Ōkami has had one of the most fascinating journeys in gaming history. Originally released on the PlayStation Two during its dying days in 2006; winning IGN’s Game of the Year award in the same year, despite its low sales. Sadly its developer, Clover Studios, closed just months after this initial release, but thanks to a joint venture between Ready at Dawn, Tose and Capcom, a version was developed for the Nintendo Wii. In 2010 (Japan) and 2011 (North America and Europe) a sequel, Ōkamiden, was released for the Nintendo 3DS, but that’s a longer article for another time. Since 2012, a HD remake has gradually been released over a range of different consoles and platforms, finally being released on the Nintendo Switch this year.
Ōkami’s second major feature is its main game mechanic – the Celestial Brush. You collect a variety of brush techniques as you travel through Nippon, which allow you to manipulate the game world both in and out of combat. These techniques include an upgraded wall jump to creating lily pads, which allow you to travel across large bodies of water. Here the Switch’s handheld mode again improves Ōkami, cause you can use its touchpad to use the Celestial Brush. This not only increase you’re accuracy with certain techniques, especially when it comes to drawing circles, and makes you feel like you are an actual artist impacting the game world.
Gameplay wise Ōkami is a mixture of combat and puzzle solving, much like the Legend of Zelda series. There are three different weapons, each offering a slightly different mode of combat, allowing you to tailor your experience. You can also unlock new skills at the dojo, including one that allows Amaterasu to urinate on enemies. There are also a number of dungeons, but, while these are aesthetically pleasing, you’ll never find yourself truly challenged or lost, since the solutions are clearly signposted. The challenge is, instead, finding all the collectables hidden inside the dungeons, because some become inaccessible once they are completed.
Ōkami was inspired by Japanese mythology and folklore, reworking the classic tales to tell a fascinating tale with a series of strong side stories and a raunchy sense of humour. You play as Ōkami Amaterasu, the sun goddess of the Shinto religion, inhabiting the form of a white wolf and are assisted by Issun, the bug sized artist. At first you are trying to save Kamiki Village from the eight hundred demon Orochi, but, in the background, there are hint of a darker plot at play. Slowly this plot unfolds, revealing the grand scope of Ōkami’s plot in a very natural manner.
If you haven’t played this classic game and own a Switch, then I highly recommend downloading it. The game is only £15 on the Nintendo E-Shop and the hours of fun waiting for you is definitely worth the price.
Snippets Of Tales 