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Himuro

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Axis wrote:
I've finished it, and all I can say is wow. Unfortunately, the game seemed a little bit too short.... they should have included amaterasu adventure in the Celestial Plain. Does this leave room for a sequel? Don't really think so...


How is Okami too short? I felt the game was too long and could have easily been trimmed to 15 hours instead of 30 or so.
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Tendou Souji

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 6:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

It's just that... I kinda felt that with a great story like that, and with the sources being japanese mythology, the game could have been extended longer. As long as A Link To The Past was. It's either that the storyline passed by too fast, or I took the quick road without all the side-quests.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Okay. I finally picked up Okami and I've reached where you meet Sakigami. I really don't like how the developers box you in the ring of fire for battles. Especially with a camera that pans so slowly.
Anyways, I love the little Street Fighter parody that occurs when you help Mrs. Orange and then visit her at night. Very cool.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Here's my ringing endorsement for Okami along with my sad little attempt at a review. I finished the game a while ago, and I have to say it was quite an experience.



***



Okami Review
Completion Time: 40 hours
Score: 96/100


In an age of graphical prowess, it's hard to find games that have that substance that draws fans of intriguing storylines and deeper meaning. Even today, almost all gaming discussion is focused on the performance capabilities of the next generation consoles other than the content of its gaming lineup.

But it's quite fitting that a game such as Okami would be released to the public during the chaotic start of the Console Wars: Episode 3. Amidst a populace screaming for the next big thing, Okami stands alone almost like a collectors item sitting peacefully; most people not knowing what is behind the cover.



Story

Long ago, Darkness descended upon the world in the form of Orochi, the 8 headed demon dragon. This tyrannical beast ravaged through the land with no remorse. No one questioned this being's rule; those who opposed it met a deadly fate.

Every 100 years, Orochi demanded a maiden sacrifice in order to appease his hunger and devilish intentions. The ancients met these demands in fear of reprisal by the demon. This continued for centuries.

One day, in a village called Kamiki, a white wolf appeared at the village gate. Fearing that the wolf was an avatar of Orochi, the villagers instinctively bore hatred towards the beast. Despite all this, the wolf, which the villagers dubbed "Shiranui", continued to wander aimlessly around the village almost looking for something.

The village's best warrior, Nagi, gathered up the courage to challenge the beast in a duel. Thinking that the beast arrived to choose the next sacrifice, Nagi tried to defeat Shiranui to hopefully end the centennial ritual. But try as he might, Nagi could not even lay a scratch on Shiranui. After the battle, the wolf left Nagi unconscious following the battle.

Shortly after the fight, a cursed arrow from the heavens appeared in the dark sky. The dreaded arrow of legend's role was to choose the house of the next sacrifice. The evil artifact plunged into the roof of the village's most popular resident, Nami. Nami was also Nagi's beloved.

Seeking to end the ritual once and for all, Nagi headed to the Moon Cave, the home of Orochi. There, he challenged the demon god to battle. Nagi fought valiantly however he was eventually bested by Orochi. Nearing the edge of his life, Nagi awaited the final blow.

All of a sudden, Shiranui stepped in front of the critical strike directed at Nagi. Shiranui then proceeded to battle Orochi in Nagi's place. The white wolf used an assortment of unusual techniques to render Orochi's attacks useless. However, Shiranui was also spent from the battle.

It was around this time that Nagi and Shiranui teamed up against the dreaded beast with the remainder of their strength. After hours of battling, they finally succeeded. However, the cost was enormous. Nagi could barely move and Shiranui was critically injured. Nagi carried Shiranui back to Kamiki Village and explained the situation to the locals. Immediately all hate and suspicion toward Shiranui evaporated as the villagers tried to tend to its wounds. But it was no use, Shiranui passed away later that night, dying as a hero.

Since then, a Shrine was built for Nagi and Shiranui acting as guardians of Kamiki Village. But the darkness seeks to return once again; much of the land has already been enslaved by the returning evil.

Sakuya, the spirit of the Elder tree senses the evil and decides to take action. Praying to the statue of Shiranui, she resurrects the spirit of the wolf once again. This is where your journey begins.

The game stars Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess of the Shinto religion. As guardian of the land, she is responsible for the safety of the human race and well being of nature. In this version of the mythology, Amaterasu takes the form of a majestic wolf. It's her duty to stop the darkness plaguing the land.



