Slightly less ancient Japan
Okami begins with a long text based opening sequence, with visuals made to look like moving versions of Japanese rice paper paintings. It tells of the legend told in a village named Kamiki, about how a swordsman named Nagi and a wolf named Shiranui fought off an evil beast named Orochi. Shiranui was killed in the battle, but with his help Nagi was able to seal Orochi in a cave. When the cave is disturbed 00 years later, Orochi 's power is released and the world becomes covered in darkness. The wood sprite Sakuya brings the commemorative statue of Shiranui to life as Amaterasu, who must now traverse the land for the 13 'brush spirits' required to defeat Orohci once again. If this all sounds confusing and wordy – it is. Apparently one of the main reasons for Okami's delay in PAL was to translate the 10,000 word script into all the languages required for a European release, and even with just a couple of hours play we could tell that this game has a lot of text. Most of it is well written, but it can get confusing remembering multiple similar sounding Japanese names at times. It doesn't help that the majority of text and events are unskipable, even if they're a repeat.
The whole game is designed to look like a painting
Getting into the game, you play as Amaterasu, and begin inside the shrine, where the basics of the game are introduced. Okami uses a cell shaded visual style similar to both the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Clover's own Viewtiful Joe. Much like Joe, it's designed to look like the game world has been drawn with thick ink brushes, and the effect is achieved in a way you probably didn't think the PS2 was capable of. Even more impressive is the life imbued in everything – the world literally bursts with cell shaded leaves, dust and wind, and at times it resembles a pop up book, given the 2D/3D nature of the graphics. It often looks amazing, but the engine is sometimes not conducive to an adventure game, and there is some pop up (or fade in) so you can't see as far as you'd like either (it didn't help that we played our preview on a large HD plasma, which made the SD PS2 image look extra blurry). This perspective warping graphical effect can also create the problem of not being able to work out which direction you were going, and the game's solution is functional but inelegant – it provides an arrow pointing to your objective. Controlling Amaterasu is similar to most action games, with the left stick for movement and the right for camera.. The X button jumps, and also allows jumping off a wall to scramble up the last part of high ledges. Soon enough, we're introduced Okami's main gameplay innovation, the Celestial Brush. By holding R1, you can stop the game and turn the world into a canvas, upon which you can effect the world with your drawings. Sometimes you simply have to trace an outline in the sky to trigger an event, but at other times you can effect the environment more directly, for example, you can cross a chasm by painting a bridge over it, and cut down a tree by 'slicing' it in half. It worked quite well in the parts we played, and although the dual shock controller's dead zones made painting controlled straight lines a pain at points, you can start again as many times as you like.
At times, Okami's visuals are breathtaking
Upon leaving the shrine, more of the game's basic concepts become apparent. Okami is clearly a game based heavily on the Zelda series template, and you will spend the game traversing the overworld, visiting villages, defeating enemies and dungeons and collecting tokens. At times, the world has been covered in darkness, and you must defeat the enemies or trigger a certain event in an area to remove the veil. When combat occurs, barriers drop and the game locks you into a fixed arena until all enemies are defeated. While combat seemed a little simple in the short time we played (point at an enemy and attack seemed to work every time), it's mixed up by the addition of the Celestial Brush. At any point, you can pause the battle with R1 and attack enemies by 'slicing' them with a brush stroke. It feels a lot like the slow and zoom effects in Viewtiful Joe, and adds a satisfying dimension to battles.
Combat is repetitive but fun
Overall, Okami is definitely a game to look out for, especially so if the PS2 is still your main gaming device. It looks to have a long and engrossing adventure, and the visual style is worth the price of entry alone. Mark February 14 on your calender as the day the world stood still – for you to paint over it!
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