Okami | 20 hours in

Tired though I may be, I will post my impressions of Okami from my Gamespot blog – afterall, it merely takes copying and pasting…

I must say that three things made me dock a point for this game, though it’s quickly redeeming that point. It’s probably sitting at about 9.5 for me so far.

** Minor Spoilers Ahead ** (nothing that will really spoil the experience of the game if you haven’t played it yet though).

Firstly, one or two camera issues, with the cameras during the Spider battle being particularly poor. It was however the first huge boss-battle and was fairly easy, so the camera wasn’t so detrimental to the experience. As for the other camera issues I’ve had, mostly during certain platforming moments, they’re easily overcome by re-positioning the camera manually, something which I’m always in the habit of doing anyway. There were just one or two moments where I though the particular default angle was a bit naff for what I was doing. Not really an issue now. Cameras during combat can start to slide out of control, but it’s never to the point that it dramatically impedes your ability to fight, and again, you can always hold R1 and pivot anyway, releasing without drawing anything.

Secondly, as per the Spider battle, the hook-vine ability seems broken at times. I seem to get the green smoke at both ends, only to have the action dishonoured. This happened in my first attempt at stopping the log flying down the rapids, and though after failing once I then succeeded, it wasn’t without a little frustration. Admittedly this also seems to have improved in the later stages of the game, and I seem to be able to hook onto flowers first time, every time, so I assume that part of the problems I had were my own ability; nevertheless, I’m sure I had performed the action correctly and didn’t have the action honoured properly. If there is one thing that is immediately 100% frustrating in a game, it’s broken mechanics.

Thirdly, the combat takes a long time to heat-up. It’s not until you have at least the first Rosary and the bomb-brush ability that it begins to show its depth. Until then you really can’t do much other than jump, dodge, attack and use the slash-brush, which admittedly is still so cool that it hasn’t worn off yet. There is also the greensprout-brush (if that’s what it’s called – apologies), which can be handy for getting extra hits with those trees, but early in the game you just don’t have enough ink to pull too many moves off. The inclusion of Inkfinity stones is welcome, and used at the right time with the added abilities, combat becomes quite intricate and involving. One thing I did like about the combat is the gradient at which new enemies are introduced, forcing you to think about how you combat them. The fire and ice wheels battle in the Moon Cave was particularly clever. I suppose while I didn’t feel that the game overall was slow in the beginning, I felt that the combat was slow to pick up, and almost (almost) becomes tedious, but thankfully just before it’s too late, new abilities and weapons become available and make battles something to pursue instead of avoid when you can.

Other than these very small issues, it’s been getting better and better. The second huge boss-battle with Crimson Helm was amazing, so too everything leading up to it. This game is just so rich with vibrance and character, and has really been brought to life in such an amazing way. The implementation of the brush abilities in both combat and adventuring is nothing short of genius, one of the best innovations in mechanics ever. The fact that you can use the abilities for destructive purposes in battle, to affect change in the gameworld in order to progress such as using the Wind ability on the scrolls, and most importantly to literally restore life to the land with Bloom, has to be one of the cleverest elements I’ve ever enjoyed just messing around with, and it’s for the most part executed perfectly. I know I’ll play it a second time around, so if I can nail the Hook-vine ability the second time, then the brush mechanics will indeed be perfect – well, so far. I still have three or four abilities to gain yet, but the fact that all of the others work perfectly doesn’t have me worrying much about the remaining ones. Of-course, there are times where late in a game, certain mechanics can go unpolished, but so far it’s all been quality. Here’s hoping that by the end of the game, we see a well-rounded, balanced and totally enjoyable experience.