Capcom hit gold with Okami the day it came out. This was something new and grabbed thousands of gamers worldwide. The gorgeous art, the thrilling story and the gameplay similar to that of ‘The Legend of Zelda’ created a game worth remembering. Capcom wants you to play it and brings another HD remake to the market. This isn’t the same one that released on PlayStation 3 back in the days, this HD version even supports 4K quality. Is it still worth it after all those years?
Okami?
If you haven’t played Okami before it’s good to know a bit of its story. You follow Amaterasu (Ammy for friends) on her quest to recover the thirteen Powers of the Celestial Brush. The reason why you need to find these ancient powers is the revival of Orochi an evil monster that returned to the world after being sealed away for years. With the return of Orochi came a dark curse, holding the land in its dark grip. You, the goddess of the sun needs to stop this evil from spreading, you take the shape of a gorgeous white wolf to do so. This marks the start of your adventure filled with interesting characters and amazing environments.
A timeless work of art
It’s not the first time we’ve seen a remake of Okami but this version is by far the best one out there. It’s amazing to see how the graphics still hold up, eleven years after the original release. The style of the game truly is timeless and reminded me of ‘The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker’ a couple of times. It’s one of those games that will stay pretty no matter how many years will pass. The watercolor design combined with the canvassed backgrounds are simply amazing, especially when you see it in 4K glory. It performs without flaws and has extremely smooth environmental transitions. The game looks its best when you manage to set a certain area back to its original state, releasing it from its curse.
As said before, this is the story of the game, you need to defeat the evil monster by setting villages free from its curse. During this curse everything is black and monsters are behind every corner. Once set free, the world will get its amazing watercolor and blossoms back, showing off the impressive Japanese culture. Okami always was and always will be a true work of art.
Impressive gameplay
As we all know, looking good isn’t the only thing that’s important. Lucky for us, Okami is also a great game to play. At its base, it’s an action adventure game just like The Legend of Zelda. Meaning you’ll travel from location to location, defeat small enemies and eventually defeat the boss of the area, unlocking new powers and more environments. The combat and exploration are rather straightforward and some might even say it misses some depth, I disagree.
By adding the Celestial Brush, the team added the needed innovation to keep it interesting. This Brush allows you to interact with your environment in great ways. If you use it, you ‘freeze’ the game and are able to draw certain things, depending on what you unlocked. For example, want to turn night into day? Draw a circle in the sky and you create the sun! It’s a fun mechanic to mess around with and even after all these years, it’s an innovation we don’t see that often in games like this.
Okami isn’t a short game so be ready to invest a lot of time in it. Most of the times, you’ll enjoy playing it but there are moments where you’ll really need to push forward and never give up. At some points, the game isn’t really clear about its objective, making it hard for the player to figure out where they need to go. It’s a game from a different era, an era where gamers still had to figure out most things for themselves. If you’re used to modern games, this one might prove to be a challenge. Also, be prepared to read a lot. No voice actors here, a lot of text and a lot of cutscenes.
Conclusion:
Okami is a true work of art and is amazing even after all those years. If you haven’t played it before, it should be on your list without a doubt. This is one of those games you simply need to play in order to understand the games that came after it better. Played it before? Thanks to the amazing 4K graphics, it’s definitely worth getting back to! Forgot all those amazing other games for a moment and give this one a shot, you won’t regret it!
