Author Topic: Okami Reviewed. (Read 39322 times)

ScaryTooth · « **on:** Friday, September 15, 2006, 08:02:40 PM »

By IGN, got a 9.1

I'm betting Greg gives it a 9.0 even Monday, when his review goes up. I've been messing with the demo, and it rocks. Can't wait to pick it up next week.

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #1 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 05:19:20 PM »

Wasn't Gamespot supposed to review this tonight?

Oh well.

sirean_syan · « **Reply #2 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 06:10:12 PM »

I didn't think they posted any sort of time to expect it.

wizall · « **Reply #3 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 06:33:40 PM »

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/okami/review.html

Nice guess, man. Yeah, this looks like an immediate buy.

sirean_syan · « **Reply #4 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 06:42:13 PM »

Oh, heck yeah.

We've got a winner. Odds are my copy won't show up until later this week, but I think I can wait.

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #5 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 06:47:32 PM »

Sweet!

I watched their live show last week, and Kasavin said he was going to review it, and that it should be up Monday. Should be good.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #6 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 07:13:34 PM »

Man that looks good. Damn it to hell. I can't afford all these games!! Somebody want to buy a slightly used kidney?

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #7 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 07:20:33 PM »

You could always donate blood. They give you like $60 or something don't they?

Quemaqua · « **Reply #8 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 07:23:45 PM »

They still pay? I thought they'd stopped doing that. Heh. That'd be a weird way to support my habit...

EDIT - Fuck. I read the review more completely, and I can't even tell you how much I want this now. It sounds like pretty much everything we'd hoped it would be it actually is, and that's a very, very good thing.

idolminds · « **Reply #9 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 08:38:02 PM »

They pay for blood? I was just giving it away! What a fool I've been!

Pugnate · « **Reply #10 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 11:12:47 PM »

Quote from: Quemaqua on Monday, September 18, 2006, 07:13:34 PM

Man that looks good. Damn it to hell. I can't afford all these games!! Somebody want to buy a slightly used kidney?

I will arrange the money now, but I will hold you to your promise. One morning you will wake up on bed with red sheets and feeling slightly lighter on one side.

But first I have to check if your kidney is compatible with that creature I am building.

Quote

You could always donate blood. They give you like $60 or something don't they?

I've donated blood a couple of times. Never got paid. I guess the keyword is donate.

Quote

They still pay? I thought they'd stopped doing that. Heh. That'd be a weird way to support my habit.

haha... you'd be reverse vampire man or something. Hey what was that crazy nick Sirean gave you? Inverse Man?

Quote

They pay for blood? I was just giving it away! What a fool I've been!

Haha!

Anyway Okami looks fantastic. It is funny how the GC and Xbox stopped getting great titles long ago yet the PS2 continues to score.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #11 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 11:18:03 PM »

It's a testament to the staying power of the PS2, I think. It really dominated this generation by a huge margin.

PyroMenace · « **Reply #12 on:** Monday, September 18, 2006, 11:27:45 PM »

Oh hell fucking yes... finally a game to get sucked into.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #13 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 07:37:36 AM »

Kas' video review is up!

PyroMenace · « **Reply #14 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 12:05:02 PM »

Its game length clocks in at 30 hours, freaking awesome! and its even more gorgeous looking than I thought. Must have now!

sirean_syan · « **Reply #15 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 02:21:07 PM »

That's pretty amazing that it turned out that long. Almost nothing breaks the 15 hour mark that isn't a long-winded RPG these days, or ever for that matter.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #16 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 05:36:45 PM »

Yeah. That actually makes me really happy since I love it when action/adventure games like this are nice and big. Because they're generally so immediate (pretty graphics, fun little things to do, lots of crap to find and pick up), a bigger world can often be a good thing even if it doesn't make the game outright longer in itself. But the fact that this one *does* add significant time, and the fact that it really doesn't drag out at all (so sayeth Kas, anyway)... that's just more than we could ask for. I was actually expecting the game to be rather short just from what I'd seen previously. I'm very glad to know that isn't the case.

Cobra951 · « **Reply #17 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 07:18:31 PM »

Holy cow, where did this come from? Just watched the GS video review, and I gotta have it. Will give me something feel-good to do for a change.

Edit: Yeah, the epic length is said to be genuine, not extreme difficulty or needless repetition.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #18 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 07:20:09 PM »

Believe it or not, I actually wrote a poem about it today. I know, I'm weird. I find inspiration in odd places. I'll post it later.

