|
Okami (PS2)
I was lucky to try out this gem of a game at the Sony Booth at GDC, earlier last month. The developer and publisher of the title is Clover Studio, famous for its Viewtiful Joe series, which instantly tipped me off that it was going to be a quality title. Unfortunately, I only took one quick image of the Okami station after I finished playing (since the trial stage was timed). You're looking at the middle screen, of course.
A little summary of the game for those who are in the dark about it:
This cel-shaded title introduces the player to a once-color filled world where harmony kept life safe and beautiful. Your character, Amaterasu (the Shinto goddess of the sun), has descended to earth as a white wolf to fix the bland, colorless, violence-filled world. Very unique gameplay elements are added as the player finds himself using a Japanese style paint brush to do things ranging from drawing bridges to slicing enemies, etc... This is all done with the analog sticks so it's much easier in practice than as I've recited it.
One of the many gorgeous elements of the game is that, any ground that the main character runs over instantly gains color as a flower rises and blooms. I did not see any slowdown as the ground was slowly terraformed, which is a definite plus. We're seeing the PS2 push its limits with this title, something that many gamers have been pining for for a loooong time now.
Anyways, I got about 5 minutes of gameplay and exploration in before the timer ran out and I had to head over to another booth. What I could tell you from the short time that I had is:
1) The controls are superb. The Dual Shock controller is the perfect match and this was obvious to the guys over at Clover Studio. The default button-mapping is the way that most of us will be playing the game with, no doubt in my mind.
2) Simply gorgeous. Everything is flowing and just so damn good to look at. It's exactly as all the previewers/reviewers had to say about the title: "It's as if you're looking at a painting that's in constant motion".
Did I mention that it's gorgeous? 
3) Sound effects were spectacular. Playing with a surround sound system will make the gaming experience that much better, I'm sure.
4) Gameplay (control of Amaterasu) and camera angles went hand in hand. You have to experience the preciseness of both to appreciate this title even more.
Kinda neat little trivia for you guys and gals (do any girls even come into the gaming forum other than Alisa?)  :
The game title is interesting seeing as how it's a double entendre of sorts. 'Okami' means 'wolf', in Japanese. However, the kanji in the bottom right corner can also stand for 'G-d' and by adding the 'o' before it, you're giving the utmost respect to the entity. So basically the title can also mean 'Superior God'.
The big news?
Famitsu recently reviewed this game and gave it a near perfect score of 39 out of 40 (based on 4 reviewers).
However, that isn't nearly as useful as Yan's SEAL OF APPROVAL, which Okami TOTALLY gets.
Oh and uh... Here's some screenshots for ya:
GameSpot
Look forward to a Q4 stateside release. Europe should be getting it before the end of Q2 in '07.
|
