Okami

"Origin of all that is good, and a badass to evil scum"

Let's begin with the graphics for Okami. Words that come to mind are stellar, awe-inspiring, beautiful, and wow. When I first started, as anyone would, I noticed the cell-shading for this game was going to be 100%, and this stunned me a little as I haven't liked many cell-shaded games. But as the game goes on, and when anyone gets to their first Guardian Sapling, it's a treat to see. The leaves that flow around furiously with different colors, the valley turning from death to life, the green everywhere. It's enough to make anyone appreciative of the beauty of mother nature.

Throughout the rest of the game the animation flows so smoothly, perfectly. Enemies are always plain to see, if the camera is in the right position, and they too move fluidly. I try to think about the amount of work that went into the animation; the concept art, the world animation, animation of such tiny things as bird flying to other animals moving, enemies, NPC's, and it's all truly perfect. I rarely saw graphics drop-outs, or skips in the animation. The one complaint is the font and color of the text I read throughout the game, it can be difficult to see what it says at times.

So for the story you travel across the land of Nippon through such places as plains and forests while stopping at towns and cities across the land. 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, restoring the land. All the while searching the skies to find special star clusters to play connect the dots, to release a God from it's imprisonment and gain a celestial brush technique. Got all that?

Okami is full of laughs from your great sidekick, Issun. There's other funny NPC's that loiter throughout the game, but Issun should get a hilarious sidekick award, I swear. Okami's story is great, simply said. And I'm not going too much into detail, because you have to play this game, and don't fight it if you feel like converting to Shintoism after playing. “Origin of all that is good and mother to us all.” That phrase will stay with me for all time, and it shall warm my heart every time. That is the true power of a great video game.

You have three weapon types to equip and tryout: Reflectors (average powered attacks), Rosaries (multi-hitting attacks), and Glaives (slow powerful short-range attacks). It takes getting used to on all these attacks, with the motion controls it's trial and error figuring out just what the game will respond to for your attacks. In other words you have to be perfect in your motions, and it's annoying until you master it. The celestial brush techniques can be satisfying or frustrating, but fun to obtain and try out. It's specific where they can be used in the over-world to make an event occur. But you can use most of the techniques in combat which come in very useful. Especially if you upgrade your ink power to hold more ink, leveling up rocks. The brush isn't just reserved for the environment either; it can repair broken structures, and blast through evil barriers.

There is a ridiculous amount of side quests to do in this game. A collectors paradise of treasures, extra bosses, powerups to buy with special currency, and fish.

I'll talk about fishing shortly. I want to compare it to Zelda Twilight Princess, because it too has fishing. Overall I like TP's fishing better because you are more involved physically with your body and don't wear out easily. Whereas Okami's fishing has a physical gauge for the NPC you are fishing with and they don't have as much stamina as real-life people do. Plus Tp's overall mood while fishing is relaxing, whereas Okami's fishing pace is quick and the music rushes as well. So yeah, I didn't hate Okami's fishing, but TP's was better.

Audio is perfect, sound effects are crisp and where they should be, the soundtrack is undeniably perfect. I love this music, it will make you elated, make you cry, make you ancy, a plethora of emotions. I want to buy this soundtrack. IT IS PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL! But maybe that's just cause I'm so into traditional Japanese music.

Yikes, am I done? No there's so much more to say about this game it's rediculous. So many sidequests, and new game plus. Music to be adored, characters to fall in love with. Wow, just wow, all around.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/09

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