Things I've enjoyed and assume every-one else knows about, Part II
One of the things that kinda annoys me online is the people that gripe about how there are no decent games on the Wii. Well, to be sure, there is definitely a flood of party game dross out there, but there are also some very good games out there if you know where to look. Part of my frustration with the above idea is that I can’t actually afford to many games, so there are still loads of games out there that I would like to play. I recently got the opportunity to borrow Okami from a friend, and thought I would take time to recommend it to people.
100 years ago, (before the start of the game at least) the Japanese village of Kamiki village was terrorized by the great 8 headed dragon Orochi. The brave warrior, Nagi, seeking to save the life of his beloved takes her place and engages the beast in battle aided only by the white wolf Shiranui, whose sacrifice allows Nagi to place a mighty blow on the great beast, sealing it inside it’s cave forever. What the villagers of Kamiki did not know is that Shiranui was actually the incarnated form of the Sun Goddess Okami Amaterasu, whose power of the celestial brush made victory possible. Now, Orochi has escaped his bonds, and threatens not only Kamiki, but the whole of Nippon. Sakuya, spirit of the guardian tree of Kamiki awakens Amaterasu to fight Orochi again, but this time she has only the drunken and cowardly descendent of Nagi, Susano and the diminutive wood sprite Issun to help her and she is greatly weekend by her 100 year sleep. Little does she know, that even should Orochi be defeated, a much greater journey awaits her…
Okami is a mammoth action adventure game, much in the same vein as Zelda, with enemies that are fought in real time and dungeons filled with puzzles. But where most action adventure games come from a distinctly western basis, Okami takes its inspiration from the rich world of Shinto mythology, and allegedly shows us the ‘truth’ behind some of japans most famous legends, providing an introduction to those who discovering these for the first time and giving an interesting twist if you are familiar.
The game play is simple, you control Amarerasu (or Ammy for short), who holds the form of a great white wolf, tattooed with red markings that betray her divinity to those pure enough to see them. She navigates Nippon in the manner that you might expect from a 3D platform game, solving puzzles with a very high degree of maneuverability and speed, indeed, should you keep moving in one direction she will slowly increase her speed until she is almost a blur, which is a great relief when you have to travel long distances. Across the countryside are Demons that will block your path, and when you encounter them you are drawn into a ‘Deamon realm’ where you are sealed inside a circular arena until you opponents are destroyed. Ammy has many weapons at her disposal, more powerful versions of which you can find on your travels; A Solar Reflector (a disk like weapon that slashes from her back), Preyer beads (that whip out to strike your opponents) and Sabers (that can be charged up and brought down heavily on an opponent). She can also learn new techniques at the local martial arts dojo, allowing her to increase her combos, jump higher and even use the dreaded ‘Brown Vengance’ technique, an attack unique to her canine form, which is best left to the imagination.
To solve the various puzzles, Ammy must re-learn her ‘Celestial Brush’ techniques that allow her to draw over her surroundings for various effects repairing objects, striking things with lighting, making plants grow, and many other uses, all of which are the key to defeating the various, and massive bosses that are behind the curse that has descended on Nippon. The Wii adds a great touch here, as you are actually drawing on the screen with your Wii-mote to change the games environment.
There are also very strong RPG tendencies in the game, as earning ‘praise’ from helping people that you meet on your journey, from fixing their broken washing poles, to making the trees grow and feeding the animals that you meet. This can be used to increase your energy, Ink (which powers your brush Techniques), the amount of food you can hold (giving you extra lives) or the amount of Yen you can carry in your purse. The good thing about this is that you don’t ever feel that you need to grind to level yourself up, as defeating monsters only gives you praise in various circumstances, such as if some-one is being Haunted or there is an area of nature corrupted by a demon gate. Completing side quests is a much better source of praise, and the side quests introduce you to some of the quirkiest characters that I’ve met in any RPG.
The Graphics of Okami are all cell shaded in the style of a Japanese oil paining, and they are by turns beautiful, threatening and funny. Check out some screen shots online, if you want a better idea. Also, each of the enemies and allies that you meet is introduced by a painting of them, Taken (I believe) from actual Japanese period art (or at least something that looks very much like it). There are some great set pieces as well, such as when you restore a ‘cursed zone’ by healing the area’s Guardian Sapling, pushing back the darkness with a tidal wave of flowers. As I’ve mentioned, the game has a great sense of humor as well, and there are a thousand little details in zones to amuse, and Issun, your comedy relief sidekick manages to avoid being a complete annoyance, and actually manages to raise a smile or two.
The story of Okami is also one of it’s strongest points, and you really feel for the plight of the people you meet, and help with their day to day and not so day to day problems. You can tell that this is a rare thing; a game with a message, and not one that is rammed down your throat. ‘People cannot accomplish great deeds without something or someone to inspire them’ It’s not a bad message, and no one, even the title character escapes being touched by it. The game pulls off a truly epic moment that shoes this off before the final boss fight, and I’ll confess, it even brought a lump to my throat. I won’t spill the beans, but for me it is one of the top video game moments of all time.
Criticisms? Well I do have a few (no game is perfect after all). Some of the celestial Brush techniques are very similar, so that when you are doing one, it will instead do another, and sometimes you have to hit a very precise point, which the game does not seem to recognize. This can lead to no small amount of frustration, especially when there are long sequences you have to follow, starting from the beginning each time. There are only one or two of these moments though, and they should not put you off playing.
The second criticism is that the game is rather easy. I think I died about 3-5 times over the course of about a 40 hour game, and I still had ample supplies of many items that could have prolonged my lives even further at the end of the game. This is not really a big problem though, as death is an pretty negligible penalty in most modern games anyhow.
