Ōkami

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Ōkami
The cover art for Ōkami.
Developer(s) Clover Studio
Publisher(s) Capcom
Release date(s) JPN April 20, 2006
NA September 19, 2006[1]
PAL February 9, 2007 [2]
Genre(s) Action/Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Media 1 DVD
For the subspecies of gray wolf, see Japanese Wolf.

Ōkami (大神?) is a cel-shaded video game developed by Clover Studio for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was released on April 20, 2006 in Japan and September 19, 2006 in the United States and Canada. It is scheduled for release in Europe on February 9, 2007. Ōkami's main character is the Shinto sun goddess named Amaterasu, who has taken the form of a white wolf. The title of the game is a pun; the word ōkami (狼) in Japanese means "wolf", however the kanji characters used as the title of this game (大神), also pronounced as Ōkami, meaning "great deity", so the main character is a great wolf deity. The same characters (大神) are also used to write the full name of the goddess Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami. Ōkami can also be read to mean "big paper", hinting at the game's sumi-e-inspired visual style.

Contents

[edit] Story

Set in the Nippon region in an unspecified time in the classical Japanese era, Ōkami combines several Japanese myths and legends to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the wolf, Amaterasu.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The quiet village of Kamiki, filled with beautiful cherry trees, had a price to pay in order to maintain their peace. Each and every year a festival is held, during which a maiden must be sacrificed to the eight-headed serpent, Orochi, signalled by a white arrow being launched into the house of his chosen sacrifice. In the 100th year since Orochi's arrival, as the time for the sacrifice drew near, a pure white wolf the village dubbed "Shiranui" would appear and stalk the village's streets at night. A swordsman in the village, Nagi (Izanagi in the Japanese version), detested Shiranui, believing him to be one of Orochi's agents, and repeatedly tried to drive the wolf away. When the night of the festival finally arrived, Nagi's beloved, Nami (Izanami in the Japanese version) was chosen to be slain. Determined both to save the woman he loved and to put an end to the village's burden, Nagi went to Orochi's lair to slay the beast. Alas, he was defeated and about to be killed when Shiranui stepped in and took over the battle. Using strange skills, the wolf battled valiantly against Orochi, but still could not defeat the serpent.

Battered and beaten, Shiranui released a powerful howl the heavens. Strengthened by the howl, Nagi struggled to his feet and took up his sword once more, leaping onto Orochi and defeating the creature. Shiranui, filled with poison and fur dyed crimson with his own blood, was carried back to the village by Nagi where he was praised as Kamiki's savior - and then died. A shrine was built in the image and honor of Shiranui, and the sword that had saved the village was interred in the "Moon Cave" where the battle had taken place, and used to seal Orochi away. 100 years of peace passed, and a man disturbs the sword at the "Moon Cave", unleashing Orochi, who is not quite as fictional as the intruder had believed. Orochi immediately begins covering the entire world in darkness and evil. In response, Sakuya the wood sprite, guardian of the village, goes to the shrine dedicated to Shiranui and brings the statue to life as Amaterasu, the Ōkami, reincarnation of Shiranui and sun goddess incarnated in the form of a white wolf.

Amaterasu must search Nippon for the 13 brush spirits to gain the power to defeat Orochi and heal the land. Throughout the travels, Amaterasu is hounded by Waka, a strange but powerful individual that seems to have the gift of foresight, and further teases Amaterasu and Issun to his own mysterious ends.

The 100th anniversary of the original defeat of Orochi, celebrated now by a festival held at Kamiki villiage, is quickly approaching while Amaterasu is in the process of removing the curse from other parts of the land. Returning just in time for the night of the festival, events begin to unfold exactly as they did 100 years ago: Orochi summons an arrow to indicate the chosen sacrifice: Kushi, the sake maker in Kamiki and romantic interest of Susano, a descendant of the great warrior Nagi. It is discovered that Susano himself was the one who disturbed the sword to begin with, as he despised the pressure of being Nagi's descendant and did not believe that his ancestor really defeated an evil spirit. To stop the constant pressure to be a hero, he wanted to prove to the village that the story of Nagi was nothing but a myth and there was no evil serpent sealed by Nagi's sword. Susano pulled the legendary sword out, releasing Orochi into the world. As it was 100 years ago, both Amaterasu and Susano return to the Moon Cave to defeat Orochi again and rescue Kamiki; as Orochi finally dies, a black evil spirit is seen to rise from the body and drift northward, but not unnoticed by Amaterasu.

