One for Wii owners to wolf down...

Okami first arrived on PS2 in 2006 to huge acclaim. It was bold, inventive, charming and intelligent, with a devastatingly beautiful watercolour world all of its own. This, videogame critics raved, was the first time a Zelda-style game had actually outclassed Link's own adventures.

Breathtaking

It did not, however, sell well – largely because of those breathtaking, but quintessentially Japanese visuals. Western gamers tend to associate animation with childishness, and Okami was subsequently pigeonholed as cartoony. Its creator Clover Studios, who also made the equally oddball Viewtiful Joe, were even closed down as a result of Okami's poor performance.

It's always a depressing trend when the blandest, most middle-of-the-road titles gain success because they're accessible, and a brave, bar-raising game like Okami gets overlooked for being too different. Credit to Capcom, then, who despite the setbacks, commissioned software house Ready at Dawn to produce a Wii port, replete with improved visuals and motion-sensing controls. Credit to Nintendo too, often accused of ostracising hardcore gamers with their new games-for-all ethos. In Okami, they've landed one of the best gamer's games of the entire decade.

And the great news is, it's a perfect fit for the system. Okami should work even better on Wii than the PS2 original, thanks in no small part to the ease and speed with which the Wiimote lets you draw shapes. Okami's main hook, the Celestial Brush, sees the game freeze and a parchment effect overlay the screen, with players painting symbols onto this to produce magical attacks and environment-affecting spells. It should be a far slicker proposition here than it was with the PS2's cumbersome twin analogue sticks.

Mythical

The story of Okami will be every bit as foreign to UK gamers as the art style – but like the game's look, the script has a whimsical character all of its own. Based upon Japanese mythology, you play as Amaterasu (Ammy, to her friends), a mythical white wolf infused with the spirit of a legendary Sun God, sent back to earth to stop a great evil polluting the lands.

Thus, in the grandest traditions of Zelda, Okami sees Ammy, and her pint-sized helper Issun set out to explore dungeons, solve puzzles, talk to folk, take sidequests, beat bosses, and ultimately learn the 13 sacred Celestial Brush techniques which will restore colour to this world gone grey.

The Zelda comparison rings true in several other ways, too. Not least is that the mute Ammy is incredibly similar to Link's also-silent wolf form in Twilight Princess, with Issun sparking dialogue, much like Midna.

The controls of both games also pose plenty of similarities. You'll move Amaterasu in Okami with the Nunchuk analogue stick and shake the Wiimote to perform attacks, with secondary movements like dodging accessed by shaking the Nunchuk. If anything, Okami's rattle-happy combat might be a tad less precise than on the button-based PS2 method, making it the opposite of the Celestial Brush, which benefits greatly from Wii-specific control.

An essential purchase

Nonetheless, Okami will be an essential purchase for Wii owners. It's arguably a better game than Nintendo's own stunning Twilight Princess, and even more beautiful in this brighter, crisper Wii rendition than the arresting PS2 original. It's never been a game about combat anyway, but the promise of sweeping the Wiimote through the air to paint Celestial Brush strokes should see it be a more fluid experience overall, and in general it really is an absolute joy just to see that this great, great game is being given the second lease of life it so richly deserves.

June is going to be a busy month on Wii, with Alone in the Dark, Smash Bros. Brawl, LEGO Indy and Top Spin 3 arriving, but Okami undoubtedly should be top of many a most wanted list.

Preview by: Mark 'Cel Shaded' Scott
Preview Published: 30.05.08