[PS2] Okami

I've had this on pre-order for a loooooooong time coming, and I'm completely stoked about it. Clover Studios quickly rose in the ranks of my favorite developers (although after VJ: Red Hot Rumble and Double Trouble they slipped a few notches down) with the Viewtiful Joe series, and I've really got no doubt about how unique the experience with Okami will be.

I'll be damned though. Still being PS2 games near the PS3's launch. My first PS3 titles won't get played until I beat all my backlogged PS2 ones!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I can't see any reason for Clover not to localize it for a US launch. The game is available for preorder at EB/GameStop as well, as I've had mine preordered for a good while now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'd like to see the article. We, for some reason, haven't seen anymore issues of play come in the mail at work, so yeah I'd really like to see that article.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Oh, this is fantastic.

It's almost like a breath of fresh air when a game like Okami comes to such a relatively stagnant industry. The visuals, the presentation, the gameplay - everything's nearly perfect, save for that damn Navi ripoff who's just as annoying. Calling a goddess "furball" should automatically get you annihilated.

Anyway, the presentation is absolutely top-shelf stuff. The visuals are wonderful and vivid, and I adore the fact that flowers spring up everywhere Amaterasu steps. I also enjoy her breakneck speed - she moves, she moves faster, and then she speeds forward with yellow flowers blooming behind her. It's incredible!

I love the fighting as well. Being a wolf and tearing into the enemy's bodies is so much fun and I love splitting them in half with the Celestial Brush. Speaking of which, I thought the brush's mechanics would feel a little awkward, but they really don't. In fact, it's really easy and enjoyable to pick up and play with.

This game is going to be excellent, no quesiton. At the very least, most artistic game of the year and likely most innovative game of the year, or at least a nomination for it. Sadly, this demo will have to keep my occupied for quite a few months before I get my hands on the real thing.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Actually Lian, if you could post the .rar somewhere else other than BT, I'd really appreciate it. I equally share your excitement, maybe even more so since every day at work I get to play the demo. Shh don't tell my boss or he'll get mad.

Right now though, BT's no longer seeding anything and I barely got anything from what little was being seeded.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Awesome Lian. I'm gonna let it download as I sleep tonight. Thanks again!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

We got the pre-order bonus Buddha Boards in today, so those who pre-ordered it at EB Games or Gamestop can go grab theirs. It's pretty nifty -- better than some pre-order bonuses, definitely.

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Here's what bothers me about IGN's review. They would say the exact same thing for a Zelda title, yet Lasting Appeal and Sound would've gotten higher scores. Ah well.

And as for the buddha boards. They're something akin to watercolor paints, but without color. All you did is dab a brush (which is included) into water and draw on the included board. I assume that when it dries, whatever you painted goes away.

Now, I've no idea why what I said earlier made no sense....but oh well. Just alerting those of you who pre-ordered your game would be able to go get your bonus.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I couldn't imagine why'd the bonus would only be for the US pre-orders, but then again I don't know for certain either way.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by JasonTerminator

Really?
They had the same problem with Zelda's sound as Okami's and *GASP*, the score REFLECTS IT! They also give Gameplay the same score as Okami, with the same complaint about the game being too easy!

Edit: With the Sound score, yes you're correct. However, you're quite a bit off with the Lasting Appeal score, as Okami only scored an 8.0, not to mention I wasn't even concerned with the Gameplay portion of it, so I don't know why you threw that argument in there.

Originally Posted by IGN's Review for Okami

9.0 Presentation
Great and informative menu layouts, impressive story and fantastic dialog. Plenty of load points, though most aren't overly long.
9.5 Graphics
Stunning. That's all there is to say.
8.5 Sound
Great soundtrack to perfectly blend with the world. Voices are just mumbles but sort of works.
9.0 Gameplay
The Celestial Brush makes the game and works brilliantly. Most battles are entirely too easy, unfortunately.
8.0 Lasting Appeal
Lengthy main quest with tons of extra stuff to find.
9.1
Outstanding OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

How ya doing, buddy?

I was really just making an observation. With Okami being very, very similar to a Zelda game (in this case, Wind Waker), I would've thought its score to be higher. A 9.1 is nothing to scoff at, but alas. For the record, none the Zelda games I've played have had any real replay value outside of "Hey that was cool. Let's do it again." I admit to being a little disappointed that IGN doesn't believe Okami measures up to Zelda in that respect.

