Hey, It's SkyFall
About 5 months ago, I bought a game called, Ōkami. 2 weeks ago, I finished it. And now I'm ready to give you a review on the PlayStation 2 version of Ōkami!
Ōkami (PS2 Version)Release Date: September 19th, 2006 (PS2), April 15th 2008 (Wii)
Genre: Action-Adventure
Developer: Clover Studio
Platform: Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii
ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
Premise
Set in old Japan, the powers of Orochi (originating from the myth of Yamata-no-Orochi) are released, and a powerful darkness is spread across the land of Nippon (Japan in Japanese). Sakuya the Tree Sprite who lives in Kamiki Village, right near the cave that Orochi’s powers awakened in, in a last attempt to save the land, awakened Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess. Taking the form of Shiranui, a pure white wolf that saved Kamiki Village 100 years ago from Orochi, Amaterasu and your new sidekick, Issun, restore life back to the village. You then set out to defeat Orochi, and any other darkness along the way. You often cross paths with a clumsy swordsman, Susano, who claims to be a descendant of Nagi the warrior who fought alongside Shiranui 100 years ago against Orochi. You also come across a mysterious man named Waka, who is on a similar journey as you, but interferes much. Along the way you meet others who need your help, and others who will help you. But your main goal, it to restore Nippon to the way it was.
Characters
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| Amaterasu and Issun |
Amaterasu. Amaterasu is the main protagonist of Ōkami. Issun gives the nickname, Ammy, to Amaterasu pretty early in the game, so he doesn’t have to remember Ammy’s whole name. Amaterasu is based off of Amaterasu (天照), or Amaterasu-ōmikami (天照大神／天照大御神), the sun goddess and is a major Shinto deity. Amaterasu has the ability to ‘draw’ the sun in the sky from the beginning of the game, being that you are a sun god. In the English version of the game, Amaterasu’s gender is never stated. There are points at which you assume that the character is female, and others you might think that it’s male.
Issun. Issun is the inch-tall, pint size, wandering artist and traveling companion to ‘Ammy’. Issun is not based on any mythology in Japan. Issun is pretty much the comic relief in the game, and supplies the dialogue that Amaterasu lacks. He wears a bug helmet, which is the reason some characters call him a bug, most likely a flea, because his companion is a wolf. He is very flirtatious, and falls in love with practically every female character. That being said, he can become rude quickly if things fall out of hand for him.
Susano. Susano is the lazy coward warrior who resides in Kamiki Village, trying to win the heart of Kushi, the town’s sake brewer. He loves sake, and will fall asleep and odd places in the world, and claim he is meditating. Susano is based off of Susanoo (須佐之男) (スサノオ), romanized as Susano-o, Susa-no-O and Susanowo), or Tatehaya Susanoo-no-Mikoto (建速須佐之男命). Susanoo is the brother to Amaterasu, and is the Shinto god of the sea and storms
Waka. Waka is a mysterious character, who never shows signs of being upset or fearful, to Issun’s dismay. He carries a sword locked in its scabbard, while his flute doubles as a beamsword. He is very vague in giving prophecies to you, though is quite playful and isn’t serious for the most part. Waka is based off of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源 義経), where he is considered one of the greatest warriors of his era, and one of the most famous samurai fighters in Japan.
Gameplay
Ōkami originally was going to look realistic (alpha stage videos are available once you complete the game), but it was ditched for the cel-shaded, Japanese ink-illustration (known as sumi-e) look. The game involves, action fighting, adventuring, and puzzle solving. Many fans relate this to the The Legend of Zelda series, as both are very similar. The director even agreed that the Zelda series was one of his inspirations.
By completing missions, and side-quests, you obtain Praise, which can be used to upgrade health, ink pots, astral pouches (lives), and the money purse. Money is in the usual Japanese standard, Yen (¥). At shops you can buy feedbags to feed animals which will give you extra praise, potions called Holy Bones (S,M, and L), bombs that will automatically damage a foe without having to attack them, Exorcist Slips (S,M, and L), and some will have Gold Dust, an item to power up a weapon, which few shops will sell weapons.
