Okami Review

By Kristan Reed Published 9 February, 2007

Stroke of genius.

Version tested: PlayStation 2

Once or twice a year a game like this comes along. A game so engrossing, so crafted and so life-affirming that nothing else in the world seems to matter. It's snowing outside, you say? Anna Nicole Smith's dead? England beat the Aussies? Meh. You're pregnant?! Hang on a minute, I've just got to finish off this section...

Trying to neatly extol the virtues of Okami's endless charms isn't an easy task. It's one of those gaming experiences with so many interesting quirks about it and so many magic moments that merely running through the back-story and explaining what you do won't give you a hope of relating to how special this game really is. At worst, going into too much detail could turn this into an anti-review.

Bite-sized synopsis? It takes all the best bits of Zelda (the structure, atmosphere, puzzles), throws in wonderfully original combat and the most adorable art style ever seen in a videogame. It's not just one of the most consistently engaging action adventures we've played, but one that feels utterly unique in many ways that matter. It really is an exceptional achievement on so many levels.

Turn on the bright lights

'Okami' Screenshot wolfie

We would've called the game Wolfie, in tribute to our dearly departed pet. That's sort of what Okami means in Japan-o-land anyway.

Unfortunately, it's a yet another game where the land has been engulfed in darkness by a nefarious evil force known as Orochi, and, yes, another one where it's up to you to sort out the whole sorry mess, rid the world of evil and allow the nice fluffy villagers to get on and lead their idyllic rural lifestyles.

On the flip side, how you go about playing the all-conquering hero is somewhat more interesting. To combat this rising tide of evil, an old statue of a white wolf, Okami, is infused with the life force of an ancient god called Amaterasu - who just happens to posses the power of the Celestial Brush. And if that weren't improbable enough, you're accompanied by an ill-mannered talking bug called Issun, who also happens to be a calligrapher.

Fittingly, the cel-shaded brush art style matches the game's focus on the Celestial Brush powers. What you see are arguably some of the most strikingly beautiful visuals ever found in a videogame - never mind on the humble PS2. Every scene is like a living ink and wash painting, with stunningly graceful pastel landscapes populated with buildings, wildlife and fauna that are lavished with an equal degree of crafted attention. As captivating as the gameplay undoubtedly is, the process of constant exploration benefits no end by the superhuman effort that Clover invested into the art direction and animation.

Restoring light and nature back into the game world isn't just something to satisfy the gamer in you - its floral carnival turns the game into some sort of interactive digital art gallery. Some of the effects that kick in whenever you've done Something Good are truly sights to behold, and hopefully will help no end in persuading people to buy the game in the first instance - even if they're wary of what the game's actually like.

The brush off

'Okami' Screenshot anti

It's like the anti-Gears of War, basically. Therefore +2 on the EG-ometer.

But what's just as important in making Okami stand out as Something A Bit Different is how much of the gameplay hinges on your mastery of the 15 Celestial Brush techniques. On a basic level it gives you the ability to see off enemies and deal with environmental puzzles by drawing on the screen. To begin with, you'll learn basics like Sunrise, which allows you to turn night into day by drawing a circle in the sky, and Rejuvenation, which lets you mend broken bridges and the like. But soon enough, more fundamental techniques like Power Slash creep into the gameplay, which not only help you cleave rocks and wooden obstacles in half, but give you more powerful options during combat.

At first, using the Celestial Brush techniques can feel a little clunky, mainly because reliably drawing straight lines and circles isn't as straightforward as it could have been. To make things easier, the game generally pauses (and goes into a sepia mode to emphasise the effect) when you hold R1 to draw, so there's usually no time pressure to draw a circle or a straight line. Allowing players to take their time over their brush strokes is definitely a key part of helping you get to grips with what is, after all, a very odd game mechanic to have thrust upon you. But with confidence and experience comes added responsibilities, and Okami is positively loaded with them.

At key intervals in the game you'll be rewarded with yet more techniques, such as the Cherry Bomb (to blow up enemies, cracked walls and so on), Bloom (to make withered flora and fauna blossom), Water Lilly (to allow you to traverse bodies of water), and Vine (to reach giant blossoms in high places). Later on, you'll learn even more advanced techniques that give you more control over the elements - without completely spoiling the vast number of treats in store for you. Regardless of the power of these techniques, though, pulling them off is always extremely simple, with just a simple stroke required in most cases. More often than not, context is key, with the game giving vital clues when drawing, such as colour-coded 'holy smoke' allowing you to know precisely what technique you can use on any given piece of scenery or enemy.

Modern art

Thanks to a pleasantly gentle learning curve, getting up to speed with how and when you use the brush is handled very well. By the time you're making decent progress with the game, the sheer breadth of contextual options available to you during combat, in particular, makes it an intriguing and unique game to play - and the feeling of satisfaction when you've dispatched a particularly troublesome foe is palpable. All it requires is often a little imagination on your part.

That said, if there's one thing that threatens to derail Okami from scooping the 10 it so richly deserves, it's the occasionally unreliable nature of whether it 'understands' your brush strokes or not. Although even the most intense battles rarely require complex strokes from the player, the game will sometimes mis-read your intentions - especially when trying to perform otherwise routine brush strokes. Simple acts like the powerstroke can be simply ignored in the heat of combat (usually as a result of your own wavering touch, but still), and, likewise, basic environmental tasks such as blooming (where you draw a circle around a dead tree or a patch of lifeless ground) will fail unless you draw them where the game wants you to, forcing you to have to draw the same thing over and over until it works. The problem is mainly that the PS2 pad just isn't the right tool for the job, and partly because our hands are rubbish; in fact, Okami's ideas would have worked far better on the Wii, but that's never going to happen, now, is it?

'Okami' Screenshot fish

Whack flying fish! 11/10!

Using your brush techniques is only part of the story, though. In many respects, Okami sticks to tried and trusted action adventure controls and mechanics, and these definitely help make it feel less like a quirky experiment, and more like something that's building on extremely solid foundations. For example, movement and camera controls stick to the sensible two stick method that most third person games utilise these days, with X to jump, square to slash, triangle to block and circle to fire projectiles. In fact, most of the early combat encounters allow you to slash wildly - but soon you'll face enemies who can block indefinitely - until you bother to power slash their shield, for example. Weapons gradually play more of a part as the game goes on, but throughout you'll have the choice of a main and a sub weapon, which can also be powered up as you buy gold dust at the various merchants that you'll encounter along the way. In addition, you'll be able to learn new, increasingly powerful combo moves at the Dojo, while garnering praise for your good deeds allows you to power-up in other ways, such as increasing your reserves of health and ink. The latter, in particular, becomes more important as powerful brush moves drain a greater quantity of your ink reserves. But like everything in Okami, the rate of progression is judged so well that by the time you need greater powers, you'll most likely have already powered yourself up anyway.

