Happy 1st birthday to....

Okami !!

Released on this very day last year, the game touched my soul ever since. Still holding the record breaking 6 times, this is the game I played the most, outbeat Shadow Of The Colossus. Created by now-defunct Clover studio, the game tells a story in ancient Japan, where the place suddenly void of colour due to revival of Orochi (8 headed monster in Japanese), a goddess names Sakuya uses all her left over power to revived Ammaterasu, goddess of the sun, to fight back the evil and restore the colour. Accompany by a tiny midget called Issun (one inch in Japanese), they set out to an unforgettable adventure throughout Nippon.

The graphic showed how awesome PS2's engine was, with cel shading technic, the motion were surreal yet animated at the same time. What blows me away is the fighting system. Instead of the usual hack and slash technic, Ammaterasu, as a god, can switch to brush painting method AT WILL to do anything against a monster, like slash it, draw a grenade beside it or even blow them away literally by drawing a wind !! Can't get what I say ? Here some of the clips.





The fight system is just out of this world, I never felt so breath taking after Prince Of Persia : The Sand of Time, as you can reverse your mistakes at will too.

And you know why this game hold so dear to me ? It made me shed man's tears. The ending caught my emo off guard, and I cried for a game for the first time. Spoiler for those who haven't finished yet.



It's a beautiful ending imo. Unfortunately things ain't rosy for Clover studio, as Capcom decided to shut down the studio after the creator for this game has left, leaving games like Devil May Cry 4(will be release in PS3 soon anyway) in the balance. It was a heart breaking news for me as Clover created many innovative AND original games like God Hand, Viewtiful Joe and DMC series. Rest in peace Clover.

But all is not over, as the very same creator has opened a new game studio called Seed. I will buy PS3 just for them if they come out their first game soon.

Cheers and happy birthday Ammy, you cute doggy you.