As I look forward to the games being released this year, one of the titles that I am most anticipating is Capcom's new Playstation 2 action title Okami. This title has been touted as an innovative, beautiful, and potentially classic game. With its unique premise, stylish art direction, and new game play mechanic, this game could become a very heavy hitter. However, one has to wonder whether a game like this is being over-hyped. Okami shows signs of being an instant classic, but has just as much of a chance of being a huge disappointment.

The Story

Okami centers on the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu who is charged with the task of bringing life and color back into the world. Taking the form of a white wolf, Amaterasu battles against a monster from Japanese folklore named Orochi who is, of course, wreaking havoc upon the world. Judging from Capcom's initial press release for Okami, the game follows a somewhat typical adventure game story progression. Amaterasu travels to different places searching for hidden items that slowly restore her powers, and as she defeats enemies the world is gradually brought back to life.

As you might expect, Okami has a real-time fighting system in which the player uses some typical "wolf-like" attacks (biting, ramming, etc.). Amaterasu can also perform more interesting attacks using weapons in the game that are based on The Imperial Regalia of Japan. These are three ancient Japanese treasures that Amaterasu collects throughout the game, they include the mirror Yata no kagami, the sword Kusanagi, and the jewels Yasakani no magatama. Perhaps the most interesting weapon however, is the Celestial Brush which allows Amaterasu to affect the world using drawings with a giant calligraphy brush.

The Hype

The two main causes of the excitement over this game are the calligraphy brush game play and the overall visual style. The Celestial Brush in Okami allows the player to briefly stop the action and perform drawing actions onto the screen using the analog stick. In combat this can be used to slice through enemies, and in other areas of the game this can be used to draw up workarounds to obstacles (i.e. drawing a bridge to get over a broken one). In line with the artistic theme, the game's cel-shaded graphics have also created much excitement. The graphics have their own unique style meant to be reminiscent of traditional Japanese paintings. This very artistically based game appeals to those looking for a new game play mechanic and those just seeking beautiful artwork.

The most exciting aspect of the game from my perspective is the cel-shaded, "painterly" artwork. Since this artwork is of thematic significance to the story of the game, I believe that good art direction in this case could serve to create a more immersive experience. That is an experience that will draw the player into the world being presented to them and ultimately (possibly) make the game more fun. I'm very curious to see whether the art style and the calligraphy brush game play will really create this type of atmosphere.

The Verdict

Now the question must be asked, will Okami live up to the hype surrounding it? In my opinion, there are two likely outcomes. First, the game could turn out to be another run-of-the-mill action title that is mildly impressive, but hardly revolutionary. This is likely if the game play turns out like any other action title, with only sparse usage of the Celestial Brush game play. However, another likely outcome is that the game turns out to be a very good, highly acclaimed new take on the action-adventure genre. This is likely if the developers don't rely too heavily on the game's graphics and on only one new game mechanic. The game must be beautiful, and also include polished, diverse game play. As of right now, Okami is on its way to being either a must rent or a must buy title. Hopefully after its release in September 2006 the verdict will become clear.

Note: views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's and are not necessarily those of Wolverine Soft.