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Review

Okami HD (Switch) Review

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Before we start, here’s a little bit of history regarding myself and how I missed the original Okami. Since its release in 2007 (outside of Japan), Okami has been released on the PS2, the PS3 and the Wii. I never had a PlayStation until the PS4 and Vita, and I didn’t have a chance to get it for the Wii. So for over a decade there’s been this amazing-looking adventure game always out of reach. There was the DS sequel Okamiden, which I really enjoyed but now with the HD release on current platforms (most notably the Switch) I can finally take up the Celestial Brush and achieve my destiny of saving Nippon from the evil Orochi.

At the start of the game, the evil Demon Orochi has been defeated by the Wolf/God Amaterasu (or Ammy for short) with the evil contained for 100 years. The evil is inevitably unleashed and Ammy is brought back into the fictional land of Nippon to heal and restore the land and put a stop to the horrible Orochi. Along for the journey is the little sprite-like Issun. Fashioning himself as a wandering artist, he helps Ammy learn to use the Celestial Brush, restoring Ammy to her former power. As the adventure to save the land goes on, you’ll come across pretty varied and often eccentric people and Gods who need your help.

 

A visual style that was so distinct back in the PlayStation 2 days is still every bit as lovely today. In fact the HD upgrade has it looking better than ever. Each area starts off looking dark and drained of life and colour. As you restore the Nippon region, the world is turned to brilliant colour so you can fully appreciate the art and style of Okami. Whether it’s the very start or over 30 hours in, it’s always amazing how they capture the look of drawn calligraphy combined with watercolours. The thick lines outlining everything as it looks like it was all drawn and painted on scrolls. The music very much ties into this traditional art style and makes for a pleasant aesthetic all around.

When it comes to using Ammy’s Celestial Brush, the Switch gives you multiple ways to draw your moves on the screen. There is, of course, the standard controls where you use the Left stick to move the brush around as you hold down the Y button. You can also use the Joy Con as a pointer to draw with your motion. There’s also touch screen controls when in handheld mode. I found using the touch screen to be great for the more widely-used moves, such as the slash/cut and the bloom/restore. But when more than one line is needed, the result would vary a lot more. Using the joy-con as a pointer worked fine too; like the touch controls it works best when the gestures needed are more simple. Ultimately your experience with them will come down to how comfortable you are with motion controls. If neither of the additional control methods is your thing the good news is that the standard controls work just fine. The brush can be slower to move using the left stick, but as long as you have the brush mode up there’s no need to rush the majority of the time.

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Way back in 2007 Okami drew a fair amount of inspiration from the 3D Legend of Zelda series. At times it can feel a bit too familiar (at the time it was the closest you’d get to Zelda), but overall it brings plenty to the table to stand out on its own. Being over 10 years old and now two console generations from its original release, the gameplay is from another time and it shows. Backtracking is rife and for nearly 10 hours the ‘only kinda’ fast travel system doesn’t exist, so be prepared for a lot of running around. When you can fast travel it’s only by an item you need to purchase, and can only be used on select areas, so only partially mitigates the traversal issues. Back when the game was brand new, games of it’s ilk like Zelda were also not great with making an objective clear, let alone provide decent navigation. The world of Nippon is a mess to navigate initially. Through all the backtracking you will get more used to travelling to particular locations, but I definitely lost a bunch of time trying to find where the game wanted me to go after giving me some vague hints. Sometimes it directly marks a location on the map, otherwise you’ll be working it out alone. The platforming combined with the old school camera can make for some annoying moments, especially when some finesse is called for. The camera angle issue is combined with not so great jumping (until you get some help 15 hours in). There’s nothing that makes it too bad, it’s just a testament to how far games within this genre has come.

Okami still looks amazing after all these years, filled with personality and style. Not everything has aged as well and some parts can drag out, but outside of those moments the game is a delight to play. If you haven’t had the chance to play Okami the best place to play it is on the Switch. If you have played it then what better way to relive your time in Nippon than being able to play it anywhere.

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Okami still looks amazing after all these years, filled with personality and style. Not everything has aged as well and some parts can drag out, but outside of those moments the game is a delight to play. If you haven’t had the chance to play Okami the best place to play it is on the Switch. If you have played it then what better way to relive your time in Nippon than being able to play it anywhere.

Rating: 4/5

The Good

+ Lovely visuals and style
+ A fun Zelda-style adventure
+ Possibly the best way to play this game

The Bad

- Slow in places
- Hard to track quests

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Okami still looks amazing after all these years, filled with personality and style. Not everything has aged as well and some parts can drag out, but outside of those moments, the game is a delight to play. If you haven’t had the chance to play Okami the best place to play it is on the Switch. If you have played it then what better way to relive your time in Nippon than being able to play it anywhere.

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About The Author
Paul Roberts
Lego enthusiast, Picross Master and appreciator of games.

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