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.
