Okami and Okami-den

Okami was an undeniably awesome game released respectively on the PS2 and the Wii. It scored high ratings on both, but given the controls of the game, the Wii system proved much more smooth and comfortable.

You play the role of the revived goddess Amaterasu, a wolf with very special painting abilities. You have to unlock the powers of the paint gods to defeat the horrid demons possessing the land. I know this doesn't sound the best, but believe me when I say this game didn't get a 9.9/10 rating for nothing!

There is a fairly large cast of colorful characters, from the reserved tree spirit Sakura, to the perverted guide Issun, and from the courageous Oki to the ball-less Susano. Like any typical platformer-RPG of it's time, it does contain some fetch quests, though nothing difficult, drawn out, or overly annoying. And there really aren't that many either, plus they're optional most of the time.

It's a very artistic game both with graphics and music. It has the traditional wood-carved look of Japanese art, and music composed of traditional instruments. The story isn't too long, but it's a very fulfilling 30-40 hours. (It can be as long as 80 hours if you insist on completing everything.)



Okami-den is coming out in stores soon for the DS, in which Amaterasu returns in her avatar form to go on yet another adventure, but I don't really know enough about the game to comment on it much. I decided to through it out there anyway just because avid Okami fans or DS fans may want to pick it up. In the videos I saw, it looked very artsy with similar music and character castings. I'll probably buy it if I don't break the bank before then.