A stroke of the celestial brush.
Having played the original release of Okami on the PS2 way back in 2006, I can’t recall exactly how I felt about the game outside of the fact that I enjoyed it, but seemingly not as much as many others as it received numerous game of the year nominations. When the game was re-released on the PS3, I picked it up during a sale thinking that I would like to revisit it sometime but outside of booting it up once to see the improved visuals, I didn’t do anything with it.
Finally, with yet another re-re-release on the PS4,X1 and PC, I can’t say that I was all that interested in checking it out, especially given how I didn’t play the PS3 versions that much but as luck would have it, it ended up in my inbox and I had the opportunity to see how well it has aged over the years.
I’m sad to hear that because I’m just PEACHY.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PS4, X1, PC
Played on: PS4 Pro
Played: 20~ hours
Given this is a review of a game that is over a decade old now, I will focus more on what is improved or added in from the original and frankly, there isn’t a lot. The player is able to choose to play in the original 4:3 or the 16:9 aspect ratios. The interactive mini-game that was missing from the Wii/PS3 release was added back in and mostly importantly, now the game supports full 4K on PS4,XB1 and PC. Unfortunately, I do not own a 4K capable display to test out the 4K capabilities first hand, but I’ve been told by credible sources that the visuals look better than ever.
However, Capcom in their infinite wisdom have decided to lock the frame rates at 30, regardless of the platform, so whether you’re on the PS4 Pro, X1X or SLI 1080Tis equipped PC, you’re stuck at 30FPS. Luckily, it’s very stable and during my playtime on the PS4 Pro, I didn’t notice a single dip and the performance held true without any issue, even during the most hectic of encounters.
Ya, calm down there Dante.
After the initial adjustment period of getting used to the art style, it looked great even in 1080p, and this is yet another case of a game where screenshots don’t do the actual visual fidelity justice as the vibrant colors in conjunction with the animation really makes everything pop out in the most pleasant of ways.
From a gameplay standpoint, it centers around the use of the celestial brush, which can be used to solve rudimentary puzzles or brandished during combat to extreme potency, given you know when to use it. The sense of progression felt smooth, as I was regularly given new abilities so that I could deal with new obstacles and as the game constantly threw new enemy types my way, I would test out my new brush skills to see if I could dispatch them more efficiently. Unfortunately, even though the game was fairly well paced, I found the combat and puzzle elements to be sorely lacking in any kind of challenge. As I stockpiled more and more health items, I never found a reason to use them, as I found myself never really in danger during combat. While I would certainly agree that not all games need to be challenging to be fun, I found myself dodging all non-mandatory combat encounters out of tedium more than anything else.
After turning off the incessant “voice acting”, I found the various characters much more charming and the humor felt right in line with the world presented, offering up more than a handful of good chuckles throughout the adventure.
…sup?
Even though there aren’t too many new features to justice this re-release, Ammy’s quest to defeat Orochi and cleanse the world of corruption is still every bit as compelling as it was a decade ago, and to those unfamiliar, this is the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the most adorable wolf goddess you’ve never heard of. So how about that sequel, eh, Capcom?
FunTibit – Not being able to personally test the biggest selling point of a port because I don’t have the hardware for it feels bad, man. I will pick up a 4K TV in 2018!
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
