Okami: Beaten! Time for a MEEPLE RANT! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE FOR THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU NOW!
...er...I mean...uh...yeah, to the rant!
Where to start...well, I might as well start with the thing that really got me best about the game. Very few games these days...or heck, much in the way of modern media...really show signs that the creator(s) put their Heart and Soul into their creation. I mean, I've seen plenty of examples of games with a lot of effort, but they felt more like "Lets try to impress people, and not fail at it, so lets take intelligent approaches" rather than just making a game for the sake of the art, the idea of making just a good game, a product you can be proud of, regardless of how well it sells, a product made out of care and love, for lack of a better word, rather than the idea of making money.
Okami...is definitely that game. The game just gives this sense that the creators really wanted to make this, and they put a lot of effort in capturing their own selves, what have you. It was a game made for the art, much like how movies in the 30s were made for the art, not the money. I don't mean the unique art style, I mean art in the loose sense. It felt like they wanted the players to experience the adventure for what it is, and just sort of appreciate the hard work. It really stands out cause I can't think of the last game that really gave off this feel. I mean, fanboy side of me would say "FF6!" or something, but even if I convinced myself I wasn't lying to myself, I still have doubts that would come to the level of Heart/Soul Okami gave off.
So yeah, that's what impresses me about Okami the most; that a game in this day and age can still manage to be made for the art of making a good game, and one you can be proud of, not just to please the fanbase and make lots of cash. Granted, they obviously WANTED Okami to sell, but then, who doesn't want their game to sell well? Shame the game was a commercial failure...
Anyway, onto other aspects!
Okami is...what a 3D Zelda should be. I don't know about 3D Zelda's after the N64 era much, but Okami felt like it gave off a better scope and feel of adventure than OoT or MM, if only cause Japan Nippon is much bigger than Hyrule, though, I might be underselling Termina in MM, but the whole "everything revolves around one town" thing didn't really help if you ask me! The dungeons were more interesting, and they all lacked the puzzle design I probably hate most in games like these:
BLOCK PUSHING.
Block Pushing puzzles are major wastes of time, cause a character moves at a snails pace until you move the block into the right spot, and some cases, its possible to perma-fuck the puzzle, making you have to either press the "Start Over" button these games conveniently have, or"Leave room, re-enter, puzzle resets"...either way, its a waste of time. It was a pain in Wild ARMs 3, God of War, all Zelda games with it (well, LttP and LA weren't as bad about the slow moving part, especially since LA let you drag diagonally?) Seriously devs, STOP MAKING THESE THEY ARE NOT FUN OR INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING. They're just a waste of time, space, and gameplay!!!
...and Okami rocks for more or less completely avoiding these. Yeah, it has BALL pushing puzzles, but they were far more simplistic, far lesser in number, and furthermore, BALLS DON'T SLOW AMATERATSU DOWN. it did involve some physicsing, but beyond one section, you could often just shove the ball against a wall, and use that to avoid screwing yourself over, and again, the puzzles were small in number, so it was more a fresh change of pace from constant Art puzzles, rather than "ugh, another block pushing puzzle."
Also, I give props for the game's platforming. It wasn't there a lot, but that's a good thing, and the good controls, and lenience on Ammy's jumps made them not hard...outside of that one FIRE WHEEL section in the big Ice Tower where you have some time nonsense, but hush. Honestly, the 2nd half of that Ice Tower needed to not exist; the tower was already complete enough as is, adding in generic Ice related puzzles just made the thing feel like its dragging.
Lastly, the game's hints were rather good too. I never really felt lost in dungeons cause either Issun would pretty much spell out what you need to do (through attempts to be cryptic) or simply observing the scenario works well. None of this Water Temple bullshit, that's for sure! Well, one part that did get me confused was the search for the dogs, but I think that was more me not knowing how to Drag someone (I didn't realize when you bite someone, you can hold onto them and drag them.) So really, never felt like I was getting too stuck; I did have to do some extra exploring at times when I was at a loss, but never did I have to check a FAQ and go "oh, dur", and it was more like "find answer 5 minutes later" instead of immediately, contrast to "Run around dungeon for half an hour doing nothing."