And I'm not really trying to make an argument out of it. In any case, I'm still anxiously awaiting this game's arrival. I'll be at work tomorrow when it comes in, but I plan to take my lunch break to go to another store and pick up my pre-ordered copy. Too bad I have a huge test on Thursday and won't be playing it until early afternoon on Friday.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I own this. I have it sitting on my bed, with the guide, ready and eager to be played. Yet it sits, in its plastic wrapping. Why? Goddamn huge exam tomorrow, with papers and studying to be done tonight.

Alas, Thursday evening/Friday will be dedicated to the enjoyment of Okami!

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The same thing happened in Japan though. This game came out and it didn't sell very well, from what I heard. It was overshadowed by FF12.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm a little ahead of you, Spatula. No, your own Cherry Bombs can't hurt you, fortunately. Battle Tip: Since most enemies appear right in the middle of the "arena" you can create a Cherry Bomb beforehand and easily take out the Green Imps. Ftw.

I've acquired the Rosary Beads and the Snarling Beast -- an instrument similar to the Mirror Ammy was initially given. I gotta say, I really like the Rosary Beads.

As a main weapon, they act like a hit. My combo counter's gotten up to over 50 with it equipped. The Snarling Beast, as a primary weapon, lets you shoot out "Ink Bullets" which is pretty damn cool.

I just beat the Spider Queen -- I guess the first major boss of the game, save maybe for Waka depending on how you look at it.

As for divine attributes, I've bumped up my life two or three times (costs 170 now, I think), ink once and my purse once. The purse allows you to carry a maximum of 999,999. I only upgraded it because I did actually hit the max on the initial purse -- 99,999.

Anyone been collecting Demon Fangs? I had 70 but I met the Fang Trader Kiba and picked up the Lucky Cat -- draws money and items to Ammy. It was a cross between that and a Mat which, when you made an "offering" you could sleep on it to regain health. I've only gotta get a few more Demon Fangs and I can run and pick that up as well.

I'm definitely gonna work on upgrading my ink though -- during the fight against the Spider Queen, I ran out numerous times and you can't do anything save for waiting until the ink containers fill back up. I ran outta ink in several different regular fights too, especially against the Bud enemies since they require you to use Bloom and Power Slash kinda often.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Ahahaha I recently acquired the Golden Fury Technique.

Spoiler:

Do wolves, female wolves at that, actually pee THAT much? XD

Love that technique. Demon fangs for ALL.

I'm having a blast just running around dropping cherry bombs on stuff. Cherry bombs own. If I find a pot, I draw a cherry bomb above it and watch it explode. Also, cherry bombing is the best method of cutting the grass, period. Beats hacking it to death with a sword.

How does one go about making an offering? I was at one place earlier in the game, and it asked me to make an offering....rather, Issun said I should making an offering, and the word was highlighted.

FELIPE NO

Oh yeah -- I posted that little battle strategy a page back. Soon as you enter battle, draw a cherry bomb in the middle and it'll almost always hit/wipe out the weaker guys.

It's also really handy to use against those flower-bud enemies. One hit makes them susceptible to Bloom, and a powered-up Rosary Bead combo with the 6-hit technique utterly destroys them.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Godhood is actually the amount of shielding you have against attacks. Use a Traveler's Charm to increase it, or rack up combos to do the same.

Watch carefully when you get hit by enemy attacks -- if you see something golden or red appear around you, that's your Godhood shield.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Possibly done playing for today.

Spoiler:

Just beat Orochi, played at the festival, yack yack.

Time definitely flies when I'm playing this, though. I didn't know it was 5:30 until a few minutes ago. Yikes. So far, my favorite brush power is still the Cherry Bomb, but the Tsumugari glaive is the coolest weapon yet. Charged attacks = end. Those pesky flying fish that cling to you and blow themselves up can't even stand one fully charged hit after you cut their wings. Getting Demon Fangs has never been easier.

I've collected about 105 Fangs so far and bought everything from Kiba in Agata Forest. I spent sometime going back and forth through the Moon Cave fighting the Black Imps to get a lot of those though, since they offer up 3 per finishing strike with the Brush. Just running around Shinshu Field, using Tsumugari and ending battles with teh quickness has gotten me several more Fangs, probably at a faster pace than earlier.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Spoiler:

I tried that with one of the Canine Warriors, but the fucker had a three-hit combo and even with the Cherry Bomb between us, he just recognized it as a block and continued the assault. I got hit because I couldn't see him after the explosion. :/ I stuck with the old jump/fleetfoot technique.