JacksRag(e) · « **Reply #19 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 08:42:38 PM »

Quote from: Quemaqua on Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 07:20:09 PM

Believe it or not, I actually wrote a poem about it today. I know, I'm weird. I find inspiration in odd places. I'll post it later.

No, it's ok, you don't really have to.
Jokes jokes!

This game is so pretty I may just end up trying to buy it even though I don't even own a PS2. I did that for Katamari Damacy.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #20 on:** Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 09:38:48 PM »

Well, there you go, as promised.

Cobra951 · « **Reply #21 on:** Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 02:59:54 PM »

Got it! It started out slow, but it's getting better. (Get ready to spend about 20 minutes on the lead-off story. Mostly reading and watching. At first, you can't even speed up the text, which gets annoying.) It's similar to Zelda, in the sense that you have this little critter sort of leading you by the nose. Lots of interruptons with "do this" and "now do that". There are fake voices too reminiscent of Banjo-Kazooie. I can see that on 32MB N64 carts, not DVDs. The brush mechanic takes a bit of time to get used to. It's real easy, though. So is combat, so far. The look is, well, surreal, with cel-shading. Part of the (short) learning curve is just understanding what it is you're looking at sometimes. I like how you can destroy almost anything that doesn't serve some other purpose. The gameplay mechanics are very good--great control, complete camera control, with exceptions in some places.

So first impressions are good, but I still have much to get used to. It has some Zelda OoT flavor, with a radical look.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #22 on:** Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 06:07:51 PM »

I picked it up today as well along with the guide so that Julia can play it later (she likes guides... even if she doesn't use them super heavily, they make her feel more secure and help pursuade her to try new things). I'm really looking forward to it. It's supposed to be super easy, which I could go for right now. I need something to help me relax.

Cobra951 · « **Reply #23 on:** Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 09:49:09 PM »

Yeah, too easy, really. I don't just mean the fighting, but everything is too spoon-fed. It's a neat game which sorely needs an adult mode. Turn off about 2/3rds of the hints, info repetitions and spelling out of obvious conclusions, and it would be one hell of a game. As it is, I'm enjoying it, but wishing for a speed-up button like on emulators. It will suck you in. I've put in over 8 hours today, according to the game saves. I love just running around the world to see what I can do and find. The Zelda influence is obvious, and that's not a bad thing at all. I love games like this, and it's been a long while since Wind Waker.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #24 on:** Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 10:31:15 PM »

I absolutely love it. I agree that it's been a bit spoon fed thus far, and it would be nice if it didn't cater to you quite as much, but I can completely deal with it. It really hasn't lessened my enjoyment of the game at all.

But yes, the game is unbelievable overall. It's just so... so... I don't know. It's one of those storybook themes that just tugs at my heartstrings. I live for this kind of thing. And the art is absolutely incredible. The way the black bleeds as it moves and when you jump through it, like the world is constantly being painted over... amazing. This is the kind of game I could spend a billion hours with and be perfectly happy every minute. If things continue as good as the first few hours have been, then I'll be a happy boy.

PyroMenace · « **Reply #25 on:** Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 10:59:42 PM »

I'm thinking about getting it for this weekend to play. I want it sooo bad.

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #26 on:** Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 11:41:32 PM »

I only got to play it for about 40 minutes tonight, and I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I just kind of passed out. Not that the game was boring or anything, I was just so damn zoinked. I've worked 36 hours in the last 3 days, and I worked 62 hours last week. And now I actually have the next 4 days off. Gonna spend a lot of that time playing this. Gonna dive right into it as soon as I wake up tomorrow.

But those 40 minutes were great.

Anyone else get the cool art board thing?

sirean_syan · « **Reply #27 on:** Thursday, September 21, 2006, 12:29:40 AM »

I'm supposed to. My copy of the game probably won't arrive until Friday. It's too bad I'll be out town for the weekend, but I really can't wait until I can dive in.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #28 on:** Thursday, September 21, 2006, 07:25:53 AM »

I'm mad that I didn't preorder. I just never really know how I'm going to squeeze money out these days so it's hard to do that sometimes. I'd have loved to get the art board, but I just picked my copy up on the fly.

Played 'till a bit past midnight last night. At around the 3 hour bar. Absolutely loving things.

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #29 on:** Thursday, September 21, 2006, 12:15:04 PM »

I'm at 4 hours right now. Loving it. The game is beautiful. I also wish the game didn't point stuff out as much as it does, but it doesn't hamper my enjoyment of the game one bit. It's awesome.

And check this out. Saw this earlier. It's a side-by-side comparison of that the game was originally supposed to look like, and the finish product. Pretty cool.