***


This may sound like a typical storyline, but I was very surprised to learn that this game has twists and turns aplenty. If you know the Shinto religion by heart, then maybe you won't be too surprised. But as a player without any knowledge of oriental mythology at all, I was amazed by the uniqueness of the story. It doesn't feel like a Westernized story at all.



Visuals

The cell shaded look to this game enhances the tone of the story. The story is set in a magical world of Nippon, and the background really does give you a celestial-like perspective of the story. In certain villages, Sakura (Cherry Blossom) petals blow in the wind reminding the players that these villages are located in the mountainous regions where wind is ever-present.


A cursed land; perhaps you can do something about it

Perhaps the most stunning use of visuals takes place in areas which Amaterasu "purifies". As Goddess of the Sun, she is responsible for destroying the curse inflicted upon the land. Some areas in the game have been taken over by gloomy, dark clouds along with the original color of the land seeped away. When Amaterasu clears the curse, the land flourishes with flowers and animals. This is my favorite visual of the game. Not only do you feel good about restoring the land, it looks nice while it happens.



Battle System

Many reviewers are hailing Okami as the "Zelda of the PS2". I was easily able to see a lot of similarities between the two titles. But when it comes to battles, I have to say that Okami is much better than any Zelda inception in terms of battle system.

There are no random battles; enemies are easily seen roaming around the land. If you want to fight them, all you have to do is approach them and they will come after you as well. There is an accessory in the game that stops monsters from chasing you, but because of the slight importance of Yen (money) in this game, you won't find yourself using it very much.

The only miscue I found in the battles is that you're constricted to a certain amount of space for regular encounters. The boss battles give you substantial room to roam, but I felt that the regular encounters could have used some more room to breathe. Still, it was big enough to avoid most enemy attacks; provided that the unusual, fixed battle camera didn't mess you up.

Most action adventure games can be easily passed through hack and slash methods. Okami is vastly different. They combine a great job of using Zelda like mechanics to defeat enemies in different ways and Brave Fencer Musashi-like enemies that have to be beaten in different ways. Most regular enemies in Okami cannot be beaten by hack and slash alone. Even some of the earlier enemies will block the hack and slash enthusiasts. You need to combine Hack and slash with the brush techniques to beat all kinds of opponents. It makes no difference if they are lackey or bosses.


I wouldn't advise hacking through this guy. Blow out the flames first

Brush techniques are special attacks Amaterasu uses to help her in the quest. Because she is a Goddess, she has access to powers normal beings cannot fathom. In this game, she breaks the fourth wall using a "celestial brush". When the R1 button is held, the scene shifts to the "3rd Dimension" where someone (you) is able to control a brush to aid Amaterasu. These techniques range in versatility:

You can make a straight line which cuts trees, rocks, and other objects.

You can make a swirl to create a gust of wind that blows out fires.

You can make a circle with a slash through it to make a bomb that opens up cracked walls.

And many more.


You can use the brush as a weapon, or in this case, make trees bloom


You need these brush techniques to break through a lot of monster defenses so you can beat enemies with ease. It is possible to hack and slash through a lot of the monsters in this game, but you will notice that you will be dealing abysmal damage. The best was is to exploit their weaknesses.

There is also a reward system in this game after battles. You gain money from battles but if you do so quickly and without taking much damage, you gain bonus cash. The best case scenario is double the normal amount you would have received. If you get hurt in battle or take a while to do it, then the amount won will lessen for sure.

To add to the variety of battles, Amaterasu is able to use different weapons. She can use a reflector (mirror) that acts like a short distance Frisbee. Another weapon are the beads (rosaries) which act like contractible whips. Finally, the last weapon is the sword (Glaive) which is the strongest weapon out of the three types, but it takes a while to wield it. However, it can be charged turning it into a VERY strong short range weapon.

Enemy AI is very good in this game. They will provide challenges and this doesn't only refer to bosses. Of course, this will depend on whether or not you have advanced information from a guide on how to beat some of your adversaries. In that case, the difficulty level of the enemies will be "extremely easy" all the way to "challenging".

Bosses are amazing. Not only are they aesthetic in their design, methods of beating them are very intricate. Usually you will find a clue how to beat them in dungeons, especially if you got a new brush technique shortly before battling them. But other times, you have to use the surrounding environment of the boss to look for something out of place that could be a weak point. Sometimes, things glow which beg you to attack that weak point. However, regardless of all this, you will find that the bosses will give you a fun experience to battle.