Dig it

But like many epic games, Okami rewards players who are thorough in numerous ways. Feeding animals and birds, for example, gains you praise points, as does making sure you restore withered trees to full bloom, not to mention the endless amount of treasure you can dig up and uncover if you're determined. Such tasks never feel like a chore, though. It's the kind of game where you'll happily while away the hours doing very little, because the actual process of finding treasures and restoring the landscape is calming in its own strange way, and actually beneficial to your overall progress in the long run. It's probably one of the nicest games you'll ever come across, but never in a nauseating or tedious way.

'Okami' Screenshot poignant

It's simple, poignant moments like this that make us not want to stop playing.

As flowery as Okami might look on the outside, there's a menacing underbelly around every corner. If you're not careful, you can end up straying into the game's equivalent of a random battle, where a wafting green flag can suddenly trap you inside a mini-arena battle to the death. Happily, these don't ever take that long to finish off, and do earn you money, so it's not all bad. Inevitably, there are tons of mandatory encounters with a handful of enemies that similarly trap you within the confines of a small arena - but after a while you'll have so many cool ways to fight back that the combat actually becomes much more interesting than ever seemed possible. Boss encounters, in particular, have an excellent knack of forcing you to be imaginative with your abilities, and - as a result - offer some of the most memorable (and some of the most frustrating) parts of the game. Bizarrely, the first boss you'll encounter proves to be one of the most taxing - mainly because of the previously discussed control limitations, but also because the camera sometimes just isn't flexible enough to give the player the angle they need to do the job. (You'll know what we mean when you get there).

But no amount of landscape evilry or multi-headed bosses can compete with the challenge of actually playing through the entire game. Estimates put the figure at around 60 hours, which is about four to six times the size of most console games these days (though pretty much on a par with Zelda, obviously). Normally when Mr Publisher spouts "60 hour epic" in our faces, we roll our eyes collectively to the heavens and redirect the jiffy bag to the nearest Japanophile. You might say to yourself that you haven't got the time, the will or the inclination to fight your way through endless battles in order to see what these games have to offer - but when you come across a game a packed full of quality moments as Okami, you'll be grateful that the developers went to such incredible lengths. You'll also be delighted with the little things, like being able to save regularly, and the wishpools that let you teleport between areas, and the fact that dying in the game isn't too much of a big deal because it always checkpoints extremely sensibly. You'll admire the fact that the game's challenging without being annoying, and those silly little 2D digging minigames. And the fishing. And the fact that pressing X repeatedly while the game's loading actually rewards you for your impatience. There are so many nice touches about Okami you'll wonder how on Earth Clover Studios could be shut down after making one of the best games Capcom has ever released. No justice.

Okami is, without doubt, a landmark game, and one that's beautiful in almost every sense. A few very minor control and camera issues occasionally threaten to gnaw away and the ankles of the design perfection running rampant throughout the game, but even they can't possibly undermine what is a fantastic achievement that may not be topped in the genre for some time. Right from the start it conjures an atmosphere of being something special, but to keep that level of quality up consistently over 60 hours ensures that this will be a game that will be talked about for years to come.

A work of art, you might say.

10 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (166) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lambtron #1 5 years ago

    Completely deserved if my brief spell is anything to go buy.

    Now to read the review!

  • Killerbee #2 5 years ago

    Yay!!!! 10/10!

    Can't wait to get home and play this.... Even from the still shots it looks sublime... :)

  • Garwoofoo #3 5 years ago

    I've just finished a sixty-hour game featuring a wolf. I think it'll be a long time before I'm ready for another one. Shame really, the timing of this is appalling. Generally I'd snap this up.

  • peterfll #4 5 years ago

    Because I lack a PS2 in my house, this means my potential PS3 purchase next month may actually happen now. I really mean that, it may be just the thing that tipped the balance.

  • myiagros #5 5 years ago

    now if only play.com had shipped my copy on wednesday when it was down as packing. It was only dispatched this morning so i won't be getting any Okami lovin till probably Monday.

    \ boo, hoo, me cry :-(

  • andrewwd #6 5 years ago

    "It's like the anti-Gears of War, basically. Therefore +2 on the EG-ometer"

    So, an 8 then?

  • lambtron #7 5 years ago

    The only complaint I have is the shitty shitty analogue sticks on the dualshock - god I loathe that piece of crap.

    Has to be one of the main reasons there has never been a truly great FPS on PS2.

  • TheJanitor #8 5 years ago

    better than any next gen game

  • jmctavish #9 5 years ago

    Hopefully Capcom will have the sense to port this to the Wii.

  • plok #10 5 years ago

    I don't own a PS2. But I want to get one just to look at this game, I think it looks beautiful, and sounds brilliant too. Now how to justify buying a PS2...

  • Chtulie #11 5 years ago

    "is infused with the life force of an ancient god called Amaterasu"

    The goddess Amaterasu, surely.

    Also no mention of the somewhat awkward and incredibly lenghty, unskippable opening?
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/07 @ 16:22

  • mash the x button #12 5 years ago

    Excellent. Time to get those Jackson Pollack brushstrokes in :D

  • Killerbee #13 5 years ago

    Hopefully Capcom will have the sense to port this to the Wii.

    Seconded. Although actually, I've just gone and bought this, so maybe I don't want them to...

  • kangarootoo #14 5 years ago

    Wow, promising stuff. Possibly the first PS2 game I shall have bought in an awfully long time.

  • otto #15 5 years ago

    OK, on the strength of that review I'm going to pick this up at lunchtime, even if it is *shudder* an action adventure! So you can pause the thing while you paint, right? ;p

  • ecureuil #16 5 years ago

    FINALLY.

    Completely deserved, too.

  • spongebob #17 5 years ago

    Sony sucks!

  • PinkSpider #18 5 years ago

    I went home at dinner and Okami was waiting for me. Shame im not at work doing a late Friday. I think I shall run all the way home for this though (and to erm not freeze).

    This then FFXII in two weeks, is it Christmas or something?!

  • krudster #19 5 years ago

    Special mention for the lack of voice acting in the game too. Those little wibbly noises they make while they speak is like a language all of its own, and is far better than any ropey 'real' voices would end up (especially knowing Capcom's legendary efforts).

    It's also a quite a funny game too. If you're worried about it being too serious and earnest, don't be.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/07 @ 16:30

  • Eighthours #20 5 years ago

    Would all the painting stuff make this game even more of a stunner on the Wii, d'ya think?

  • Tejstar #21 5 years ago

    Great review - my order came from Amazon this morning. Can't wait to start - nothing has looked this fresh since ICO.

  • Blerk #22 5 years ago

    A ten! Blimey!

    My copy's on the table at home.

