Okami Comments by Keza MacDonald

FWIW, I played the PS2 version back in the day and the Wii version since US release. Celestial Brush is indeed much much better now, because you can draw a lot faster and so don't have to spend as much time on the canvas screen. Especially on an LCD you get significantly improved graphics, the rest is as I remember it.

It's a good game, go buy!

Zelda delights and irritates me in equal measure. Don't think I'll get this if it's the same, I've not finished Zelda yet.

I thought this had 'Dave McCarthy 7' writen all over it.

"yeah, this is a nine at best. 10 should be reserved for something 'everyone must buy', which is definitely not the case with Okami."

No it shouldn't. It should be a game that excels whether thats in a niche or to the widest possible audience.

They took out the end credits entirely
Took out filters (IIRC)
and wagglin controls aren't good

Im happy with my upscaled full PS2 version kthnx.

l guess having an irritating small glowing thing that won't shut UP is another way it's like Zelda

What?!

That's almost a no sale right there. I play GameCube Twilight Princess basically because of this.

I already own the PS2 version but I never got very far as every time I played it I was hoping it would be ported to the Wii as I wanted to use the pointer. I am glad my wish actually came true.

i own this on the PS2 but will definitely be getting this on the Wii also, a remarkable game

This review makes me cry - it's so true.

@ frod

PMAMW: read the review policy. That's what it says.

Actually this is what is says:

A score of ten reflects a game that, within the reviewer's estimation, is something you must buy: this is the message we're trying to convey. On a basic level it's almost certainly the best quality game ever seen within the context of its genre, and that's why Eurogamer doesn't dish them out very often. A score of 10 usually applies to less than a trio of games in any given year.

But all 10s are not born equal. For starters, you might consider that a ten in the RPG genre still isn't as appealing as an FPS that we scored an eight, or be mystified how we could score a football management game a nine when we only gave that survival-horror game you loved an eight. The best rule is to simply rate like with like, and use your own personal taste barometer to gauge whether the genre is of interest to you. Even so, if you're new to a particular genre then something scoring a ten is a very safe bet indeed. As a starting point, the message is you can't get a better game of this type.

Let us make absolutely clear that a 10 is not and probably never will be "the perfect game". There's always something criticisable about a game, however small.

A 10 will inspire the reviewer because it gets so many things correct. It will be something truly groundbreaking and aesthetically successful, be consistently enjoyable, get the balance right in difficulty terms, be technically very impressive, and be polished to a shine. It will leave the player in no doubt that they're playing something special right from the word go and will continue to inspire and amaze throughout. As we've said, this doesn't mean it's perfect, and we'll be sure to say where it goes wrong too, but maybe those niggles are just so minor that you can let it off. Look at anything under a microscope for long enough and you'll see the flaws. But would you kick a supermodel out of bed for farting?

Yes the reviewer thinks everyone should buy this game BUT it doesn't mean it's a perfect game or will appeal to everyone.

Great stuff! I'll pick this up as soon as I got GTA IV out of the way. Great time to be a gamer.

As good as GTA IV then?

Personally, i found Issun to be quite amusing, i saw him more as a piss-take of annoying squeaky 'helpers'. Plus he drinks and trys it on with every female character you meet, how could you dislike that ;-)

Same, he was great.

No Benno its far far better than GTA4.

Not sure how well this'll sell with the average Wii owner seeing as it isn't based on a cartoon/TV programme and doesn't have the words 'brain', 'sports'' or 'Mario' in the title. A must purchase for me though. I've been avoiding the PS2 version in wait for this.

Yay! I can finally own Okami without having to fund the Sony BS machine! ;)

Wow, and farticus accuses others of being fanboys. Amazing.

WONDERFUL.

Another reason to buy a Wii.

Re-releases of certain AAA games that don't get enough attention should happen more often.

On a large telly, the PS2 version's colours all ran together a bit - on the Wii, things are that bit sharper and more impressive, and it still retains all the charm of the ink-on-paper watercolour style that makes it so striking.

Umm, it looks nothing like ink on paper anymore. It looks like permanent marker on plastic. Colours running together is something I'd associate with watercolor. Also, instead of subtle streaking effects, we have a crazy blur that takes a good while to get used to and is akin to trying to focus on a text message after night of heavy drinking.

In short this looks more like glossy toy boxart than a beatuiful sumie.

Could it be they've improved the controls for the EU version? From start to finish I often found myself having to repeatedly enter identical perfect circles that the game just refused to accept. I also could not get the timing for combat controls at all, though other people have said that it's not completely borked.

