Okami HD is a remaster of Okami, a game that has already become a classic must play game because of it’s uniqueness in terms of art-style and gameplay. Okami combines several Japanese mythology and folklore and has you play as a Sun Goddess who is sent back to the world in form of a White Wolf because a warrior that doesn’t believe in legends decided to unleash an ancient demon that was sealed by you ages ago who goes and corrupts the land and it is your job to restore things back to normalcy.
It features a very unique Japanese wood print and painting art-style which ties in heavily with one of the most prominent gameplay mechanics of the game where you use a Celestial Ink Brush to draw things into existence or to perform various gameplay maneuvers. This is inter-mingling of art-style and gameplay is very ingenious and is quite interesting to see as it is not done a lot especially not to such a fantastic extent. The game has a few RPG elements but isn’t heavy on them. You gain experience and unlock new skills while also unlocking extra health and improving basic stats. The game world is not open world but has an interconnected level design which slowly opens up after you progress in the game and gain certain skills and abilities. The overall game’s length is about 40 hours which might feel a little like its dragging on near the end but other than that it is very good with the pacing of unlocks and abilities and story.
In terms of what the HD version offers,this remaster is still locked at 30fps on all platforms as a higher framerate would break the animations of the game according the developers. While the base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have a resolution of 1080p, the PlayStation 4, Xbox One X and PC support upto 4k resolution. This higher resolution really helps you appreciate the beauty of the art and the effort that was put into making this game which is essentially a playable sumi-e painting, not to mention the brilliant use of colours throughout the game.
The Music of the game is fantastic and while searching up about the music of this game, I found out that two very well known composers of the gaming industry worked on the soundtrack. Their combined games include Mega Man, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 and the original Resident Evil. This game won the award for Best Video Game Soundtrack back when it first released in 2007 so it’s an understatement to say that the music of this game is good. The voices however can be jarring and off-putting as it is just scrambled gibberish which when combined with unskippable cutscenes makes a very annoying duo that hinders the overall experience of the game.
Okami HD is a game as much as it is an expression of art. It is a game that takes Japanese folklore, mythology and art to produce one of the most unique games to have come out ever and is a must play for both, fans of the original game and newcomers as well.
Okami HD is out now for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