    /checks watch

  • flapps #23 5 years ago

    I've played through the first couple of hours now, and while it's artistically really good, there seems to be sooooooo much boring text to get through. I think the structure could have been better at the beginning, but I hope the rest of the game (when it gets going) is going to live up to the promise...

  • TakeTheVeil #24 5 years ago

    id love to see it on the Wii.. cant think of a better game to port

  • Gurgeh #25 5 years ago

    "While many gamers felt that the Celestial Brush aspect of the game would have made Ôkami a better title for Nintendo's Wii console, Atsushi Inaba of Clover Studio has stated that Ôkami is primarily an action game, and the Wii controller would not be well suited for the overall gameplay contained within the game"

    [link url=http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ckami
    ]http://en.wik ipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ckami
    [/link]

    and grats to Gears of War for winning eight AIAS Awards. Not bad for an 8/10 game.

  • Hunam #26 5 years ago

    HAHAH stroke! I geddit!

  • krudster #27 5 years ago

    Blimey, the man needs to play Zelda.

    Oh, he did.

  • Kay #28 5 years ago

    Hmmm.... 10?

    /must resist urge to buy PS2

    K

  • Goban #29 5 years ago

    Is this likely to get ported to Wii? Or has the Capcom 5 spoiled their relatioship with Nintendo?

  • krudster #30 5 years ago

    I'd say there's zero chance of that happening.

  • Blerk #31 5 years ago

    I wouldn't imagine it'll be getting ported to anything, given that they closed Clover down and most of them left the company.

  • Goban #32 5 years ago

    Why so?

  • Hugundo #33 5 years ago

    ''A work of art, you might say''


    /shakes head

  • Tricky #34 5 years ago

    Completely forgot this was out today - luckily I just finished Zelda the other day and sold it to someone at work who's just bought a Wii. Ordered it on ShopTo so I may get it tomorrow... possibly.

  • gizmo #35 5 years ago

    That looks absolutely beautiful.

    hmmmm

  • TheDifficult3rdAlbum #36 5 years ago

    So, better than Sensible Soccer then?

    /coat

  • kissthestick #37 5 years ago

    buying tommorow, wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  • TriodeBliss #38 5 years ago

    I thought the wibbly voices were awful, especially when combined with great reams of text which you often couldn't speed up.

  • Darkedge #39 5 years ago

    I still wish for a port as I loathe the dualshock controller due to it's opain inducing and rubbish analog sticks.

    Go on Capcom the 360 is doing well for you, just slide it over, it'll look fantastic just upscaled :)

  • Garibaldi #40 5 years ago

    "I've played through the first couple of hours now, and while it's artistically really good, there seems to be sooooooo much boring text to get through. I think the structure could have been better at the beginning, but I hope the rest of the game (when it gets going) is going to live up to the promise..."

    It doesn't, or at least it didn't for me. Add the text bombardment to the repetitive, simplistic combat and areas which, while luscious, held little actual interest and you've got something which is a far cry from a 10/10 game for me. The graphical style, however, is so good that I enjoyed playing it for a while just to see what new delights would appear next, but when I emerged into an area which was, pretty much, Hyrule Field all interest started to wane.

  • tonynibbles #41 5 years ago

    10/10 holy SHIT.

    Better than Gears.
    No, wait there was a whole bunch of other games to list first...

  • kissthestick #42 5 years ago

    Go on Capcom the 360 is doing well for you, just slide it over, it'll look fantastic just upscaled :)


    no point, it'll sell just as worse as viva pinata, 360 owners dont like japan or non shooters :(

  • dirigiblebill #43 5 years ago

    @ Garibaldi, Flapps

    Do us a favour and slap in the negative feedback once you've finished the thing, as opposed to every couple of hours or every time you spot a parallel in Zelda.

  • Garibaldi #44 5 years ago

    Where's the logic in demanding that I play through an entire game before I can give up on/criticize it? I wouldn't read a whole book if the first 50 pages failed to grab me, even if some folk were lauding it as a classic, you just have to accept that even if a game is hailed by many as a 10/10 then there are still some who will dislike it simply because it didn't hit the right note for them.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/07 @ 17:21

  • krudster #45 5 years ago

    For what it's worth, the first couple of hours didn't grab me in terms of gameplay. The combat *is* very simplistic at first.

    It just keeps getting better and better, so any initial reservations melt away.

  • jmctavish #46 5 years ago

    Some people like certain games, some don't. For every person that adores Zelda there's about 3 who would give up after an hour.

  • krudster #47 5 years ago

    Yep, that's fair too. Zelda games are notoriously slow to get going.

  • Garibaldi #48 5 years ago

    I gave it about seven hours I think, that was a fair time for me.

  • prettyboytim #49 5 years ago

    The beginning cutscenes / lengthy exposition is 18 minutes long and unskippable, though...

    Edit: I'll still be buying it, though...
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/07 @ 17:32

  • TwistidChimp #50 5 years ago

    Great review, got it yesterday and I have to agree, a wholly deserved 10.
    Edited by 2 at 09/02/07 @ 17:34

  • dirigiblebill #51 5 years ago

    'Where's the logic in demanding that I play through an entire game before I can give up on/criticize it?'

    Oh you have the right to give up on it, never fear. But not to call it 'a far cry from a 10/10 game' on the basis of the opening few areas. Seems perfectly logical to me.

    Naturally not everybody will be hooked by Okami, but it isn't fair to start making generalisations about the combat, environments, etc (and hence put off other gamers) if you haven't actually seen the game through.

  • Rush2112 #52 5 years ago

    Aye it's beautiful all right. Took me 63 glorious hours to polish it off. A true masterpiece.

  • Introspectre #53 5 years ago

    I got bored very early into the game. The intro had me captivated though. Weird.

  • FabricatedLunatic #54 5 years ago

    I, too, played for around seven hours before my attention wandered elsewhere. It's undeniably beautiful but the simplistic gameplay and lack of story meant that I didn't feel compelled to continue. The "humour" didn't click with me either. Maybe I missed the point or something.

    I will probably give it another go at some point.

  • AOFanboi #55 5 years ago

    <em>Now how to justify buying a PS2...</em>

    It has a great library (of which this is a crowning title), and come March 23 there will be a lot of second-hand consoles to be had for a song as people replace theirs with PS3s...

  • Agent_Llama #56 5 years ago

    Who timed this to be released now, with 2 weeks until Final Fantasy?! I really want Okami but won't have time to get far into it before Square-Enix's latest offering devours my life. :o(

  • rhinoxious #57 5 years ago

    Too many games not enough time!

    The last thing I need right now is a 60-hour epic!

    However good it is, any game that takes longer than 20-30 hours to play is a bit of a turn-off for me these days. I like to see the end of narrative games and find it hard to justify playing this or FFXII rather than two or three more easily digestible titles.

