'Okami', A Capcom, Clover Studios game for the PS2, is what I believe to be one of the most unappreciated games of the decade. At the time of it's release, in 2006, it was dwarfed by the prospects of incoming games such as 'Final Fantasy XII', 'Gears of War' and 'The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'. Against such anticipated titles 'Okami', which had even achieved several awards for best concept, had little chance of making itself known. It took me until 2008 before I discovered the amazing game. Later that year it was brought to the Nintendo Wii where it should have stood in the limelight against smaller, movie based releases, but still managed to be pushed back into the wings, possibly due to the previous November's releases such as 'Mass Effect' and 'Assasin's Creed'.
Finally after four years it was given another chance. An excellent remastered edition of the game was released on the PlayStation Network October 30 of this year. This excellent edition came with both controller and Move function-ability. With the update in graphics that pulls the player even more into the beauty of the Japanese woodblock painting style, 'Okami' has shown even brighter than it has before. But not quite bright enough. 'Halo 4', 'Call of Duty: Black Ops II', 'Assassin's Creed III', all pushed their way passed the wonderful game onto center stage, once again leaving little 'Okami' to fall onto the back burner.
'Okami' is a wonderful action adventure game with gameplay right out of the story books of Japan. You play mother goddess Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and creator of Japan, reincarnated into the body of a wolf. The quest is to destroy a great evil that plagues the world by bringing Nippon back to life with Celestial Brush strokes, painting abilities that control nature and are bestowed upon Amaterasu by the many gods of nature. These brush strokes are the highlight of the game. Not only can the players destroy their enemies by plenty of awesome attacks but also through well timed brush abilities such as ink bullets, defensive trees, and the ability to slow down time. The game's wonderful mix of genres, including RPG like elements as well as platforming, keeps you on your toes in an incredibly enjoyable way!
So why is this game so unappreciated? In my opinion too many gamers now days anticipate games packed with ongoing action and a diverse difficulty meter. There are those who refuse to play anything less than the Legendary in 'Halo 4' and those who wish for the almost immortality of Recruit in 'Call of Duty'. 'Okami' is not by any means action packed. Its neither extremely difficult nor is it a breeze to get through, for everyone anyway. 'Okami' is just a calming, beautiful old style game with a mix of game play including an action RPG style based attack system, an in-depth story and plethora of side quests, and a unique problem solving approach to exploration as well as battle. I would say that perhaps that gaming style is getting out of date but that would be like saying 'The Legend of Zelda' is getting old and we all know that I would have several thousand fans coming down on me if I said something like that.
Overall I think the game is absolutely amazing and do not quite understand the lack of overwhelming support which it deserves. Though it was able to spawn a small sequel for the Nintendo DS, 'Okamiden', I still feel like we should be seeing much more of this magnificent game than we are. I don't know if its just high hopes but I can see a future where people suddenly discover the game and I am the hipster in the background saying 'I told you so!'
As part of the recent Capcom leaks, sales data for Okami HD has been revealed.
No; it shows how many Switch owners out there are actually buying software.
Award winning games, hardware that's been flying off the shelves for 4 years.
Don't be a biased twit.
SHOWs HOw bOREd SwiTCH OwNerS are.. tHERE Are No gameS ON iT".Lol, salty about a port selling better than the competition. Funny that a system "with no games" is about to sell 70 million units. More ridiculous comments, please!
Wanting to replay an all time masterpiece has nothing to do with boredom.
Stop with your pathetic console wars nonsense
And seeing as the US didn't get a physical release, my girlfriend imported it and got me the Japanese version for Christmas. I wanted a physical release.
Exactly why I asked for it ;) Do you know it's English voices or just subtitles
The texts will be English. The game voices are gibberish, like what you'd hear in Animal Crossing.
Why is this a surprise? The reason why the HD version sold more on the Switch is because majority of the gamers already played it before the HD version was released. Plus, the HD version was only available version on the Switch. This game was good, but it wasnt a game that warrants a rebuy to play in HD for the other consoles.
Pretty sure okami HD was the only way to play Okami on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 too. And, unless you were one of the 10M or so who own a PS2 BC PS3...it's the only way to play on PS3 as well.
