Okami review
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Okami review

Okami is a Playstation 2 game that was originally made by Cloverstudios. Shortly after release Cloverstudios got the plug pulled on them and the game was later released on the Nintendo Wii. Then kind of recently, it was again released in HD for Playstation 3. Okami is a game with the objective to restore the suddenly cursed land of the Nippon back to it’s beauty, and bring people to know the main character you play (the wolf goddess of the sun, Okami Amaterasu, with her tiny Celestial Envoy named Issun).

Use Amaterasu’s tail as a Celestial Brush to interact with the world around you; such as control of the elements and the environment.  Help people with problems, make them believe in the Gods, or use it to solve puzzles and defeat enemies and bosses.  While roaming the Nippon or exorcizing demons, you can listen to the beautiful and epic music that goes along with it.


Story

The story is based off old Japanese folklore and is very interesting to watch unfold as you progress through the game. The game starts with a narrator telling a story of how the Nippon was once freed from curse 100 years beforehand, by the slaying of evil 8- headed serpent, Orochi.  And later carries on to 100 years later, where the foul Orochi was freed from it’s slumber by a shadowy figure that removed the Sword that kept the beast from awakening.99_okami-hd_new_screenshot_09

You start out in a small place called Kamiki Village, where the already cursed land sends a boulder to destroy the wolf goddess statue of Okami Shiranui. But the Wood Tree Sprite of that village, Sakuya, intercepts the boulder and calls aid to the statue and brings it to life again. Then out of nowhere your partner for the rest of the story pops out of Sakuya’s kimino. This little guy, claims to be the great wondering artist Issun.

You will meet many other gods along the way that give you their brush techniques to use as your own.  Each of those gods has been in hiding in some way or form from the cursed lands, wondering imps and demons. To free them from hiding you have to exorcize demons, interact with people and solve their problems, or fix broke parts to the environment.  Some brush techniques include: the use of the power of wind, fire, water, controlling the moon, and, of course, the sun.


Gameplay

You start out with three Solar Units (which is your health) and three Ink Pots (which is used for drawing god techniques with the Celestial Brush). Each drawing uses one Ink Pot, but they will refill on it’s own over time.  Solar Units however will not; although, you can buy or find health items and restore Solar Units that way. You also start out with being able to carry a certain amount of Yen (currency), as well as another life saving item you obtain in the beginning of the game. To increase the number of Solar Units and Ink Pots, and those things, you have to accumulate Praise from restoring the Nippon, or helping other people with their problems. Once you’ve collected enough Praise, you can level up one or more of those choices depending on how much Praise you have.

Your partner, Issun, explains how to do just about everything as far as the controls and stuff go, so that’s self explanitory.

There are three different classes of weapons with 5 obtainable weapons from each type. You can only upgrade one weapon to make it more powerful by obtaining and using Gold Dust on it. Be sure to only use it on one weapon, or else. If you use another seOkamit of Gold Dust on the same weapon, or a different one, it will greatly decrease the attack power of all weapons. It’s not glitch because it even says that in the games description of it.

Around the Nippon you’ll see floating scrolls of different colors for different areas of the game. Each scroll contain enemies. Defeat the enemies to obtain Yen. You can also use certain brush techniques on certain enemies as they are dying and they will drop a Demon Fang.  Demon Fangs can be used to trade for rare items.  Each battle ends with a grade of how fast you cleared the demons and how much damage you took (no damage being the best).

There’s not much difference in gameplay between the Playstation versions and the Wii version. Every bit of the controls and gameplay gets explained as the player begins and progresses through the game. But there are some clear differences that should be pointed out. With the Playstation versions; when using the Celestial Brush, or just moving the camera angle in general, it moves slower than the Wii version. But having to use a analog stick is better than using a sensor bar, and that makes for some more accurate Brush skill drawings. Everything else reliess on the press of a button, unless want to use the Playstation 3 sensor bar option instead the controller. Then your back to the poor drawing skills of the Wii version (I highly recommend sticking with the normal controller at all times). With the Wii version; Moving the Camera angle around is faster than the Playstation versions, but as mentioned above about the sensor bar, it makes for some terrible Brush drawings.  Lastly, the tackle and attack buttons, were replaced with a quick flick of the Wii remote.

How are they similar you ask? Other than stuff mentioned above, they are the exact same in gameplay. They didn’t change any of the story or the characters. They have the same battles with enemies and bosses, dialogue (at least to my knowledge on that one), and even all the digging mini-games. It’s all the same idea.

As far as improving how much and what you can do in the Nippon and in battles with enemies; there are three dojos throughout the Nippon (that seem to have the same dojo master) that teach world and battle techniques. The first dojo has a small amount of techniques that can be learned. The second one has a little more. And the last area of the game has a dojo that teaches all the techniques. Only one of the techniques is mandatory to get to progress through the game. The others just help out some or a lot.

You can also find or obtain 100 Stray Beads throughout the game and if you collect all of them you receive a ridiculous reward that grants you infinite health and ink pots as well as 10 times increased attack power, for new game plus.


Final Thoughts

All of the characters look different and they are all unique and loveable in their own way. The music is epic and beautiful. The game is comical, and the graphic are the same as the music. Gameplay is excellent, but also depends on what game console you have it on. Lots of stuff to collect and do. This game really takes the cake.  It’s a work of art! Literally. I do highly recommend getting the Playstation 2 or 3 version, as they have smoother gameplay than the Wii version. But whatever you can get your hands on first, do get a copy!

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7 responses to “Okami review”

  1. Played this on Wii and loved it. It was recommended to me as a Zelda clone, but it truly stands on its own. The cel shaded graphics fit so well with the theme and the brushtroke mechanic was so unique and gratifying.

  2. Yeah, I forgot to mention it kind of feels like a Zelda game, due to exploration and get free to do what ever you want when you want most of the time.

    Thanks for making it look more presentable, guys!

  3. Lovely post, Vinyl! I was not aware you’d already gotten published. Well done!

    Also, I’m quite interested in playing this now. And who wouldn’t be after such a glowing review?

    I’m also a little embarrassed to admit that I never knew you actually played as the dog…

  4. I remember playing this on the PS2 and wasting so much hours playing it and just messing around. But i remember the story extending beyond the old Japanese folklore and become a really epic adventure later on.

  5. Issun and Waka are my favorite characters. Issun is very perverted, but turns out to be an interesting and essential character with a story of his own. And Waka… That guy is quite the character. Is prophecies are pretty funny at times. But his story is the most interesting.
    But when you put Issun and Waka together in conversation, it can get very interesting and heated, but very comical.
    I love how the game is unknownly centered around, “resolve”. Especially at the end, when all the pieces fall into their place.
    Thanks Pendant! Maybe it is available on the Wii U; if not you don’t have a Wii; so you can play it. And don’t be embarrassed.

    Also. I’m might also type up a review for the sequel to Okami. It’s called, Okamiden.
    Okamiden’s story is not as good as Okami. But it’s still a fun game to play. With some new features, and similar gameplay, it’s for the Nintendo DS.

  6. I picked this up for my PS3 on the PSN and have it down as one of my favourite games ever. It looks beautiful, the story is charming, engaging and played out by a wacky, wonderfully realised cast, the gameplay is tight and innovative (particularly when it comes to the brush stroke techniques), it’s utilizes RPG elements very nicely and there is still plenty to do once you finish the main story. AMAZING

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