Did the same with Orochi. I used a Cherry Bomb on him (post-shrine destruction) after he was drunk and just kept the onslaught going with the Life Beads, Cherry Bombs, and Power Slashes.

Man, all this talk is making it really hard to not go back and play again tonight. :/

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Keep at least ten of each different type of animal food -- seeds, herbs, meat, and fish. Feed every single animal you happen upon. You get dozens of praise points that way and it's extremely easy.

Even though it can be tedious, fight at every opportunity. For one, the fights are easy. Two, if you're quick enough, you can get double the victory yen every single time. It's an easy, easy way to earn yen.

Upgrade your purse at least once and ink at least once. Eventually, upgrade your Astral Pouch. Always upgrading health is an easy trap to fall into. You want your purse to be upgraded so you can afford the more expensive techniques taught by Onigiri Sensei, and I'm up to 6 ink bottles just because you end up chaining several brush techniques back to back, and not running out of ink helps.

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Those huge boulders -- I think they can be broken with the advanced charge technique you have to buy. Ammy gets a "powered up" version of her charge when she's on the field that'll let her break larger rocks, just like Digging Champ and breaking through rocky ground.

I was speaking idiomatically.

RPGcrazied, you're slightly behind where I'm at.

Spoiler:

I just finished Sei-an City's quests, but I still have to speak with Queen Himiko. Couldn't tell you how many hours into the game I am though.

Diggin the new rosary beads, but I'm gonna stick with the Seven Strike. I think that's what it's called anyway -- the second glaive. Powered it up with the Gold Dust and it's the strongest weapon I've got. Plus, it has Ink Bullet. Does anyone actually use the ink bullet ability?

One quick question. I bought the wood mat, figuring it'd be nice to have in case I ever needed a heal and ran out of items. It says I need to make a cash offering, but how do I do that? Thus far, I haven't been able to use it, at least not to my knowledge.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Ah. I kinda thought that's what her laying down was, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for clearing that up, Xeno.

FELIPE NO

Yeah, that one sucked. The one or two other dig games after that one though are unusually easy, even with less than 7 ink containers.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

http://translate.google.com/translat...&hl=en&ie=UTF8

Hopefully that'll lead to the translated version of that webpage.

Reason #3 is what concerns me, but has me confused. It sounds like it's saying that Clover racked up an immense 400 million Yen expense, and its earnings wre only 90 million (taken from Reason 1).

Edit: Here's a figuratively translated version of that page. A bit easier to understand. Found it at the neogaf forums.

Quote:

October 12, 2006

Cac Place

Company name: Capcom Ltd.
Representative name: The President and Representative Director Kenzo Tsujimoto
..(.. code number: 9697 Osaka Securities Exchange Tokyo Stock Exchange and the 1st
Where to make contact: Announcing to public and IR room
Telephone number: (06)6920-3623

Information concerning dissolution and liquidation of our subsidiary company

Our company will inform that the dissolution of clover studio Ltd. that is our subsidiary company was resolved in Managing Board of holding on October 12, 2006.

Record

1. Outline of subsidiary company that dissolves
(1) Trade name: Clover studio Ltd.
(2) Address: 3 chome in plains townsecond No.8 in Osaka City Chuo Ward
(3) Representative name: Halhiroshi Tsujimoto
(4) Foundation Date: July 1, 2004
(5) The capital: 90 million yen
(6) Activities: Development of domestic game software
(7) Main shareholder: Capcom Ltd. 100%

1. Reason for dissolution
It was assumed that this company was dissolved to attempt efficient development development by selecting and concentrating the entire group though clover studio Ltd. had developed domestic game software to create the title that had originality.

2. Schedule for the future
Liquidation Musshima: Schedule at the end of March, 2007

3. Outlook for the future
About 400 million yen is scheduled to be summed up to the Financial Statements for Interim Period Ended Sept 30, 2006 as an extraordinary loss about loss Mi Cogac according to the dissolution of a subsidiary company concerned. The content is woven to the correction of the performance forecast dated of the same day.

Jam it back in, in the dark.