Okami Comments by Keza MacDonald

Confirmed that the end movie is removed - it caught a lot of flak prerelease and pretty rightly so. The reason: Petty legal bullshit. The ending was a video file and contained the Clover logo, apparently. The 'creation' of this particular game technically didn't involve Clover, which no longer exists but maintains trademark blah Ready at Dawn doesn't own the Cover brand rights blah blah Capcom blah licensing blah port contract blah blah blah. Obviously nobody cares but some chain-smoking subterranean lawyer, but nevertheless Ready at Dawn couldn't include the video file. As a strictly porting team for a dissolved developer, it's equally obvious that they don't have access to the artists or assets to regenerate the video file without the logo, so in the end they cut the epilogue - and with it, all the developer credits. You can see why it happened if you squint, but ugh.

I own both versions, but only got past the Spider Queen on PS2 before something shiny flew by and haven't had time to play much of the Wii version yet. Is that enough PS2? How much do I have to have played on the Wii? What do you want to know about?

Instead of 'definitive' I would use the word 'improved'. This is most definitely not the definitive version of the game, but then that will never exist.

I guess by "definitive" I meant the best of both worlds. With this version it seems that the graphics are widescreen and 480p, which is a positive, but they toned down the paper filter effect, which is a negative, so it sort of evens out and it just a preference thing there. Now, if they kept the filter, but made it optional (ala Mass Effect) that would be definitive.

The controls seem to be in the same boat. A better paintbrush, but worse combat controls. Another mixed bag.

I'm leaning towards not buying the Wii version. I was hoping that maybe I'd change my mind about the graphics and maybe appreciate the Wii graphics better, but the more I see of them the more I notice the difference. Like I said before, if I hadn't played the PS2 version I wouldn't mind, but since I have, it just doesn't match up with those wonderful memories I have of first playing the game. It's likely just nostalgia though. Others may prefer the Wii colors and that's fine.

But removing the epilogue really does blow, even if it's not Ready at Dawn's fault exactly. The epilogue added so heavily to the game that it's not even funny. Luckily, we live in the age of youtube, so others will be able to see it anyway, but it is a huge shame it was removed.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the Wii could have provided the ultimate version of Okami, but instead it's probably just an equal at best port. Still an amazing game that deserves a wider audience, but a missed opportunity conversion-wise.

The PS2 version was one of the best games ever. If some of the other games on this site gets a 10, this game should get it too if it's even close to as good as the PS2 version.

The waggling controls may well put me off, the games what 60 hours long and yes combat doesn't feature significantly but when I played it first time i demolished it in 4 mammoth play sessions, Ive just not got the patience for rsi.

But to be honest its mainly the indignity of not being able to change the control scheme.

Also the toned down filter might be a good thing the game was always a bit too sombre it could get depressing after a while

Also I never had a problem using the brush in combat, the slashes I could do in literally 1 second, making the movement almost before the screen went papery. And the cherry bombs etc took longer but it didn't matter because you had to take time over placement anyway. Also might having to depress the D trigger make it harder on some gamers.

Also anyone know what the divine bead attacks are like on the wii cause you had to keep tapping x on the ps2. Also how is dashing handled.

off topic, but can anyone tell me if a US sensor bar will work with My UK Wii? My cat chewed through mine, and I'll be damned if i can find an official one in the UK. Nintendo seem to want me to stay on hold on their hotline whilst they fleece me!

jacky b - the wiimote will take a reading from any LEDs you care to throw above your TV. it's not actually a "sensor bar" at all - the sensors are all in the controller itself, the bar is just a reference point for it. I've had mine working with three candles above the telly before now (although I don't recommend that one for prolonged sessions lol)

cheers Face0meter, i did know about the candle thing. I am thinking a couple of LED lights will do the trick then!

I feel compelled to add that the paper filter is very much still there. I've not played Okami upscaled on the PS3, so I can't fairly comment on how that looks, but PS2 Okami on anything larger than a twenty inch LCD TV gives me a headache. The blurry filter coupled with the blurry, stretched-widescreen image made it look a bit of a mess.

When I was reviewing the Wii version, I made sure to play the PS2 version again for comparison on the same television, and I don't know how anybody could say that it looks better. The Wii version looks brighter and crisper, and loses nothing of the parchment effect, in my opinion.

I don't think that the Wii version is significantly better than the PS2 version. I think it is marginally better. I don't think that slightly borked (NOT broken) combat and a missing cutscene warrant taking a mark off this game when the brush controls improve the pace of the game so significantly, and the upgraded looks make it so much better-looking (in my estimation) as to considerably improve the experience of playing it.

So Okami is releasing one of their best games ever dead smack in the middle of the Euro 2008 finals? The second or third most watched sport event (especially in Europe) of the world? What kind of morons are they?

Euro what??? *hands over cash for Okami*

"I guess by "definitive" I meant the best of both worlds. With this version it seems that the graphics are widescreen and 480p, which is a positive, but they toned down the paper filter effect, which is a negative,"


Not everyone is saying the toned down filter effect is a negative..

And as keza says.. it's still there... And the game does look better on the wii.

