Quick Look: Ōkami HD

Lock your windows and hide your games becuase no game is safe with drunk Patrick around.

I gotta say that this is a better $20 investment than Jojo's Bizarre Adventure HD

I actually enjoyed the way the game controlled on the Wii- even some of the late-game abilities were pretty easy to bust out in a second or two with a little practice. Also, it feels awesome to be leaping around blasting dudes with lightning and fire and cutting dudes in half.

I've always felt bad for not playing this but I probably wouldn't be able to get through it with that annoying noise for the voices and UNBELIEVABLY SLOW TEXT SCROLL. Holy cow.

Don't care how good it is.

@tineaus said:

If they really want to skip all the story that badly they might as well not play this game.

I can read way faster than the text scrolls in Okami, and for the purposes of a Quick Look in which you're generally trying to show gameplay, waiting through text scroll is not ideal.

@xite said:

@SlightConfuse said:

Where is God Hand HD?

This. I'm still indignant at Capcom for not including Gene in MvC3.

I am assuming that Capcom pretty much pulled the plug on anything relating to God Hand after its poor sales, despite it being one of the greatest action games EVER.

The thing that I remember most about Okami is that they made you fight the fox demon thing three times, with no changes to the fight whatsoever. Oh, and the last time was in an endgame boss rush.

Love the game, but it sure seemed determined to overstay its welcome at times.

Best game ever. Can't ever get enough of Double Dribble speak either. 

@Shaanyboi said:

@captainanderson said:

I've always been of the unpopular opinion that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a more enjoyable game than this. Okami is still a better game in pretty much every way, but Twilight Princess is simply more fun to play for me.

I REALLY can't agree with that. Okami just had so much more charm and whimsy that's been so tightly linked with Zelda, and Twilight Princess lacked that. It was so self-serious without anything to be serious about, it was so padded.... gah.... GAH. That's just me though.

Self serious? Something tells me you haven't played the game recently. I would recommend playing it again. The further removed from 2006 I get, the more I enjoy TP.

Just don't play the Wii version.

this seems to be a good fit for the Wii U gamepad

@Encephalon said:

The thing that I remember most about Okami is that they made you fight the fox demon thing three times, with no changes to the fight whatsoever. Oh, and the last time was in an endgame boss rush.

Love the game, but it sure seemed determined to overstay its welcome at times.

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Orochi, not the fox demon. The fight does actually change a bit, but I agree that those extra fights were pretty unnecessary.

@Zeik: Oh, you're totally right. Orochi was the guy with nine heads, right?

@Encephalon:8 heads, but yes. The fox had nine tails though.

patrick's throwing okami out the window story is pretty hilarious.

also, this looks great. I might have to pick it up. I've never played okami before.

I never really had a problem with the voices in this game. Then again, I also never had a problem with a lot of things I should have had a problem with, like the game never ending. I liked that there was always more to do...

Did not get around to playing this game on the PS2, so yes please and thank you. Also, never ever played a Zelda game, so two birds with one stone?

I liked this one the Wii. I had no problem with the controls, either. But it was definitely too long and I got bored of it before I finished it, such a shame.

Oh man, Okami. I'll have to buy this and actually finish it this time.

My favorite part of Okami were the boss designs. Great enemy design over all, really. And they had those awesome intros complete with scroll art. You had your fish demons, eight headed dragons, and foxes, but then you also had twin clockwork owls wearing monocles and top hats carrying walking canes. Just great.

I'm not sure if it deserves all the love and admiration it's seemed to accumulate over the years, but I think it's pretty solid. Long game though. Okami loves to take its time with story and cutscenes, which can be cool if you're into parodies of Japanese mythology. 40 hours is no small exaggeration.

Okami is near the top of my pile of shame. I've played quite a bit of both the PS2 version and the Wii version but I have never beaten it. I've also played a bunch of Okamiden which is pretty much a remake, you follow the same path as Amaterasu, similar dungeons, interact with similar characters or their children.

I am tempted to pick this up and try again since playing this is HD seems to be the way to go even if the original credits sequence is missing. I'm waiting for my $20 PSN rebate and then I'll probably use that to grab this.

I always felt that Okami was slow and boring. Yes I played the Wii version. Yes I played it to completion. I hardly had any trouble with the brush techniques. The dialogue is extremely long, and it looks like you can't skip scenes like in the Wii version. Puzzles were pretty easy, and since a lot of them were pretty much given to you, your best value would be to just appreciate the art, which looks great.

Anybody know if this port has the original credits movie in it? I own Okami on PS2, but I'd always get bored with it after about 15 hours and never finished it. I'd be willing to give it another whirl on PS3 if they didn't axe the credits. I hear that they're pretty amazing, or something.

@captainanderson said:

@Shaanyboi said:

@captainanderson said:

I've always been of the unpopular opinion that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a more enjoyable game than this. Okami is still a better game in pretty much every way, but Twilight Princess is simply more fun to play for me.