480p and wiimote celestial brush don't make up for the overall buthchery, so I don't think it deseves the same score as the PS2 version. Regardless of the shoddy porting, it's still a fantastic game though.

frod: What's your problem with it? It's certainly, by all accounts, one of the best games of the genre. And the guidelines state that: "The best rule is to simply rate like with like, and use your own personal taste barometer to gauge whether the genre is of interest to you."

So why shouldn't it be a 10? I really don't understand what you are trying to say. Universality isn't mentioned anywhere in EGs review policy, please point me to it if I'm wrong.

Is the latter third still comprised of padding/recycling that the game could have lived without?
Amputating that would be the best improvement, never mind the WiiWand.

"As good as GTA IV then?"

Jesus Christ

10? The PS2 version maybe. Played an import of the Wii version, the painting and fighting during battles is a pain in the ass. It's pretty much instant to get used to on the PS2 version, this could take hours to become as easy.

Still love Okami, and will never let my PS2 version go.

-edit- Okami PS2 upscaled to 1080 looks better than anything the Wii can manage.

@Spanky:
The only "shit" thing about BG&E is the lack of its planned sequels... Come on Ubi/Ancel, stop breeding rabbids (they don't need help for that anyway) and announce something already :|

Back to Okami, I've pre-ordered it on the strength of EG's "hype" (both this and PS2 reviews plus the general consensus in the comments/forum), so I hope you guys are right :)

I found the painting controls on the PS2 awful. Does anyone know what cutscenes are missing from the Wii version? It wouldn't bother me much if it was just the developer's credits (although they might disagree).

@Jedi - I find the lofty claims, gross underdelivery and outright arrogance from Sony unpalateble. As a consumer I have the right to chose, and from extensive investigation and first-hand experience I have found Sony's offering to be overpriced and below par for this generation of consoles.

I have never denied being a fanboy, but at least I argue on hard facts and not the utter bullshit that mental lepers like headbog/swam and Apologie spout.

Just the end credits missing afaik. The rest of the cutscenes are just lifted straight from the PS2 version and look fugly scaled and cropped to fit widescreen 480p.

Okaaaaayeee..

Ignoring the sony fanboys (that's a new one in a wii thread.. it's normally 360 owners!) going on about minor graphical differences.


.. If people are convinced to buy this game after this review (and i REALLY recommend you do). Dont do like i almost did, and get bored of it after the initial (VERY BORING) first hour or 2 of play!

I'd almost given in with it, gave up, never to play again.. But one afternoon i got VERY bored so decided to have another go on it.. And it got REALLY REALLY good!

I went from being too bored with it to even put it in the drive, to rushing home every night so i could play for another hour or two...

Yes the graphics arent THAT up to scratch, yes the cutscenes are cropped, yes the visuals COULD look better, but if you're worrying about those sort of things then you're REALLY missing the point! In fact if you're worrying about those kinds of things instead of having FUN while playing your games, then i suggest you go load up myst and wank over it's graphics.. The rest of us will be enjoying a great gaming experience..

All normal type and then CAPITOLS, do you see now? Do you SEE?

@wizbob

I guess it possibly comes down to how dexterous one is with the right analogue stick.

I think I'd prefer the Wii controls, as long as they're implemented well...

not even 10/10 would make me buy a wii

One VERY IMPORTANT NOTE that's not covered in the review or previous comments:

Okami uses the text and wibby-wibby faux speech approach to cutscenes and explanations. Okami's particular gibberish-speech implementation is more annoying than words can possibly convey; virtually all my time with PS2 Okami was spent with the sound entirely muted, as neither I nor anyone else in the room could tolerate it at any volume. To compound this error, most of the cutscenes - including the five-minute intro - are completely unskippable. In the same vein, during gameplay explanations you either need this crazy, laggy double-tap rhythm to 'fast forward' the hundreds of 'pages' of text past Functional Illiterate Speed, or you're arbitrarily not allowed to fast forward at all. Text explanations are also universally unskippable. Mashing your way through three lines of text at once, to learn such intricacies as drawing a circle over a target, is an omnipresent, teeth-gnashing interruption throughout the portion I played (just after the Spider Queen, probably something like 10-15 hours). It's truly a testament to the visceral charm of the actual game that I didn't quit after five minutes of its cutscenes.

In the Wii version, cutscenes and explanations are skippable. Praise be to Ready at Dawn. For this reason alone, I cannot imagine buying the PS2 version over the Wii.

I actually liked the gibberish voices, gives all the characters a little extra character.

smelly you're mostly right, but when I buy an updated version of a game I consider near perfect, on a console that should be a match made in heaven, I expect a perfect game, not one with all new rough edges and added missing bits.

The game is fantastic but for me they've detracted more than they added. If you've never played the PS2 version, then you obviously won't notice the differences.

2 really annoying things about Okami:

1. that god awful ting-ting-ting sound when anything talks to you. Please allow an option to turn it off. Please.

