Okami hands-on

Some games, like Shadow of the Colossus or Ocarina of Time, have that intangible "something" that makes them more than just a bunch of polygons thrown up on a screen by a wheezing plastic box. Add one more game to that list. In our eight transcendent hours with Okami, we're already convinced this water-colored adventure will rank among the most unique, beloved fables on the PS2. Okami will affect your life.

But this gushing praise wasn't our first impression. You're awoken as a goddess that's taken wolf form after a hundred-year slumber. You've come back because someone's broken the seal on an eight-headed demon that once ravaged the countryside. Now the world's cursed: bleak, dirty and bland... and not a lot of fun to run around. The first hour or so was spent roaming around these ruined landscapes, gathering huge amounts of tedious backstory from scared villagers. Buh.

Soon after, your true calling finally becomes clear. Your divine job is to restore this murky world to its former, illustrious glory by beating back the demonic hordes and reacquiring your omnipotent stature. When you first enter the world, it's blanketed by a glowing red cursed zone - only after fighting off the monsters and using your godlike Celestial Brush to revive ailing saplings and dying trees does green return to the world. But when it does, all that boring, drab scenery makes way for a magnificent, blue-skied field. It's a feeling that few games can provide: the simple beauty of nature.

CATEGORIES
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

Latest in Adventure
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A will allegedly introduce 27 new Mega Evolutions, leakers claim, and we can only hope Flygon gets its chance this time
Minecraft Vibrant Visuals
16 years after Minecraft first released it's getting a modern visual upgrade with a retro lighting trick that Mojang hasn't seen "in any other game"
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Putting cigarettes in fish mouths in Thank Goodness You're Here
Thank Goodness You're Here's developer says it was trying to design a game normally before realizing "we're s**t at video game design"
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shiny Cards
How to get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's director appears to be a Xenoblade Chronicles fan, and I'm now feeling very validated about a tiny detail I spotted in the upcoming RPG's gameplay trailer
Latest in Features
Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay taken for review
Assassin's Creed Shadows claims to offer two protagonists, but the choice between Yasuke and Naoe seems pretty rigged
Asssassin's Creed Shadows kusarigama
My favorite weapon in Assassin's Creed Shadows is also the most misunderstood
Imai Sokyu leads the tea ceremony in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows' tea ceremony quest is one of the game's best moments, but I wish Ubisoft would give us even higher stakes
Bloodborne
10 years on, Bloodborne remains an unmatchable feat of atmosphere thanks to the mind-boggling oppressive scale of Yharnam
Cropped key art for Revenge of the Savage Planet showing two player characters running away from lots of green goo, flanked by various googly-eyed wildlife
Revenge of the Savage Planet is a refreshingly colorful and light-hearted co-op throwback to the carefree action platformers of the noughties
Yasuke looks at a shrine in the water in Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar
"We don't want to force one terabyte of data on the players": Assassin's Creed Shadows' tech director on the clever tricks Ubisoft uses to "go beyond" current-gen