The system sounds complicated but somehow, Okami is able to blend all these concepts into one cohesive scheme. The game also doesn't force the player into the battle system at once. As techniques are learned, the tutorial tells you how to use the respective weapon or brush technique. Established adventure players and newer gamers will find the battle experience fulfilling.



Music

I have a very crappy TV and It was really hard to hear the sound from the unusual static coming out of the speaker box. I really need to get a stereo system over here, so I don't have this problem.

So I was able to get a copy of the Soundtrack online; the OST is currently unlicensed, so that's why it's available for download. If it does become a problem, I'll gladly remove the links. But there is no other way to know for sure if I'm blowing steam.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/y2m8gu
http://www.sendspace.com/file/v3py1r
http://www.sendspace.com/file/9clf6o
http://rapidshare.de/files/33771174/disc4.rar.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/33767728/disc5.rar.html

If I had to describe the music in this game, I would have to say it's "Breath-taking". As I heard some of these tracks for the first time, I started getting chills.

Okami's soundtrack is one of the biggest in the soundtrack history. It's 5 disks (the links above are missing a few tracks) and I also believe it has at least 5 different composers. But the central theme is all the same. Okami uses dramatic, slightly head-bouncing tracks to aid the game's numerous settings. We have seen the use of dramatic music in games like Skies of Arcadia, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Legend of Zelda: Anything. If you are a fan of those games' soundtrack, then you will enjoy this game's music all the same.

The difference from those games are the obvious Japanese influences of the tracks. I can hear recorders, Japanese guitars, and similar instruments playing in the background. For example, many of the over world themes start off with the traditional upbeat tracks. It's nice to see Amaterasu running across the mountainous plain while the music plays. But when the music loops around to repeat the track, the Japanese instruments accompany the traditional track. This adds another feeling of exhilaration upon hearing the track in a different tune.

Many characters important to the plot also have their own theme song. Every single one of them portrays their characters well: clumsy theme songs for merchants, a slow sweet song for innocent Kaguya, Gruffly tracks for Susano, and even a bone-chilling theme for Orochi.

The best news about the music is that they all fit where the game places them. Regardless of the upbeat nature of many of the tracks, they can easily be used to paint a picture of a calm village along with the numerous battles. This is easily my favorite soundtrack out of all the OSTs I have.



Small Stuff

The game isn't perfect of course.

For one, people are not too fond of the voice acting being replaced by "gibberish". They feel that the game would have sounded a lot better with voice actors.

The dungeons are also slightly disappointing. Zelda's dungeons are what many, including myself, consider as the epitome of dungeons. (Water Temple, you are awesome) Certain areas are not available because they are usually locked from the player. Only when the player reaches a deep area with a key, can he or she go back through that locked area and explore the dungeon even further.

Unfortunately, Okami's dungeons are rather linear. Most of the time, the path is one way and it is set. And even at dungeons where the path wasn't so straightforward, I think the dungeons were too small to be considered dungeons. They were around 10 minutes too short to deserve being labeled as a dungeon. And one of the smaller gripes regarding dungeons is that at three or four instances, the next step is not very obvious. I had to look at guides for some places. However, since this game has been released for some time, there is undoubtedly FAQ's written for this game. Help will not be hard to find for newer players.


***


I can only say what I think about the game. And to be honest, this topped Dragon Quest 8 as my favorite PS2 game of all time. As for my list of best games ever, it is in the top 10 for sure. If you're an action adventure fan, then you should definitely get this game. And if you are a fan of gaming at all, this experience is something that you just can't miss. There's a reason why this game has not received one sub-par review. It's the real deal. If only all games were as good as this.
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kuwaizair

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I have been playing for a few days now. I got my copy off of Amazon because I hord gift certificates (I also got a snuggly plushie wolf also. haha my packages came together)

I'm kind of enjoying this. I have some problems with brush strokes, because strait lines and circules elude me. Iussen yelled at me alot when trying to draw the sun. I'm at the part when I learn the vine technique, this is giving me problems.