Here

Quemaqua · « **Reply #30 on:** Thursday, September 21, 2006, 07:03:59 PM »

That's a crazy video, thanks for posting it. They must never have released footage of that stage of development because I never saw it until it looked the way it does now. That's really quite interesting. I find that I'm really in love with the concept as much as I am the art, so I think I'd probably have enjoyed it even if it looked more realistic and all. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #31 on:** Thursday, September 21, 2006, 09:27:26 PM »

This game is so damn cool. I can't find a single thing I don't like. I'm right now at the 10 hour mark or so. Loving every second of it.

Just got past the ruins in the forest a while ago, and now I'm just running around doing various things.

Cobra951 · « **Reply #32 on:** Thursday, September 21, 2006, 11:23:49 PM »

Quote from: Quemaqua on Thursday, September 21, 2006, 07:03:59 PM

That's a crazy video, thanks for posting it. They must never have released footage of that stage of development because I never saw it until it looked the way it does now. That's really quite interesting. I find that I'm really in love with the concept as much as I am the art, so I think I'd probably have enjoyed it even if it looked more realistic and all. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

I don't think the video on the left is gonna happen real-time on a PS2. That looks pre-rendered to me, maybe a conceptual sequence.

I've been hammering away at the game, and it does get better. I don't want to give away anything. It's very special. Just have fun with it.

It cheats on the hours logged, though, because it does not stop the clock when you pause the game and walk away from it. I'm not saying the game is short, though. It's a massive world, with many individual characters and events.

Frustration prevention: At least in one situation, you can rotate the scene with R1 pressed, to better position the area on which you need to use the brush. Don't forget this.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #33 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 12:41:04 AM »

I think the video on the left could be on the PS2. It didn't look *that* impressive. Hard to tell with such a small vid regardless.

But yes, I'm roughly where Scary is, though not at 10 hours. At about 8 1/2. And yeah, it does cheat with the pause thing. I'm actually at 9-something hours, but I have to cut off 1 1/2 hours roughly for pause time.

Anyway, this game is just amazing. I've debated for a long time what my game-related tattoo might be, and Amaterasu is looking more like the prime candidate every time I turn around. This has been a great month for me gaming-wise, but I have to say that this game blows all the rest out of the water in a big way.

idolminds · « **Reply #34 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 12:44:29 AM »

I'm going to wait for a sale since I just got CoH...but I really want this. For some reason I thought it was a side scroller like Viewtiful Joe, but it seems to be even more awesome than that.

Quemaqua · « **Reply #35 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 12:50:42 AM »

It struck me earlier that this game really hits me emotionally. I mean, I'm a complete sucker for anything with a kind of storybook vibe to it. That sort of childlike simplicity of good versus evil where everything is laid out so squarely in front of you. I think I love that because life is so much different... so complicated and full of mixed messages and confusion about which side is the right side. It's refreshing to play games like this and just feel at ease. But that doesn't quite explain why I find this game so beautiful. It has a great number of silly moments and goofy characters, but there have been numerous times when I just felt like I wanted to cry after something monumental happened. Am I really as fucked up as I feel, so much that this kind of thing can affect me that much?

Cobra951 · « **Reply #36 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 05:55:22 AM »

I don't think so. I get the goose-bumpy jollies whenever I free up an area. That dramatic scene with everything growing, and the awesome music, brings me a big smile.

The game is truly spectacular. I really miss being able to play it on my 27" TV and my big stereo. I know it would have an even better impact on my old setup. I'm just glad to be able to play it at all. It might be the last truly outstanding PS2 game. And for me at least, it dropped out of the sky from nowhere. Didn't know about it at all, until this thread!

sirean_syan · « **Reply #37 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 08:44:52 AM »

Damn. I really hope my copy gets here before too long today. I'd love to jump in and get going with all the comments being made.

Edit: Apparently my copy is "Out for Delivery" according to the tracking right now, but that can be decieving. Sometimes packages like that don't actually arrive until very late in the day.

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #38 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 04:38:03 PM »

I read a thing about how to get more demon fangs. But it wasn't very clear. anyone have a clue?

Cobra951 · « **Reply #39 on:** Friday, September 22, 2006, 05:28:09 PM »

The game should give you info on it along the way. When you kill a baddie, it dies in slow motion. During that, you need to draw on it with the correct brush technique. Then it will drop a demon fang. You're supposed to figure out what technique goes with which enemy. Try the power slash first. I think it's the most common.

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Author Topic: Okami Reviewed. (Read 39322 times)