So, check it out if you haven’t already, and it’s got the great advantage of being slightly old, and can be found in most game shops second hand. It was also initially released on PS2 but is allot harder to find by all accounts.
100 years ago, (before the start of the game at least) the Japanese village of Kamiki village was terrorized by the great 8 headed dragon Orochi. The brave warrior, Nagi, seeking to save the life of his beloved takes her place and engages the beast in battle aided only by the white wolf Shiranui, whose sacrifice allows Nagi to place a mighty blow on the great beast, sealing it inside it’s cave forever. What the villagers of Kamiki did not know is that Shiranui was actually the incarnated form of the Sun Goddess Okami Amaterasu, whose power of the celestial brush made victory possible. Now, Orochi has escaped his bonds, and threatens not only Kamiki, but the whole of Nippon. Sakuya, spirit of the guardian tree of Kamiki awakens Amaterasu to fight Orochi again, but this time she has only the drunken and cowardly descendent of Nagi, Susano and the diminutive wood sprite Issun to help her and she is greatly weekend by her 100 year sleep. Little does she know, that even should Orochi be defeated, a much greater journey awaits her…
Okami is a mammoth action adventure game, much in the same vein as Zelda, with enemies that are fought in real time and dungeons filled with puzzles. But where most action adventure games come from a distinctly western basis, Okami takes its inspiration from the rich world of Shinto mythology, and allegedly shows us the ‘truth’ behind some of japans most famous legends, providing an introduction to those who discovering these for the first time and giving an interesting twist if you are familiar.
The game play is simple, you control Amarerasu (or Ammy for short), who holds the form of a great white wolf, tattooed with red markings that betray her divinity to those pure enough to see them. She navigates Nippon in the manner that you might expect from a 3D platform game, solving puzzles with a very high degree of maneuverability and speed, indeed, should you keep moving in one direction she will slowly increase her speed until she is almost a blur, which is a great relief when you have to travel long distances. Across the countryside are Demons that will block your path, and when you encounter them you are drawn into a ‘Deamon realm’ where you are sealed inside a circular arena until you opponents are destroyed. Ammy has many weapons at her disposal, more powerful versions of which you can find on your travels; A Solar Reflector (a disk like weapon that slashes from her back), Preyer beads (that whip out to strike your opponents) and Sabers (that can be charged up and brought down heavily on an opponent). She can also learn new techniques at the local martial arts dojo, allowing her to increase her combos, jump higher and even use the dreaded ‘Brown Vengance’ technique, an attack unique to her canine form, which is best left to the imagination.
To solve the various puzzles, Ammy must re-learn her ‘Celestial Brush’ techniques that allow her to draw over her surroundings for various effects repairing objects, striking things with lighting, making plants grow, and many other uses, all of which are the key to defeating the various, and massive bosses that are behind the curse that has descended on Nippon. The Wii adds a great touch here, as you are actually drawing on the screen with your Wii-mote to change the games environment.
There are also very strong RPG tendencies in the game, as earning ‘praise’ from helping people that you meet on your journey, from fixing their broken washing poles, to making the trees grow and feeding the animals that you meet. This can be used to increase your energy, Ink (which powers your brush Techniques), the amount of food you can hold (giving you extra lives) or the amount of Yen you can carry in your purse. The good thing about this is that you don’t ever feel that you need to grind to level yourself up, as defeating monsters only gives you praise in various circumstances, such as if some-one is being Haunted or there is an area of nature corrupted by a demon gate. Completing side quests is a much better source of praise, and the side quests introduce you to some of the quirkiest characters that I’ve met in any RPG.
The Graphics of Okami are all cell shaded in the style of a Japanese oil paining, and they are by turns beautiful, threatening and funny. Check out some screen shots online, if you want a better idea. Also, each of the enemies and allies that you meet is introduced by a painting of them, Taken (I believe) from actual Japanese period art (or at least something that looks very much like it). There are some great set pieces as well, such as when you restore a ‘cursed zone’ by healing the area’s Guardian Sapling, pushing back the darkness with a tidal wave of flowers. As I’ve mentioned, the game has a great sense of humor as well, and there are a thousand little details in zones to amuse, and Issun, your comedy relief sidekick manages to avoid being a complete annoyance, and actually manages to raise a smile or two.
The story of Okami is also one of it’s strongest points, and you really feel for the plight of the people you meet, and help with their day to day and not so day to day problems. You can tell that this is a rare thing; a game with a message, and not one that is rammed down your throat. ‘People cannot accomplish great deeds without something or someone to inspire them’ It’s not a bad message, and no one, even the title character escapes being touched by it. The game pulls off a truly epic moment that shoes this off before the final boss fight, and I’ll confess, it even brought a lump to my throat. I won’t spill the beans, but for me it is one of the top video game moments of all time.
Criticisms? Well I do have a few (no game is perfect after all). Some of the celestial Brush techniques are very similar, so that when you are doing one, it will instead do another, and sometimes you have to hit a very precise point, which the game does not seem to recognize. This can lead to no small amount of frustration, especially when there are long sequences you have to follow, starting from the beginning each time. There are only one or two of these moments though, and they should not put you off playing.
The second criticism is that the game is rather easy. I think I died about 3-5 times over the course of about a 40 hour game, and I still had ample supplies of many items that could have prolonged my lives even further at the end of the game. This is not really a big problem though, as death is an pretty negligible penalty in most modern games anyhow.
So, check it out if you haven’t already, and it’s got the great advantage of being slightly old, and can be found in most game shops second hand. It was also initially released on PS2 but is allot harder to find by all accounts.