![]() Set in folkloric Nippon (Japan), the game opens with the narration of a 100 year-old myth. While not a screenshot from Okami, the game immortalizes iconic images like this in its visuals.Īmaterasu, the Japanese female solar deity, in the form of a white wolf is the lead character referenced by the title. This visual approach drawing from art history has bled into Okami’s gameplay and the use of the Celestial Brush which allows the player to draw lines and shapes on the tv screen in order to trigger certain abilities. Taking cel-shaded graphics to the next level, Okami is a living, animated ukiyo-e woodblock print in the style of the Japanese Edo period (1600AD-1860AD) with its hard black-stroke outlines and vivid watercolors. This is largely because of Okami’s distinctive presentation. Some of its fairy tale moments might fly right over the heads of many North American gamers, to say the least, but the heart and themes of the game remain true and archetypal without coming off as trite or dispensable. Expect several trips to Wikipedia while playing Okami. Okami draws heavily from Japanese mythical history and folklore to craft its story and settings. It’s a Japanese word which means “great spirit” or “wolf”, so its a kind of wordplay. Okami translates roughly into something in English, I’m sure. Still, I would recommend getting a hold of either motion controller to get the full immersion into this watercolor world and its unconventional gameplay. It’s not much of a loss to forgo the motion controls. I had the pleasure of playing through Okami with the use of the Wii’s motion controls the first time and though I didn’t have the PlayStation Move motion controller (because I’m not a nerd) when I played the Okami HD edition, I still found it an enjoyable game nonetheless. Critical praise despite poor sales eventually resulted in Okami returning to the PlayStation, to the PS3 specifically, for an updated high-definition remaster in 2012. Originally developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom, Okami was first released on the PS2 in 2006 and then to a more widespread reception on the Nintendo Wii in 2008.
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