2. The brush stroke interface is 100% innovative and deserves lots of praise but the rest of the game is "zelda in 3D." Cute, easy gameplay and a bit childish in tone.

Dont say I didnt warn you before you bought this 10 rated game . . . . .

"Okami's ideas would have worked far better on the Wii, but that's never going to happen, now, is it?"

Every other review, podcast and forum post I've seen says that the controls are more fiddly on the Wii, and the game is harder as a result.

it still amuses me that most reviews ..and pretty much everyones commenst always focus on its look and not the humour of the game... i would say its humour stand out just as much as its hand painted look...

easily one of the funniest games around

Now buy it, you b*****ds! =)

"If you've never played the PS2 version, then you obviously won't notice the differences."

TBH - i havent.

But if i had.. then i cant see why i'd want to play it again on another machine?

But for all those who dont own a ps2 and own a wii.. i dont see why you WOULDNT get it? It was the best game i've played all year (until gta 4 came along.. which is getting all my attention at the moment)

* But yes i understand about the annoying text reading..

but i forgive that as it has a fairy with her arse on display.

Re: the less precise waggle controls making fights harder.

True, but not as big a deal as it might seem. Through the portion I played, I usually had an overabundance of ways to deal with enemies. Juggle, smash, slice, explode, reflect, shoot, and arrange were all verbs which could carry me to victory. It's been a while, but I don't think I died in more than two or three normal encounters over my entire playtime; fighting's very very easy, more of a minigame. Throw out half the moves because they feel awkward, and you still have plenty of ways to win. Please make no mistake - I'm not claiming for a second that it's good those controls are broken - but the player's so powerful and spoiled for choice anyway that it's not that important. The game's not about hard fights, it's aboutroaming around kicking demon arse, solving environmental puzzles, and making the whole world burst joyously into life.

So.. hang on..

We now have THREE decent 3rd party games on the wii.. zack and wiki, no more heroes and okami..

WOW!

That's not good! What are 3rd parties playing at? Why is it only nintendo making good games?

Wow... sold!

Heh, Xbox 360 and PS3 finally get a must have 10/10 game, and then Wii comes along with another one ^_^ Must be a good year for gaming.

Wow 10/10 for a Wii game on Eurogamer!!! (of only two afaik)

Didn't pick this up on PS2 so this is a definite must buy for me.

As some others have mentioned, the original PS2 game had a paper filter feature, that made Okami stand out. its my understanding that this "filter" was not implemented in the wii port. seeing as the game was originally intended to look like a moving japanese parchment painting come to life, i find it incredible, that EG has awarded it a 10.

" its my understanding that this "filter" was not implemented in the wii port."

Your understanding is wrong, the paper filter is implemented in the Wii version, just toned down. I guess Ready at Dawn thought the more vibrant colours would help the game sell more then the four copies the PS2 managed, whether you think that's a good or bad thing depends on your aesthetic preference. Personally I think it's something that you'll notice straight away when you first turn the game on and then forget about as you're playing.

J.C - it's there, it's not as pronounced.

@J.C.

"As some others have mentioned, the original PS2 game had a paper filter feature, that made Okami stand out. its my understanding that this "filter" was not implemented in the wii port. seeing as the game was originally intended to look like a moving japanese parchment painting come to life, i find it incredible, that EG has awarded it a 10."



So basically you're saying that just because an effect has toned down graphically (which may even be for the "better") then that's the WHOLE GAME completely ruined and not worth playing and not worth a top score?

come on..

Okami on the PS2 is quite possibly my favourite game of all-time, but I have some concerns with the Wii version. Keza obviously loves it, but from everywhere else I hear it's a bit of a mixed bag. The widescreen and 480p support are obviously good things, but toning down the paper filter bothers me quite a bit. It's still absolutely gorgeous, and if you've never played the PS2 version you likely won't notice or care much, but I'm afraid that to me it looks a bit like when George Lucas renovated the original Star Wars trilogy with new effects. It looks all nice and shiny and new, but robs the game a bit of it's more ancient somber tone.

The controls sound like a mixed bag as well. The paintbrush controls sound better than ever, but they've also broken controls that weren't broken before. I'd rather have something consistent than having any broken controls in an otherwise perfect (or as close as they come) game.

And what's this I hear about them taking out the post-credits cutscene? That scene was magnificent and really raised the narrative to another level. Has it been confirmed that this has been removed?

I guess what I'm saying is that I too was really looking forward to the definitive version of this wonderful game, and clearly Keza believes this to be it, but I've heard too much elsewhere that makes me doubt that's the case. Has anyone played the full game on the PS2 and then played the Wii version and still liked the Wii version better?