After leaving Kamiki again, Amaterasu continues to search for more brush techniques and to investigate the mysterious spirit that left Orochi's body. Along the way, she encounters two more similar spirit foes - Blight, which had taken residence inside the Emperor and caused him to breath out a strange mist that was slowly killing the people and lands nearby, and Ninetails (a kitsune), who has the same god powers as the gods, and was sending evil spirits out from a mysterious island in order to try to take over the land. After both are defeated by Amaterasu, the same type of black spirit leaves the bodies and drifts northward. Following these spirits, Amaterasu is led to the snow-covered parts of the land. There, a village of humans that can assume animal forms is found and one gifted young girl has gone missing; without her song, an evil force would be unleashed upon the lands and the people implore Amaterasu to find her. Amaterasu discovers that the girl has fallen back through a doorway in time to 100 years prior in Kamiki Villiage, and to rescue her, Amaterasu must work with Shiranui and Nagi to defeat Orochi (as had originally been explained at the start of the story). Upon returning to the present, Amaterasu then proceeds to encounter two final evil beings, known as Lechku and Nechku, giant mechanical owls, which are the source of the evil threatening the village.

There, a legend of a mysterious "Ark of Yamato" is discovered. The Ark seems to have fallen from the heavens 200 years ago and crashed into a frozen lake (Laochi Lake), and opened up to reveal hordes of evil demons that immediately began to spread across the land. Some of these demons would go on to become Blight, Lechku, Nechku and Ninetails, and thus the black forms seen heading northward after their defeat would be these demons returning to their point of origin. Further discovery indicates that before the Ark crashed, a race called Celestial Beings had found the Ark and thought it would usable for transporting around the Celestial Plains, but it was found out too late that the Ark already had residents, and was effectively a prison ship for the evil demons. All but one of the Celestial Beings were killed before the Ark crashed, the last one fleeing the destruction. Amaterasu, with the spiritual and physical help of many others guided by the encouragement of Issun, is able to defeat all the remaining demon foes, including those she previously fought before but have returned here. It is finally revealed that Waka was the last member of the Moon Tribe and had known Amaterasu's spirit prior to the crash of the Ark, and by guiding Amaterasu to the Ark and destruction of the evil spirits, Waka is finally able to return to the Celestial Plains alongside Amaterasu, using the freed Ark as their means of return.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Gameplay

Ōkami has the player controlling the main character, Amaterasu, in a paintbrush style, cel-shaded environment. The gameplay style is a mix of action, platform, and puzzle gaming genres, and has been noted by many reviewers to have numerous similarities in overall gameplay style to The Legend of Zelda series. The main story is primarily linear, directed through by Amaterasu's guide Issun, though numerous side quests and optional activities allow for the player to explore the game world and take the story at their own pace.

Unique to Ōkami is the Celestial Brush. Players can bring the game to a pause and call up a canvas, where the player can draw onto the screen using the left analog stick to control the Celestial Brush.[3] This feature is used in combat, puzzles, and as general gameplay. For example, the player can create strong wind by drawing a loop, cut enemies by drawing a line through them, or create bridges by painting one amongst many other abilities. These techniques are learned through the course of the game by completing constellations to release the Celestial Brush gods from their hiding spots.

Combat is staged in a ghostly virtual arena, and Amaterasu can fight enemies using a combination of weapons, fighting techniques, and brush methods, to dispatch the foes. At the end of combat, money (as yen) is rewarded to Amaterasu, with bonuses for completing a battle quickly and without taking damage. The money can be spent on numerous items from merchants across the land, including healing goods, better weapons, tools, and key items for completing quests. The money can also be used to buy new combat techniques at dojos through the land. Additionally, rare Demon Fangs can be earned through combat which can be traded for additional, unique items that are beneficial in gameplay but not required to complete the game.

By completing quests, side quests, and small additional activitives (such as making trees bloom into life, or feeding wild animals), Amaterasu earns Praise, which can then be spent to increase various statistics of the character, such as the amount of health and number of ink wells for Celestial brush techniques.

The art in Ōkami is highly inspired by Japanese watercolor and wood carving art of the Ukiyo-e style, such as the work of Hokusai.

[edit] Weapons

The Imperial Regalia of Japan are used as weapons in the game:

  • The reflector (or mirror) serves as a melee weapon with a fast attack rate. Equipped as a sub-weapon, it also functions as a shield to block and counterattack enemies.
  • The rosaries (or beads) can be strung together as a whip-like melee weapon capable of inflicting rapid hits; when equipped as a sub-weapon, the individual beads can be shot out as projectiles.
  • The glaive (or sword) is also a melee weapon, slow on the attack but each hit can be separately charged up to inflict heavy damage. Equipped as a sub-weapon, it can be used for melee or lunging attacks.

There are five weapons of each type in the game, each type differing in its basic attack power, its use as a sub-weapon, and how it interacts with Amaterasu's Celestial Brush; for example, the most powerful of each weapon carries an elemental power which Amaterasu can extract to inflict damage upon enemies.


