User Reviews (1 - 11 of 127)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

A breath of fresh air.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 107 / 113
Date: September 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Today's video game market is a stagnant one for the most part. Publishers rely on franchises and proven formulas to make their money. Meanwhile when something creative and original comes along publishers don't want to take a chance on it in fear of lousy returns on their investment. While this does make for a great business decision, it makes for poor gaming experiences. Thankfully Okami made it to fruition.

This game is reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda. The cell shaded graphics harken back to The Wind Waker, and inevitably any third person adventure game is going to merit a Zelda comparison. However, this is definitely not a Zelda clone. It merely takes the genre and builds on it to produce something extraordinary.

The gameplay is relatively simple. You can run around, fight baddies, talk to villagers, etc. The real innovation here is the use of a "paintbrush" that you activate with R1 to alter your environment. If you run up on a bridge that's broken down? No problem, activate your paintbrush and paint another one onto the landscape. Bad guy getting you down? Simple, just activate the paintbrush, draw a slash through the enemy, and he's down for the count. I've only progressed through the first hour of the game, so I have not collected all of the paintbrush techniques. But there is no doubt that the paintbrush is a big part of the game.

The graphics are nothing short of beautiful. You do a good bit of running around in this game. Fortunately it never gets old because the scenery around you is just so awesome to look at. I never thought a Ps2 game could look so good.

The story takes on the guise of Japanese folklore (I've read that the basis of this game is an actual legend, but I would assume some liberties have been taken with the story to fit the game). The story is interesting, although nothing groundbreaking (at least as far as I have progressed). Still, it is enough to keep you interested.

There are some small things that annoy me. The text comes with a gibberish voiceover (like Animal Crossing). Its bearable at first, but tends to grate on your nerves the farther along you go. The intro is about ten minutes too long, and I never found a way to skip past it or make it go faster. The big gripe I have is that there is no widescreen support, which would have made this game really shine on TVs that supported it.

This game might be the last great game on the Playstation 2. I'm happy that Capcom decided to break the industry mold and publish a title that displays a lot of creativity and beauty without it being a proven franchise. I consider this game to be in the same mold as Psychonauts, Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy, etc. Games that displayed a ton of creativity and were fun. Unfortunately games like this often go unnoticed by the majority of gamers and they don't sell well. Hopefully Okami will be an exception, and it needs to be if we ever want developers and publishers to release more original and "unproven" content to us.

Sucessor to Zelda? Perhaps

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 49
Date: September 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Many game critics have raved about this game, and it is no surprise. Once you start playing Okami you will quickly realize you have picked up quite the original adventure game. Okami does have certain hints of Zelda (i.e. bombs to blow up walls, searching for treasure, interaction with different people to find quests, time change, etc.) but at the same time Okami is a different animal. It is quite hard to explain really, but what really sets this game apart from most adventure games are the graphics and the almighty Celestial Brush. The graphics if anything will remind you most of Wind Waker, but while Wind Waker chose to go with the traditional style cel-shading (although they worked quite well and helped that game along), Okami chooses to go with stylistic cel shading, if that makes any sense...the graphics really bring every single enviornment in the game to life and not only that but they are defintely crucial to the whole theme of Okami on which its story is basically that of a Japanese legend novel. The calliography stylings you will find are incorporated with the watercolor-like graphics of Okami, and thus this is where the Celestial Brush comes into play. Throughout the game, you will gain brushstyles (once again reminiscent of Japanese calliography) from mythological constellations. Once you gain these you will use them to progress throughout the game. So a bridge is a broken? No problem you can fix it simply by waving your brush back and forth to create a new one. You will also use it a lot in the battles you will face, as you can draw bombs to defeat enemies quickly or draw a simple line through them to slash them powerfully and gain the upper advantage. Then at times you will face say, like a fire elemental and an ice elemental...using the brush once again, use the fire against the ice elemental and then use the brush once again to create wind and blow the fire elemental out. Tired of drowning in the water? Draw a circle to create a lily pad and then draw wind to travel faster on the lily pad. These are just a few of the things you can do with the brush but there is much more. As for the battles themselves, they are relatively easy but not so easy that they get boring...all you need to use is a bit of problem-solving and you have it down, the bosses take more of that of course. I will not spoil the boss encounters at all but the ways you use your brush against them is really inventive and original. The controls are tight and quite responsive, yet the only gripe I have with this game is the camera. It's not terrible, but it seems during the battles it gets a bit frisky but it's just a minor flaw. The oriental-type music fits with the theme of the game very well, it does get a bit repetitive in some parts but it's otherwise well done.

