Releasing for the PlayStation 2 on April 20th, 2006, Okami is an action-adventure game developed by Capcom with heavy influences from The Legend of Zelda series and Japanese folklore and ink wash painting style. Players take control of Okami Amaterasu, the sun goddess who takes the form of a white wolf, and is tasked to free the lands of Orochi's curse, an ancient and evil eight-headed demon. Joined by a tiny, bug-like artist named Issun, the two journey on an adventure whose scope and grandeur are far greater than you'd likely ever anticipate. As is expected from a game that takes inspiration from the Zelda series, Okami delivers a great blend of satisfying exploration, puzzle solving, and general combat. What's more impressive however is that it does so in a style that feels so fresh and distinctly its own. At any point during the game, players can freeze the world to draw brush strokes onto the screen and activate Celestial powers, like calling for the sun, bombs, or gusts of wind. These powers are used for a variety of of puzzles and combat situations, and every time you freeze the screen, it really highlights just how beautiful this game is that any moment can look like a beautiful tapestry.
Speaking of the game's beautiful aesthetic, a core objective in the game is for players to restore beauty and life across the cursed lands. Seeing the transformation of these lands into bright and colorful, cherry blossom-filled vistas, it creates such vivid moments of awe and delight to behold. Restoring the lands to their former glory and aiding those in need earns Amaterasu praise, which players can then use to level-up various mechanics such as health or increased ink for their Celestial powers. All in all, it creates a satisfying gameplay loop that encourages adventuring and ensuring no corner of this world is left unaided.
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| Art of Okami, Issun, and the various 12 Celestial Brush Gods to be unlocked during the adventure. |
While the game suffered from poor sales upon its launch, it has since garnered critical reception being heralded as a work of art. The game was later released for the Nintendo Wii in 2008, making use of the unique motion controls for the Celestial brush powers. A surprisingly decent sequel by the name of Okamiden was also released for the Nintendo DS, offering a new story with the same satisfying gameplay, this time making use of the touch screen for Celestial powers. Then in 2012, the beautiful art of this game was able to really shine forth with the release of Okami HD, a high-definition port of the original. For those who have still yet to experience this masterpiece (or want the excuse to jump back in), I recommend keeping your eyes peeled to the upcoming release of Okami HD for the Nintendo Switch, to release in August, 2018, which should make use of both the touch screen or motion controls depending on your preferred style of play. If you need any further convincing, IGN named this their game of year when it released, beating out The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess also released that year, the very series in which this game draws its influences from. High praise to a well deserving work of art.
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Fun Fact: During initial development of Okami, the game was planned to be rendered in a more realistic 3D style. However, due to hardware limitations, the developers switched to the cel-shaded style for reduced processing. This style shift was well received and further led to the idea for the Celestial brush powers. What happy circumstances that these limitations should inspire some of the most beautiful aesthetics and unique mechanics to be found in the gaming medium today!
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