Okami: first impressions
One of my biggest gripes with Twilight Princess (and, indeed, many adventure games) is that I never felt any attachment to the world. It’s nice that I can defeat Ganon and save Hyrule, but what is it, exactly, that needs saving? Most of the game world is a vast expanse of empty space that’s just an excuse for Epona to get a workout. It’s pretty, and there are certainly well-developed parts, but on the whole it’s not particularly memorable.
Okami’s Nippon, though, is teeming with personality. The art has a lot to do with that, but it’s Ameratsu’s interaction with the land — repairing cursed zones, revitalizing blackened trees, feeding hungry animals — that establishes the player’s unusually strong connection to the game world. I find that I look forward to reviving Guardian Saplings not just so that I can progress through the story, but so that I have a new area to explore and nurture.
Speaking of exploration, the sense of scale in Okami is phenomenal. I’m over nine hours in, but the game still feels like it’s in its introductory stages. I constantly run into areas I can’t get to and objects I can’t interact with, and the various lists on the inventory screen indicate that I still have quite a long way to go.
My biggest complaint so far is with the writing. To be blunt, the characters are not nearly as charming as the game seems to think they are. When I excitedly showed Okami to a friend, he read some of the dialogue asked me if it was a game meant for little kids. I don’t think that’s an unfair question, really; Issun in particular is a badly forced attempt at comic relief, with lines that sound like Midna or Navi in Zelda fan fiction.
There is a similar whimsical spirit to many of game’s characters, which would be fine if they weren’t all so one-dimensional — the personality that Okami cultivates in the world itself is lost in its inhabitants. I’d probably skip the cutscenes if I didn’t want to follow the plot, but the story is enjoyable (dialog notwithstanding) and often contains important information. I’m willing to forgive the flaw, though; plenty of games feature less-than-stellar characterization, and there are a lot of other things to like here.
It may be a while before I get back to Okami, as I’ll be traveling next week and then focusing on Grim Fandango for the Vintage Game Club after that. It has me hooked, though, and I’ll definitely see it through to the end.
Okami is a perfect example of how compelling a character’s relationship to their environment can really be. Clearing the cursed zones, revitalizing the cherry trees, feeding the animals. It’s lovely.
I even liked the relationships behind the corny dialog. The hero, using an arrogant front to hide his insecurities. The Canine Warriors who don’t all wish to be the chosen.
But, as you say, the dialog itself would have been much better if treated more seriously.
I think I am a long way into Okami now, somewhere around the 25 hours but still with a lot to do. Although I must admit that I have not one problem with the dialog. Sure, it is no high class literature but I think the one dimensional characters and the fact that not anything is taken seriously suits the game pretty well. Although his great hornyness Issun tends to be focused on the boobies a little too much…
The thing I find a missed oppurtunity is that they put the feeding of the animals aside from the actual game world. I like the sight of the animals eating from the stack of seeds, leaves, meat or fish, but why did this had to be in some fairy dreamscape and not right there on the spot where i found them? I skip these movies because I feel they put me out of the world i am trying to restore.
I agree completely, Corvus, and you said it better than I did — the story and relationships are compelling, but the actual presentation through dialogue is lacking
Afello, though I”m not a fan of the dialogue, I definitely agree with you about the animal-feeding. Watching zones become “uncursed” is enjoyable because each cutscene is specific to the area, so it seems a bit silly to repeat the same one every time you toss a bag of seeds to a sparrow. :-) Even if they took place in the game world, though, feeding an animal is such a minor action that it doesn’t seem like it deserves a cutscene in the first place. I think of it as akin to using the Bloom technique on a blackened tree.
Hi Elroy,
Thanks for the shout-out! I’m commenting here ’cause I wrote about Okami on the blog today. I know a lot of people were put off by the game’s story, and I suppose it’s a matter of taste, but on the whole I found the whole thing pretty charming. I like the slightly off-color humor, and because it is presented as a fairy tale I was less offended by the one-dimensionality of the characters.
One warning: the game is much longer than you think it is as you go in. I hit a huge trough about 1/3 in and then had to give a big push later to finish. I was totally satisfied by the end though, it’s one of my all-time faves now.
Hey, Iroquois! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I’m not sure if you saw my comment over at the Brainy Gamer, but I really am a big fan of Versus CluClu Land. I’ve already gone through your entire archive, in fact. :-)
I’ve put in another few hours in Okami since writing this post, and I have to admit that the characters are starting to grow on me (or at least grate on me less). I wonder if I subconsciously give, say, the Zelda games a free pass when it comes to characterization; while I say they do a better job, I wonder if that’s not just nostalgia talking. In any case, the plot taken as a whole is definitely compelling, as I said before.
I’m glad to hear that the game is long, actually — I haven’t sunk my teeth into a nice big narrative game in a while, and it feels good. :-) It’s a fun world to be in. A little birdie told me there’s a New Game Plus mode, too, so I might be visiting it for a while yet…
Okami is one of the few games I’ve actually bothered to collect all the little bobbles in and still wanted to play some more, and this is one long game. Glad you’re enjoying it!
What do you think of the music?
I think the music is great, Alex. I’m not familiar enough with traditional Japanese music to write about it more intelligently beyond “it’s good,” but I am enjoying it. :-)