I have never heard of Clover before, I don't know if this is the first game they have come out with or what...but you can be rest assured I will be looking into them after this masterpiece of a game. The PS2 is nearing its end but this is definitely one of the last games it should go out on. Okami is a must buy for this year, I promise you no PS2 owner should be without it. All critics have been raving, I have yet to hear a bad review about Okami, that should tell you something. Overall this is a must buy game, do not doubt it buy it. Peace.

Even better than a new Zelda game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: November 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Story / Gameplay
In playing as Amaterasu, A Sun-God awoken to defend a classical Japanese village in the area of Nippon, you will use a variety of weapons, combat techniques, and Celestial brushes to defeat your enemies and rid the land of an ancient evil that has been resurrected. The weapons will be your standard platforming arsenal of short and long ranged devices that you use to keep yourself from harm, and try for the opposite effect with your enemies. These will include various twists on Japanese Imperial Regalia to include, A reflector disk (Your beginning weapon), Rosary Beads (Your primary ranged weapon), and a Glaive (Powerful long sword).
The Celestial Brush is what makes this game unique. It allows you to pause the game at any time using the R1 button and paint various symbols to have a wide reaching effect on gameplay. These include, but are not limited to, attacking enemies/objects, bringing back life to various dead flora, creating platforms, and in general showing off your God-like ability to affect almost every aspect of reality in the game. The Celestial Brush will be your major gameplay factor in practically every puzzle the game offers. It's also used for story progression and helping out some of your village friends think they can do things they really can't without them knowing.

Art / Graphics
Okami draws a lot of it's animations from Japanese watercolor paintings most famous from the Ukiyo-e style. Like the game Zelda: The Windwaker, which people most commonly relate Okami to, Cel-shading is used as opposed to 3D Polygon textures to give the game a more animated feel. This serves the purpose of bringing out smoother movements in the character models and bringing the characters themselves more to life. Unlike the aforementioned game, however, Okami uses a brushed style that helps bring more color into the game rather than focusing solely on shape definition. In short, it's the best thing that Cel-shading has ever produced. It even winds up showing off a lot better than some of the cinematic driven games to date.
Music / Voice Acting
The music in this game is on par with many of its platforming brethren, and exceeds a lot of the standards for the genre. The scores are large numbered and always seem to have a good piece of music to back-up whatever situation you, as a Brush wielding Sun-God defending good in the form of a wolf, may find yourself in. The voice acting is the only thing that could bring this game down. The simple truth? There is none! Well, it's no great loss because the game does fine without it. However, during the opening sequence, which consequentially is about 14 minutes too long, the little humming sounds that they use instead will probably have you wanting to claw your ears out before it's done. After this little sequence however, you should be good to go through the rest of the game.

Controls
I list Controls as its own category because quite simply, they will make or break a game. I won't lie to you, I was a little skeptical when I heard that somebody had a made Zelda clone for the PS2 based in feudal Japan. But from the moment I picked up the controller and started maneuvering smoothly through the cel-shaded environment, switching from weapons to brushes quicker than thought, I was sold. Okami has some of the most intuitive controls of any Console game I've ever played. You will almost never have one of those moments where you are left thinking, "If only I had put the camera somewhere else."