I REALLY can't agree with that. Okami just had so much more charm and whimsy that's been so tightly linked with Zelda, and Twilight Princess lacked that. It was so self-serious without anything to be serious about, it was so padded.... gah.... GAH. That's just me though.

Self serious? Something tells me you haven't played the game recently. I would recommend playing it again. The further removed from 2006 I get, the more I enjoy TP.

Just don't play the Wii version.

Dude, I tried replaying it when Skyward Sword was coming out. Maybe self-serious isn't the right word, but it's melodramatic as all hell. Fuck, Colin's little speech about courage after he wakes up... I wanted to turn it off right there.

Brad exaggerates about the Wii remote. Its not bad. There are a few moments that don't work well but it worked way better than a controller.

@Bartman3010 said:

Puzzles were pretty easy, and since a lot of them were pretty much given to you, your best value would be to just appreciate the art, which looks great.

While the art is nice, anyone going into it just for that probably won't enjoy it that much. The reason I love Okami so much is simply because I enjoy exploring the world. There's so many little secrets hidden throughout the world and I just love seeing all the ways you can utilize your brush techniques to affect the world. That's probably why the length never bothered me. The game is easy, and you can actually avoid like 80% of the battles in the game, but there's always something to look forward to if you enjoy exploring.

@carlfoster91 said:

Brad exaggerates about the Wii remote. Its not bad. There are a few moments that don't work well but it worked way better than a controller.

The Wii controls got the job done for the most part, but they definitely felt way more finicky than the controller for me. That Mr. Orange blossom dance mini-game took me like 5+ times to complete on the Wii, but I did on the first try with this release. Although my biggest problem with the Wii version is the waggle attacking. The combat just doesn't benefit from it at all.

I love you patrick but you gotta stop doing the thing where you run around in a circle at the beginning of quick looks doing nothing.

You're right Patrick, there is an argument to be made for Darksiders, because It's definitely the better Zelda clone. Okami is a great game, but it's also repetitive, too simple at times and, often, kind of slow and boring. It's a game that moves at a snail's pace, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing if there's a reason for it, I'm not sure it ever earns that right. It moves slowly simply for the sake of it, and that's NOT okay. Darksiders was a way more unique and refreshing take on the formula, and it never ceased to be pure, exuberant fun.

Kinda wish that they had started this quicklook around the place where they ended it, ah well. Game looks great though, almost made me want to get it to play it again. It's just, I doubt I'd have the patience for it.

A big reason I won't buy this is since I am vehemently disgusted with Capcom's business practices; flaunting about this IP that they never gave the proper treatment after they let Clover bleed to dead. It looks like a great port, but man, fuck Capcom. Seriously.

This game is terrible. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Okami is style over substance, all the way. And I love Zelda (type) games.

The reason people like God Hand is because it's a good, and importantly original game.

@Shaanyboi: windwaker

I still have never finished this game. I got all the way up to the point where they tell you hey if you go in this last dungeon you won't be able to leave, and I was like well I don't want to do that cause I want to find more secrets in the world. Then I never touched the game again.

@davidh219: I couldn't possibly disagree more. I picked up Darksiders specifically because I had heard it was such an interesting take on the Zelda formula and I did not care for it at all, it felt incredibly mediocre. I really wanted to like it, but there was nothing about what they did with that game that actually felt "refreshing".

Then again, I didn't go into Okami expecting a "Zelda experience", and I still view it more as it's own thing rather than "Zelda with a wolf".

I don't know, maybe it just comes down to what one looks for in that style of game. Darksiders was a far more action-oriented take on the formula, but action is very low on the list of things I like about these games. (And I don't even like Darksiders' action for that matter.) You can avoid the vast majority of fights in Okami and yet I can still spend hours and hours playing it without getting bored. Probably because Okami actually has an interesting world to explore. Darksiders absolutely does not.

@Oni said:

This game is terrible. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Okami is style over substance, all the way. And I love Zelda (type) games.

There's definetly a case to be made that Okami is a lot better in the presentation department than in the gameplay department. When it comes to videogames though I don't think that, that is necessarily a determining factor for whether a game is enjoyable or not.

Depends on what you're into.

Seeing this really got me thinking about playing on PS2 a few years ago and I realised that, despite really liking it, I never finished the game. I'm not even sure where I left off, but it much have been pretty late on. Perhaps this calls for dusting off the PS2 and finding out.

@kerse said:

I love you patrick but you gotta stop doing the thing where you run around in a circle at the beginning of quick looks doing nothing.

he's just layin down some hot donuts B)

@JackSukeru said:

@Oni said:

This game is terrible. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Okami is style over substance, all the way. And I love Zelda (type) games.

There's definetly a case to be made that Okami is a lot better in the presentation department than in the gameplay department. When it comes to videogames though I don't think that, that is necessarily a determining factor for whether a game is enjoyable or not.

Depends on what you're into.