Okami was originally released in 2006 on the PS2 and Wii and then remaster on the PS3. THen the HD version was released on the PS4, xbox, and switch. Majority of the people who played it either played it on the PS2 or the PS3 and Wii will most likely wont rebuy the HD version to replay it on the PS4. That leaves the majority of the HD sales to the Switch and the Xbox one.
And it was a PS+ game back on the PS3. I still have it installed on my PS3.
Just like the case with Gears5, a game given with a subs seldom appear on top of charts
Those are some great numbers combined. Okami initially "underperformed" on Wii and PS2, but the HD release means that combined sales are around 3.4 million now. Not bad
I was about to impressed until I clicked the link and saw what the numbers are. I thought it was going to be in the millions or something. It sold 70k more then pc and PS3 and a little closer to 170k Over PS4. But collectively in the ps environment it’s sold more on PS3 and PS4 combined.
The saddest part is seeing the Xbox one sales. That’s really sad unfortunately
"The saddest part is seeing the Xbox one sales. That’s really sad unfortunately"
It really is. Its funny to see Xbox fans that think Xbox fans buy games like Yakuza, Dragonquest, FF, DMC, KH, Nier or anything
What's even more sad is if you look in the comments they posted sales break down for Ace Attorney and Onimusha:
The Capcom leaks also gave us the global platform sales splits of Ace Attorney Trilogy, as of Oct 2020:
> NSW: 462,395
> PC: 245,339
> PS4: 103,235
> XBO: 4,821
Total: 815,790
I found Onimusha HD's sales split as well:
> PS4: 207,453
> NSW: 111,869
> XBO: 39,802
> PC: 34,331
Damn, that's some gap!
I’m not even surprised about the ace attorney franchise numbers. That franchise has been synonymous with 3DS its natural that the switch would pull higher numbers. Onimusha is sad to see but I’m willing to bet that if it was an actual mainline entry with modern controls and graphics it would’ve sold better.
This continues the trend that JUST because a game is on multiple platforms does not mean it will be successful.
That's pretty good actually. Onimusha isn't anywhere near as praised as Okami nor has a true fanbase like Ace Attorney. I loved the Onimusha series personally though. I am surprised though that the PC version of Ace Attorney did better than the non Nintendo Consoles.
The video games industry has evolved quickly over the years, changing into something different, something that’s almost alien compared to the gaming market back in the 90s and 2000s. Major publishers such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and Bethesda seem adamant on chasing the anti-consumeristic “Games As A Service” model with an incredibly worrying focus on hyper-realistic visuals – all style, no substance if you will.
However, there’s still hope with indies and other smaller-scale developers. We have seen how beautiful and stunning games like Gris, ABZU and even Hyper Light Drifter can be as examples of how indie games can be captivating as an art form with not a single hint of photorealism in sight.
Which leads us to today’s talk about the aforementioned games in the title – and the reasons why this gaming generation needs more such games.
Arent their already 1000s of indie games out there and even more to come. There are a ton of choices for people that are not into AAA realism. How much more do we need? Indie games have exploded as tech as become easier to use and buy.
I wouldn't put that game studio in the same tier as Team Ico. There's lots of indie devs at their level churning out that kind of stuff. But we certainly need another studio to carry on the torch for team Ico.
They should adopt the blumhouse model for single player games. Like a plague tale. That AAA experience on a indie budget.
As our climate situation becomes increasingly dire, few games are as soothing to play as Okami, where you fix the world with a single stroke.
"increasingly dire"? More dire than new York being underwater by 2010 as predicted in in the 90s or??
Y’know I just enjoy games for the stories, the worlds in them, and the gameplay... remember those days?
Definitely the closest thing to a Zelda the PS3 will ever get. And that is NOT a bad thing, it's an awesome game.
I am not happy with the asking price for this game. I am not doubting the game isn't worth £16, but I can get it for Wii for around £3. not only that, but these HD remakes when sold alone go for around £8 to £12. I could get the ICO collection at launch for £20 which works out at £10 each and is much better value for money.
I refuse to give Capcom my money when they have priced a game so high for no other reason than they know its a classic. MGS3 is a classic, but I still get it for £12 off the store.
Shocking prices. I need to play this game so it looks like the Wii version is for me.
I have tried playing Okami many times but the game bores me to death.
Loved the game. But Instead of a HD remake on PS3, I would rather see a version on the PS Vita, with Touchscreen use enabled. Painting with the touchscreen would be be a blast!!!