[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Major characters

Amaterasu
The titular character is the goddess of the sun in the form of a white wolf. Amaterasu's quest is to retrieve the 13 celestial brush techniques that were lost during the battle with Orochi 100 years ago and use these techniques to defeat the powers of darkness. Issun consistently refers to Amaterasu as either "Ammy" or "furball". Amaterasu is based on the Shinto goddess of the same name.[4]
Issun
Often mistaken for as a bug, Issun is an inch-tall "wandering artist" who accompanies Amaterasu in order to learn the 13 celestial brush techniques, usually serving as a guide and as comic relief. Issun is based on the one-inch boy from Japanese folklore and is of a race known as the Poncles.

[edit] Supporting characters

Benkei
A warrior monk and collector of swords. Amaterasu and Issun meet Benkei in Sei-an city, where he is on a quest to find a "living sword" to add as the thousandth in his collection.
Kaguya
"Another babe" (according to Issun) who wears a transparent dome helmet connected to a large bamboo stalk. She was found in a metal bamboo stalk by Mr. Bamboo (a bamboo seller), who adopts her as his own daughter. She remembers nothing of her past. She is based upon Princess Kaguya of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".
Kokari
A fisherman's son from Agata Forest who Amaterasu and Issun help in finding his lost dog in the Tsutamaki Ruins.
Kushi (Kushinada)
A girl of Kamiki Village who makes a living by brewing sake. The first human that the player befriends and love interest of Susano. She refers to Amaterasu as "Snowy" and will respond by petting her when Amaterasu barks.
Lika
A young girl from Kamui who must recite the volcanic incantation to save Kamui from freezing over.
Mr. & Mrs. Orange
The eldest residents of Kamiki Village.
Oki (Okikurmi)
A warrior from Kamui, the northernmost area of Nippon, who sets off on a misguided quest to save Kamui from freezing over during the day of darkness, a day long solar eclipse that occurs once every 100 years. He carries a sword called Kutone, which will, according to him, glow silver when he slays enough monsters.
Princess Fuse
Head of the Satomi house and master of the eight Canine Warriors. These characters draw heavily on the Japanese tale The Hakkenshi and the Satomi House.
Princess Otohime (Princess Oto)
The princess of the Dragon Palace.
Rao (Tsuzurao)
A priestess from Sei-an City and assistant of Queen Himiko. Issun refers to Rao as "busty babe," and makes several jokes of this nature, which Rao either ignores or responds to obliviously.
Shiranui
A white wolf who supposedly fought and defeated Orochi 100 years before the events of the game, dying shortly thereafter, then was reincarnated to be the main character of Ōkami. Shiranui plays a major part not only in the game's backstory (the "Legend of Orochi") but also near the end of the game itself.
Sakuya
A tree nymph who revives Amaterasu 100 years after the battle with Orochi. Issun is originally found hiding in her kimono. Sakuya's cherry blossoms have the power to eliminate cursed zones if Amaterasu uses the "bloom" brush technique on them.
Susano
A bumbling, sake-loving resident of Kamiki Village who claims to be "the greatest warrior ever" since he is the descendant of Nagi, the warrior who accompanied Shiranui in the battle with Orochi. Issun's nickname for Susano is "pops".
Waka (Ushiwaka)
A mysterious character that taunts Amaterasu and Issun at several points throughout the game, often giving cryptic clues in the form of "prophecies" to guide the player. Waka and Issun often quarrel, referring to each other as a "half-baked prophet" and "my little bouncing friend" respectively. Has a habit of using French terms in his speech and uses lines reminiscent of Viewtiful Joe.
Tobi (Hayatobimaru)
A scroll found on Oni Island with a die-hard competitive spirit.

[edit] Celestial Brush Gods

The 15 Celestial Brush Gods are based off the animals in the Chinese Zodiac that match up to some degree with the granted powers, either by animal traits or personality traits. The names of the Celestial gods are based on the Japanese word gami (神?) (kami with a dakuten, meaning "god"), and a word describing the effects of the brush stroke.

Amaterasu 
Goddess of Sunrise. Represents the dog in the Chinese Zodiac.
Yomigami
God of Rejuvenation. Represents the dragon.
Tachigami
God of Power Slash. Represents the rat.
Hanagami
The Flora Triumvirate, each representing the monkey.
Sakigami
God of Bloom.
Hasugami
God of Water Lily.
Tsutagami
God of Vine.
Bakugami
God of the Cherry Bomb. Represents the pig.
Nuregami
God of Waterspout. Represents the snake.
Yumigami
God of Cresent. Represents the rabbit.[5]
Moegami
God of Inferno. Represents the rooster.
Kazegami
God of Galestorm. Represents the horse.
Gekigami
God of Thunderstorm. Represents the tiger.
Kasugami
God of Veil of Mist. Represents the sheep.
Kabegami
God of Catwalk. Represents the cat.[6]
Itegami
God of Blizzard. Represents the ox.

