​Okami (PS2, 2006/Wii, 2008/Multi (HD ver.), 2012)

• Linear overarching structure (after the second hostile area you can do a couple of side quests per area - sometimes 3+, mostly straightforward dungeon areas, some backtracking to previous areas with new abilities to progress including some towns)

• Some spells and tools for traversal (create fires (also works like a smart bomb if you draw it bigger though it uses more ink) which melts ice, freeze certain moving platform-style enemies, plant regeneration and some restoring of things like bridges and buildings, create lily pad platforms on water and with wind (make hanging flags/pennants blow horizontally so you can temporarily walk on them), wind gusts that affect various objects and enemies including the lily pad platforms, swing towards certain mid-air platforms - this is kinda similar to the Bash ability used later on in Ori except here there's no time limit when holding the button to aim, slow down target - used on some spinning platforms)

• Evenly placed save points (multiple slots, shows current area and time taken)

• Default item magnet for coins (but not for other items - can buy an item that upgrades it) and wall jump move

• Quest and tutorial message logs

• The area map system marks save points, warp points and eventually the cat statues for you. Can move around while checking the map for an area (semi-transparent). Can also zoom the main map out both to a regional one and to a map of the entire world (which is based on old Japan). Crazy Taxi-style arrows showing you where to go in some areas early on (can't be toggled off - optional map markers or manual ones would've been preferable) - generally the game uses map markers instead though. The map system spoils the sub area/room/floor layout when getting to a new one (the cursed zones act like a fog of war however and hidden paths aren't shown). Found dungeon maps show more detail+the outlines of unexplored rooms in dungeons and let you switch between floors on the map screen

• Day/night cycle (different NPC behaviors, can only encounter certain monsters at night and the scroll encounters will chase you at night, white glowing spots (optional buried items) are visible at night) - Can fastforward to morning with the sunrise spell and later on vice versa with the crescent spell (this can also trigger certain events)

• Astral pouch item which saves you from death (Zelda 3 fairies)

• Pretty good environmental interaction (fixing broken buildings/statues, feeding wild animals, cutting up trees/statues/grass/boulders, ). Some larger scale environmental changes (restoring the water in the forest ruins, )

• Enemy bestiary with some combat tips as well as an animal bestiary (friendly animals which can be fed for exp)

• Find hidden clover spots and other items when backtracking through restored hostile areas or to previous rooms in some dungeons

• Get better demon fang/special money rewards from enemies by using the right finishers and beating them quickly+without taking damage (the bestiary generally doesn't tell you which brush technique to use though)

• Upgradeable weapons (attack power only) with gold dust items and upgradeable amount of bombs on screen at certain springs. These are at a limited supply which increases as you progress - some can be bought at certain shops and some are gained as rewards for the bounty hunts

• Some scripted events during exploration (floor falling down in the forest ruins for example)

• Some decent-good puzzles (spatial awareness, contraption puzzle and some timing puzzles in wawku shrine, can get underwater chests with slashes - the contents float up, disperse breath attacks with wind, cannon in third dungeon, some platforming puzzles with cat statues on oni island, etc.)

• Blurs the line between hostile area and town at one point (also creates a decent sense of vulnerability here as you have to fight without your brush powers)

• A few neutral creatures (platform spiders, animals you can feed though it doesn't make them help you travel)

• Some warps/teleports (visited mermaid springs - costs 1 coin per teleport until you get the fountain spell in the mid-game) - can be used about 8-10h into the game. Later on you can buy an artifact/tool which lets you teleport between visited save points as well

• Various sequence breaking possibilities in new game+ (by switching skins/using karmic transformers in mid-air to jump infinitely - more with out of bounds glitches). Can also skip some forced encounters by avoiding the trigger points in the regular game, and skip the double jump move by wall jumping against created trees at some points.

• Some systemic elements (elemental effects like wind putting out fire and how it affects various objects like fans and flags as well as animals, enemies can accidentally hit each other)

• Some NPCs also travel around the world a bit making it feel more alive (most stand in place or perform some repeated task in one spot however and those who travel also stand in place until talked to outside of cutscene appearances)

• Fight alongside an NPC for two boss fights

• Some forced encounters (can escape from some of them but not others, can't escape from gate encounters, can skip some of them by moving around the trigger point). Sometimes have to clear special "gate" encounters on the overworld to progress as clearing them changes the environment, making the game a bit more combat-focused than most Zeldas

• Partial control config (camera axis inversion only) - not really needed though

• Respawning pots w/ randomized consumables in them

• Can bite most NPCs as well as hit them with spells - nothing happens besides a short animation though. Can also carry the children of groups of animals for a bit but if you "kidnap" them they automatically respawn with their group. The trainer NPC can be tackled and at certain points he'll attack you once

• Semi-silent protagonist (generally acts like a tame wolf and communicates like one but Issun can also hear what it's thinking somehow)

• Various fetch quests

• Regenerating ink meter - can upgrade its speed with an item that costs fangs though the temporary infinite ink items are pretty cheap anyway

• Unlockable skins and artwork (get S ranks in the different categories when completing the game: deaths, kills, money and fangs, praise/exp)

• Can extend your combos but they're pretty basic (you just mash the same button as fast as possible regardless of the weapon used)

• Some optional bosses (three giant spiders similar to the first main one) - these are all equally difficult though and they're all easy

• The game is pretty forgiving about falling into pits - lose 1 HP and respawn where you last stood on solid ground (Zelda 3)

Some notable cons:

• Kinda slow and long intro (unskippable unless playing a new game+ game) and mostly unskippable cutscenes which are also pretty frequent though generally not that long. Some of these cutscenes are also rather slow.

• Various control/interface issues

• Starts out very easy and feels like a tutorial for ~1-2 hours (tutorial messages also pause the action since there's no proper VA). It actually takes about 6h+ to get to a proper dungeon (the forest ruins) if you do the sidequests up to that point. Combat stays pretty easy almost throughout and puzzles tend to be easy as well

• Plenty of dead space and some backtracking

• Some trial & error

• Invisible walls here and there

• Some tedious aspects (the game is too anal about hitting exactly right with the brush when taking out the blockhead/wall NPCs - gets rather annoying during the later encounters with it, Issun interrupts you a bit too much and sometimes he or tutorial messages tell you things that you've already discovered on your own, Issun also spoils various puzzles in the first 12 hours or so of the game and sometimes later on as well - the game should've let the player ask him when they got stuck instead, etc.)​

• Inconsistent spell usage in some ways (can't use bombs to remove leaf piles or disturb the elevator operator in the moon cave nor use the fuse of a lit bomb as a fire source to melt ice, can't use brush cuts to propel objects like the crystal ball forwards - can use them to reflect some enemies' projectiles back at them, etc. )

Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review

Influenced by: Zelda series, possibly DMC

Influenced: