Okay-mi
Okami is one of those titles that was impossible to avoid if you were present in soaking in games media in the early-mid 2000's. Everywhere it was, that cool new Capcom title starring that adorable dog Amaterasu that featured some beautiful stylized cell shading and took place in Japan of yore. I never had a PS2 so I didn't play the initial release, and I had a Wii but was admittably too stupid to play a game like it back then. Why am I finally playing it? A friend recommended I play it and I figured I had some time to kill before FFXVI releases, and thus into the world of Okami and old Nippon I journeyed, once into the breach to defeat the big bad evil as gaming's most beloved pup. I figured this would be a fun title going into it as Hideki Kamiya's works have had a tremendous influence on my enjoyment of games and even though I'm mostly a newbie, I've come to like my experiences with the Legend of Zelda series (of which Okami effectively is.) What I got after nearly fourty hours of trotting and barking my way through Japan was decisively not a good time... but as they say: "No Regrets."
The good of Okami is the most apparent material if you take a look at gameplay or anyone streaming it, it's absolutely gorgeous. The art team over at Capcom/Clover Studio did a bang up job making this game feel unique from its Nintendo/Zelda influence in its visual style, a graphical tone that I hadn't seen and still haven't seen replicated in any way. Each zone was a gorgeous watercolour, the characters all distinctly different in composition and away from gaming norm. I enjoyed the conversations with the characters all over Japan, from the valleys that you start in to the snowy mountains you discover later. Outside of the design, there was a very Kamiya silly charm to the characters in which humor was always present and whitty remarks were oft in conversation. Even though there were a plethora of interactions/cutscenes that dragged on a little too long, I frequently chuckled at the bits and gags. Issun having the hots for every girl Amaterasu came across was funny in the way they treated the interactions, even if its a tired trope. As one of those kids who grew up reading mythos from various cultures, I enjoyed the way Okami treated the criminally under-represented Japanese pantheon and mythology from ages prior. Amaterasu herself being the main character is neat, so is the existence of characters like Yamata no Orochi, Susano, Princess Kaguya, and Issun.
Unfortunately my praise for Okami pretty much ends there... it's at the end of the day nearly fourty hours that I won't be able to get back... which is alright because I played the entierty of it while talking and streaming to my pals. Starting with combat, this is definitely Kamiya's weakest journey and while that makes sense given the material, is a little much for as long as the game is. Fighting is effectively one button (X) to attack and using your brush strokes to side swipe during weak points, plant bombs that do massive damage, and occasionally slow down time. For how much time you spend, the brush gimmick never really feels old or over reliant, but the x to attack being your best bet of DPS for most of the game is a little lackluster... especially after playing a DMC or Bayonetta which you do a lot of the same but at a pace meant to match the gameplay. Okami plays pretty slow and these fights tend to drag, even learning the dodge mechanic at the dojo doesn't feel like a great improvement. The final boss did its best Kingdom Hearts impression as well, consisting of a boss rush just beforehand and a five phase battle of some sandpaper-esque combat. I couldn't even muster up an emotion after completing it, I was simply indifferent.
My next point of contention is something I've already touched on quite a few times: the runtime. The way the story is setup portrays the game as if it will end somewhere around the fifteen hour mark, which is the perfect length for a game like this. You don't have a sense of scope like you do in its Zelda influencers, you don't know that Ganon is waiting for you over at Hyrule Castle or whatnot, you have no real scope of what the ending of Okami is meant to bring. Okami builds it up for you though, a resounding battle agains the foe that nearly brought upon the end of the world 100 years prior. The result of this battle would have a player who didn't know any better thinking that they had purged Japan of its agressor and could move on to the next title, but alas that would be very wrong. In the most Wonderful 101 way, this game just keeps on going...and going... and going... and going. Each Mcguffin leads to another Mcguffin, the dungeons are alright in practice but have the most minute and lackluster reason for existence. If you need one item to penetrate a spiritual barrier that hampers your progression, it is gated behind another dungeon. If you need a brush technique to progress the story, it is gated behind a dungeon. I have a lot of Zelda left to play but my experience with the series thus far has been a lot more kind to dungeons in advancement of the plot. Even recently with Breath of the Wild, I understood why the Divine Beasts needed to be activated from the get go. In Okami you learn of all these items as the story progresses, and that each new one you need requires another hour long jaunt through platformer/action slog. I spent fourty hours (some of that being AFK time) trudging through a gameplay experience not really meant for me, and once I got past that first battle that felt like it should have been the end point... the rest of it felt like it was eating at my enjoyment overall.
Amaterasu is adorable, I mean everybody likes a cute dog but man... this game did not have the charm it seems like it has for everybody else I know. I genuinely feel bad about the way I received this game, my good friends I think thought I would really enjoy it, and I really wanted to! Okami is a cool game on the eyes, but with its poor narrative construction, Mcguffin reliant plot, lackluster combat, and lack of direction in questing, I can't recommend it.
