This will be one of few, if not the only video game review I'll put up here, but I can't help but mention this gem of a game which also shares multiples themes with movies often featured on this blog.
First things first,
Okami is an action-adventure game. You will be spending a lot of time hacking your way through small groups of enemies, and when not doing that you'll be exploring the vast lands of Nippon (our own Japan but set hundreds of years ago). If not familiar with Japanese folklore and history, you're in for a heck of a culture clash, but one that couldn't be more beautiful. You play as Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, in the form of a white wolf, and this is what the official
wiki tells of the story:
Okami begins with a flashback to events 100 years prior to the game's present, and describes how Shiranui, a pure white wolf, and Nagi, a swordsman, together fought the eight-headed demon Orochi to save Kamiki Village and the maiden Nami, Nagi's beloved. Shiranui and Nagi are unable to defeat Orochi but manage to seal the demon away. In the game's present, Susano, a descendant of Nagi and self-proclaimed greatest warrior, breaks Orochi's seal due to the fact that he does not believe in the legend, and Orochi escapes and curses the lands, sapping the life from every living being. Sakuya, the wood sprite and guardian of Kamiki Village, calls forth Amaterasu, the sun goddess, known to the villagers as the reincarnation of the white wolf Shiranui, and pleads her to remove the curse that covers the land.
That's really just the tip of the iceberg, this is quite a long game and a lot of evil Gods stand between you and the finale. You'll find many villages and people in need of help and with your Celestial Brush it's no problem. The Celestial Brush is your main way of attacking, where you press a button and call up a canvas which covers the whole screen, then you can draw to get different effects from your pencil strokes. For example you can draw a quick line over an enemy to slash it, or make a circle connected to a small line to create a bomb. It's all very fun and fluent once you get the hang of it and learn more patterns.
The visuals is one of the key things that make it a home-run to me personally, with timeless cel-shading graphics. This game is just as beautiful today as it were at initial release in 2006, but even more breathtaking today thanks to HD-remasters. I will never grow tired of running through Kamiki Village during the cherry blossoms, or mess with villagers around the world. The world and art design are heavily inspired by traditional Japanese sumi-e paintings but plays around with it a ton, and even though the game is set in a classic history time the developers weren't afraid of throwing in cool additions such as laser swords. The music is also fantastic, inspired by classical Japanese music, of course. So yeah, I could post pictures of the amazing art style all day but if it sounds interesting to run around in mythical Japan full of adventures, you should give it a try.
Pros: Gorgeous visuals, cool battle system, tons of great characters, rememberable soundtrack,
Cons: It's a very long game, and I think my first playthrough took between 50-60 hours. It can also feel very easy after you've upgraded your abilities so I recommend doing a challenge for yourself by limiting the amount of either life or ink pots you can have.