  • bauhaus #58 5 years ago

    Is this game wife friendly?

  • Rambaldi #59 5 years ago

    Obscure? Check
    Eastern? Check
    10? Check
    Didn't get the hype? Check
    Unpopular? Check!

  • _Price_ #60 5 years ago

    Right. Buy Okami, buy Final Fantasy XII, or buy both and don't eat anything but toast for a while.....

    I'd better tighten my belt.

  • rhinoxious #61 5 years ago

    "Is this game wife friendly?"

    Yup, my missus is very keen, but I can't start it till I finish Zelda first.

    Sometimes I think I play games as much for her amusement as mine, if she gets into something then I'm not allowed to play it on my own! Plus she goes to bed around eleven, which makes for pretty slow progress.

  • gerg #62 5 years ago

    Better than Zelda?

    I'm going to get it someday, so until then I'll have to wait. No means to sound like a hateboy, but I wonder what would have happened if Twilight Princess had been presented like this.

  • Nikanoru #63 5 years ago

    but I wonder what would have happened if Twilight Princess had been presented like this.


    Then 13 year olds would have labeled it "kiddy". Obviously.

  • Tomo #64 5 years ago

    Oh dear. Now my wallet hates you :/

  • smelly #65 5 years ago

    meh.. Too cartoony, looks like a KIDS GAME!

  • Rambaldi #66 5 years ago

    I wouldn't say kids game, but it is REALLY easy, which is why I switched off after a while.

  • smelly #67 5 years ago

    >I wouldn't say kids game,

    But it looks cartoony and not at all realistic...

  • ProtoformX #68 5 years ago

    Was gonna get this today, but sickness has kept me in the house all day. Shall pop into town tomorrow. Trade in Red Steel and Ninety-Nine Nights methinks.

  • JediMasterMalik #69 5 years ago

    Awesome, they just confirmed mine is ready for shipping. Late, but still, getting it soon. Expected Monday tbh, tommorrow would be a very nice surprise though. :)

  • Les #70 5 years ago

    "But it looks cartoony and not at all realistic..."

    Huge improvement over most other games that just look not at all realistic...

  • matrim83 #71 5 years ago

    60 hours!!!! How in gods name did you manage to put in 60 hours?

    I finished it in 30 odd hours and I did almost every thing the game offered. BTW the second playthrough is also good if you use the save game file from the first time you end it.

    A special word for the music of the game, it is just as good as the rest of it. Oh and a kiddy game? You can see the butt of a goddess (literally) in there FFS. :D

  • ~magicool~ #72 5 years ago

    Played it on my nephews PS2 for an hour, looks really good, but i dont think it deserves a ten. it frustrates as much as it entertains, good game though.

  • Lov3 #73 5 years ago

    There are real consoles out there that this could be ported too - ones that are currently being marketed. To me, this has Wii written all over it.

  • J_C_X #74 5 years ago

    I have'nt played a game since the N64 and PS1 days I consider a classic. On the PS2, Xbox and GC great games have been sequels or games which have been visibly influenced by the games from the PS1/N64 classics.

  • Carrybagma #75 5 years ago

    Good grief. Yet another painfully clear reason to buy a PS2. Seems so wrong though. You've got the 360, Wii and PS3 - yet the best console you can buy if you're a gamer is the PS2.

    @AOFanboi: Yeah, I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to pick up cheap PS2s, but I suspect many owners will see no good reason to give up on them!

  • newt #76 5 years ago

    I'm getting a TV and a PS2 just because of this. Damn you, Clover.

  • Kiigan #77 5 years ago

    Great review, and a very deserved 10/10.

    Every now and then a game comes along that is so wonderful that you just have to do yourself a favour enjoy it, instead of cynically focusing on negatives. Clover had some very dedicated and talented people, and they've made something special. I hope the (critical) success of Okami helps their new studio get some cool new project off the ground soon.

  • TwistidChimp #78 5 years ago

    "cartoony and not at all realistic".. well yes its supposed to look like a Japanese Sumi-e painting, which it does, which is why its so sodding lovely to look at. Even the little flourishes of plants as you land are fantastic. Cant say enough positive things about the art style. Who ever decided to axe Clover after they created this needs shooting.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/07 @ 19:33

  • Brierleyjl12 #79 5 years ago

    10 out of 10
    This game very much deserves this.

  • itamae #80 5 years ago

    Who ever decided to axe Clover after they created this needs shooting.

    That'd be the buying public then. Better buy some extra ammo.

    I agree with most of the above posters by the way, this is a well-deserved 10. Every PS2 owner should buy a copy.

  • Scimarad #81 5 years ago

    Absolutely deserves a 10/10 - If you miss this you must be insane!

    -edit-

    I would say, however, that it gets much, much better after you've beaten the first proper dungeon and got the plant restoration ability.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/07 @ 20:11

  • Carrybagma #82 5 years ago

    @TwistidChimp: I think smelly (and Les) were employing sarcasm. A gentle pop at the polygon whores, perhaps.

    :o)

    I do hope it sets a good trend though. I think I'd take 'art' over high-res most times.

  • Forebodin #83 5 years ago

    "no point, it'll sell just as worse as viva pinata, 360 owners dont like japan or non shooters :(" Beneath your feet, my dreams... You tread upon them.

    I don't want to buy another console FFS. /Rocking back and forth

    Quick, give me a DS spin-off, Capcom!

  • mowgli #84 5 years ago

    Sounds stupid, but iv loathed the ps2 from the begining for various reasons; partly because i hate the pad and mainly because it destoryed my beloved dreamcast. But i have to admit it has the best damn selection of games available. And i am honestly thinking of buying it, well if it wasnt for the fact that im poor cause iv spent my student loan on a 360 for my sis, a wii for myself and a x1950pro for ma pc. But with this, ff11, ff12, shadow of colosus, and ico i might actualy considering buying one.

    But em yeah good review it realy does look stunning.

  • dcangel #85 5 years ago

    Cripes, a 10. The last game I purchased on the strength of an EG10 was Shadow of the Colossus, and I grew to really detest that after a short while, so I'll take this verdict with a pinch of salt. Looks fantastic, though.

  • space_ace #86 5 years ago

    meh... no wait

  • bloodflowers #87 5 years ago

    Does it run at 60hz or 50? Borders? The answer to this decides whether I buy it off the shelf locally, or import.

  • ttursas #88 5 years ago

    The intro was too long and boring. After I got to play the game I was so bored that I stopped after five minutes, and still haven't returned to the game... Should I go back? Anyway, got Zelda for Wii, playing that instead.

  • smelly #89 5 years ago

    >Does it run at 60hz or 50? Borders?

    Pal games havent needed borders since they turned 3d... So wtf you talking about?

    Still say it looks like a kids game thouhg.. they should release it on the wii as thats for kids...

