently starved for new, so-called hardcore games, would be insane to miss it. This is not a game to consider, a game to rent or a game to hold out on in search for a bargain, this is a must buy game that's the answer to all your prayers for that big, epic, quality adventure. Do yourself a favor, buy Okami today!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/26/08

Game Release: Okami (EU, 06/13/08)