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miss_ytOver the weekend, I picked up Okami - a used disc, though annoyingly, it was only a few dollars less than a new one. But it's the game I got a PS2 for, and yes, it is that good.
Most of you have probably heard about the game and its "Celestial Brush" mechanic already, or you can easily look it up, so I'm not going to explain it all here. But the brush technique is a very interesting, and fortunately well-implemented, idea. The interface is very forgiving when it comes to deciding whether or not that lopsided thing you drew is a circle. Although it can get annoying when you make something that looks circular but fail to make ends meet (literally) and it's just a dud. Drawing an actual straight line also takes a little practice, especially for someone like me, who's just getting used to using an analog stick. But the learning curve isn't all that steep, and it's relatively easy to get the hang of painting things. And, well, it's kind of a power trip when you can change the world with just a brush.
The look of the game is also something special: it resembles a classic Japanese painted scroll brought to life, although the people look more like characters from a cutesy shoujou anime series than like figures from a scroll. The look works, though, because the designs are infused with a sense of humor that permeates the game. As in the Samurai Jack cartoon, while the overall premise - a demon enslaving, or in this case cursing, the whole world - is dark, there's plenty of room for humor and creative visuals. Like the brush mechanic, the "living painted scroll" look is something that could easily have gone wrong, but was superbly implemented, with smooth animations and lush visuals. It's stunningly beautiful, even after you've been looking at it for a long time.
And the writing is great, too. The story and dialog remind me of some of the better, funnier episodes of Inuyasha. Whoever translated this game from the Japanese did an excellent job.1 Although the fact that they use gibberish "mumble" voiceovers to accompany dialog text is really grating. I mean, you get used to it, but I wish they'd just gone with real voiceovers or not done any at all. And it's impossible to turn off the voiceovers without also turning off the sound effects - a deficiency that is, I found, common in PS2 games but not on the PC. It's the one major complaint I have about this game - and according to the clerk at the store where I bought it, the voiceovers have been enough to turn people off to the game after a short time. Pity.
Voiceovers aside, this game is totally awesome. And I plan to get my anime enthusiast friends to play it when they come to visit. :)
1Yes, in case you were wondering, it was originally made in Japan for a Japanese audience. Taking artistic liberties with the Shinto/Buddhist cosmology to make an essentially secular anime, manga or whatever isn't a big deal over there. Imagine trying to do something like that in America with Christian cosmology.
Most of you have probably heard about the game and its "Celestial Brush" mechanic already, or you can easily look it up, so I'm not going to explain it all here. But the brush technique is a very interesting, and fortunately well-implemented, idea. The interface is very forgiving when it comes to deciding whether or not that lopsided thing you drew is a circle. Although it can get annoying when you make something that looks circular but fail to make ends meet (literally) and it's just a dud. Drawing an actual straight line also takes a little practice, especially for someone like me, who's just getting used to using an analog stick. But the learning curve isn't all that steep, and it's relatively easy to get the hang of painting things. And, well, it's kind of a power trip when you can change the world with just a brush.
The look of the game is also something special: it resembles a classic Japanese painted scroll brought to life, although the people look more like characters from a cutesy shoujou anime series than like figures from a scroll. The look works, though, because the designs are infused with a sense of humor that permeates the game. As in the Samurai Jack cartoon, while the overall premise - a demon enslaving, or in this case cursing, the whole world - is dark, there's plenty of room for humor and creative visuals. Like the brush mechanic, the "living painted scroll" look is something that could easily have gone wrong, but was superbly implemented, with smooth animations and lush visuals. It's stunningly beautiful, even after you've been looking at it for a long time.
And the writing is great, too. The story and dialog remind me of some of the better, funnier episodes of Inuyasha. Whoever translated this game from the Japanese did an excellent job.1 Although the fact that they use gibberish "mumble" voiceovers to accompany dialog text is really grating. I mean, you get used to it, but I wish they'd just gone with real voiceovers or not done any at all. And it's impossible to turn off the voiceovers without also turning off the sound effects - a deficiency that is, I found, common in PS2 games but not on the PC. It's the one major complaint I have about this game - and according to the clerk at the store where I bought it, the voiceovers have been enough to turn people off to the game after a short time. Pity.
Voiceovers aside, this game is totally awesome. And I plan to get my anime enthusiast friends to play it when they come to visit. :)
1Yes, in case you were wondering, it was originally made in Japan for a Japanese audience. Taking artistic liberties with the Shinto/Buddhist cosmology to make an essentially secular anime, manga or whatever isn't a big deal over there. Imagine trying to do something like that in America with Christian cosmology.
