Okami came out for the PS2 a few years ago, just like games such as Ico, although it was brilliant it was not really a commercial success. So now that this game has been Wii-ed up will this change how it is perceived amongst the more casual gamer?
Okami takes us to Nippon and a small village called Kamiki Village. Years ago an evil monster called Orochi struck fear into the residents, for them to live a peaceful life they had to send a yearly sacrifice to him. One year Nagi’s beautiful maiden was summoned to be sacrificed, rather than let her go he to sought battle with the great Orochi, Nagi was nearly defeated, when along came a white wolf, who teamed up with Nagi and defeated Orochi. To show their gratitude the residents of Kamiki Village called the wolf Shiranui and made a statue for him. 100 years later some idiot accidentally reawakens Orochi, causing all hell to break free. Thankfully a wood sprite called Sakuya who protects Kamiki Village reawakens the wolf spirit. This is where you come in, you control Okami Amaterasu, or Ammy for short. Ammy happened to be a god, who died after the great battle with Orochi spread all of their power to 13 lesser gods. Its now up to Ammy and her bug like friend, the wandering artist Issun to save Nippon from complete destruction.
The game is a classically styled action adventure in the same vain as the Zelda series. Due to this the game should do really well as any fan of Zelda will lap this up. Thankfully the controls are just as simple in Okami. Ammy is moved around the screen using the nunchuck, while the C button is used to dig and Z changes the view from close up to distance. The A button on the Wii-mote is used to jump and double jump and to attack you shake the Wii-mote. The main puzzle elements of the game are based around the Spirits of the Brush, there are 13 in total to find, each one has a different property, if you need to build a bridge, hold the B button, the screen will lock and go a sepia tone, you can then draw the missing parts of the bridge, or if you are trying to take down a challenging foe, press B to ready the brush then make a single stroke through the enemy to cut them in half. The wii-mote is perfect to use for this action, and it does not take long to get the hang off. The puzzles start off easy and with the help of Issun (who highlights areas for you to look at) it should not be too hard for newcomers, however the puzzles can get tricky at points and the sensitive nature of the brush means you can sometime miss the obvious.
Battles are based in Battle Areas, when you are approached by an enemy, a battle area will surround you and the enemy will come out and attack. The enemies are very well designed and animated and all have a musical theme, one enemy uses a large guitar to shield themselves and while another attacks with a large drum that can knock you over, however there are many variations of enemy defences and attacks, all of which are unique and very challenging. When you have cleared the screen of enemies you will be awarded cash for speed and also other pickups like health and fruit.
As you defeat more enemies, your Praise will increase, this means that the residents begin to believe in you more, this will add more colour to the surrounding areas and also unlock more previously blocked areas.
As well as the main quest of collecting the 13 techniques there are also plenty of mini quests to keep you interested and this will help increase your overall Praise.
As with the PS2 version, this game looks stunning, the movements of Ammy are smooth and fast, making controlling him a dream, in fact the animation of all of the characters is impressive. This game offers a perfect blend of animation and 3D graphics that I would love to see more of on the Wii as it is very well suited to this look.
In theory this game should sell by the bucketload, its one of the best for the Wii and at least equals the brilliance of Zelda. If you haven’t already you should rush out and buy this game now, you won’t regret it.
