Ōkami (PS2) Review
Posted by Steve McHugh on 03.07.2007
The Most Beautiful Game in the World
This happens every year. Every single year, without fail, a game comes along that is both original and fun. A game that everyone should own and a game that everyone ignores in favor of the next sport update, where the only difference is that now everyone looks better or there’s a new passing move where the guy does a dance at the end. Psychonauts suffered this fate last year and unfortunately Okami is the unlucky winner this year.
This might give away the end of the review but Okami is everything a game should be. It’s fun, original, beautiful and interesting and yet it is still left on the shelf. Well, let’s see why this game is so magnificent shall we?
Firstly the story of Okami seems to be fairly standard stuff. You are charged with ridding the world of Orochi, who after being trapped for 100 years has been released and is now turning the once lovely world into his own personal place of evil. Sounds pretty familiar yes? Well here’s the different part, you play as an old statue of a white wolf called Okami who is given life by, and then bonded to, a God by the name of Amaterasu who posses the power of the Celestial Brush. Oh and you’re accompanied on your travels by a bug called Issun who is, shall we say, not the most tactful person ever (his entrance is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in games for a long time).
Graphics
This is one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen. On any generation of games. It doesn’t have the textures or realism of games like Gears of War or Lost Planet but what it does have is an abundance of charm and style. As you start the game you will quickly realize that every single aspect of this game has been lovingly crafted. The lands are full of fauna and flora and a lot of it can be interacted with. Helping once dead trees bloom is a sight to behold as the landscape becomes awash with color. Some of the things that happen when you do something to help out the land are amazing to watch.
Even the smallest things have a wonderful graphical style. When you walk, plants sprout out of your footsteps and the faster you run the more impressive they are. If you jump you’ll see blossom falling around you. It’s a wonderful way to immerse the gamer into the world and not once does it get boring.
On top of the wonderful effects around you the character models are all varied and nicely animated and that’s a good thing as there’s a lot of emotion shown through the animation. Especially the comedy aspects. Put quite simply this is one of those games you could pause and just stare at for ages and never get tired. Every frame is a work of art.
Gameplay
The main crux of the gameplay centers on the Celestial Brush, a mechanism that allows you to paint onto the world or alter things that are already there. Going through the game you’ll come across 15 different techniques that let you alter a different part of the world. These range from drawing a circle in the sky to get the sun to rise to drawing a slash to hit something. It may sound complex but it’s very simple to carry out. Pressing R1 pauses the game and lets you draw what you like with the square button, then when you’ve finished releasing R1 takes you back to the world and your drawing then takes effect. So if you draw a slash over an enemy that slash will then strike the enemy taking away some of its health.
It’s a great system and every time you learn a new technique you’ll go back though all of the areas you’ve been to, to try it out and see if you’ve missed anything. And there’s a lot of game to play with some of the areas being huge and having all sorts of secrets to find.
Apart from the brush there’s also the concept of praise. Every time you do something good you’ll get praise for it. Heal a tree or feed many of the animals you come across (a huge undertaking in itself) and you’ll get a little praise. The more you get the more you can upgrade various aspects such as health or the number of ink pots you can carry. You will find as you perform a successful brush technique you will use one ink pot. Whilst these do refill quickly there are occasions (battles mostly) where you’ll have to do a lot of drawing quickly so you’ll want to get more pots so you don’t run out.
The battles themselves are also well thought out. There are no random battles, you can see all your enemies on screen in each area (although they’re shown as green flags so you won’t know what type they are until you start a fight) so you only ever have to fight the scripted battles if you want. But fights are a good source of income so it’s wise to have a few every now and again. The one problem with these fights is that they’re very easy to win. The basic controls for a fight are using the X button to hit (and then after a while using R2 to dodge or Triangle to block) and you’ll just keep hitting X until you want to use the brush and that’s basically it. After a few hours of gameplay you’ll rarely even get hit which makes some of the boss fights such a huge leap in challenge. All of the bosses are impressive to fight against and all of them require the use of the brush to beat as you’ll need to figure out the puzzle that allows them to be hit. The giant spider is a particularly impressive fight that uses your brush skills well.
In fact using your brush to solve puzzles is a fairly common occurrence so by the time you get to any of the big bosses you should be able to figure out what to do fairly quickly.
So after all of this praise there must be something wrong. Well yes there are a few problems. The camera can occasionally get stuck and you won’t be able to see what you’re doing, which makes for the occasional frustrating experience. But the biggest problem is that when using the Celestial Brush you have to make sure to draw your action exactly right or it won’t be recognized. This is most apparent during some of the cut scenes where you have to make a drawing quickly to match an action on screen and there will be many times when you’ll have to start over despite the fact that you did it right just not exactly in the right place. It’s never so annoying that you’ll just stop playing but it does irritate when you’ve done nothing wrong that you can see.
But really that’s a small problem within a very big game.
Sound
The voices in the game are all mumbles and distorted and at first it’s a little jarring but it soon makes sense and actually fits in very well with the rest of the game. The music is superb as are the sound effects. The music does exactly what it should do and emerges you even deeper into the gaming world.
Lasting Appeal
Well the main story (and side-quests) will clock in at around 60 hours but once you’ve finished the game you’ve get a New Game Plus mode and a bunch of unlockables and you will want to play it through again. This is certainly going to last you a good long time.
Fun Factor
Have you ever played a game where a baddie is explaining why he’s doing something and why he’s going to kill you? Of course you have, everyone has! Ever played a game where the main character goes to sleep whilst this is happening? No, well that’s the sort of thing that happens in Okami. This is one of the funniest, charming and well-written games out there. And nearly every character you meet will have a great personality making this game not only moving but very funny and smart too. You’ll keep playing just to see who does what next and at no point will you ever be bored. Does your sense of humor stretch to smiling when you see break dancing old people? Then this is the sort of game you need to play. One of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had playing a game.
The 411
One of the best games available on the PS2? Yep, in fact one of the best games money can buy and probably the best game of its type in years. Even better then the last Zelda game on the Wii, which is high praise. The love and attention put into this game by the developers shows in every aspect of the game and attention and deserves to be played by everyone who owns a PS2. If you don’t own one then go buy one as this is more than worth it.
Graphics
9.6
One of the most beautiful games I have ever seen.
Gameplay
9.7
A few problems take away from a perfect 10 but it still plays wonderfully. The Celestial brush is a great idea used very well.
Sound
9.0
The voices take getting used to but soon become right for the game.
Lasting Appeal
9.0
60hrs+ of game and you’ll play it more than once.
Fun Factor
10.0
I haven’t laughed so much at a game in a long time and I haven’t been addicted to one like I was this in just as long.
