![]() ![]() Inky black lines envelop geometric edges across the world bleeding out across the image. Clover Studio pushed its cel-shading techniques to the next level but rather than mimicking the look of a modern anime or manga as was common at the time, the team focused instead on replicating the style of Japanese sumi-e paintings. It's still a great game today but what stands out most is its visual style. It may not have ignited sales charts, but it's widely considered a classic of its era. With an enormous pool of talent and money behind the game, Okami was released to critical acclaim back in 2006. While the studio no longer exists today, the spirit of Clover lives on through Platinum Games - but Okami remains a superb example of this remarkable team's early work. With the talents of Shinji Mikami, Hideki Kamiya, Atsushi Inaba and others behind it, Clover produced some true classics during its short lifespan. Back in the day, Capcom's Clover Studio was a development group formed by Capcom to develop new IPs and explore new genres. Okami is one of those titles with timeless charm, created by genuine gaming artisans. ![]() The visual aesthetic is timeless - it's one of those games that manages to hold up even when viewed through the lens of a modern 4K TV. It's a beautiful adventure and one the firm has seen fit to re-release across three generations of consoles - and it now arrives on Nintendo Switch, boasting new features including touchscreen input and motion control, along with HD visuals in line with the other current-gen ports.Īnd honestly, it works. It's a sprawling open-ended action RPG fusing The Legend of Zelda with ancient Japanese history and at the time of its initial release, it was also one of the most ambitious and expensive games undertaken by publisher Capcom. While I would certainly agree that not all games need to be challenging to be fun, I found myself dodging all non-mandatory combat encounters out of tedium more than anything else.Īfter turning off the incessant “voice acting”, I found the various characters much more charming and the humor felt right in line with the world presented, offering up more than a handful of good chuckles throughout the adventure.Released more than 12 years ago, the original Okami arrived during the PlayStation 2's twilight years. As I stockpiled more and more health items, I never found a reason to use them, as I found myself never really in danger during combat. Unfortunately, even though the game was fairly well paced, I found the combat and puzzle elements to be sorely lacking in any kind of challenge. The sense of progression felt smooth, as I was regularly given new abilities so that I could deal with new obstacles and as the game constantly threw new enemy types my way, I would test out my new brush skills to see if I could dispatch them more efficiently. Luckily, it’s very stable and during my playtime on the PS4 Pro, I didn’t notice a single dip and the performance held true without any issue, even during the most hectic of encounters.Īfter the initial adjustment period of getting used to the art style, it looked great even in 1080p, and this is yet another case of a game where screenshots don’t do the actual visual fidelity justice as the vibrant colors in conjunction with the animation really makes everything pop out in the most pleasant of ways.įrom a gameplay standpoint, it centers around the use of the celestial brush, which can be used to solve rudimentary puzzles or brandished during combat to extreme potency, given you know when to use it. However, Capcom in their infinite wisdom have decided to lock the frame rates at 30, regardless of the platform, so whether you’re on the PS4 Pro, X1X or SLI 1080Tis equipped PC, you’re stuck at 30FPS. ![]() Unfortunately, I do not own a 4K capable display to test out the 4K capabilities first hand, but I’ve been told by credible sources that the visuals look better than ever. The interactive mini-game that was missing from the Wii/PS3 release was added back in and mostly importantly, now the game supports full 4K on PS4,XB1 and PC. The player is able to choose to play in the original 4:3 or the 16:9 aspect ratios. Given this is a review of a game that is over a decade old now, I will focus more on what is improved or added in from the original and frankly, there isn’t a lot. ![]() I’m sad to hear that because I’m just PEACHY. ![]()
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