It took me a long time to fish and fix the water wheel (oops forgot what to do) But some other things , when given hints make me thing "fehh making it to easy for me are you?".
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Archy

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I have this game, but I can't play it at the moment, due to roof leaks and occassional sports games on the side. :P

Early part, I have a question:

WHAT'S WITH THE WEIRD SOUNDS??

What's all that mumbling while text is displayed on the screen? I'm getting annoyed with it, is there any way to turn it off??
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kuwaizair

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Archy wrote:


What's all that mumbling while text is displayed on the screen? I'm getting annoyed with it, is there any way to turn it off??


another user said what that is. They killed the voice acting and replaced it with mumbling. I think they like it because it ads more "of a fantasy" feel"

anway it seems off topic, but I wonder if anyone is going to be offended by the plot and nature of the game. no body here I take.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Okay. I'll bite. Why would anyone be offended by the plot and nature of the game?
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 2:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
Okay. I'll bite. Why would anyone be offended by the plot and nature of the game?


Probably kuwazair was referring to some of the parts which were of Shintoic nature, and the fact that you play as Amaterasu herself, which if I'm not mistaken, is a Goddess. Meanwhile, Susanoo himself is also a God.
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kuwaizair

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Axis wrote:
Quote:
Okay. I'll bite. Why would anyone be offended by the plot and nature of the game?


Probably kuwazair was referring to some of the parts which were of Shintoic nature, and the fact that you play as Amaterasu herself, which if I'm not mistaken, is a Goddess. Meanwhile, Susanoo himself is also a God.

right on the nose!

I somtimes read reviews written by easily offended god fearing people, a game like this would get a 4 out of 5 posslby in 'offensiveness', one being Issun is a little pevert and the main one is, well because of the Shito being in the game, some people rather have all vidio games be "adventures in Jesus land" where you beat demons with bibles and convert people.

Okami adds a doubble whammy, first you play as another god, second said god is in the forum of a wolf, thrid, the praise you get, even for helping trees. All of those aspects fall into a shadowy Occult.

Shame really. I get a little giggly kick out of it. (offtpoic but I accidently named one of my characters Inar, witout knowing who 'the real one is'i so I guess you can see why the Shinto Mythisysm is a nice break from everything else)

I mean people are mad at final fantasy 10 and tactics and Okage! But this is a harmless game "with a wolf who sumie-e's stuff with the tail"

I wonder if the'd be afraid kids will try to do things after playing this game...like convert, or worse, make art! (I'm tempted to draw circules on trees to make them get into bloom again...well its fall so its natural)

I mean, come on, you fight demons, sorry if this is offtopic or rambling, but trust me, people do complain about such things.

Im kinda good at this game, but then it takes me a while to figure out stuff. like, getting to meet the princess. doh! anway. a question. What is up with that Waka guy? why is he using French words?
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
What is up with that Waka guy? why is he using French words?


Even the fact if he is a guy or a gal is still unbeknownst to me. :|

The french words are bothering me.
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kuwaizair

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

well, I'm guessing the one way for a sequal for this game would be possible by taking other mythology and legends from other places and having to save them. with or without having wolf amatratsu being the player.

Because the game seems like a "Japanese faeiry tail", just think what could happen if you cross paths? play in a land rich in Nortic or Celtic mythology? who knows.

anway anyone else peeved the sickle weasle is named "poltergeist"? shouldn't it be somthing else?

and if noone here is reserching yet, do so. lots of things could be explaned. Like how niffty it is you save at Mirrors.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Okami is coming to the Wii! I'm so excited! I haven't gotten a chance to play this yet and I think playing it on the Wii will be amazing. I found it in the new NP magazine, so yeah it's really coming to the Wii. :P They had a big ol' article about it and everything. ^_^
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PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2008 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I got okami in december, it's a very fun game but sometimes trying to draw something can be frustrating when it doesn't work, sometimes i have trouble with the trees for some reason.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I wanted to mention this if no one's heard...but they messed up the printing of the Wii version's box art so Capcom has/(had?) some offer on their website that let's you choose a new box art to replace it with.
(I'm a little jealous I have to admit....kinda makes me want to get the Wii version of Okami just so I can pick a different spiffy box art)

As for what the mess up was.......well....it's a "mysterious" watermark on the front cover. (LOL) I find it kind of amusing...:*laugh*:

Even if you don't have the game go to gamestop or something and take a CAREFUL look at the front cover.
You can find the blunder on em.... 8-)
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