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Chiptune Friday: Spring Is In the Air With Okami

Two truths. Today is March 13th. It will not be spring for another eight days. Also, the original soundtrack to Okami is not chiptune. At all. In fact, it is fully orchestrated and entrenched in traditional Japanese composition, a far cry from the heavy metal and pop roots of the blissed-out blip songs composed on the NES or similar consoles.

Have you gone outside though? It is freaking gorgeous out there. It may rain, it may be cloudy, but the bitter miasma of late winter has lifted, washed away as if by… a celestial brush! Given, it’s likely that the fine weather is a result of the Earth’s natural solar orbit and axial spin, but I like to think that there’s a sun goddess wolf out there making it nice outside. I’m going to find her. We’ll go to the park and play fetch. Beautiful women will be all, “Oh your dog is beautiful!” And I’ll be all, “Check dis.” Then Amaterasu will make a bushel of fragrant botanicals grow at our feet.

Here are three selections from the Okami soundtrack. Listen, be in bloom, and grab your DS or PSP. Go play outside today!

The Great Goddess Amaterasu’s Revival

Hit the jump for more fresh goodness.

Posted Mar 13 2009, 10:00 AM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, platinum games, wii, clover studios, capcom, atsushi inaba, sony, playstation 2, chiptune friday, okami

Okami and the Problem of Collecting

I finally finished Okami on the Wii. There were parts of it that I adored, and parts that I found infurating. I talked a bit about Okami's wealth of collectables earlier, but I'm not quite done whinging about it.

I could list the items that one can collect in Okami, but it would be pages long. Most of these are only useful as currency, and have no meaningful function beyond getting more items. All this becomes a chore very quickly, and I see it as the Achilles heel of adventure games at large. The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker was especially guilty of this, but Okami blows it out of the, uh, water.

I was able to finish the game after thirty hours. I could have easily completed it in half that time if I wasn't regularly prompted to dig up treasure, bomb a wall, break a barrel, slice through tall grasses, or water a plant. What's more, completists could spend another fifteen hours finding all the game's hidden items.

What's especially annoying is that these games insist on providing the player with little cinematic sequences, irritating sound effects, and worst of all, dialogue boxes. "You found a pearl." Ok, great. I see that a pearl popped out of that chest. "It shines in the sunlight." Augh! Why do we have to click through this description every single time? FFFFFFUUUUUUUU-

Posted Feb 03 2009, 03:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: wii, cole stryker, okami

Whatcha Playing?: Okami

I finally got around to playing Okami on the Wii this week. I really wanted to enjoy the game, but it's difficult for me to get past all the collecting and endless NPC conversations that drag down the pace of the game. It seems that the only complaint most critics had with the Wii version is its poorly implemented Celestial Brush controls. Sure these are annoying, but I think that they are far from the game's cardinal sin.

Posted Jan 15 2009, 05:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: whatcha playing, wii, cole stryker, okami, port, cave story

Play It Again, Sam

How many times have you bought the same game? I don't mean full on remakes like Metroid: Zero Mission or sports games sequels where they dusted off the old engine and updated the roster. I mean how many games did you repurchase because it was a special edition with some new features, or it was released for a different home system, or it was the hand held version?

Posted Aug 08 2008, 11:00 AM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: metroid, remake, wii, snes, amber ahlborn, chrono trigger, ps2, ds, okami, super mario advance, gba, special edition

Trailer Review - Captain Rainbow

skip LTD. are not a second-party Nintendo developer, though a look at their game catalogue might have you believe otherwise. They are responsible for six of the seven delightfully simple BitGeneration games for the GameBoy Advance as well as the colorful and charming Chibi-Robo on Gamecube and its DS sequel Park Patrol. Vibrant, energetic, genre-defying, critically-acclaimed all-ages games exclusive to Nintendo platforms, if you haven't played any of these titles (and odds are 99% of gamers haven't) you're missing out on some truly special experiences.

Now skip are turning their attention to the Wii, and they've brought along a yoyo-slinging Captain Planet wannabe.

Posted Jul 09 2008, 03:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments

Filed under: nintendo, nintendo ds, trailer review, derrick sanskrit, wii, okami, gameboy advance, chibi-robo, captain rainbow, skip, bit generations

Gimmick: not a dirty word

In the beginning, every game was a novelty, because every game concept was new and untested. As the industry matured, genres became defined, and basic gaming mechanics were established. The majority of titles walk these well tread paths. That's not to say they do not invent, or that they are not creative. It is simply true that most games are familiar in play and presentation. Occasionally, beneath this canopy of common action games and everyday shooters, you might find something unusual.

Posted Jun 11 2008, 02:00 PM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: amber ahlborn, okami, paper mario, drawn to life

Watcha Playing: Lost Winds

Lost Winds is my first and presently only WiiWare title, but it has already set the bar pretty high. When I first booted up this lovely little game and started playing with the wind, I was immediately put in mind of Okami. Directing the wind is a lot like drawing with the Celestial Brush, except the wind works in real time, rather than pausing the game while I draw. Lost Winds is a whimsical title and a promising start for WiiWare.

Posted Jun 10 2008, 01:00 PM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: amber ahlborn, lost winds, okami, wiiware, nintendo wii, watcha playing

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.