The Wolf of the Sun
Over the holiday break from work I finished playing Okami and it ruled.
I daresay I enjoyed it more than the more-than-somewhat-similar Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Granted, I didn’t play Twilight Princess as intended, on a Wii. I played the backport to the Gamecube. But even so, given that the PS2 and the Gamecube are roughly analogous consoles, and all other things being equal, the characters, story and interface on Okami are resoundingly fun. There are frustrating points in Okami, yes, but they’re frustrating because the challenges are difficult, not because some aspect of the interface is thwarting me or because I don’t understand what it is I’m supposed to be doing.
This story plays with several of my favorite tropes, includes some sf elements, some time travel and flirts with paradox, involves large doses of allusion to classic myths, and actually had a post-climax denouement which was neither too short nor too sappy. I suspect this will have replay value for me, as well, with such richness of story and many optional side plots.
The gimmick of painting with one’s tail to change the world is thoroughly satisfying and I actually think that when I get my hands on a Wii, I’ll be playing Okami and Twilight Princess all over again on that platform so that I can compare them once more.
I gather that Okami can be somewhat hard to obtain but I assure, it is worth the effort to find. It’s one more reason to eschew a PS3 (especially ones not backwards compatible) in favor of a used PS2. (Along with Psychonauts and the Katamari games.)
Who might like this game
- fans of wolves
- people who are goddesses
- people who dig on Japanese-like myths
