Okami

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It has been 100 years since diabolical eight-headed demon Orochi cast the world into ruin with a curse of enveloping darkness, laying waste to all forms of nature, and depriving the land of life and colour. In the face of evil, Nagi, a single brave warrior from the tiny village of Kamiki, and a mighty sun god in wolf form named Amaterasu, fought and defeated Orochi in a monumental battle that saw the curse of the terrifying eight-headed beast cast out from the land, returning a blessed time of peace and prosperity to the oppressed people.

However, as Clover Studio's Okami opens, a mysteriously shadowed and power-hungry figure foolishly removes the legendary sword of Nagi from the shrine that protects the humble village of Kamiki - and the world surrounding it - unwittingly freeing Orochi from its bonds and unleashing the curse of darkness throughout the land once more. Sakuya, an ailing wood nymph charged with protecting Kamiki village, musters her last remaining strength to call upon the village's statue of the powerful white wolf so that the sun god might once more descend and face the onslaught of Orochi's reborn curse. Okami Amaterasu, the new embodiment of the legendary sun god, subsequently materialises and - at the close of a solid fifteen minutes of beautifully delivered story explanation - the player finally gets to slip beneath the fur of a wolf and delve into the truly breathtaking world of Okami.

For the sake of mounting an - albeit token - attempt at counterbalancing the simian-like drooling that's about to ensue, let's first shed some light on Okami's virtually non-existent deficiencies. The game's narrative structure, character performances, and content delivery are all extremely similar to that of Nintendo's iconic The Legend of Zelda series (which certainly isn't a bad thing), yet anyone's who has recently played Twilight Princess may perhaps poke accusatory fingers towards Okami as it's essentially 'all wolf and no Link' in terms of its central protagonist. And, from a difficulty point of view, hardened gamers probably won't find Okami to be an especially tough proposition (for the most part), and while it doesn't quite lead by the hand, the majority of the game's environmental puzzles and evil creature opponents don't require significant overtaxing of the grey cells where player progression is concerned.

While some may claim the above criticisms to be sizeable, the simple fact of the matter is that Okami is such an absolute joy to play that its distinctly Zelda-esque storyline and relatively straightforward challenge quotient never come close to overshadowing what is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful and pleasurable games you're ever likely to experience. Truly, words like "beautiful" and "joy" and "pleasurable" are not readily associated with most of today's videogames, and Okami has all three attributes dripping liberally from every 'paw'.

Okami's beauty shines memorably through stylish visuals that compliment the game's appealing storybook narrative with thickly inked and stylised Japanese brushstroke representations of everything from central and peripheral characters, to mountains and trees, plants, rivers, houses, rocks, and bridges...everything. And it's all absolutely gorgeous, there's no other word that does justice to the game's visual power. Whether it be the actual watercolour paper texture that sits permanently on the screen while the visuals exist upon it, the constant life and fluctuation of character outlines, or the soft focus and pale colouring of every environment, surface, and detail, it's unlikely you'll have ever played a game prettier than Okami. You will have played better looking games from a technical standpoint, but none this effortlessly attractive and uniquely styled.

The joy of Okami arises again and again in successfully ridding areas of Orochi's spreading darkness and watching wide-eyed as blooming flora surges thrillingly across the land and life springs up in its wake - imagine a Hayao Miyazaki version of the "Genesis Effect" from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and you're well on the way to understanding the flair and appeal of becoming a quadruped eco-warrior that leaves rocketing flowers and plants behind its galloping heels. Indeed, solving a dungeon, beating a gigantic boss, defeating a base gathering of varied enemies, all result in a glorious flurry of vibrant colour and a newly defined (sometimes newly accessible) area that was once a haven of Orochi's nefarious evil.