    Kids games like this dont belong on proper grown up consoles like the ps2 and 360.

  • bloodflowers #90 5 years ago

    Smelly: tell that to Square. Also, 50hz ones run slower. Silly troll.

  • TwistidChimp #91 5 years ago

    @ Itamae Your right of course, I suppose whoever took the decision to close Clover were just trying to cut loose an unprofitable studio. But still, you cant help but wonder if they'd marketed it more heavily or.. ah who am I kidding, a game like this is never going to make enough to cover its development is it :)

  • BBIAJ #92 5 years ago

    Okami has both PAL 50Hz, and NTSC 60Hz, plus screen adjustment.

  • dr_lha #93 5 years ago

    Yes, Okami is brilliant. However it does get just a bit samey after a while, and the combat leaves something to be desired, so its a solid 9/10 for me, as 10/10 would imply that its perfect. Still, its just beautiful to look at and that counts for a lot.

  • Garibaldi #94 5 years ago

    "Oh you have the right to give up on it, never fear. But not to call it 'a far cry from a 10/10 game' on the basis of the opening few areas. Seems perfectly logical to me. "

    Agh, it's a circular argument. If I was a games reviewer then fair enough, they often comment how they have to complete games they hate just to see if it 'opens up', but I'm not proporting to be one, if I have to clock a bloody 40 hour game just to say 'not a 10/10 for me' then the world has gone loco.

  • krudster #95 5 years ago

    Ok, look at it like this: Okami's like an album that takes a bit of time to get into. You might wonder what the fuss is about from initial plays, but give it time and you might just grow to love it.

  • phl0w #96 5 years ago

    Once or twice a year... yeah, right. A decade, more likely...
    I can't remember any game, sans ICO, that had that much of an impact on me.
    Those few games are the very few ones, that you- as a gamer- would take responsibility for... to be a gamer, that is. A N Y other game is just crap and arbitrariness without any relevance whatsoever (despite the crappy article on guardian games).

  • kangarootoo #97 5 years ago

    @Garibaldi

    Whether you are a reviewer or not isn't the point. If you haven't played through a game, you can't comment on the game as a whole. Seems bloody obvious doesn't it?

    Now we could start assigning scores per level or something, and then you could get on board for the first few rounds, but currently you simply aren't singing from the same song sheet as the review.

    When krudster says this is 10/10 he is talking about the whole game. When you tell us your experience of the game, you are NOT. So by all means give us your opinion on the portion of the game played through, you are absolutely entitled to that, but you can't dismiss a score whilst at the same time admitting you haven't actually personally experienced the "thing" to which the score is being applied. That simply makes no sense.

  • captain-future #98 5 years ago

    WAY better than Zelda:TP.

  • Daikon #99 5 years ago

    To anyone hoping for a Wii conversion:
    This game was a huge flop in Japan. So not bloody likely.

  • Garibaldi #100 5 years ago

    "Ok, look at it like this: Okami's like an album that takes a bit of time to get into. You might wonder what the fuss is about from initial plays, but give it time and you might just grow to love it."

    I can go with that, thanks for meeting me in the middle.

    To everyone else, I will remain stubborn and say that I'm entitled to comment on the end score as the core mechanics of 95% of games do not undergo drastic changes after putting more than a few hours into them. Yep, I see that you can learn new moves which might make combat more interesting, there will be new dungeons, new quests, but if I don't like the 'base' of a game then you're just adding icing onto a sour cake.

    I'm not trying to win an argument, I just really feel I'm not getting my point across here.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/07 @ 02:17

  • BBIAJ #101 5 years ago

    "...the core mechanics of 95% of games do not undergo drastic changes after putting more than a few hours into them."

    I'm guessing you never played all the way through Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath either then, if indeed, you played it at all... ;o)

  • TheJuriel #102 5 years ago

    Hmm. I never was much interested in this, since the gameplay videos I'd glanced at seemed to show just standard platformer/action activities, not really making use of the brush. But after reading the review, and learning the game isn't as short as I assumed a quirky thing would be, I guess I'll have to get it.

  • kissthestick #103 5 years ago

    buy the game you fucking faggots

  • Ginger #104 5 years ago

    This sounds so much like TP it's not true - who ripped who off?

  • Scimarad #105 5 years ago

    If you think that you obviously got fixated on the word 'wolf' without reading the rest.

  • Strifer #106 5 years ago

    It's a 10 for me. Maybe it is easy (though I haven't played that long), but goddamn if it isn't FUN! The Konohana Shuffle was quite a funny sequence.

    Too bad there is no more money for FFXII when it comes out. Oh well, I'll get it later, since this will be on the shelves for much, much longer than Okami.

  • krudster #107 5 years ago

    For the 497th time, 10 does *not* mean perfect. There will never be a perfect game.

  • Skeletor #108 5 years ago

    Sublime and beautiful, that's what this game is :-)
    The fact that there's no Wii version is probably one of the worst crimes of videogame history :-(

  • JediMasterMalik #109 5 years ago

    No it isn 't, the fact that it has sold badly on the biggest platform in history is a great crime. Who gives a shit what platform it's on? If you don't have a PS2 by now, well, you're just silly. :p

  • Rambaldi #110 5 years ago

    I think we need to open up the old scoring debate again. Why bother with a number? Why have 10 shades of grey? How about:

    Defining - an essential genre defining moment that all gamers should experience.
    Excellent - a superb example of a genre that is difficult to fault but is preaching to the converted.
    Good - will appealt to fans of a genre but it's ignored some significant recent developments.
    Average - lazy and by the numbers. May appeal but try before you buy.
    Poor - not even worth renting

    By the above scale, I would probably go with 'Defining' for Okami, but by numbers, 10 feels a bit OTT. Hmm...
    Edited by 2 at 10/02/07 @ 11:09

  • Pachinko #111 5 years ago

    An unsatisfactory review. It rambles on about everything but the main point: it's a Zelda-like mix of action, adventure and puzzles, and the puzzles are not as complex, satisfactory and/or advanced than in Twilight Princess. In the brain department, Twilight Princess is surely more advanced than Okami. But even if it's not - why doesn't the text comment on this? The review completely fails to deliver any notion of a link between Zeldas and Okami, which is obviously a gameplay clone. Forum quality text, then.
    Is then the presentation really so important that it makes the game better than TP? In the old graphics over gameplay debate, EG goes the graphics way. It's like FFXII getting a 10. It's delightfully presented, to be sure - yet after some 80 hours of old-school grind, the score just doesn't make any sense. But the graphics are wonderful! Yay!
    I'm glad the site is free. If I had to pay for ludicrious scores and average reviews such as Okami, I'd be mighty pissed.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/07 @ 11:03

  • Rambaldi #112 5 years ago

    I don't think it's fair to say EG are graphics whores, or Gears would be a 10! I think it is fair to say that games like Okami do stand out from the crowd, however, and when you're constantly reviewing the same shades of grey, it's easy to get carried away with the obtuse.

