The Video Game Revue

Okami - First Impression

So I've played a couple of hours of Okami and just gotten to the point in the game where it starts to get good. I definitely haven't seen enough of the game to pass final judgement on it, but so far I've gotta say that it's much more of a mixed bag than I expected. I was hoping for another Shadow of the Colossus, and I ended up with something more like Zelda: Wind Waker meets Viewtiful Joe. Okami does deliver a lot of what it promises, but it doesn't live up to the impressive Metacritic score of 93 that it currently enjoys. Let's quickly cover some of the pros and cons.

One thing I definitely didn't like is that Okami is slow to wind up. It is fairly nifty right from moment one, which makes the slog through the slow first portion of the game fairly easy to sit through, but the game just isn't all that exciting for the first hour or so. I can see how the slow pace of the game might have been intended to help less "hardcore" gamers than myself ease into the game, but I didn't find the opening bits of the game to be particularly enlightening; it just felt limiting, slow paced, and confusing. A gaming noob could easily get completely stuck near the very beginning of the game in spite of its attempt at a gentle introduction, and experienced gamers are likely to be frustrated by the lack of action.

Mind you, the graphics and artwork for Okami are spectacular. During the early portion of the game, this aspect of the game actually had me worried that game critics had showered Okami with praise primarily because of the amazing visuals. The flip side to this part of the game is that I was left feeling that I'd seen it all before, which isn't surprising considering that Okami is a mere PS2 game. Still, if you're buying this game mainly for the eye candy, you'd be an idiot to be let down by it.

On top of that, of course, there are some really nifty gameplay mechanics--primarily the "brush stroke" thing which is the front-and-center gimmick that makes the game so attention worthy. When I call that a gimmick, I don't mean to make light of it, because it is a very fun thing to play around with. I would, however, stop short of calling it an advance in video game technology, since it isn't so nearly innovative as to change the genre or anything. The overall effect of it is like playing a Zelda game where instead of playing an ocarina or using a conductor's baton to invoke magic, you draw shapes with a Japanese calligraphy brush. It's a neat technological stunt, but that's about the depth of it. Where the rest of the game is concerned, the gameplay is solid, but not particularly new or original.

At this early stage of the game, Okami seems like a solid sort of quest game with some great visuals. It has good exploration elements, fun combat mechanics, and a few gameplay twists that are impressive. However, in order for me to really be blown away by it, it'll have to pick up significantly from this point onward. It's still possible that I'll come to see in Okami what all of the critics are raving about, but right now I strongly feel that Shadow of the Colossus is a far greater gaming experience.

posted by Parappa @ 9:16 PM