Okami is truly a piece of art that is worth a Look

Author's Rating:

Pros: Coolest graphics, good story, unique game play

Cons: Sounds of the people talking

The Bottom Line: 
This game is great even though it may seem strange, once you give it a chance I doubt that any gamer wouldn't like it.

Author's Review
For all those haters that say a video game can't be art well here is a game that
might change your mind. Even though the PS2's days are numbered Okami manages to still look amazing just because of the stylized graphics. It's almost as if you are playing in an old Japanese painting. Everything in the world seems to breath and never stand completely still. The wolf, the many characters, and even the trees all have a very simple yet attractive look to them. Not only is a Okami a one of a kind in the graphics area, the story and game play follow suit. To solve puzzles and obstacles you will use a celestial brush to pave the way. It's a fun game mechanic unlike anything I've seen in another game. What makes Okami great is the fact that from the graphics to the game play much of what you see is brand new and not taken from any other game.

You are the sun god Amaterasu. For some reason your physical being is a white wolf as are many of the other gods who are strange animals as well. A long time ago in the village of Kamiki there was a terrible 8 headed dragon that wanted to terrorize the town. In order to make this beast go away the people needed to sacrifice a young maiden. However, one day when a brave warriors true love was about to be sacrificed he couldn't watch her die. He went to fight the monster all by himself. As the battle wore on the warrior realized he couldn't penetrate the monster's tough skin. All hope seemed lost until a strange white wolf appeared. Together he and this wolf beat the monster and sealed it's evil away in a cave. Now 100 years later someone has let the monster loose and it is back to it's terrible ways, wreaking havoc in areas around Kamiki village. Now Amatarasu has returned to vanquish the beast once again. Her job is to not only beat the beast but to return life back into the world and revive peoples faith in the gods that they haven't needed for a century.

So this is where you take over the wolf/sun god. Your wolf persona in the game is a very fun way to travel around the world. With how the graphics work the wolf looks stunning and whenever you run you will gradually start to go faster and faster. As this happens, more streaky effects will appear behind you, it's really just good eye candy. Every time you jump and hit the ground patches of grass will grow, all giving you the sense that you are feeding the life back into the world. The majority of what you do in Okami is jump around places, sprint places, and solve puzzles. Also joining you on your journey is a small bug-like character who serves as your guide. He talks for the wolf whenever you encounter human characters which is quite often. He'll provide hints for puzzles, where to go, and how to perform new brush strokes. That is where the most unique game play feature comes in. It is the one where you pause the game to draw in celestial brush strokes that make things actually happen in the world. You draw with the left analog stick and although that may sound a little hard it really isn't. The game gives you plenty of tutorials to walk you through the steps but for the most part the strokes are simple. Usually it consists of a circle or a strait line, maybe a combination of the two. Many of the puzzles require the use of the brush. You'll slice things, plant bombs, revive dead trees, and many more. I think there are 13 in all so that's plenty when you think about it.

Part of the game as a I mentioned revolves around bringing life back to the
dying world. You can do this by drawing circles around dead parts of the land. The following clip that shows everything coming back to life can be pretty neat. The lush and colorful graphics are what make these moments so cool looking. The brush comes in handy for solving many of the puzzles and problems that the townspeople have. You can even make the sun come out by drawing a circle in the sky!

The next major component of the game is the boss battles. Again you’ll use the brush strokes to defeat them. But these battles are trickier than the random ones you see throughout the main course of the game. The bosses are mainly huge creative looking beasts, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s not terrible hard to get to their weakness and kill them but the boss segments are still one the best parts of the game.

The sound in the game is the only area where this game falters. Since it was made in Japan the characters were not able to receive voice acting, so in the place of voices are little babbling sounds. At first this is acceptable but after hearing this annoying sound you’ll get a little irritated. The music however did get good attention. The soundtrack is some pretty good orchestral stuff that is good quality for a video game. It sounds a lot like the Japanese music you would expect to hear and it is quite good.

So overall Okami gets my highest regard. It’s not the most perfect game but it is one of the most original games I’ve played in a long time. Just to see these beautiful graphics is half worth it. It’s like playing a moving breathing painting and for this it succeeds. The story is compelling enough to make you want to keep going and the game play is so unique and solid that you will never feel frustrated. This could be the last great title on the Playstation 2 before next gen hardware hit the shelves so I suggest anyone go out and pick this one up.