    Heck - look at the shite that wins the Mercury Music Award!

  • Strifer #113 5 years ago

    Go play Zelda then. It's not an e-penis debate.

    "Lots of backtracking" - wow! Metroid sure is sucky!

  • captainrentboy #114 5 years ago

    A game about a gay cosmic wolf,with a graffiti problem got more than G.O.W?A game were men are men and monsters get shot to shit.I'm fucking outraged....
    I joke of course,from the demo I played this game did seem bloody lovely,although sadly everyone who saw me play it in work kept saying things like ''What's this shit?'' and ''That looks crap''.
    And going from its sales in my work place this seems to be the view of most of the casual gamers out there.This game has had amazing reviews everywhere,but I think we sold just two copies yesterday(No pre-orders at all).Whereas we sold 10+ Little Britains,sad huh?

  • JediMasterMalik #115 5 years ago

    Very, it's quite a travesty. I could see it appealing to female gamers if it was advertised more though.

  • pac666 #116 5 years ago

    Having played for only 2 hours I think this is one of the landmark games I will always remember. Simply beautiful (and on the PS2!)

  • enzima #117 5 years ago

    female gamers? wake up and smell the real world.....also, i completely agree with Rambaldi, change the damn scale! it is offensive as a gamer to see such a good site slip-off on very easy reviews, just to prove their originals (it happened a lot of times, and it seems that with 360 and ps3 it will happen more and more).

  • dirigiblebill #118 5 years ago

    @ Garibaldi

    Fair dos, I can see where you're coming from. My beef was with your initial post, which seemed rather audacious and unsympathetic.

  • kangarootoo #119 5 years ago

    @Garibaldi

    "but if I don't like the 'base' of a game then you're just adding icing onto a sour cake. "

    Actually, that seems fair. I suppose you can't necessarily score the full game yourself, but you CAN perhaps say "there is no way it can become a 10/10 from this point onwards for me". I stand in part corrected :)

  • kangarootoo #120 5 years ago

    @Pachinko

    You entire point seems based on direct comparison between Okami and TP. What if the two titles don't stand DIRECT comparison?

    Is everyone who plays Okami and likes it going to like TP even more? I suggest not.

  • tiddles #121 5 years ago

    A wonderful game, but I think it's fair to say that the gameplay is not as deep or as well-developed as Zelda's...

    It's also possible for a game to be TOO long... by the 35 hour mark you may well be praying for the end credits.

    If you love Zelda-type games though, you really should buy Okami - it's the only title that's even come close to equaling their genius.

  • CrunchinJelly #122 5 years ago

    Pretentious shite, more like.

  • dirigiblebill #123 5 years ago

    @ Pachinko

    Would you prefer every corridor shoot-em-up from here on out to be compared at length with Half Life? Or that every MMORPG be measured solely against World of Warcraft? This is a review, not a game of Top Trumps.

    The comparison is more tenuous than it appears, anyway. Okami derives a lot from Zelda in broad structural terms but I'd say the celestial brush mechanic and folkloric inspiration (not to mention the greater emphasis on exposition) do a lot to distinguish it. The review notes that the two belong in the same genre but ultimately judges Okami on its own merits.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/07 @ 14:16

  • Brierleyjl12 #124 5 years ago

    Damn the Konohana Shuffle

  • f00b_inc #125 5 years ago

    I will definitely keep my PS2 for this and FFXII - although I'll buy them after I finish Twilight Princess (which at the rate I'm going is going to take all year).

  • heyyo #126 5 years ago

    OK I bought this just now and it is the biggest piece of shit ever.

    I HATE UR FACE

  • lemonfist #127 5 years ago

    Man, the opening is really fucking longwinded and dull yet the game just becomes aweinspiringly brilliant as soon as you get to explore the game world and use your brush-techniques to rid the world of evil.

    Only 4 hours into it though, and I'm a little worried it's another one of those epic 50+ hour games that'll feel a bit padded out with rubbish collecting and so forth, but for now it's just amazing.

  • Pachinko #128 5 years ago

    @dirigiblebill: in a subgenre of Zelda-like games where there are approximately two 'clones' (Beyond Good & Evil, Okami) there is a concrete need for a better comparison. Okami is clearly very, very much inspired by Zelda - the games share the same structure and the same kind of gameplay, and the exposition cannot disguise that. In this review, Okami is treated like any other action adventure, whereas structurally it's a Zelda clone, and there are precious few around. The reviewer should have taken that extra step in intelligently making the comparison. He failed to do so, but found ample time to praise the graphics and 'the feeling of play' over and over again. Seeing that EG likes to prance as the bee's knees of games reviewing media, the Okami review is very thin as far as compare-and-contrast with Zelda is concerned.

    Anyone can praise Okami for its exposition. But there are precious few reviews - and EG's is certainly not among them - that transcend that and place the game in its spot among its peers.

    And yes, the comparison between games need to be made. If a new shooter comes out, it should be compared to the very best the genre has to offer. If that's HL2, than compare it to HL2. Otherwise, we don't need reviews - we'll just read the snippets on forums and go with that.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/07 @ 17:42

  • septimus #129 5 years ago

    Well if Capcom had any sense, they would have released the English version before Christmas. Fricking idiots.

    Anyway, great game, better than Zelda TP easily, glad I got it from the US (well except it made Zelda seem like a poor relation).

  • Harmonica #130 5 years ago

    I have no idea whether this is some new age crock of shite or true genius like Rez or Ico or Katamari. And no inclination to chance my cash on it quite yet.

  • Strifer #131 5 years ago

    You should give it a try: demo it at a store or borrow it from someone who did get it, though chances are low that he would lend it right now.

    EDIT: I forgot to say that NOT releasing it during Christmas was a smart choice. What would you buy: Gears of War or some unknown game with a wolf?

    DOUBLE EDIT: When will we see God Hand over here? Or did I miss it?
    Edited by 2 at 10/02/07 @ 18:59

  • Brierleyjl12 #132 5 years ago

    For some reason I am enjoying this much more than Twilight Princess.
    I think its because Twilight Princess doesn't seem that much different from the other Zelda games I have played. All they seem to do is change the story and add a few more items to the game which for this reason makes Okami alot better Than Twilight Princess.

  • Donjohnni #133 5 years ago

    Fauna means wildlife; not flowers.

  • dirigiblebill #134 5 years ago

    'In this review, Okami is treated like any other action adventure, whereas structurally it's a Zelda clone, and there are precious few around.'

    Hmmm. You obviously skipped the part which notes 'It takes all the best bits of Zelda (the structure, atmosphere, puzzles)...' Hardly a blow by blow comparison I'll agree, but informative enough without being tedious.

