taotrooper: It's a polar bear dancing the hula; your argument is invalid (Ammy and Issun / slicing fruit)
Kiri ☂ ([personal profile] taotrooper) wrote2007-04-15 11:54 pm

Uh... I'm in love ♥

I am, I am. ♥ ♥ And there's no one to fangirl about this game around, and it's driving me nuts.

I'M SO, SO HOOKED ON OKAMI it's not normal on me. I haven't loved a game this much since, uh, Ocarina of Time or something. It's amazing how this game, quirky and obscure as it is, manages to do what three Final Fantasy's and two Zelda's couldn't: glue me to a console and have me play daily.

I'm lazy when it comes to videogames, what can I say. But I'm addicted to Okami. It gets me off the Internets. Inconceivable!

The story is an artistic license of Japanese mythology. Incidentally, the fact it pretty much rapes several myths doesn't bother me much. I mean, I buy the Matantei Loki manga, for crying out loud. And I've seen it 'worse' in Disney movies anyway. It's still fun to recognize names of Japanese figures I've read about. And since the story is interesting (BTW, I already spoiled myself the ending :D), the names of the characters don't matter that much.

Now, the gameplay. Here's the thing: it's a Zelda. Yes, a Zelda. I'm playing a fucking Zelda. Even the producers admit they were inspired on Zelda.

No, I'm not saying it because you play as a wolf like in Twilight Princess, or it uses cel-shading graphics like The Windwaker. No. It's the same style of doing stuff, although with more random encounters. And when you get to the ruins in Agata forest, which is your first "dungeon", things are starting to look quite familiar. I mean, you're in a dungeon in the middle of the forest, trying to rescue someone, and you're like jumping on plants (and fungi, too) because the whole building is like too organic, and flying on pink flowers. You have to solve tiny puzzles to pass to other rooms. And the final boss? A spider queen. Yeah. I know it's mythological and shit, but come on. Your first boss is a spider.

I could go on and on about the similarities between the Zelda saga and Okami when it comes to gameplay and roles (aka, Issun is Navi/Tatl/Midna; Sakuya is the Oracle games' Deku Trees; Waka is who, Sheik? and so on) But see, I LOVE that it's so much like Zelda. And hell, the more spoilers I read, the more things I see to make parallels of.

Now, the characters. I love how expressive Amaterasu is without speaking. And she's so damn cute, like a big, glompable husky dog :3 I dig Issun's personality, so bratty. I normally hated when the navigator/guide characters from Zelda looked down on me (Link) and pulled the snark, but it's funny with him. Maybe it's because most of the cast insult him back XD And he's just shamelessly childish.

But well. I have a crush on Waka. A HUGE, stupid crush on Waka. I started looking for info about him on the Internet after I saw him for the first time. And now that I've talked to him three times (and fought that motherfucker twice), and I spoiled myself, I so love his character and I understand why my intuition told me to obsess over him.

Because yeah, he's painfully and embarrassingly dorky. True that the embarrassing part comes from the English translators themselves, who thought it was a good idea to give his speech a touch of fangirl French (WTF?). But if you ignore the French thing, or even if you include it, he's lol-worthy and intriguing. I don't know, he reminds me in some aspects of Kujaku (prophet, random popping in and out of the plot, in the end being a major character), and Ling ("hay do you guys know anything about ___? eh? oh well, I'll try to kick your asses just because ^_^"), and Sheik (musical instrument, purple prose as introduction, and leaves in a rush). So yeah, I see why I like him.

And the fact he doesn't look bad, especially in fanarts, is a bonus~

Youtube link: First appearance of Waka. Fear the lack of mouth and the French and the weird visual machine of Okami.

[identity profile] soifon.livejournal.com 2007-04-15 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh Okami! I've heard of it and was recommended it by someone. The art is gorgeous but that's all I know lol XD If you say it's so good, maybe I'll give it a try too!
ext_387179: A sea turtle swimming (Ten-oh / In bloom)

[identity profile] rainmage.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
My taste in videogames can't be trusted (I mean, I haven't hooked on any Final Fantasy plot, which means there's something broken inside me or something), but I really like it. Okami gets good ratings at gaming sites, so that means I'm not the only one liking it.

[identity profile] eotheod.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
Your Waka crush isn't stupid... he's such a great character; his random French really helps to make him so entertaining.
ext_387179: A sea turtle swimming (Katamari / ask me how I roll)

[identity profile] rainmage.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes I find the French endearingly dorky, and sometimes I find it ridiculous; it really depends, I guess.

But he's amusing and mysterious, and I love that.

[identity profile] hikusa-rgx.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
Ahh :O! I like this style of gameplay and graphics, for which platform is this? Wii, Game Cube? -hopes it is one of those XDDD- *and just see's that it is a Capcom game OMG*

Is it strange that I find funny how Waka's head bounces while talking XDD?
ext_387179: A sea turtle swimming (Touya/Yukito are not pleased)

[identity profile] rainmage.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Playstation 2 D: I feel the pain as a Nintendo-raised gal who just bought a fucking Sony console until a couple of years ago. It's so lame no versions for Nintendo ever came out, as Okami on the Wii would be the shit to play.

Capcom just distributes or produced the game, though. It was programmed by Clover Studios, a company that just went bankrupt (although some important people from there just founded a new one, so you never know)

It's funnier when he's all emo, because it looks like he's sobbing or something XD

[identity profile] hikusa-rgx.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
At least that's another reason to buy a PS3! *I'm almost 99% sure that it has PS2 games compatibility ºAº*

I guess a Nintendo version on the Wii would have the exact gameplay of the Zelda TP :O, Yeah, if by miracle a new version of Okami -or I dunno if a squel is even possible- cames to Nintendo and the Wii I'll buy it x]
ext_387179: A sea turtle swimming (Default)

[identity profile] rainmage.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Not exact, mind you. The attacks and other actions are done by painting things with a brush, something I haven't seen in a Zelda yet. Maybe in some NDS games, but not a Zelda.
ext_2023: (Default)

[identity profile] etrangere.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
It does look like a very very pretty game (I got a demo at a friend's), I almost wish I could play it ^^
ext_387179: A sea turtle swimming (Yue / Die)

[identity profile] rainmage.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
It's extremely pretty. I downloaded some artbook scans with sketches, and the backgrounds are amazing.

[identity profile] light-hikari.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
When I got the game, I was like. Why does this feel familiar? Someone mentioned Zelda like, around the game's release and I was like.

Holy crap.

It so is. And I don't have a Wii and I'm not caving in for the GCN version of Twilight Princess so I was like, HOT DOG I'VE GOT A NEW ZELDA TO PLAY.
ext_387179: A sea turtle swimming (Trucy / OMG)

[identity profile] rainmage.livejournal.com 2007-04-16 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm liking Okami more than Twilight Princess so far.