Game Review: Okami

Sony Playstation 2

Action adventure
Clover Studio

Okami is a new (obviously very japanese) adventure game which has drawn comparisons to the Zelda franchise - and rightfully so. Okami's gameplay is definitely inspired by Nintendo's venerable series, what with Ameratasu spending much of her time running about helping villagers, fighting bad guys and progressing through caves to fight the bosses that live there. This is by no means a slight on the game, as Okami adds more than enough originality to keep it from being just another derivative Zelda clone.

The story is heavily steeped in japanese mythology. I know nothing of japanese mythology so I couldn't say whether it's accurate or to what degree, but it's very entertaining and well done. Definitely a breath of fresh air. The central villain in the game is an eight-headed hydra type creaure known as Orochi who demands maidens be sacrificed from the local village (Those of you who played Dragon Warrior III will recall Orochi as an asshole from that game.) Sacrificing maidens sucks and it's your job to stop it from happening. You play a god in wolf form named Ameratasu who has awoken after 100 years. Playing a wolf helps make the typical japanese silent hero role a little smoother, though you do travel with an odd little bug-man-thing called Issu who does more than enough talking for both of you.

Purdy

The game has recieved high praise for its cel-shaded, watercolor-style look and once again, Okami does not disappoint. The game is gorgeous to look at and play. It really feels like you're playing the pages of a storybook. Much has been made of the paintbrush technique; pressing R1 will freeze the screen like a canvas and bring up a large brush icon. Using the analog stick, you can paint slashes through enemies, break rocks, fix broken bridges, make the wind blow, etc. It's a neat game mechanic and, while not exactly groundbreaking, it's a welcome change from button combos. This mechanic would've been perfect on the Nintendo Wii.

Okami also has a fishing mini game. I was lost for hours...

The game's music score is spot-on perfect, exactly what you'd expect to fit the theme and look of the game. If Okami has anything against it, it's that the difficulty never really ramps up. That and the asian babbling sound that accompanies the dialogue, reminiscent of Animal Crossing. But these are minor complaints and do not really detract from this great game.

Simply put, Okami is one of the last great PS2 games. Have your wombats.