    I'm also a little fuzzy as to this 'sub-genre of two' you identify, which seems to exclude the likes of the Jak and Daxter series, Dark Cloud 1-2, Brave Fencer Musashi, Soul Reaver 2, Kingdom Hearts 1-2 (amongst others on the ps2 alone), all of whom are indebted to Ninty's wonderchild. In any case, inspiration flows both ways. Zelda is not a genre in itself but part of a legacy of action-adventure titles: Shadow of the Colossus, for example, has become part of its genetic make-up in Twilight Princess. As such it seems irrational to regard Zelda- or for that matter HL2 amongst other genre-toppers- as some kind of overriding gold standard to which critics should kowtow extensively when reviewing similar games. Contextualisation is in order, yes, but ultimately the reader (and not every reader will have played even Zelda) will want to know how a particular game subsists as of itself. If you want to make more detailed comparisons, surf over to the Twilight Princess review.

    'Seeing that EG likes to prance as the bee's knees of games reviewing media...'

    EG can be pretentious, sanctimonious or trivial when they want to be but as far as I know they haven't set themselves up as a media elite. Perhaps you'd like to point out revealing statements elsewhere on the website..?

  • BartonFink #135 5 years ago

    No it isn 't, the fact that it has sold badly on the biggest platform in history is a great crime. Who gives a shit what platform it's on? If you don't have a PS2 by now, well, you're just silly. :p

    +1 squillion

  • Pachinko #136 5 years ago

    «Hmmm. You obviously skipped the part which notes 'It takes all the best bits of Zelda (the structure, atmosphere, puzzles)...' Hardly a blow by blow comparison I'll agree, but informative enough without being tedious.«

    I disagree. For one, Okami does not take the Zelda puzzles because the puzzles in Okami are much simpler. It takes the structure in which the puzzles are placed – the overworld, the quests, the dungeons, the simplistic combat, the platforming elements, only a couple of weapons, a very light RPG element. Okami is a Zelda clone, yet one of the most important parts of this cloning is inferior to the original (TP). I believe this should have been highlighted, not just skimmed over.

    »I'm also a little fuzzy as to this 'sub-genre of two' you identify, which seems to exclude the likes of the Jak and Daxter series, Dark Cloud 1-2, Brave Fencer Musashi, Soul Reaver 2, Kingdom Hearts 1-2 (amongst others on the ps2 alone), all of whom are indebted to Ninty's wonderchild.«

    Indebted to Zelda, perhaps, yet not cloned from it. Especially the comparison to Kingdom Hearts is very weak since this is a fully-fledged RPG with different combat mechanics. Okami takes its structure direclty from Zelda and forms a kind of homage to it (a very similar 'feel'), whereas the games you list expose one or two particular elements instead of mixing them up in that special Zelda-mixture (the 'feel' is different'). The elements in Okami are by far and large dosed like in Zelda, whereas in the games you state certain elements, be they platforming, RPG or some such, prevail.

    »Zelda is not a genre in itself but part of a legacy of action-adventure titles: Shadow of the Colossus, for example, has become part of its genetic make-up in Twilight Princess.«

    Again, I disagree. It's not a genre, it's a respected subganre. By making the original Zelda, Miyamoto gave the public a blueprint for a 'perfect' action-adventure title, encompassing a huge array of elements. Later, titles such as A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time perfected his blueprint. This encompassing is in itself very very demanding, and so precious few clones have ever been attempted and/or made. Shadow of the Colossus? Yes, there's a boy and the boy has a horse. And there are bosses. Yet the structure of Zeldas as opposed to SotC is completely and utterly different and Twilight Princess itself has absorbed very little of SotC. SotC is made on the premise of the land being one large Hyrule field where there's only bosses to defeat, and the boy with his horse is sadder still than Link. And that's about it, for the bosses are far more complex and so on.

    »As such it seems irrational to regard Zelda- or for that matter HL2 amongst other genre-toppers- as some kind of overriding gold standard to which critics should kowtow extensively when reviewing similar games.«

    They should not kowtow, they should know and make comparisons and draw parallels.

    «EG can be pretentious, sanctimonious or trivial when they want to be but as far as I know they haven't set themselves up as a media elite. Perhaps you'd like to point out revealing statements elsewhere on the website..?«

    For example the whole Gears of War debate? The American media being the silly warmongering fools whereas we intelligent Europeans can see it's just a bunch of homosexually-denied men shooting aliens in rather glorious graphics? It's an 8/10 just to be controversial, yay. If that's not elitistic, I sure as hell don't know what is. Now, I'm all for elitism, yet it has to be handled properly. And the Okami review is far from that.

  • Keyz #137 5 years ago

    I'm saving up my pennies for this, it looks amazing.

  • Scimarad #138 5 years ago

    This thread just depresses me...

  • krudster #139 5 years ago

    Innit.

  • dirigiblebill #140 5 years ago

    @ krudster, scimarad

    Captive audience, huh?
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/07 @ 11:33

  • dirigiblebill #141 5 years ago

    @ Pachinko

    I'm content to remain at loggerheads on this one. I found the review detailed enough for my purposes, and I think Zelda is a more permeable 'sub-genre' than you may realise. The games I mentioned all involve an overarching world-map which becomes more and more accessible as you enter 'dungeons' and unlock new abilities, battling various enemies in the third-person. Sounds Zelda-ish to me. Shadow of the Colossus is an artistic rather than a mechanical parallel to TP.

    As regards the 'feel' of Okami, I'd say again it does plenty to distinguish itself. The narrative is far more fleshed out, funnier and plays on a very different set of mythological resources. The visual aesthetic and the nuts and bolts of combat/puzzling come together rather uniquely in the celestial brush. It's recognisably a Zelda-clone, but not to the extent that it can't be considered in its own right.

    I do find this discussion interesting though. Maybe you should write a comparative review and go into some more depth about the puzzling? Try visiting this site-

    [link url=http://www.eblong.com/
    ]http://www.eblong.com/
    [/link]

    -for some 'game puzzle theory' stuff.

    'For example the whole Gears of War debate?'

    Specific examples/quotes?

  • dirigiblebill #142 5 years ago

    @ Kato

    By 'poncyness' do you mean games which try to have some intellectual depth? ;)

  • darkphoenix #143 5 years ago

    "Great review, got it yesterday and I have to agree, a wholly deserved 10."

    You bought the game yesterday, and already claim a 10/10 for it?
    That's funny...