The only comparison video I've seen is the one on gametrailers.com where the two versions look noticeably different. The colors on the Wii version look much brighter, crisper, and all around glossier in a way that looks more like a modern day comic book rather than a painting on parchment. Some may like this look better, but it goes against the idea of the whole world being on paper. I also happen to think the PS2 version looks better with its blurrier colors (and you do realize that you don't have to stretch the image on a widescreen TV, but can play in 4:3 with black bars on the sides).

HOWEVER, I've only seen the gametrailers clip, and I'm not sure if those were on the same TV, what kind of cables they used, or even if they used the final version of the Wii build or what, so maybe on widescreen HDTVs the Wii version would look better. I'm sure it's still a 10/10 game either way, but have other people noticed the game looking at all better or different than the gametrailers comparison?

Also anyone know what the divine bead attacks are like on the wii cause you had to keep tapping x on the ps2. Also how is dashing handled.

The bead weapons were the only ones I could get the knack of on the Wii version. You just keep shaking the wiimote until the enemies are dead. Dashing is done with a flick of the wiimote outside of combat.

As for the paper filter, it's there but barely noticeable to me. Only when there were large areas of a single light colour or gradient on screen. I think if it was more pronounced it would be 'sharper' than the PS2 version, as in a smaller grained paper, so would look better on large tellies. I read on some forums that if you turn the saturation down on the TV then the paper effect stands out more (as well as the colours being less in your face), but since I'm playing it with a VGA box I couldn't try that for myself.

I'd buy it if I had a Wii. Alas, I don't.

I just watched IGN's video review of the Wii version and I have to say that I was somewhat wrong about the Wii version looking worse. They look a tad different to be sure, and certain areas do indeed look worse on the Wii version (notably the grassy nightime area you start out at that is featured prominantly in the gametrailers comparison vid), but other environments look better in the Wii version. The green area where you first get the flower/hookshot ability and some of the bluer areas look stunning on the Wii version. At this point I wouldn't say one is better looking than the other, but rather different but equal.

The controls sound like they could be better overall as well, depending on who you listen to. I can't say as I have yet to try it.

But taking out the final sequence is pretty inexcusable. I mean sure it's "just one cutscene," but it's quite possibly the most important cutscene in the entire game and contains a huge plot revelation. Sure, you could still youtube it, but not including what is essentially the ending to such a gripping yarn does indeed taint the product a great deal. Still worth checking out if you don't have a PS2 though.

Excellent review. Definitely straw that will break the camels back (as to me buying a Wii). My only hope is that more brilliant niche games will be there to fill the void that is left after finishing this.

"But taking out the final sequence is pretty inexcusable. I mean sure it's "just one cutscene," but it's quite possibly the most important cutscene in the entire game and contains a huge plot revelation. Sure,"



Where on hell did you get that from?

The ONLY thing which is missing is that they've cut the credits out from the end of the game...

(unless i've missed something here?)

Let's be clear - we're talking about the video part after you see a picture of Fuji(?) and Amaterasu starts strutting to the left. I'd be pretty surprised if the in-engine part was gone. I called the video the 'epilogue' because I consider the Issun thing part of the story proper, and there are those short 'reminiscing' clips mixed in. Is your big reveal the Issun thing, or the last few seconds of the video where it pulls out into the room? If the former, we may be talking much ado about nothing. If the latter, it seems like just a reinforcement to me.

The reveal as to who the narrator is is a pretty huge plot point if you ask me.

This is a lovely game.
The PS2 version was certainly not ugly though.

Btw
Totally worthy of the 10.
Better than BG&E for sure ( just thought I'd say that because someone mentioned it on an earlier page.)

OK, nobody's ever going to read this but just for the record -

I'm now playing through the Wii version and have finished the same span as I did in PS2, up to the bridge after the Spider Queen. This is still a revelatory game, but yes - I've played both versions extensively and the Wii combat controls are completely jacked. It's a mashing combat system where you can't mash. Most Wii waggle controls like nice sharp spikes, enabling more "twitch" than "wave" - not here. If you do anything too violent, your combat input is just completely shut down for three or four seconds while something recovers behind the scenes - no combos allowed unless you're swinging with the dispassionate skill of a surgeon. It can be mostly worked around by moving gently, and it helps if you go in alternating directions as opposed to repeatedly to one side, but it's still infuriating.

The dodge/Fleet Foot ability is also rendered worthless by relying on the Nunchuk accelerometer. I've experimented with various amplitudes, speeds, tilts, etc. and never once got the direction to bear any relation whatsoever to the direction I shook the hardware. More often than not, it chooses to go forward - a direction you very rarely want to dodge. All of this waggle and shake behaviour has been observed on two sets of Wiimote and nunchuk that behave well in other games. I'm sure Ready at Dawn was working under some encumbrance, but this is definitely a matter of poorly chosen or terribly miscalibrated algorithms. Interestingly, the same waggle input for charging in the overworld is responsive and reliable no matter what speed you shake it.

Now, gentle hypothetical reader, please do not be too put off the game. The combat is mostly ruined; the game is not. Even at this early point in the game, actually hitting baddies with your weapons has been rendered optional - there's enough ink to just drop bombs on everyone if you so choose. Also it's all easy enough that even wading in with broken controls won't kill you. The environmental challenges and boss fights quickly become the heart of the game, and painting your spells on the screen in combat and overworld is still inimitably liberating.