Overall
Okami is a fun Action-Adventure / Platforming game that will keep you locked in to the very end. The Brushed Cel-shading quite frankly outdoes itself as you progress through rich and peaceful villages as well as dark and brooding cursed lands. The controls boast more than their fair share versatility as they put in your hands the ability to change the very fabric of existence surrounding your character with just the few buttons and strokes of your brush.
The downsides you will see in the game mostly center on the distinct lack of Voice acting and the horrendously long opening sequence. These however, do very little to detract from the overall masterpiece that Clover Studios has created.

Okami takes everything that made people love the N64 and Gamecube Zelda games, and then improves upon them ten fold (Yes, I though it was impossible too.) to create one of the most original and masterwork Action/Adventure games to ever hit the markets, and has no competition whatsoever on the Playstation 2 gaming console.

A Beautiful Masterpiece

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: September 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Hands down, Okami is one of the finest Playstation 2 games ever made. An engrossing story mixed with intricate gameplay make Okami a textbook example of how a game should be done. Okami is a masterpiece that brings a huge world to life, and any action/adventure fan would be happy to have this title on their shelf.

Okami centers on the legend of the Japanese sun god Amaterasu. The game stays centered around Japanese tales. You needn't know these stories to be engrossed in the games overall main story, though. All you need to know from the get go is Amaterasu is the sun god reborn as a wolf to rid Japan of a demonic curse that has swept the land. The God responsible for this was actually killed 100 years ago. It's time to make sure history doesn't repeat itself, and it's up to Amaterasu to get rid of this evil God. Amaterasu is joined by her companion Issun, who throughout the game will do all the talking, and also provides a nice sense of humor to the game. At first the story is simplistic, but don't be fooled. There are several subplots in the game that eventually become part of the overall story. You'll do more than stop this curse from spreading across the land. You'll rescue villages, battle fearsome monsters and everything epic in Okami. It also helps that the game is a massive 30 hours of steady going gameplay.

The story is mostly told through beautiful cutscenes, and quite a bit of dialogue. None of the dialogue is directly spoken so you'll have to read it all. It's unfortunate that a masterpiece such as Okami doesn't have voice acting, but in the end it's forgiveable. The cinematics and artistic style of Okami are fantastic. Visually the game is by far one of the best looking of any game this generation. It's so distinct and original. There's no game out there that looks like this. Equally impressive is the fantastic music score that clearly defines the setting of the game and actually brings you into its unique world.

You'll be able to explore quite a bit of the world. There's a lot of running around to do and you'll have some excitement doing it. Amaterasu carries around a sword like weapon all the time which she'll use whenever she engages in a battle. Battling isn't tough in Okami, nor is it too frequent to the point where it's annoying. So you won't be frustrated while traveling through Okami and putting up a good fight. The battle mechanics work almost like any other action/adventure title with one exception: the powers of the gods at your disposal.

Throughout the journey Amaterasu can use a brush technique to unleash her powers as well as the powers of her allies. When in battle you can press R1 and it will bring up a canvas. You'll then be given control of a paint brush and you can unleash several powers. When it gets dark out you can use the paint brush to make the sun come back up. There are other powers too, such as being able to cut through stone. This mechanic takes a moment to get used to at first, but you'll adapt surprisingly fast. Even better, this isn't a simple gimmick. You'll find it imperative to use these powers to solve puzzles and progress further on in your adventure. It's an integral part of the gameplay and storyline. You don't start off with all the powers of the paint brush, of course, you'll have to travel through the game and get them. This system certainly breathes new life into the genre as a whole.

As you go on your adventure, you'll also be given chances to make Amaterasu more powerful. You can learn moves at the dojo, and you can find health powerups, and get more ink reserves for your brush techniques. There are also plenty of weapons and items to help you out on your quest. The game is easy, even when faced against some of the bosses, but it's a lot of fun, and has a lot of variety. You could go through Okami never actually dying once. This isn't to say the game doesn't have its challenges. Some puzzles have their own unique challenges that could leave you stumped for a moment.

Okami is also full of plenty of other small things you can do as you traverse the land. You can restore vegetation to the land, feeding animals in need of food. These don't sound too appealing, but there are a couple of things that make it worth your while. For starters, these scenes just look beautiful. Second, you get praise for doing so. Praise helps you to improve your powers and strengths. These aspects of the game can keep you busy for quite some time.

