Okami for the Wii is to put it simply, a revolutionary spin on a traditional style of game play. You don�t gain xp like more traditional RPGs, instead it’s more Zelda style where your gear and solar energy (hearts) reflect your level. You can basically replace all the different specialized equipment that you would find in a Zelda game like gale boomerang, torch, etc. with different brush techniques you learn throughout the game. They brush techniques do make great use of the Wii�s pointer and are a fun addition.

You don�t really gain xp from killing enemies like you do in most RPGs instead you get money and items. The money is pretty much useless as it is easily obtained and you don�t really have to buy anything except maybe a few doggie biscuits for health. However, if your feeling ambitious, you can buy more stuff such as coins that let you teleport through hot springs and additional moves from an old kung fu master. The teleporting coins seem like they would be very useful but there are really only two instances in the game that made them useful as the world isn�t really that big and you can run pretty quickly.

The way in which you really �level up� is by doing things that help bring the world back to order. Things such as bringing dead trees back to life and giving random animals food. The game is very cutesy in a good way. For some reason you feel you have to feed every last little critter on the planet so you can get an annoying cut scene to skip through and make the animal have hearts above its head.

The puzzles in the game are pathetically easy. Never once did I get confused enough to contemplate going on Google to find a solution for a puzzle. Your little mushroom/bug hybrid companion pretty much explains word for word what you have to do to meet your goal. If you forget it�s in your journal. Maybe they are expecting to capture a younger audience, but I don�t know many preteens that play RPGs.

All in all Okami is a decent Zelda clone. I cannot figure out why it gets so much critical acclaim. It is a good game but it�s definitely not something I would rush out to buy. If you are an RPG fan and hate the Wiis lack of decent ones I�d pick it up. If not Gamefly is a good answer since the game is only about 14 hours long.

Reviewed by: Darryl Feltgen
Reviewed on: 04/27/08
Released on: 04/15/08