Okami is one of those titles that was impossible to avoid if you were present in soaking in games media in the early-mid 2000's. Everywhere it was, that cool new Capcom title starring that adorable dog Amaterasu that featured some beautiful stylized cell shading and took place in Japan of yore. I never had a PS2 so I didn't play the initial release, and I had a Wii but was admittably too stupid to play a game like it back then. Why am I finally playing it? A friend recommended I play it and I figured I had some time to kill before FFXVI releases, and thus into the world of Okami and old Nippon I journeyed, once into the breach to defeat the big bad evil as gaming's most beloved pup. I figured this would be a fun title going into it as Hideki Kamiya's works have had a tremendous influence on my enjoyment of games and even though I'm mostly a newbie, I've come to like my experiences with the Legend of Zelda series (of which Okami effectively is.) What I got after nearly fourty hours of trotting and barking my way through Japan was decisively not a good time... but as they say: "No Regrets."
The good of Okami is the most apparent material if you take a look at gameplay or anyone streaming it, it's absolutely gorgeous. The art team over at Capcom/Clover Studio did a bang up job making this game feel unique from its Nintendo/Zelda influence in its visual style, a graphical tone that I hadn't seen and still haven't seen replicated in any way. Each zone was a gorgeous watercolour, the characters all distinctly different in composition and away from gaming norm. I enjoyed the conversations with the characters all over Japan, from the valleys that you start in to the snowy mountains you discover later. Outside of the design, there was a very Kamiya silly charm to the characters in which humor was always present and whitty remarks were oft in conversation. Even though there were a plethora of interactions/cutscenes that dragged on a little too long, I frequently chuckled at the bits and gags. Issun having the hots for every girl Amaterasu came across was funny in the way they treated the interactions, even if its a tired trope. As one of those kids who grew up reading mythos from various cultures, I enjoyed the way Okami treated the criminally under-represented Japanese pantheon and mythology from ages prior. Amaterasu herself being the main character is neat, so is the existence of characters like Yamata no Orochi, Susano, Princess Kaguya, and Issun.
Unfortunately my praise for Okami pretty much ends there... it's at the end of the day nearly fourty hours that I won't be able to get back... which is alright because I played the entierty of it while talking and streaming to my pals. Starting with combat, this is definitely Kamiya's weakest journey and while that makes sense given the material, is a little much for as long as the game is. Fighting is effectively one button (X) to attack and using your brush strokes to side swipe during weak points, plant bombs that do massive damage, and occasionally slow down time. For how much time you spend, the brush gimmick never really feels old or over reliant, but the x to attack being your best bet of DPS for most of the game is a little lackluster... especially after playing a DMC or Bayonetta which you do a lot of the same but at a pace meant to match the gameplay. Okami plays pretty slow and these fights tend to drag, even learning the dodge mechanic at the dojo doesn't feel like a great improvement. The final boss did its best Kingdom Hearts impression as well, consisting of a boss rush just beforehand and a five phase battle of some sandpaper-esque combat. I couldn't even muster up an emotion after completing it, I was simply indifferent.
My next point of contention is something I've already touched on quite a few times: the runtime. The way the story is setup portrays the game as if it will end somewhere around the fifteen hour mark, which is the perfect length for a game like this. You don't have a sense of scope like you do in its Zelda influencers, you don't know that Ganon is waiting for you over at Hyrule Castle or whatnot, you have no real scope of what the ending of Okami is meant to bring. Okami builds it up for you though, a resounding battle agains the foe that nearly brought upon the end of the world 100 years prior. The result of this battle would have a player who didn't know any better thinking that they had purged Japan of its agressor and could move on to the next title, but alas that would be very wrong. In the most Wonderful 101 way, this game just keeps on going...and going... and going... and going. Each Mcguffin leads to another Mcguffin, the dungeons are alright in practice but have the most minute and lackluster reason for existence. If you need one item to penetrate a spiritual barrier that hampers your progression, it is gated behind another dungeon. If you need a brush technique to progress the story, it is gated behind a dungeon. I have a lot of Zelda left to play but my experience with the series thus far has been a lot more kind to dungeons in advancement of the plot. Even recently with Breath of the Wild, I understood why the Divine Beasts needed to be activated from the get go. In Okami you learn of all these items as the story progresses, and that each new one you need requires another hour long jaunt through platformer/action slog. I spent fourty hours (some of that being AFK time) trudging through a gameplay experience not really meant for me, and once I got past that first battle that felt like it should have been the end point... the rest of it felt like it was eating at my enjoyment overall.
Amaterasu is adorable, I mean everybody likes a cute dog but man... this game did not have the charm it seems like it has for everybody else I know. I genuinely feel bad about the way I received this game, my good friends I think thought I would really enjoy it, and I really wanted to! Okami is a cool game on the eyes, but with its poor narrative construction, Mcguffin reliant plot, lackluster combat, and lack of direction in questing, I can't recommend it.