Okami is a masterpiece. A highly expansive game with a vast world to explore. It's beautiful cinematics and well crafted storyline, among a few other things, make this one of the best Playstation 2 games out there. It's simply a fantastic game to play and the fun last for a long time. Okami is the definition of quality.

The Good

+Engrossing storyline
+The game is absolutely beautiful; among the best looking for the Playstation 2
+The game sounds fantastic
+Battling is a lot of fun
+The brush techniques are really innovative
+Plenty of side-quest and mini games to keep you busy
+For an action/adventure title the journey is long, lasing for over 30 hours... on top of that the game is full of replay value

The Bad

-The only truly bad thing about Okami is that there is no voice acting in the game. There's gibberish whenever a text box pops up, but no actual voice acting to speak of.

PS2 Perfection ...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: November 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was very eager to get this title on import, knowing that it was somewhat 'unique' in terms of it's genre label - yes it has rpg elements, but it's something quite separate. I only wish there were more such games on the ps2 or any format for that matter. This is storytelling, videogame-style, at it's best, Capcom/Clover have produced a real gem, it's an experience, like Zelda, a highly enjoyable slice of fantasy that is sure to hold you in it's thrall for some 50 hours or more, a visual treat and beautiful soundtrack also. If you consider yourself a gamer then get this, it's destined for cult status, in a word SUPERB...

Innovative and beautiful!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: November 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is the most unique adventure game in recent years. Okami is a mixture of different gameplay. Prior to buying this game I was expecting more combat. You control a reincarnated god wolf and travel thru many beautiful scenaries. You will talk to people, solve simple fun puzzles, do some platforming, feed various animals, collect/buy weapons, play mini-games, and fight cool enemies. Your goal is to save ancient Japan from demons.

The setting is very unique. Its Japanese mythology with cell-shaded graphic which resembles Ancient Japanese water/oil painting. You visit cool Japanese style towns, pirate ship, dungeon, many beautiful environment and fight mythological enemies/beast with a Japanese twist. A visual pleasing game. You will want to see what the next level looks like, its like traveling! The bosses are really cool too but there are only a few! The characters are zany and funny. Wait until you meet Rao!!

One disappointment is the lack of voice acting, you have to read text! Minus 0.5 points for overall score.

The combat portion does not happen during the 'normal' game, there are talisman in the environment and when you touch it the game switches into combat scenario with confined 'border'. A unique aspect of this game is the 'celestrial brush'. Its hard to describe this gameplay but you basically draw with a brush. There are many different brush powers. You can draw and fill missing bridge gap, draw a line thru enemies and slash them to death, or draw a circle in the sky to make night turn into day or a crescent to make day turn into night. These are few examples. The game difficulty is pretty easy. Overall a fun adventure ride for everyone, all ages and players.

Graphics: 4.5/5, Music/Sound: 5/5, Story: 5/5, Gameplay: 4/5, Design: 5/5, Fun: 4.5/5, Value: 5/5, Overall: 4.5/5

I **LOVE** this game! But there are some problems with it...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: November 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I can't get enough of Okami! I've beaten it and am started on a second play-though. Any action-RPG game fan has to at least try this game! The title basically says it all. It is a typically Japanese play on words, since, depending on how you translate it, "Okami" can mean either "wolf" or "king of the gods". For those people to whom that is not enough information to really understand the game, here are the basics:

100 years before the game's beginning, a huge 8-headed dragon monster called the Orochi menaced the small village of Kamiki. After suffering Orochi's tyranny for years, the village's champion, Nagi, and a white wolf the village dubbed Shiranui, defeated the Orochi. Shiranui died from his wounds after the fight, and the village built a shrine for him. Peace reigned for 100 years, until the evil suddenly and mysteriously reappeared...

