{"id":425,"date":"2018-01-20T18:00:21","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=425"},"modified":"2018-01-18T00:34:27","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T05:34:27","slug":"game-ramblings-63-okami-hd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=425","title":{"rendered":"Game Ramblings #63 &#8211; Okami HD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okami-game.com\/\">More Info from Capcom<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Genre<\/strong>: Action RPG<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platform<\/strong>: PS4<\/li>\n<li><strong>Also Available On<\/strong>: PS3, Windows, Xbox One<\/li>\n<li><strong>Original Platforms<\/strong>: PS2, Wii<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>TL;DR<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One of the best examples of the Pre-BOTW 3D Zelda ARPG<\/li>\n<li>Fantastic visuals that scaled up to modern systems nicely, as long as the screen filter is turned down<\/li>\n<li>Combat generally simple, but a lot of fun thanks to the Celestial Brush mechanic, turning each encounter into a small puzzle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is going to be a relatively short one, simply because there&#8217;s been enough said about Okami since its 2006 release.\u00a0 As far as 3D Zelda-style games go, this is one of the best.\u00a0 It starts with the typical Zelda pattern of going to a dungeon, finding an upgrade, and using that upgrade to finish the dungeon.\u00a0 It adds much deeper combat that is more typical of JRPGs, with each encounter being its own little experience.\u00a0 It uses a Celestial Brush system to literally draw in the world, repairing bridges, breathing life to trees, shooting fire at enemies, and more.\u00a0 It then wraps all of that into one a gorgeous aesthetic reminiscent of Japanese sumi-e painting.\u00a0 Put all together, it&#8217;s one of the finest examples of a Zelda game prior to <em>Breath of the Wild<\/em>, even if it wasn&#8217;t actually a Zelda.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">These transition scenes still don&#39;t get old 12 years later.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QqKPLQeylZ\">https:\/\/t.co\/QqKPLQeylZ<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Hby23DjXgr\">pic.twitter.com\/Hby23DjXgr<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Dan Weiss (@schenksmill) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/schenksmill\/status\/950969012422430720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 10, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p>There&#8217;s no talking about Okami without going straight at the visuals.\u00a0 That little cutscene above is just a taste of how the game looks, but by and large it&#8217;s always that gorgeous.\u00a0 Enemies killed with slashes float into the sky and separate into pieces like sheets of paper.\u00a0 Trees explode into flower petals when brought back to life.\u00a0 Even the static areas of the environment take on a beautiful painted look, with large outlines and simple color shading, giving the entire game a look that is entirely its own.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-427\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_combat.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_combat-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_combat-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_combat-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_combat-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_combat.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-427\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Combat takes place in its own little areas, giving a very JRPG feel to an otherwise action-focused system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, being an ARPG combat is still the focus, and this has much more depth than your typical Zelda game.\u00a0 Sure, Zelda has its moments in boss fights, but your typical encounter with any enemy in the world is a few quick slashes and the player moves on.\u00a0 In\u00a0<em>Okami<\/em>, every encounter is its own little puzzle.\u00a0 Some enemies may be weak to elements, so the player can drag those in from environmental source to stun enemies.\u00a0 Some may have to be beaten down a bit before their weak points are exposed.\u00a0 Some enemies can&#8217;t be hit unless time is slowed down, giving an opportunity to rush in for the kill. In general, each encounter has its own little piece to figure out in order to get through the fight in the most optimal matter.\u00a0 Sure, you can usually also just beat on enemies until they die, but rewards scale based on time to complete an encounter, so effective use of the tools at hand is always the smart way to go.<\/p>\n<p>All of this goes through the\u00a0Celestial Brush system, which uses painted symbols to activate abilities.\u00a0 Drawing a straight line on the screen will activate a powerful sword slash that can cleave enemies and environmental pieces in two.\u00a0 Drawing a line from water, fire, ice, or lightning can cause those elements to help or hurt, depending on their use.\u00a0 A swirling motion will activate wind, blowing away fire that may be shielding an enemy.\u00a0 At its core, this replaces the typical items that Zelda games use, and allows for interactions that end up feeling more meaningful in their end result due to the need to draw on the fly.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_428\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-428\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_filter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_filter-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_filter-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_filter-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_filter-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_filter.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-428\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The screen filter&#8217;s default option me feeling crosseyed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I suppose the question then becomes, is this a good port?\u00a0 More or less, but it has a few rough edges.\u00a0 The default visual filter in place definitely had its problems, with some of the visual separation of things really looking awkward.\u00a0 Turning that down to low solved most of the problems.\u00a0 Otherwise things were solid.\u00a0 Performance was consistent throughout the game, which was a particularly nice improvement over some of the more complex bosses on the PS2.\u00a0 While the controls for painting were sometimes a bit awkward, the shape recognition is forgiving enough to allow for a lot of flex room in getting your symbols close enough.\u00a0 If there&#8217;s anything with controls that did translate awkwardly, it&#8217;s that Start\/Select from the PS2 were moved to the PS4&#8217;s touchpad, which also doubled as a secondary way to move the camera.\u00a0 It didn&#8217;t cause issues in general, but every time I went to pause I ended up accidentally moving the camera completely in a place that I didn&#8217;t want to.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_429\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-429\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_boss.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-429\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_boss-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_boss-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_boss-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_boss-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/okami_boss.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-429\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">There&#8217;s a lot of bosses to defeat, all with their own tricks and fantastic designs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Going back to this one 10+ years later was a nice treat.\u00a0 Its visual style was always its selling feature, but only translated so well in 480i.\u00a0 Luckily, the move up to 4k only helped the visuals, and the great combat system built around the Celestial Brush has aged extremely well.\u00a0 If you&#8217;ve played this before, I could see an argument for not coming back again, but anyone that missed this the first go around would be well recommended in taking a whirl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More Info from Capcom Genre: Action RPG Platform: PS4 Also Available On: PS3, Windows, Xbox One Original Platforms: PS2, Wii TL;DR One of the best examples of the Pre-BOTW 3D Zelda ARPG Fantastic visuals that scaled up to modern systems nicely, as long as the screen filter is turned down Combat generally simple, but a &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/?p=425\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Game Ramblings #63 &#8211; Okami HD&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,6],"tags":[48,143,142,29,16],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arpg","category-ps4","tag-arpg","tag-capcom","tag-okami","tag-ps4","tag-rpg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":430,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.dwgames.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}