Okami

[Senbei]

So, is anybody else as enthused by this game as I am? Ōkami is the first game that I have ever picked up at launch and it proved to be a good move. It is absolutely gorgeous on several artistic and mental levels, funny as hell at some points, and provides an awesome feeling of the power and beauty of nature, somehow enhanced through the Celestial Brush device. This game is an absolute masterpiece that you must play.

Truth be told, the game does boil down to Zelda-like gameplay, since you have to follow a bunch of predetermined missions to collect items and follow the story. But this aspect and the rather predictable musical score are probably the only stale parts of the game, and even the fact that the game sometimes leads you around by the, well, leash won’t bother you because your abilities are upgraded at exactly the right times, continuously making you feel like the goddess you play as. Running around accomplishing missions, treasure hunting, and helping out the flora and fauna is really a gratifying feeling, especially since the ink painting visuals are so beautiful and the game’s denizens and their Japanese mythological roots are so memorable.

I think this is the coolest of the games that have graced my PS2, and that includes Psychonauts. The only game I can think of that might take its place is Shadow of the Colossus, but, since it’s next on my playing list, I have yet to know. I hope Ōkami gets the recognition it deserves from the public now that it’s been so well-received by the critics. My fear is that Westerners might be turned off by its old-timey Japanese appearance if there aren’t any ninja apparent, but hopefully the purely awesome visuals and the high critical praise will attract enough of a crowd that this game isn't as overlooked as Psychonauts was.

[Segaholic2]

I haven't been able to spend nearly as much time with it as I would like, but I've loved every moment so far.

Stupid tests.

Definitely one of the best PS2 games I've played, and if it holds up as well all the way through to the credits it will be one of the major triumphs of this generation.

[Esrever]

Does that navi-like glowing dot companion ever shut up? It's endless yattering in the demo pretty much turned me off the game entirely.

Nothing ruins a game for me like having to cycle through hundreds of sentences of severely overwritten text dialogue.

[Senbei]

Issun does indeed get annoying pretty quickly, since he's talking for himself and a silent protagonist. The gibberish voice-overs were also a major turn-off for me at the beginning of the game, but thankfully you can "fast forward" the text through MOST of the cutscenes. Important bits of text are also highlighted in red, so you can skip over the boring text boxes if you're adept with the X button.

[aso]

Definitely a wonderful game.

Beautiful, wide-open worlds, tight and precise controls, oddly endearing babble-speech (reminescent of Animal Crossing's 'Animalese'), and a whole lot of hidden things everywhere. The story is funny due to its characters (go, Susano!) and compelling due to its interesting adaptation of Japanese mythology. The paintbrush is also very well utilised with the wide variety of techniques you can use to affect both your enemies and the world around you, though it can sometimes be a bit difficult to be precise with the brush.

Unfortunately, the difficulty is a wee bit easy and Issun is indeed somewhat annoying, but the overall quality of the game makes up for these faults.

[Green Gibbon!]

I can tell I'm getting old, because I had no idea this was out already. They always take me by surprise now. It's making me realize how much I miss the delightful agony of anticipation.

How is the localization? Capcom tends to be rather hit or miss in that area.

[Popcorn]

I can tell I'm getting old, because I had no idea this was out already. They always take me by surprise now. It's making me realize how much I miss the delightful agony of anticipation.

How is the localization? Capcom tends to be rather hit or miss in that area.

So far it's rather how Es described: overwritten. The dialogue is sufficiently charming, but there's far too much of it, and my pixie pal just doesn't seem able to stop explaining everything to me in ten different shades of transparency every time anything occurs.

Other than that, my initial reaction to the game is very positive, but it's a slow burner... I'm four hours in and it still doesn't feel like I've left the 'intro' segment of the game. Maybe it's because that fucking pixie fuck just won't shut up.

[Green Gibbon!]

For all the nice things I've ever thought about Clover Studio, they've kind of never really made an exceptional game. Joe was cool and all, once, for about half the game, but of course that's been blown entirely out of proportion. Steel Battalion was an amazing and bold accomplishment, but a very, very boring amazing and bold accomplishment. God Hand just looks like ass. I'm hoping Okami is the moment Inaba and his crew hit their stride, because it sure looks like they could possibly make a badass game eventually.

