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Ōkami
The cover art for Ōkami.
Developer(s)Clover Studio
Publisher(s)Capcom
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseJapan April 20, 2006
United States of America September 19, 2006
PAL February 2007
Genre(s)Action/Adventure
Mode(s)Single player
For the subspecies of gray wolf, see Japanese Wolf.

Template:Nihongo title 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 during February 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, mean "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.

A demo of the game is featured in Issue 103 and 109 of the Official PlayStation Magazine.

The game, if preordered from EB Games or GameStop, includes a limited edition Buddha/art board.

Story

Set in the Nippon region during some unspecified time period during the classical Japanese period, Okami combines several Japanese mythology stories and tales to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the wolf, Amaterasu.

Template:Spoiler 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 (known as Izanagi in mythology), 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 (known as Izanami in mythology) 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. In fact, it is shortly discovered that 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 northword, but not unnoticed by Amaterasu.

After leaving Kamiki again, Amaterasu continues to search for more brush techniques and to investiage that 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 was continuing to send 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. Amaterasu, demended to stop this once and for all, heads to the snow-covered parts of the land.

There, a legend of a mysterious "Ark of Yamoto" is discovered. The Ark seems to have fallen from the heavens 200 years ago and crashed into a frozen lake, and open up to reveal hordes of evil demons that immediately becan 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 help of many others, is able to defeat all the remaining demon foes, including those she previously fought before but have returned here.

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 similarity in overall gameplay style to The Legend of Zelda series.

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. This 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. However, in traditional gaming fashion, not all of the abilities are possessed from the beginning of the game and must be collected.

Not all abilities in the game are earned as you linearly progress through the game however. Some of the higher grade abilities of certain elements must be collected through side-quests, such as buying new techniques from the dojo.

Characters

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's gender is written to be ambiguous. However, the goddess Amaterasu is based on is female. The "Golden Fury" official art seems to indicate that Amaterasu is female physically, though that is not very solid evidence. Amaterasu is also referred to several times as "mother", sometimes in more than one context. Whatever the case, the game seems to avoid the gender issue altogether through some clever wording, although this may make the dialogue subject to some monotony ("the wolf did this", "Amaterasu does that").
  • 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 of Japanese mythology.

Supporting characters

  • Shiranui
    The wolf who supposedly fought Orochi 100 years before the events of the game. He or she died during that time, then was reincarnated 100 years later as the main character of Ōkami. Shiranui plays a major part not only in the Legend of Orochi, but also near the end of the game.
  • Sakuya
    Sakuya is 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.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Orange
    The eldest residents of Kamiki Village.
  • Kushi (Japanese: 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.
  • Susano (Japanese: Susanoo)
    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 (Japanese: 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.
  • Kokari
    A fisherman's son from Agata Forest who Amaterasu and Issun help in finding his lost dog in the Tsutamaki Ruins.
  • Princess Fuse
    Fuse is the 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.
  • 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.
  • Rao (Japanese: Tsudzurao)
    Rao is 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.
  • Kaguya
    "Another babe" (according to Issun) that wears a transparent dome helmet connected to a large bamboo stalk. She was found in a metal bamboo stalk. She remembers nothing of her past.
  • Princess Otahime (Japanese: Princess Oto)
    The princess of the Dragon Palace.
  • Tobi (Japanese: Hayatobimaru)
    A scroll found on Oni Island with a die-hard competitive spirit.
  • Oki (Japanese: Okikurmi)
    A warrior from Kamui, the northern-most 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.
  • Lika
    A young girl from Kamui who must recite the volcanic incantation to save Kamui from freezing over.

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". For some reason, its head is 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 myst that plagues Sei-an City. Is really a body for the evil sword Goldnail.
  • Ninetails
    A nine-tailed fox 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.

Weapons

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

  • The reflector (or mirror) is used as an attacking disc, stored on Amaterasu's back (main weapon form). It can also be used as a counter attacking shield on physical contact based attacks (secondary weapon form), whereby Amaterasu will intercept the enemy attack and bring them into the air before slamming them into the ground. There are five mirror based weapons in total in the game.
  • The rosaries (or beads) are introduced as long-ranged weapons, spat out of Amaterasu's mouth (secondary weapon form). They can also be linked together to form a whip (main weapon form), dealing high damage through high number count combos. There are five Jewel based weapons in total in the game.
  • The glaive (or sword) is somehow controlled by Amaterasu to be wielded in midair and used to perform a number of slashing moves (main weapon form), or can be used for a straight charge into the enemy (secondary weapon form). There are five sword-based weapons in total in the game.

Mythology

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

--Ōkami Instruction Manual


Reaction

Reviews

Awards


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

  • 1UP: 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
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

Trivia

  • 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 Okami's head producer, Atsushi Inaba.
  • The game makes several references to previous Capcom titles such as Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry.
    • One of the characters, an old trainer named Onigiri Sensei, goes through a transformation stage upon paying to learn a skill from him. The animation and effects are taken from Viewtiful Joe's transformation (or Henshin) sequence.
    • Onigiri Sensei also carries a shinai bamboo sword, and when he signals at you, he does it just like Hayato Nekketsu from Rival Schools.
    • When Amaterasu loses all inkpots, she reverts to a plain white wolf. When fighting in this form, her moves are the same as Jon Talbain's from Darkstalkers.
    • A young female character makes a statement quoting Viewtiful Joe's famous catch phrase "Henshin a go go" after drawing a V on a kimono during the length of a sidequest.
    • The conversation before the first battle with Waka ends with Waka saying to the player, "Let's rock, baby!", which is the same phrase used by Dante in the pre-title sequence in Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3. Waka's style of speaking also seem to be a parody of Dante.
    • When Waka prepares for the first battle, he grabs his flute and slides his hand on it, turning it into a laser sword, exactly like Hayato Kanzaki does in Star Gladiator.
    • The conversation before the second battle with Waka ends with Waka telling the player to "Just go for it!", which is the same that a narrator states at the start of each level in Viewtiful Joe.
    • One of Waka's attacks during battle is M. Bison's Psycho Crusher.
    • When Mrs. Orange prepares her cake, she does a Shun Goku Satsu, Street Fighter character Akuma's trademark super move.
  • When digging in spots that glow, Clover Studio's symbol will appear. Even its music during the introductory movie for Clover is played.

Reference

  1. http://www.capcom.com/release_dates.xpml Capcom Release Date Info

External links

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