Review + Thoughts: Okami HD
Friday, March 19, 2021
When I’m asked about my favorite game, no doubt Okami is one of the titles I’ll bring up. In fact, I’d say it’s my number 1 game that I’ll ask others to try if they have not. Now, why do I love this game so much aside from a wolf deity running about saving Nippon, Japan from calamity?
Play as a white wolf, running against the winds and howling at enemies. Okami has me wrapped around its finger with its intense yet relaxing gameplay. A great story that grabs your hand and leads you towards its journey.
About the game
You play as Amaterasu, a white wolf who’s a reincarnation of the God of the Sun, taking after Shiranui’s death. Defeat bosses and purge the land from darkness. Amaterasu’s journey to free the land from calamity and murk is joined by fellow friends whom she makes along the way. She is capable of manipulating the environment and making powerful attacks with a mystical paintbrush— which is her tail.
Okami’s open map system encourages you to revisit places to play side quests— like pulling turnips without being caught, or dig into the earth to uncover hidden gems. There’s so much to discover in the world of Nippon.
Storyline
Set in Nippon, the story begins with a short flashback to the events 100 years ago, of Shiranui, a white wolf and Nagi, a skillful swordsman fought side-by-side against an eight-headed demon, Orochi. Unable to defeat the demon, both Shiranui and Nagi managed to only seal the demon away. In the present time, Susano, a descendent of Nagi does not believe in the legend of Orochi thus breaking the deal and releasing Orochi to the lands. Curses and murk cast over the lands of Nippon. Amaterasu, called upon by a wood sprite, pleads her to purge the curse and bring Nippon back to its former glory. Throughout the game, Amaterasu is accompanied by Issun, a small, insect looking individual known as a Poncle, crosses the lands in search of Celestial Brush Gods to aid her in her quest of saving Nippon.
Art style
The game’s art is heavily influenced by Japanese watercolor and brush strokes. Most characters, although human, have a distinguished look with small thin lines for their eyes and no mouth. The hand-drawn textures are known as the Sumi-e style of Japanese black ink painting. Traditional art style in a modern game is something you’ll appreciate in this time.
Combat system
Aside from the usual hacking and slashing, Okami has a feature to draw preset brushstrokes to make attacks too. Dragging your finger across the screen will draw a line that slashes through enemies or draw a circle with a line protruding from the center outward will cast a bomb.
Amaterasu will come across various weapons forged for her, from glaives to rosaries, Amaterasu equips her weapon on her back. The default weapon seen on Ammy’s promotional materials are her divine reflector. You can have her equip a main and sub weapon— throughout my gameplay, my choice of weapon was the rosary and a reflector which acts as a shield.
Characters
Issun commenting on Sakuya’s luscious body or Ammy scratching the back of her ear with her hind paws— every character is wonderful, whole and different from each other, not one of them seems to be a copy of another. I thoroughly enjoyed Issun and Ammy’s relationship in this game with Ammy being all dog-like, taking naps when a threat is near, or when offered food. There are many humor points, which the character pulls off really well in this game that got me giggling.
Music
Okami’s choice of music is just so soothing and relaxing, tunes of traditional musical instruments— it’s highly inspired by traditional Japanese music. I loved the soundtrack to bits and still listen to them while working. Here’s a playlist of it in Spotify: here.
Ratings: 5/5
If you're itching for a good RPG game while playing on handheld mode, Okami is the one I'd recommend. Dive into Nippon— a world filled with beautifully sketched art, soft traditional music and vicious hack and slash combat. The brush strokes are wonky if you're using the controllers so I would not encourage you to play it docked.
Wishes,
Melody
Anime review: The Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime
Friday, March 12, 2021
Anime review: The Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime
I’ve put off this anime for the longest time despite it’s great reviews and high ratings. It’s just something about slimes that didn’t interest me— a part of me still watches anime if only there is some hot 2D guy where I am attracted to.
So really, there was nothing in The Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime that interests and pulls me towards the anime itself. However, on a boring afternoon I just thought to myself “hey, why not let’s give this anime try. Just for 2 episodes.”
Truthfully, the first episode did nothing to interest me but by the 2nd episode, I was literally glued to my laptop and soon, I noticed myself on the 12th episode.
What I liked about the anime:
The story. It is simply interesting how one single slime can bring together different races to live together in a country of its own. The aspect of creating a country and trading knowledge while caring for its citizens are extremely interesting to watch. Not to mention, I like that this anime is just extremely light-hearted and provides a sense of fun and warmth when I am feeling stressed.
The funny bits are not overdone, providing the right amount of humor when needed. And the world building of this story is different from many other fantasy anime. Giving names to monsters is like literally granting them power to evolve into a stronger species! That’s something new.
What I didn’t like about the anime:
While there are so many things to like about this anime, I find that the main plot of this story is a little lacking. While building a community and country is a fun part of the storyline, it doesn’t serve a real purpose for anyone to watch this anime. In other words, the plot seemed to be bland. Sure there is this big evil guy who has to be defeated and he’s releasing evil into the world through many of his schemes, there doesn’t seem to be a solid part of the plot where things are seriously discussed. So it feels like an anime to just watch while you’re having dinner and it didn’t really matter if you were to skip a few episodes.
Even in combat, the main character is so overpowered that the battle ends in an instant. There is no build up. But eventually it is one of the things I enjoyed because of how funny it is that the main character is just so strong.
The Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime is a light-hearted fantasy anime filled with fun and humor. If you’re looking for shounen anime, this may not be the right choice. There is not much action in like most fantasy animes— goblin slayer, how to pick up girls in the dungeon, rage of bahamut, etc.
However if you’re just looking for a feel good shounen anime, then The Time I Was Reincarnated As A Slime is the perfect fit. Get cozied up in bed with your favorite meal or drink and just binge watch this. You will be feeling better in no time.
Wishes,
Melody
Review + Thoughts: Little Nightmares 2 First Impression
Monday, March 8, 2021
Review + Thoughts: Little Nightmares 2 First Impression
I am so bad with anything that has to do with horror/suspense— haunted houses, horror games, supernatural movies. My belief in supernatural beings is that they are real. This is why I shy away from anything that reminds me of their existence. I don’t do well with horror/gore genres, it could be the monsters or oddly-deformed beings that repulses me.
However, it came as a surprise to me when I found myself very attracted to the game, Little Nightmares. The only time I heard of it was when my younger brother was playing it on PC, to which I avoided entering his room whenever he’s playing.
Little Nightmares 2 perked my interest when I saw a short clip of gameplay. It was a simple night routine before bed where I happened to see the video. Instead of being afraid, the feeling it gave me was, strangely, curiosity and temptation.
I was tempted to get the game and thus, launching me into a spiral of research about the game until I got the demo on the Nintendo E-shop here.
About the game
The story follows Mono, who must work together with Six to survive Pale City and discover its dark secrets. The game is in a 2.5D world where you must explore the world, occasionally encountering puzzles.
Storytelling
Little Nightmares 2 uses character actions to tell the story of the game. Especially in puzzle games, Little Nightmares 2 features puzzles that aren’t extremely complex which allows you to enjoy the story holistically. The story leaves you feeling a little dark due to how attached you’ll get with the character throughout the game.
Characters
In Little Nightmares 2, you’ll reencounter the character from the first game, Six. You play as Mono, a new main character and work together with Six to escape this nightmarish-place. The designs for the characters look very much human but also gruesomely distorted to stimulate a feeling of fear when they approach you.
Music
There is no dialogue in-game but the action, art, and music tells a whole lot of the setting and plot of the game. I love how they induce emotions just by using the silence and background sound. Sometimes you’ll hear faint music playing but it was just enough to fill you in on the ambience. The game does very well with how they play with elements of sound to fill your emotions.
Difficulty
As a suspense, puzzle game, I would have expected more challenges in terms of figuring out puzzles in this game however most information is fairly easy to gather if you look around before advancing with caution. Basically you’ll be hit with a game over if you die from traps, enemies or falling from high places however you restart at the nearest check point.
Thoughts
Although Little Nightmares 2 is a suspense-adventure game, I would like to say it slightly belongs in the horror genre. While there are no supernatural beings/monsters, we can say that the entire game is gloomy and scary during the first play-through. The suspense only builds up on the first time— if you encounter the same puzzle over and over again, the suspense wears out.
Ratings:
4.5/5
Wishes,
Melody
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