The game's battles were fun enough, if a secondary feature of the gameplay. Again, Okami is really what I feel 3D Zeldas should be. 3D Zelda fights were pretty much either "use x tool on y enemy, profit!", outside of the occasional sword wielding freak where its just "Block -> Counter." Okami fights are more straight up, and your options are a lot more interesting. I mean, in a 3D Zelda, I often WANT to bomb things, but it just won't work for the gimmick nature. In Okami, I can draw a bomb and watch it explode on the enemy...IN GLORIOUS FIREWORKS FASHION! Also, the way battles and non-battles were separated RPG style was nice, since you can try to solve one puzzle without worrying about a legion of enemies trying to kill you. Boss fights were gimmicky, but they kind of need to be or less they're just SUPER LARGE RANDOMS which would get lame.
...I have to question why "Bomb Drawing" is something used by heavenly gods. All other spells made sense, since it was basically controlling nature in some way. Want the sun to rise? Draw it! Need wind? You can do it! Slice something in half using DIVINE RETRIBUTION? Ok, I can buy that. Repair something that was lost with rejuvenation? You're a Goddess, so that's fair. Talk to plants so that they spit out long vines pulling you to specific flowers? ...ok, this one is just weird, I'll grant you that.
but BOMBS? They're just random! Its like "Amateratsu doesn't have explosions anywhere, and she's a freaking SUN GODDESS, how can we implement this?" and they just said "Fuck it, SHE CAN DRAW BOMBS NOW!"
This isn't a complaint so much as just being silly...
Which actually plays into my next section, the game's tone and style. Its very playful and lighthearted. Again, one person implied its a very serious and dark game, and I want to punch them for it. No, Okami is an elaborate Fairy Tale based very loosely on Japanese Folklore and such. Seriously, you play as a Wolf who paints things to get stuff done, and her only consistent ally is an immature wood sprite, who does nothing but complain, try to act smart and tough, or gawk at hot chicks. Unlike Zelda fairies, Issun was actually funny at times. The creators KNEW a character like this would be annoying, but its also a necessary evil when your main is a Silent Protagonist, as other wise you're just dealing with loads of Monologues, not to mention that Ammy is GENUINELY silent, not "Hey, she's got implied dialog"; she's a wolf, she CAN'T speak, so you need this medium to talk to people...
So they basically made Issun have no real redeeming qualities other than clearly being a good person at heart, and they even played it up such that Ammy did get annoyed at him at times, and played it more for comedy rather than pretending the character is really this perfect avatar of intelligence.
Ammy being a wolf actually helped her character, not hurt it...it gave a realistic means to make a character NOT TALK for once. Yeah, Link, we know you're a tight wearing pansy who doesn't have the guts to ask Zelda out, but what's your excuse to talking to EVERYONE ELSE? Oh, right, fanboys will scream and rave and go on a killing frenzy if Link so much as says the word "Hi" outside of CD-I or the Animated Series. Anyway, the thing that's nice about Ammy is...the game treats her like a Wolf first, Goddess second, cause to the public eye, that's what she is. They even call the option "Listen" and not "Talk." Furthermore, it makes a little more sense when people say their DARKEST SECRETS to a Wolf than to a human. I mean, thinking outloud to a wolf, the logic is "You're not going to tell anyone, so hey, I can use you to get this off my chest!" TO a human, its kind of weird and...uh, yeah. Though, there were moments that the people talked to Ammy like she was a person, but those felt kind of intentionally silly, and often Issun would try to help make the scene make sense by conversing with the guys in Ammy's stead.
The NPCs all ranged from Fun and Playful like Susano, to...well, token Emos like Oki, who just suck regardless of median. I'll grant Oki gets style points in the fight against the two owls at least...for all that the OTHER Dog ally in the previous fight was infinitely cooler for obvious reasons.
The game, basically, knew not to take itself seriously, but at the same time, didn't try to make a complete joke of itself. God Hand, for example, did the latter, but that was its thing; its a parody. Okami was not trying to be silly or ridiculous, just kind of cute and makes you smile. I guess its most comparable to an Animated Disney Movie like The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast...as in, the GOOD ones. Its light hearted and fun, though has its serious moments, and it has an occasional moment where it just gets you to chuckle, and it was good at invoking emotions when they were appropriate. Yes, the game has its serious moments, but the overall game is not serious, that's why I equate it to one of those GOOD Disney Animated Films; its writing is something all ages can enjoy, and heck, its gameplay too. If she wasn't already playing about 5 different games which get her easily confused, I may have actually let Mandy play this game some, cause she seemed interested in it when watching me.
THough, this is where I snipe at a genuine flaw the game has. Lack of scene skip when it'd be useful; it has scene skip...for points that are not wholly useful, but if you want to replay the game, you have to sit through a lot of dialog over again, even filler stuff and ugh. Really kills the experience of replaying the game.
Furthermore, narrative sequences. The one beginning of the game was boring as shit, just going "blah blah blah OROCHI blah blah blah SHIRANUI blah blah blah NAGI blah blah blah NOW THE STORY BEGINS!" though, kind of needed in order to build backstory and setting. I was letting that pass if it was the only one...but then we got other scenes where its like "And so, Amateratsu and Issun defeated the monster, but MORE DARKNESS APPEARED!" and so on, and...these just weren't very fun. They hurt the quick pacing, we were treated with stills (though they were well drawn, so it fit Okami in that sense), and then the fact that the dialog scrolls kind of slowly...yeah. These parts of the game stood out also cause they were against Okami's general light hearted and playful mood; they were serious bland narratives in a game that thrives on being colorful.
Leading into the next part...the setting. Okami is one of the best handled in this regard, mostly cause the art just really paints it well (no pun intended), and it actually felt like you were in feudal Japan. The music really helped too; I don't remember a lot of individual songs until near the end, but the style being pretty much entirely Classical Japanese really made it feel that way. Proof Capcom went that extra step and tried to make things that worked rather than "Ok, lets just throw J-pop here cause that sounds japanese and EVERYONE LOVES J-pop!" Dear god, Okami with j-Pop, that'd be a nightmare. It doesn't hurt that I find the Classical Japanese style music genuinely pleasing and soothing, so Okami using that had a nice feel to it. Its really quite relaxing when you're just running through fields at ludicrous speeds to hear a nice tranquil song. Some of the more upbeat stuff fit the tones well, as did the coloring used for "EVIL IS COMING!" sections and...you know, I'm just basically saying an obvious fact here, going on about Okami being really good at Artistic things...so yeah, lets just leave it at that.
Oh, and Okami's usage of Japanese names actually worked and felt appropriate here. Contrast to Persona 4, where it honestly just sort of clashed, though, the lack of using Honoraries certainly plays a role. I guess the difference is that Persona 4 didn't really feel like Japan, despite the whole DATING SIM aspect, and it felt more like "yeah, literal translation!" where as Okami it more flowed with the dialog, and even were trying to keep the whole "This game likes its Japanese Myth allusions." Apparently, the localization team specifically shortened a few names to keep the Japanese feel, but make them easier to pronounce for Western Audiences, which...doesn't surprise me (it explains names like "Nagi" and "Susano" instead of "Izanagi" and "Susano-o")
As far as individual themes go...again, I don't remember many, for all that they more or less all fit the game well enough (which is what's important, I guess,) Though, both versions of Reset and "The Rising Sun" were both songs I was fond of, so I guess the game basically went out with a bang in that regard. Interestingly, the Rising Sun I heard a day before beating Okami in TvC, cause they actually have that exact song when fighting Yami's 3rd form. When I heard the song in TvC, I basically went "...that's gotta be Okami's final boss theme; it sounds way too much like Okami's style" and even thought it had a nice feel to it.
Its also the kind of Final Boss theme that's good for a game like this. Its overpowering and inspiring, giving you that upbeat drama effect. I've seen too many games go "HEY LOOK EVIL GUY LETS PLAY EVIL MUSIC!" Okami avoided this for the final form, going more for music that fit Amateratsu's mood rather than the boss itself, a really great way to capture the scenario. The fact that the song in and of itself is good doesn't hurt!
Okami really did feel like a genuine adventure and I know I sound like a sappy reviewer, but really, the game is as advertised, and it really shows the amount of effort and soul they put into the game. I was honestly skeptical at the hype the game was getting, going "its probably alright, but nothing special", but wow, the game is genuinely impressive. It probably could have been shorter, cause I felt the game didn't quite need to be 40 hours, but eh, at the same time, I'm still shocked the game actually took that long, so...I dunno what I'm saying anymore. Damn good game in any event, and more proof that "Modern Capcom kicks ass."
Furthermore, Amateratsu is more proof that Capcom can make awesome Main Characters when they're not trying to be deep or serious...yes, I say this mostly cause she's just a divine wolf, but hush! She rightfully earns her spot next to characters like Dante, Frank West, and Gene.