[Segaholic2]

Other than that, my initial reaction to the game is very positive, but it's a slow burner... I'm four hours in and it still doesn't feel like I've left the 'intro' segment of the game. Maybe it's because that fucking pixie fuck just won't shut up.

That's because the "prologue" ends about 13-20 hours into the game. Yeah, I'm not kidding.

[Popcorn]

Steel Battalion was an amazing and bold accomplishment,

Steel Battalion was Clover?

[Green Gibbon!]

It was directed or something by Atsushi Inaba, who is president of Clover. Technically, the original Joe was also created before Clover was officially formed, but it was the same people.

[Neo Yi]

I've been keeping an eye on this game since I read it in previews months back. As soon as I save up enough money, I'm gonna full on spend it on this game. I do hope that the game's supposed 40 hour length is true. I could use something to keep me occupied.

[Senbei]

I'm about 15 hours into the game and have only gotten about half of the collectables that I think I can get. There's a myriad of things to do, like gathering various collectables, feeding wild animals to increase your faith points, hunting special monsters for a reward... According to Gamefaqs, there's also an end-of-game ranking system and a new game plus mode, which can be a good or bad thing.

[Locit]

I'm at a point where I have to find the last three of seven dogs scattered throughout the world for one reason or another. I'm really enjoying it despite its fetch-questiness, mainly because of how fun the necessary side quests needed to accomplish your goals are. Another interesting feature is how often you get new techniques, at least early in the game. They're put into effect very naturally, in part because the areas in which you use them are integrated nicely into the overall environment. The art style goes a long way in doing this, with the only thing that bothers me about it being how the large trees rotate with the camera even once you've cut them down.

[Popcorn]

Okami is an astonishingly slow-burning game. I'm now six hours in and I've only just finished what I assume is the first 'true' dungeon of the game. I can't help but feel that if the dialogue-- and even the item and menu descriptions-- weren't all so cloyingly overwritten and so painstakingly, infuriatingly helpful, I'd have reached this point much faster. And yet despite all the transparency in the hint-dropping, it's frustrating how simultaneously ambiguous the game can be; nothing's stopped me in my tracks for very long yet, but on a couple of occasions that Navi-esque bastard has managed to give me the same piece of information in ten different ways (with bolded text, no less) and still fail to actually get to the meat of what I'm actually meant to be doing. Maybe that's just me.

Aside from the game's (over)generous but occasionally inaccurate helping hand, I'm enjoying it a lot. So far I'm completely enamoured just with the way it looks-- which is a completely obvious thing to say-- and the brush mechanic becomes increasingly ingenious once the game decides you're old enough to experiment with it on your own. My only other gripe is the animal-feeding mechanic, which seems to serve no greater purpose than simply gaining Praise (ie skill points which can be allocated to various attributes). The little "feeding animals" animation is cute and all, but once I'd watched it the first time and realised that it's just a pretty scene on loop that requires the player to sit through two loading screens to watch, I began to resent it. That's a trivial matter, though.

I also think it's important to make note of how much the game owes to the Zelda series. That's another obvious point, I guess, but it really does play like an arthouse Zelda.

[Arcade]

So basically, is a "Zelda" game for people that hate Nintendo?

[Senbei]

Try blowing up animals once you learn the Cherry Bomb technique. I know it cheers me up when I'm frustrated.

I think that by moving slowly Ōkami is trying to give you a chance to appreciate the visuals more. It's the type of game that expects you to stop and soak in the craftsmanship. Obviously, this isn't going to be accomplished by Issun's incesscent yammering, but you might notice that the game encourages exploration and frequently revisiting areas. Even its dungeons are designed like that. I think that it's not just going for a fetch quest nature, but a meditative one.