You control Shiranui reborn in a quest to save the land from the evil. You travel all over the land of Nippon (which is Japanese for "Japan"; how original) fighting monsters, helping people, and healing nature of the curse of evil. The story is nothing new, and is both very linear and quite predictable. But it is very well done, mixing japanese mythology into a classic hero story, with a generous helping of humor to give it flavor.

The story has one major downside, though: it is told through cut scenes that contain bucket-loads of exposition. You will often find yourself button-mashing X desperately to try to speed things along, and that does not work very well because the important cut scenes don't let you speed up the dialogue. For instance, the very first cut scene that opens the game literally takes at least 15 minutes to get through before you can get to the action. Most of the rest are not nearly that long, but several of them do take a good 5 minutes at least. To say that it gets tedious is an understatement.

Still, the cell-shaded graphics largely make up for the tedious cut scenes. They are done in a very beautiful, yet simplistic style that evokes a traditional Japanese ink painting. Despite the simple style, though, the level of detail is outstanding. In fact, it is so detailed that there is the occasional spot of graphical slowdown. This game really pushes the hardware of the PS2 to its limits.

The music and sound are also fantastic. Most of the music evokes traditional Japanese art as much as the graphics do, while the sound effects range from wolf barks and footfalls to wind blowing gently through trees, and more. The mood is always set perfectly for whatever environment you're visiting.

Except, possibly, with the voices. Rather than real voices, people talk in a form of gibberish that sounds like someone trying to talk underwater. While it does not bother me personally, some people simply can not listen to these voice effects. Either you'll hate the voice noises with a passion, or you won't care at all. Either way, this is not a good point for the game.

The controls take a bit of getting used to, but when you have gotten used to them they become second nature. Unlike the "Legend of Zelda" games, there is no enemy lock-on during combat. Instead, you automatically target the closest monster(s) when you push the attack button. This simplifies combat without turning it into a button-mashing cake walk. It works perfectly...unless you get hit by the controller bug.

Yes, a *bug* in the game. Thankfully rare, as I only encountered it twice in 60+ hours of game play. Still, when it happens it is extremely annoying. During combat, while you're wailing away on a monster, the options-menu will suddenly open for no reason. Usually, the analog control on your controller will also go crazy, either just turning off or madly flickering on and off. Either case makes the game impossible to play, of course, since you control your in-game avatar with the left analog stick. The first case is easy to fix; just turn the analog control back on and exit the menu. In the second case, you can only fix it by literally unplugging the controller and then plugging it back in.

Far more common than the controller bug are the load times. They usually are not terrible, but it seems like a loading screen comes up at least every five minutes or so. Between these and the long cut-scenes, you might sometimes wonder if there is actually any game play included.

But there *is* game play, and it is a lot of fun. There is a great deal to keep you occupied, from the compelling story line to the many treasure hunts, races, puzzles, and mini-games. Between fighting to save the world, you can go fishing, feed animals, catch thieves, and a lot more. Plus, after you beat the game once it unlocks lots of extras, including image galleries and the sound track. All of that and the wonderful atmosphere definitely make this a game worth checking out. Rent it before you buy it, if possible, to make sure you can deal with the long cut scenes, numerous load times, and weird voice effects. But if you are a fan of action RPGs like "Legend of Zelda", you will definitely want to add Okami to your game library.

Summary:

Pros:

- Great story
- Great graphics
- Great music/sound
- Wonderful atmosphere
- Lots of culture and mythology to give it flavor
- Plentiful activities and mini-games
- Unlockable extras after beating the game

Cons:

- Occasional graphic slowdown
- Too much exposition
- Tedious cut-scenes
- Lots of load times
- Rare controller bug

Neutral:

- Voice noises that you might or might not hate

Over-all score: Five stars of fun-fun-fun! But three stars over all because of the many problems.

Amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: October 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

With the PS2's life cycle coming to an end, there are hardly any new games that are anything remotely spectacular. Capcom's Okami however, is just that, and it's not just one of the best games to ever grace the PS2, it's one of the most original games you'll ever play. The first thing you'll notice about Okami is the game's incredibly unique art style and graphics, which are some of the best to ever grace the PS2. Seriously, this game looks incredible, you won't believe your eyes. Okami's storyline is based on Japanese legend dealing with the sun god Amaterasu, who you play as in the form of a white wolf, and the epic quest that awaits him. Now, what truly sets Okami apart from the rest of the pack is the caligraphy-esque celestial brush that you must use to advance throughout the game. Need a bridge? Draw it. Need to dispatch a pesky enemy? Draw him in half. This brush adds a new dynamic to the gameplay which is fresh and unique, and makes you wonder why no one has ever tried anything like it before in a game of this type. There's loads of side quests and mini-games as well, adding to the length of Okami which truly make it an epic game, and all of which help make this one of the best games ever on the PS2. If there's anything bad to say about Okami, it's that the combat can get too easy at spots, but that is only an extremely minor gripe. All in all, Okami is just the thing that PS2 owners have been waiting and yearning for. An original, epic adventure that doesn't get stale and provides some of the most unique and mouth watering graphics you'll ever see. If you own a PS2, Okami is an absolute must own, and it's one of the best games you'll ever play.

Fantastic Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: December 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is AMAZING! The graphics style is very original also. You wander the country of Nippon destroying different demons to restore peace in the land as a wolf called Amaterasu. Definately NOT a kids game, I'm an older teen and I LOVED it. It would probably be good for kids though, but the controls are a little tricky at first. However, the thing that annoyed the crap outta me was the narration, it's this screetchy mumbling that sounds like they took what someone was saying (in Japanese, maybe?) and warped it. I muted my tv whenever it came on. I hope that Capcom/Clover Studios comes out with a continuation of this, because it really is a fabulous game!

What a shame

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 32
Date: November 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

To begin with, I'm in my mid-20's, and probably not the most patient person in the world. That being said, my review. Okami is probably the greatest tragedy to hit the PS2. On the one hand, you've got amazing graphics, a decent fighting engine, very neat items and weapons. The game would be amazing, 10 out of 5, if they hadn't made it so incredibly, infuriatingly annoying.

First off, there's Issun. I won't ruin anything that affects the plot, but the little pest is the most verbose, bothersome creature I've encountered in any of my years of gaming. When he's not repeating the same thing you've just heard over and over, he's going on and on with the characters you meet about things you've already done. The repetition was annoying at first, but by the time you're spending 5-10 minutes breezing through dialog every time you meet someone new, you just want to strangle him.

There are two kinds of dialog in the game. Usually, you can fast-forward through each (very brief) line of text by holding down X. Of course, there are many, many of these brief lines, you can race through them pretty quickly. Whenever something essential to the plot occurs, however, there's no way to fast-forward like that. You're stuck sitting there waiting for each word to finish before you can click on to the next chunk of text. During these interactions you hear not words but a demonic version of the Peanuts' Teacher voice. The plot itself is actually pretty good, and would be interesting if they didn't repeat every key point 5-10 times.

It's confusing to try and figure out who their target audience is. Ammy (the wolf) is female and makes flowers grow wherever she steps. The artwork is amazing, and the brush is great (though would probably be difficult for younger gamers). The puzzles range from blatantly obvious (though they still force hint after hint at you about how to solve them) to near-impossible (the near-impossible ones are far, far, far more annoying than challenging). The level of repetition would hint that it's for younger gamers who might not be able to follow what to do next without hints. Yet there are very adult themes (including one character who is referred to constantly (by Issun, since Ammy cannot speak) by the size of her feminine endowments, and while she's on screen there are some very mature sighs and moans going on in the background).

What you are left with is a fantastic game that is so bogged down with frustratingly long conversations and infuriatingly annoying portions that it is, for me, unplayable. If they came out with an edition that didn't include Issun, I'd pay twice as much for it. This game should be for teens or older, and frankly, I'd say 16+ given some of the content. Nothing X-rated, mind you, but don't give it to your 8-year-old or you'll be getting a lot of questions.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions