Review + Thoughts: Okami HD

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