Ron Reviews Okami (Spoiler Free Despite it's Age)

   Allow me to preface this post with a brief apology;  The blog has been rather stagnate as of late and for that I offer my sincere condolences.  I’m sure you’re all well aware of the fact that pursuing a higher education requires one to pursue fiscal resources as well which, unfortunately, cuts into my free time.  In addition to apologizing I would also like to thank those of you who still follow this page. Now to the review.

   I’ve wanted to post a review for some time now but due to my aforementioned monetary restrictions I wasn’t sure how to progress.  I could talk about almost any game and post my review but for anyone to read it the timing of a review is just as important as the subject matter.  Ideally I would like to review the newest games or shiniest toys but I lack the disposable income to do so.  The other option would be to review older games, but that raises the problem of retaining ( or rather gaining) your interest. Thus was the source of my dilemma.  So how does one overcome this obstacle?  Simply pick a game that is timeless. All I needed was a game that -despite it’s age- resonates with players, so I turned to Brice ( the blog’s better author) and asked what his favorite game was.  Which brings me to Okami.

  Okami is one of those games i’ve heard people whisper about but never really payed attention to.  Perhaps due to my PS2 days being full of too much angst and sugar for me to care about a games “artistic value”.  (yes, I was that guy )needless to say despite my alleged maturation I came into this game as a skeptic.  I rather enjoy artistic games but at times they come across as, well, pretentious. Often selling a weak story-line as “artistic ambiguity” but given Brice’s glowing endorsement as “The best game ever” I tried to keep an open mind.

        Okami is quite possibly the PS2’s most beautiful game aesthetically.  The game looks and -more importantly- feels like a living tapestry.  there were times where I would simply stop playing and just look around the world the developers created for me.  And that brings me to another point; It seems like the artists treated the environment as a labor of love, taking the theme to heart and remaining faithful to it throughout the course of the game.  The only issue I have with the presentation is the way the story is presented.  The story itself is engaging enough to draw my interest, but given the fact that the game seems to sell itself on it’s artistic value i expected the environment to play a more pivotal role in telling the story as opposed to the rolling text presentation that set up the plot and often broke the fourth wall briefly taking me out of the experience.  Despite those minor flaws I was thoroughly engaged once the story got going. It’s nice to see a more mythological driven plot that isn’t focused on visceral combat or rescuing a princess from a giant turtle; and there were times where I lost track of much time I spent playing the game.

      The game does offer a damn good experience that is as enjoyable to an adult as it is to a younger audience and I highly recommend it.



Grade: A-

P.S. No Brice, not best game ever!