    I finished "Final Fantasy XII" yesterday, and although I would have rated it a 10/10 in the first 20 hours of play, a lot of flaws became clearer in the later portion of the game.
    So, a game that was imho nearly perfect two months ago, now doesn't get more than a 8/10, wich is still pretty good.
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/07 @ 12:46

  • sanctusmortis #144 5 years ago

    Having sold off my PS2 2+ years ago, this is only the third game to give me a twinge of light regret. And no, Final Fantasy XII isn't on that list. Having heard off a mate some bosses can take 5 hours, I'm totally put off. Only Shadow of the Colossus and Ico have got any reaction other than this.

  • bauhaus #145 5 years ago

    5 hours to do a boss?!?!

    Is this true?

  • JediMasterMalik #146 5 years ago

    He means FFXII, and I seriously doubt it.

  • Daikon #147 5 years ago


    No I mean games that involve slightly homosexual wolves with celestial brushes:p

    Moron.

    Funny how almost nobody (except Chtulie) seems to realize that the wolf Amaterasu in Okami is female.

    This game is chock full of references to Japanese shinto religion and to the Japanese creation myth. If you play this game without knowing at least the basics about these things you'll miss most off the references.

    Study up people! If you don't you will also come across as ignorant fools!

  • JediMasterMalik #148 5 years ago

    Kato, how can Okami take anything from TP when it was released well before it? (US/JP)

  • NegativeZero #149 5 years ago

    I've had the US release sitting in my shelf since it came out and still haven't found time to start playing. I guess I should once I finish a few of the other PS2 games I've been chipping away at.

  • fiery_jackass #150 5 years ago

    Kato
    I see that you're another person who thinks that sticking a "smiley" at the end of a painfully witless (and/or offensive) statement turns it into a great joke. Sadly for you kids, one doesn't get to transform oneself into Dorothy Parker simply by sticking a little symbol saying "LOOK! I MADE A JOKE! LAUGH HERE!" at the end of every inane thought that struggles out of you.

    e.g. "Kato is a dimwit LOL :p"
    see? I'm only joking there, so if you take offence you're an dimwit.

    it's like a 21st century Morton's fork.

  • fiery_jackass #151 5 years ago

    heh, on second thoughts, perhaps it's best that you stick to your bip-bip-boop txt msg system that lets everyone know that you're trying to be amusing.

  • JediMasterMalik #152 5 years ago

    Hes always done that.

    So kato, you think Okami was simply made immediately out of the blue just before it was released, or that clover had inside information we knew nothing about? It took time to make Okami aswell.
    Edited by 1 at 12/02/07 @ 09:39

  • Jontacular #153 5 years ago

    Much as it pains me to enter this debate, Okami was first shown at a Capcom event in April 2004. So while it would be pretty foolish to claim there's no Zelda influence within it, it's also pretty foolish to say that much of that inspiration came from Twilight Princess.

    I would imagine.

  • fiery_jackass #154 5 years ago

    no it's not, you clown. You said
    "Okami takes far too much from TP for ppl to be harping on like it's something amazingly original or innovative"
    whereas Jontacular said
    "So while it would be pretty foolish to claim there's no Zelda influence within it, it's also pretty foolish to say that much of that inspiration came from Twilight Princess."

    pretty much the opposite, eh?

    you're a homophobic dimwit :p
    *EDIT* that last line should read "You're a homophobic dimwit" no smiley
    Edited by 1 at 12/02/07 @ 10:20

  • SomaticSense #155 5 years ago

    Absolutely brilliant game in every respect.

    Got this on Friday and have put about 8 hours into it already. Ordered myself a Wii as well which should arrive this week along with Twilight Princess, and to be honest after playing this I feel Zelda's going to be a bit of a disapointment despite so many people calling it their game of the year. From what I've heard it is almost exactly like Ocarina which I could never get into, and which Okami pisses all over despite being similar.

    How the hell didn't this get higher in the EG top 50 and in other site's Game of the Year awards?? It's a bone fide gaming classic up there with FF7, and much better than OoT.

  • Daikon #156 5 years ago

    Kato, welcome to my ignore list, you pubescent homophobic wanker.
    *watches as total amount of comments in this thread decreases by 30*

  • lost_soul #157 5 years ago

    No mention of the audio :-(

    Not only is it one of the best looking games ever, it's also one of the best sounding ones, too.

  • Popzeus #158 5 years ago

    Well, I've dusted off my PS2 (literally - it was covered in lots of dust), plugged it back into my main telly and bought this. Looking forward to getting stuck in tonight.

    Just finished Zelda, so another 60-hour epic is exactly what I need at the minute - hopefully by the time I've finished it there will be some more decent Wii games to have a look at.

  • steven #159 5 years ago

    Too high.

    There's just way too much padding/filler content, and the story gets tedious after the 25 hs mark. It's basically a case of style over substance for me. Granted the style is drop dead grogeous, but the gameplay leaves a LOT to be desired. The last sections are painfully tedious.

  • henrys_cat #160 5 years ago

    Ten is too high; the gameplay is way too derivative of the Zelda series and the first hour of play - especially the tutorial parts - are appallingly written. Also the brush mechanic is nice but clunky, especially if you're used to playing DS or Wii games.

    It's beautiful, the music's nice and the cultural references are really interesting, but it's in no way revolutionary if you've played the Zelda games.

    However it's still good if you fancy a change and have already completed Shadow of the Collossus...
    Edited by 1 at 12/02/07 @ 13:32

  • JediMasterMalik #161 5 years ago

    FFS It still hasn't arrived. Damnit!

  • dirigiblebill #162 5 years ago

    @ Daikon

    Gender orientations in Okami are actually a bit knotty. Amaterasu is a goddess, yes, but she inhabits the body of a male wolf.

    Creation myths often hinge on the unification of male and female aspects. I'm not familiar with Shinto lore, but I'm sure there's a precedent...?

  • admir #163 5 years ago

    okami is the best game i have played in years to bad clover was closed and okami kicks Zeldas ass. okami is just a better game but thats me

  • dryden555 #164 5 years ago

    This review goes a bit well overboard with the joy -- Okami is not a 10 game -- the too easy and almost pointless combat and some repetive tasks bring the score down to a solid 8. The graphical design is utterly 100% impressive but that doesnt make an 8 game a 10. The nice graphics bring it from a 7 to an 8. YMMV.

  • zErOb_cOOl #165 5 years ago

    Well, I've played a little of this game (I don't have much time these days!) and sat through the interesting but stupidly long (hence boring after 10 minutes) intro, so I suppose I ought to comment.

    It seems to me that it's shaping up to be a good game, when I play more into it, but apart from the whole brush thing, the gameplay seems fairly basic to me, and I can't honestly see me playing the whole 60 hours. Saying that, I'll just play 'till I get bored, and it does look awesome. We need more games that are visually like this!

  • dirigiblebill #166 5 years ago

    Having got twelve hours into this bad boy it's abundantly clear that there's too much hand-holding early on. Play past the first 5-8 hours and it suddenly goes from diverting to rather marvelous.