[edit] Bosses

Spider Queen (Japanese
Yellow Spider): A giant spider that inhabits the Tsutamaki Ruins.
Crimson Helm (Japanese
Red Helmet): Demon who has stopped the "divine wind". According to legend, it rose from a pool of Orochi's blood 100 years ago to plague the land. This is why its head looks exactly like Orochi's fire head. It uses fire-based powers in battle.
Orochi
Revived form of the legendary eight headed dragon defeated 100 years ago by Nagi and Shiranui.
Blight (Japanese
The Plague): Demon causing the mist that plagues Sei-an City. Is really a body for the evil sword Goldnail.
Bandit Spider
A demon very much like the Spider Queen in a appearance and fighting technique. Found in Ryoshima Coast, Northern Ryoshima Coast and Kamui. This is an optional boss in game.
Ninetails
A nine-tailed fox (or kitsune) and Dark Lord found on Oni Island, with the powers of a brush god.
True Orochi
Orochi as he was 100 years before the game's time, plated in golden armor. His defense is considerably higher.
Lechku & Nechku
Twin demons who appear as mechanical owls that have caused the blizzard in Kamui. For every attack they make, a brush technique must be used to counter it.
Yami
The source of all darkness.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] Mythology and folklore

The game draws much of its imagery and characterizations from established Japanese legends and stories. ... Here [is] a list of some of these legends referenced within the game.

--Ōkami Instruction Manual

A more detailed listed of the various Japanese references in Ōkami is available.[7]

[edit] Music

All of the music in Ōkami is original and inspired by classical Japanese works. The final song over the credit sequence, "'Reset'", is sung by Ayaka Hirahara.

Capcom has released an official 5 CD soundtrack for Ōkami in Japan only, but can be obtained as an import elsewhere.

[edit] Reaction

[edit] Reviews

As of December 7, 2006, Okami has received a 93% review average[8] at GameRankings.

[edit] Awards

  • GameInformer: October 2006 Game of the Month
  • IGN: October 2006 Game of the Month
  • Electronic Gaming Monthly: September 2006 Game of the Month
  • Gamespot: Editors' Choice Award

Ōkami also received several awards during its presentation at E3 2005:

  • 1UP.com: Best PS2 Game, 2nd Best Game of Show, 3rd Best Action Game
  • GameInformer: 1st Billy's Top 10 Favorite Games of E3
  • GameSpy: 5th place overall
  • G4TV's X-play: Most Original Game
  • IGN: Best PS2 Game of Show, runner-up for Best of Show and Most Innovative Design

[edit] Trivia

  • Throughout the game, Ōkami includes several references (in visual effects, animation, or dialogue) to other Capcom titles such as Viewtiful Joe, which Clover Studios also developed.
  • The game was originally planned to be rendered in a more photorealistic 3D style, however, Clover Studios determined that the PlayStation 2 hardware was insufficient for a photorealistic style;[9][10] Clover's decision to instead use cel-shading was inspired by the lead artist experimenting with charcoal watercolor.[citation needed]
  • An NPC aptly named "Animal Lover" lost his rabbit named "Inaba." In addition to being the name of the legendary rabbit, Inaba is the last name of Ōkami's head producer, Atsushi Inaba. Also, to further convey the joke, Inaba the rabbit can be seen falling out of a tree directly underneath Atsushi Inaba's name during the closing credits.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.capcom.com/release_dates.xpml Capcom Release Date Info
  2. ^ Capcom Europe's gamesheet for Ōkami
  3. ^ While many gamers felt that the Celestial Brush aspect of the game would have made Ōkami a better title for Nintendo's Wii console, Atsushi Inaba of Clover Studio has stated that Ōkami is primarily an action game, and the Wii controller would not be well suited for the overall gameplay contained within the game. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3154407
  4. ^ The manual for the US version of the game specifically mentions that Amaterasu has been written as gender-neutral despite the feminine connotations of the Shinto name.
  5. ^ Similar to the traditional English fable of the Man on the Moon, the Japanese tradition is that there is a rabbit on the moon, pounding rice to make mochi.
  6. ^ The cat is not part of the 12 Chinese Zodiac creatures, but the stories behind the zodiac would have had the cat as one of the 12 were not for the rat that deceived him.
  7. ^ http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/okami_mythology.txt
  8. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/920500.asp
  9. ^ http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/14/okami-before-and-after-cel-shading/
  10. ^ http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/5057

[edit] External links

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