[EternalGamer]

Okami is the best game I have played in several years. The level design is every bit as good as in any Zelda game, and in some places completely outclasses Zelda. I am 25 hours in and have not flipped a single switch or pushed a crate anywhere. What's more the game has a great quirky sense of humor about it. When one of the puzzles involves you have to help prepare an appetizer for an evil demon before he can enjoy his sacrificial maiden, you know you have something good.

Okami is the type of game that makes you understand religious fervor. It makes you want to proselytize for its greatness and divide the world along the type of bichromatic "black and white" line that religious groups tend to. Only instead of "sinner and saved" it makes you feel the world should be divided up into two different distinct categories: those who buy and love Okami, and those who are just horrible people.

[Double-S-]

Okami is the type of game that makes you understand religious fervor. It makes you want to proselytize for its greatness and divide the world up in those types of bichromatic "black and white" ways those religious group do. Only instead of "sinner and saved" it makes you feel the world should be divided up into two other distinct groups: those who buy and love Okami, and those who are just horrible people.

This is probably one of the most retarded things I have ever read.

[EternalGamer]

This is probably one of the most retarded things I have ever read.

Would you care to elaborate as to why, or are you only capable of single sentence utterances that make you look like a douche bag and a barely literate one at that?

[jenkins]

Would you care to elaborate as to why, or are you only capable of single sentence utterances that make you look like a douche bag and a barely literate one at that?

If you'd like to make a fool of yourself, you can be my guest, but I've been there, and you probably won't like it.

At least Double-S- doesn't feel the Dilbert-esque need to cover up illiteracy with ridiculously convoluted and somewhat incomplete sentences, along with stereotypically combersome words. You would have come closer to thwarting him with a simple "I don't see why."

[EternalGamer]

Would you care to elaborate as to why, or are you only capable of single sentence utterances that make you look like a douche bag and a barely literate one at that?

If you'd like to make a fool of yourself, you can be my guest, but I've been there, and you probably won't like it.

At least Double-S- doesn't feel the Dilbert-esque need to cover up illiteracy with ridiculously convoluted and somewhat incomplete sentences, along with stereotypically combersome words. You would have come closer to thwarting him with a simple "I don't see why."

I fully admit that I enjoy words and try to make full use of my vocabulary both because I like to maintain it but also just because I like words. I find nothing shameful about that. Whether or not the usage seems convoluted is largely dependant upon subjective perspective. Words that someone is not familiar with are considered "convoluted" whereas words that somone is familar with are not considered such. To someone with only a 7th grade vocabulary, Mark Twain probably sounds "convoluted." But a college freshmen would find him easily readable.

But at least I try to use words in a meaningful and proper way, which in my mind is far more important. Speaking of which, could you please explain to me what the hell a "stereotypically cumbersome" word is? "Oh yes, I see that word being used all the time, it is stereotypically cumbersome."

Gibbon, what the hell has happend to your forum? Is everyone here a pedant or a troll? I figured you would at least rub off on these guys some what. They don't even seem to have a sense of humor.

[MegaKitsune]

I want to play Okami. Too bad I don't have a PS2. :( Is there any chance of a port?

[Segaholic2]

I fully admit that I enjoy words and try to make full use of my vocabulary both because I like to maintain it but also just because I like words. I find nothing shameful about that.

Yeah, you <i>would</i>.

Anyhow, apologies on behalf of everyone else. It's good to have you back.

[EternalGamer]

I want to play Okami. Too bad I don't have a PS2. :( Is there any chance of a port?

At first, I wanted to hold out in hopes of a Wii version because the game would be absolutely perfect for that console. The way you "paint" on the screen to bring things into existence would work excellent with the remote's pointer. Unfortunately, several interviews I read in EGM, Play and elsewhere made it clear they have no intentions of porting it or even for making a sequel at the time. Occasionally in the past Capcom has ported their titles from less popular platforms to more popular ones to gain sales (like the move of Resident Evil 4 and Viewtiful Joe from Cube exclusives to PS2), but there is little reason to port this one to other consoles since it is already on the most popular system available. There are over 120 million PS2 units out there. It if doesn't sell on the PS2, they would have little reason to believe it would sell anywhere else.