One of the prettiest games of all time.
Okami is the 2006 PS2 game from Clover Studios, a sadly now defunct developer that turned out one of the best games of last year. Okami is basically a Zelda game, but rather than play as an elf-child, you play as Amaterasu, the reincarnated wolf-god in Japan, or, as she is known to the game's other deities: "Origin of all that is good and mother to us all". The plot of the game is fairy simple: for centuries, the evil demon Orochi would fire an arrow into the local village, and the resident of the unlucky house it landed on would have to be sacrificed, lest the village invoke said demon's wrath. 100 years prior to the game's beginning, Amaterasu wiped out the demon with the help of a local hero and some magical sake. But, the demon wasn't killed, only imprisoned, and at the game's outset has been revived and is a little upset. So, kill the demon snake-lord with eight heads. You know, standard video game stuff.
What sets Okami apart from other adventure games is the painting. The art style of the game is based on Japanese watercolor and it is one of the prettiest games I've ever played. Aside from that, the player is actually required to 'paint' on the screen to cast the game's magic. Throughout the story Amaterasu must recover the '13 Celestial Brush Techniques', which are basically patterns you draw on the screen to do various things. You can slash, create cherry bombs, transport elements, and regrow vegetation. By drawing a circle on an accursed area, a wave of life flows across the land, renewing the once-dead flora and fauna. It's one of the most satisfying moments of any game.
The gameplay will seem very familiar to Zelda fans. Get the item, item unlocks new area, solve dungeons, fight boss, repeat. My few gripes against Okami are in this area. The game is far too easy, I think I only died once during the 30 or so hours it took to beat, and the dungeons are not labyrinthine enough. What I love about Zelda games is the satisfaction of solving the mazes, but here there is seldom a time when more than one path is an option. Still, the levels are fun to play, and the boss fights are creative and entertaining.
One last minor gripe is that the game is far too focused on dialogue and story, when the simplest motivations will suffice. There are many instances of LONG text passages that cannot be sped up, and the dialogue is uttered in this bizarre game gibberish that becomes incredibly irritating, especially coming from your sidekick in the game, a little green man named Issun. But these sections are few enough, and Okami is a great game regardless, and would serve as an excellent introduction to these types of adventures. Play this, then move on to a Zelda game for a more significant challenge.
