It's weird that this is just one entry when other instances of multiple games in one are split up into their component parts.

...okay, okay, I jest. It definitely feels kind of like three games in a row, though. Anyway, this game's a treat for the eyes and ears, with a beautiful artstyle and great music. The gameplay's pretty fun, too, though the drawing occasionally doesn't respond in quite the way you want it to, which is bad for a few minigames. The Log is the worst mandatory one, at least. Also it's kind of a bummer that a few of the brush powers basically boil down to "draw line from water/fire/lightning to target" but I do kind of get it. It was experimental and it didn't always work, but that's video games for you.

Anyway I wouldn't 100% this sucker because some of the challenges are BS (BLOCKHEADS...) and it's long enough already, but I do think the game's really fun throughout. Act 1 and 2 are definitely better than 3, though, with Act 2 being especially good. The dialogue and writing are mostly pretty fun, with the notable exception of Issun, who spends a lot of time being intolerable. I don't know who said "Hey, what if Navi, but a sex pest and you can't ignore his tutorials most of the time," but they had a really bad idea. Aside from him the cast's pretty good though, and I even think his payoff's alright. It's just dealing with him until you get there that's the problem.

“Well… We’ve been through a lot together. […] But for you, it’s just the start of an even greater adventure.”

For sure, this journey was a memorable one.

Okami is the quintessential old school adventure videogame: a large world made of multiple interconnected maps, subsequently opened to the players by precedingly unlocking new unique abilities. The different scenarios also offer a wide variety of side activities, quests and collectible, without choking the game full of time-consuming nothingness or making the players deviate much from the main quest: moreover, even the apparently most trivial side mission ultimately brings the player to unlock a new weapon, helpful accessories or ability upgrades, so there will never be a minute of gameplay lost just to achieve an empty 100% competition rate.

Certainly, there is not a tight world building behind every encounter, or interesting written stories for all the characters, like for example in the Witcher and Souls series, yet what Clover studio achieved by blending the Zelda formula with Japanese folklore resulted in a most unique product, even amid the vast catalogue of niche games for the Playstation2. No surprises Okami achieved a strong cult status among past generations of video gamers, other than receiving various porting and remaster.

The story itself sets the game as a niche product right from the beginning, as it explores themes and events reimagined from Shinto mythology, and as such it has many details and references that may be understood uniquely by a Japanese audience, or well versed in this particular cultural background. The whole premise of Okami reinvents the legend of the slaying of Yamata-no-Orochi, an 8-headed and 8-tailed dragon serpent, by the hand of the gods Susanoo and Amaterasu, with slightly differences such as Amaterasu, while still being the Sun goddess, as well as the players’ character, is represented as a mute wolf (Okami is a word play that while being written as ‘great god’ could be read as ‘wolf god’).

Other characters coming from different myths are Issun, Okami’s Navi although arguably more talkative and amusingly obnoxious, who serves as a narrator and as Amaterasu only mean to communicate with the world, aside from barking and headbutting; Urashima Tarou, Otohime and the Dragon Palace on the bottom of the sea, the shapeshifting fox spirit with nine tails, Fusehime and her eight dog warriors, Kaguyahime from the tale of the bamboo cutter, as well as actual historical figures such as Himiko, a real queen from the early days of Japan. The vast assortment of characters gives a pantheistic feeling to Okami’s otherwise primarily light-hearted and goofy plot, making the players immerse in a scenario akin to an Olympus, where the deities intertwine with each other to serve the purpose of a greater story.

What immediately strikes about Okami is certainly its visuals, the peculiar art design with broad black outlines and a soft colour palette that heavily borrows from various Japanese traditional art, such as ukiyo-e, sumi-e (ink painting) and even calligraphy on some degree. The end result is a less rough and more glistening rural world immerse in nature, with sparkling of true beauty but with the simple recognizable designs of a children story book. The gameplay also fits with the artwork of the videogame: Amaterasu can use her tail, the Celestial Brush, to enter a sort of otherworldly dimension from where she can utilize different strokes to unleash various effects on the game world: these effects range from manipulating the elements to fix broken or missing artefacts, slow time, evoke explosives and cut through most objects.

The Celestial Brush also heavily plays in the combat system, as aside from Amaterasu’s quick fighting style mix of Divine Instruments (beads whips, greatswords and mirrors) the brush techniques can also be implemented with various effects on the enemies to facilitate crowd controls or hit weak points. Despite the fast-paced combat, the use of the Celestial Brush also serves as a pace breaker, stopping the frenetic action and putting the players in a dimension of stillness from where strategies can be elaborated and executed with ease and calm.

The last impressive factor about Okami is its soundtrack: over five hours (if one were to listen to it from start to end) of classical Japanese music inspirations that range from soothing and atmospheric pieces played with relaxing woodwind instruments, to more rhythmic, frenetic and bombastic percussions fighting themes. The ambience is probably the most sublime aspect of this game, since the first opening of the main menu the players are hit with the slow tempo of traditional flutes and almost immaterial and echoing drumming, that immediately stages the Eastern opera that Okami sets out to be; a relaxing fantasy journey in a fairy tale land.

I can recognize that this is a very good game. I also at points very much enjoyed it, but it also felt like I’ve been playing it for months and it just drug onnnnn.

Its so strange, a major studio like Capcom releasing a cartoony Zelda-esque action adventure game, or at least it probably would’ve 15 years ago when it came out, especially when they have nothing else like this in their catalog.

Regardless it says I took 30 hours to beat it and it felt like 90

A game that uplifts the soul and a fine piece of art that makes brilliant use of the japanese mythology setting and pushed the PS2 hardware to the limit at that time and was improved upon in the HD version, providing orgasmic visual direction (cel shading effects fits perfectly the colorful tones of the world and the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful), masterful sound composition and an interesting narrative to boot.

Even after completing +550 games, this one stands as one of the most artistic game I've played thus far. The screen-aquarelle system used to interact with the environment is unlike anything out there, a stroke of geniality indeed.

On the downside: this game isn't really challenging regarding combats and it is a bit too easy to beat.

Certified classic.