I think it depends on what you define as "gameplay". I know there are people out there that only really look at the combat when they thinking of "gameplay", and in that respect it would understandably underwhelming, as it's often simple and easy and only the boss fights really stand out as being notable.

However "gameplay" is so much more than that. While I love the art, music, characters, story, etc, many of the things I really love about the game have nothing to do with that or combat.

In Patrick's defense, I played through the original Okami 3 times (one new game+ getting everything) and when I started the HD version, I was stuck at the rock part again because I keep forgetting what I'm supposed to do.

Still, kind of a shame they didn't put more effort into this QL, even with the lengthy dialogue sequences at the beginning. The fields at the end were where the game basically began for realz.

God Hand is amazing. It's like DMC on peyote in the old west.

Am I the only one who thinks the graphics look kinda muddy? Is it the video or is that just how the original Okami looks? I swear it looks like a game that is set to a lower resolution than the native monitor if it was on the PC. If not, could it be the use of aliasing that is making it seem fuzzy? That or they couldn't do much to upres the textures. Either way it looks off to me and it's turning me off from finally getting around to playing this.

That and I hate the way teh characters were fake speaking the lines, not the idea itself but the implementation almost gave me a headache. Eh, it's got nice art, maybe that's all it's worth in the grand scheme of things.

@Wiseman4545 said:

@davidh219: I couldn't possibly disagree more. I picked up Darksiders specifically because I had heard it was such an interesting take on the Zelda formula and I did not care for it at all, it felt incredibly mediocre. I really wanted to like it, but there was nothing about what they did with that game that actually felt "refreshing".

Then again, I didn't go into Okami expecting a "Zelda experience", and I still view it more as it's own thing rather than "Zelda with a wolf".

I don't know, maybe it just comes down to what one looks for in that style of game. Darksiders was a far more action-oriented take on the formula, but action is very low on the list of things I like about these games. (And I don't even like Darksiders' action for that matter.) You can avoid the vast majority of fights in Okami and yet I can still spend hours and hours playing it without getting bored. Probably because Okami actually has an interesting world to explore. Darksiders absolutely does not.

A-fucking-men. I think Darksiders gets a lot of leeway around here for being a relatively solid game that was entirely overlooked, but upon actually playing it (almost entirely due to the guys reminiscing about it in the lead up to DS2 on the bombcast) I was totally underwhelmed. The concept of playing as a horseman of the apocalypse was neat, but the characterization and design of the game was incredibly boring, the action was pretty stodgy and the control and pacing of the movement was sludgy and awkward. I beat it because I had nothing else to do and was entirely indifferent the whole time.

Okami may not have a particularly deep or rewarding battle system but at least the controls are fluid and responsive, and considering that that particular aspect of the game is pretty easily its weakest side, and that the visuals, music, characterization and atmosphere are some of the most creative and stunning in videogames, there should not even be a fucking comparison.

Everybody should play God Hand. This game? Eh, not as much so.

@Zeik said:

@carlfoster91 said:

Brad exaggerates about the Wii remote. Its not bad. There are a few moments that don't work well but it worked way better than a controller.

The Wii controls got the job done for the most part, but they definitely felt way more finicky than the controller for me. That Mr. Orange blossom dance mini-game took me like 5+ times to complete on the Wii, but I did on the first try with this release. Although my biggest problem with the Wii version is the waggle attacking. The combat just doesn't benefit from it at all.

That was my experience as well. In the end the Wii remote was okay but it was a long way from good. Just like almost any other Wii remote experience.

i completed this twice when it first came out and loved it. i wish more devs would do more with graphics and art style instead of going for the standard realist look. Not saying i want more water color looking games just wish there was more experimenting and range.

Loved the game, but it was too confusing on where to go, I would waste hours just running around for nothing. So I gave up.

@BaconGames: It's mostly just the way the game looks (although it does look better on my TV.) The game has always had a bit of a filter over it, and if I recall the PS2 version had it much more pronounced. There's actually an option to adjust the filter in the options, but I didn't notice much of a difference when I changed it. Don't let any of that turn you away though, the game looks great.

Loved this game, still do. If you're a Nipponophile, you'll love it. It felt long only because the dialogues which most of the time, are filled with inane chatters. The Japanese really are masters at small talks, I feel.

The game is a great look at Japanese mythos and that sucked me in completely. I love Greek, Middle Eastern and Chinese mythos and this one medium delivers it in a package that's accessible for a then-teen-me.

@tineaus said:

If they really want to skip all the story that badly they might as well not play this game.

They don't necessarily want to skip the story, it's just that the developers were stupid when they decided to make the text appear so slowly. Why make players sit through something they can read much faster? Why do developers still do this and cripple the gameplay experience in the process?

This HD version looks incredible but the quality of the sounds and voices in it seems really bad.

I had the same problem with RE4, where all the sounds were grainy and super low quality.

I'm guessing it's because they have to compress it to fit into the maximum download size allowed for arcade/PSN titles or something but it's a total bummer. If both RE4 HD and Okami HD had better audio they'd be the definitive versions.