And the sheer pleasure of Okami's gameplay arrives in a brilliantly implemented control facet that sees players utilising mystical constellation powers progressively bestowed throughout the story. Moreover, these Celestial Brush techniques, handed down to Okami ("mother to us all") by other encountered animal gods, are not applied with a mere press of a button, but rather with interactive swishes, slashes, and swipes of the Dual Shock's right analogue stick. Players can pause the action at any point by holding the 'R1' shoulder button, which sends the screen into a frozen representative sepia tone still frame. At this point, a large brush tip appears and the screen itself becomes a mystical canvas where Celestial techniques can be executed. For example, a horizontal ink slash across paused enemies becomes a hugely powerful attack when the 'R1' button is released, whereas an inked circle with a dragged fuse line through one side will cause a powerful bomb to appear on screen upon releasing 'R1'. From a puzzle and environmental perspective, players can also use Celestial Brush techniques to rejuvenate dead trees and areas of cursed land by circling them with a flowing ink stroke; or they can draw a circle or a crescent in the sky to change the game from day to night and vice versa. Other techniques include painting-in missing on-screen areas to fix broken bridges, or slashing through boulders, dragging water to douse fires, whipping up wind to influence platforms or down flying enemies, and many, many others. And, what's more, they're always easy to execute, always useful, and always thoroughly rewarding. Gameplay pleasure, pure and simple.

Beneath the staggering visuals, the ably performed oriental soundtrack, the intelligent atmospherics, and the innovative control features, Okami is also a huge godly epic, where the attainment of 'praise' is of paramount importance to evolve and extend Okami Amaterasu's ink pots, life gauge, and the 'belief' that has so waned in the 100 years since Orochi's defeat. Praise is, naturally, gathered by performing character assigned side quests, restoring cursed areas, completing eco-tasks, and even feeding animals with the correct food. And that progressive evolution also overlaps into the digging up of chests, hidden treasure, and praise clovers, and also the attainment of in-game and after-battle Yen in order to secure key items from the game's various traders.

All in all, Okami is packed to the rafters in every department, and while it promises some 50-60 hours of action RPG gameplay, those of you presently contemplating an investment should rest assured at this juncture that things never get tired or dull. Okami's tiered strengths are so monumental that boredom or repetition is banished with every fulfilling stroke of the Celestial Brush, every attainment of a main or secondary weapon, every new learned battle move at the Dojo, every teasing story prophecy, every boss battle, every handy journal entry, and every surprising gameplay discovery - of which there are many.

While the original Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube are quickly fading in terms of significance, the dust addled PlayStation 2 is currently enjoying somewhat of a second wind as a software crescendo of undeniably stunning releases continue to pave the road of expectation toward the European unveiling of the highly anticipated (if bad-PR plagued) PlayStation 3. One need only gaze upon the likes of Final Fantasy XII, God of War II, and Rogue Galaxy to see that the PS2 is far from accepting its (undeserved?) moniker as an aged and defunct machine set to mercifully shuffle from hardware's mortal coil. And, more pointedly where this particular review is concerned, Okami emerges as the crowning glory of the PS2's past twelve months, not to mention that it's also one of the finest and most pleasurable videogames ever created.

However, on a more sour note, the sad truth of Okami is this: developer Clover Studio, which also brought the world the superbly quirky Viewtiful Joe, has been closed down by publisher Capcom (though some of its core team have since formed the new 'Seeds' studio). And in a tragic indictment of the videogame industry, Okami has only been available in Europe since the close of February and it's already gone from the UK software chart after appearing - for one week - at No.12, while the likes of WWE Smackdown vs.Raw, FIFA 07, and Need for Speed: Carbon have remained entrenched at the top of the chart for months. It's a disgrace.

If the PlayStation 2 is supposed to be washed up in the face of the onrushing next-gen tsunami, then someone clearly forgot to tell Sony and Clover Studio. To be blessedly succinct on the matter, and bypass any urge to employ the usual tautological verbiage regarding overindulged glorification (look, irony), Okami is nothing short of an artistically inspired gaming masterpiece. It deserves your time, and it certainly deserves your money. Buy two copies.

96%

96%

By Stevie Smith