Okami's visuals are rad and Japanese.

I started playing Okami for the Wii.  Having missed the PS2 version (in ’06 I was at the tail end of a hiatus from gaming; I’d sold my Gamecube, and taken a few years off to drink. Then, I bought a Wii) I have no preconceived ideas and am experiencing the game raw: as a gamer, trying out a game which I’ve heard good things about. So far (total gameplay: 20 hours) I’m a believer. Hard not to notice a lot of similiarities to games in the Zeldasphere (a good thing) and I’m really impressed with the art direction, which differentiates it from Zelda… Okami is like one big, flowing watercolor painting.

Accomplishment wise, I’ve traced out constellations in the sky and summoned gods, engaged in challenging, well-conceived boss battles, ran around with a busty playing-card-throwing lady riding on my back, and dug up turnips while avoiding smacks from an angry old lady (I’m a dog, btw).  I’ve lifted curses, fed guinea pigs, stockpiled cabbage, and broken a lot of pottery with my head.

Yes, this game is cartoony and quirky, and very Japanese. If you don’t like that, don’t buy it. But you’ll be missing out, because if you ask me, it’s one of the more breathtaking games around.

In Okami you must battle an evil and tiresome multi-headed monster.

Now, a lot of harsh words have been said about second-rate Wii ports of popular games which are graphically inferior to their PS3 and Xbox 360 counterparts. I’ve also seen Gamespot and others criticize a Wii port for being identical to it’s counterpart—for failing to do something new with it.  In the case of Capcom’s port of Okami, it looks about the same as the PS2 version.  But, a big part of the game is painting shapes on the screen, to summon the power of Gods (akin to playing a song in Zelda to make something happen).  The Wii remote pointer is utilized for this; you simply aim the cursor and move it as you would a mouse, and freehand it.

So this is an improvement; the PS2 version required you to use the control pad to paint, which is sort of like trying to control your computer’s cursor entirely with arrow keys, because your mouse is broken.  Even the cynics agree that the Wii’s controls were perfectly suited to a port of Okami.