Fighting takes place in a separate area blocked off from the main world. The game introduces enemies in groups at a time, and every enemy is slightly harder than the last. You use your Divine Instrument to attack, and can use the Celestial Brush to attack, dodge, or block enemy attacks if you use them right. There are three categories of Divine Instruments: Reflector, Rosary, and the Glaive. Each having its own specific trait and abilities.
The Celestial Brush is unique to Ōkami, in which you freeze the screen and pull up a canvas, then you use the left-analog stick (or Wiimote in the Wii version) to paint on what you want. For example, a straight horizontal line can attack or cut down something, and it known as power slash. A circle with a line coming out of it creates a bome that can blow up a piece of land or hurt an enemy, and is known as Cherry Bomb. Like I said before, drawing a circle in the sky creates the sun, since the game has a day-night system. Later on you will be able to create wind, make vines and hook-shot from one place to the next, and make lightning come straight out of the sky, and even draw the moon to make it appear. Although you don’t get all of the abilities at once, you gradually get them, and their powerups, for instance at the beginning you might be able to draw only one cherry bomb, but you will get to the point to draw three at a time, or instead of only being able to draw fire from one place to the next, you’ll be able to make fire appear. The ink pots stand for how much ink you can use at a time to draw.
Audio
The characters vocal tracks sound like those of Animal Crossing, depending on what gender the character is or how old the person may be, the voice may sound higher pitched or lower, or more female or male. The music is based upon classical Japanese music. It was all composed by 4 composers, Masami Ueda, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Rei Kondo, and Akari Groves. Capcom has released a 5-disc set of the whole score. Although, when you finish the game, you have access to a jukebox to listen to all of the music. Ayaka Hirahara wrote the game’s theme song, “Reset”, that plays in the end credits of the PS2 version.
Extras
Name
The title, Ōkami, is a pun itself. In Japanese, okami means wolf, but the kanji for ‘great deity’ is (大神), which is also Ōkami. So the title of the game, Ōkami and the kanji of the game 大神 roughly translates to ‘Great Wolf Deity’
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| Wii Boxart with IGN watermark |
Wii Version
In 2006, Okami was released onto the PS2, as one of the last games ever released, before the PS3 debuted. When the Wii was announced, the creators thought that the motion sensor in the Wiimote would be a much easier way to use the Celestial Brush in the game. In 2008, the Wii version was released. It is an exact port of the PS2 version, and I will later elaborate on that down below. Though, because Clover Studio had dissolved before the Wii port had begun, Capcom had to delete the credits completely from it. The original box art has an IGN watermark near Amaterasu’s mouth. Capcom in reply to this released 3 new boxarts that excluded the watermark.
Sequel
Many fans speculated a sequel, and one came. In 2010, Ōkamiden for the DS was released. It has the same gameplay, with the Celestial brush, but using the Stylus and Touch Screen interface. It stars Chibiterasu, Amaterasu’s son, in which he has a similar journey traveling Nippon, with various companions.
Closing Thoughts
I had begun to watch this game as a Let’s Play. I got about 1/3 of the way through before I realized that I needed this game. Japanese culture and language is a huge part of my life now, before and after. I played the Playstation 2 version of this game alongside a Wii version Let’s Play. That’s how much I stress that it was an exact port. The whole atmosphere of the game, the music, the art, the gameplay, the story, was all an exciting experience, which I say is breathtaking. This beautiful a game is something I recommend you play. Although, I’m not much of a Zelda fan, I’m sure that If you’ve played a Zelda game Ocarina of Time and upward, you’d really enjoy this game. It is hard, for any game to reach my favorite status. And ever since playing this, it was reached tying with my favorite. So thanks to this the two are at battle. Though, I’ve never finished the other one. I am waiting for a console sequel to Ōkami, which probably won’t happen, but I’m glad I’ve played this one. If I had to rate it, I would give it a 9.5. Mostly because there are a few aggravating glitches, plus I feel like the game is a bit short.
Nice review skyFall.
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