It's iffy that this game was made without the original creator's blessing, but I'm open to new people making a sequel. The ones picking up the torch had better do it right, though...does this?
There are great things. The visuals are pretty solid for DS graphics and lose only pixels, not the aesthetic. The brush is great with the stylus, and you can tap the draw button for a hands-free pause. The dungeons are new and feel evenly paced until the sluggish finale, and the game has a new system of rotating partner characters, which is lots of fun, as each has their own features and can be directed with the Guidance power. The story is a mixed bag, but it doesn't shy away from real drama, surprises, and darkness. It may have a lower age rating, but it doesn't feel dumbed down.
There are problems. The gameplay is less elegant due to the hardware. Reused maps had to be chopped up into multiple loaded screens. The brush drawing needs the top screen to move down to the bottom for touch input, which takes a second and removes the snappiness. The English translation has poor quality control, with grammar issues and inconsistencies with the previous game's names and spellings. This may be the clearest sign that it was made by different people. Also, there's a lot of missable content.
The story has Okami's shadow all over it, and retreads a lot. Only one overworld section is brand new to this game, with all the rest being reused from before (yet some areas from before are cut out altogether). Also, a big portion of the game involves time travel to both periods in Okami, and while one section is cool, on the first game's Sunken Ship while it was still sailing, I wasn't a fan overall. At least they don't ruin the time loop. You also never have to return to the present in gameplay, which feels weird. I do like the bosses, and their fights are more strategic, if a bit annoying because damage is slow without upgrades, but the game goes into retcon a little with the new villain, which feels wrong. I like seeing what happened before and after the game, but part of me wants a sequel that only moves forward in time. I for sure wanted one that expanded Nippon by a little more than just one town.
There's also a scene that left a bad taste in my mouth. A priestess has created a character brought to life as an evil womanizer. He then takes your current partner and you have to chase him out of hiding. At one point, he and your friend are under the covers of a bed. Did I mention she's a child? Even though the game knows he's a bad dude, the bed and her age take it too far for the tone. "The perfect man gone wrong" can lead to very dark places, and this game goes there by accident.
I think Okamiden is mostly worth playing, but I can't complain if the next game made by the original creator is an alternate sequel. Its existence is kinda underhanded, and it's not good enough to justify that.
High highs and low lows; a game that would probably do well out of its predecessor's shadow.
It's iffy that this game was made without the original creator's blessing, but I'm open to new people making a sequel. The ones picking up the torch had better do it right, though...does this?
There are great things. The visuals are pretty solid for DS graphics and lose only pixels, not the aesthetic. The brush is great with the stylus, and you can tap the draw button for a hands-free pause. The dungeons are new and feel evenly paced until the sluggish finale, and the game has a new system of rotating partner characters, which is lots of fun, as each has their own features and can be directed with the Guidance power. The story is a mixed bag, but it doesn't shy away from real drama, surprises, and darkness. It may have a lower age rating, but it doesn't feel dumbed down.
There are problems. The gameplay is less elegant due to the hardware. Reused maps had to be chopped up into multiple loaded screens. The brush drawing needs the top screen to move down to the bottom for touch input, which takes a second and removes the snappiness. The English translation has poor quality control, with grammar issues and inconsistencies with the previous game's names and spellings. This may be the clearest sign that it was made by different people. Also, there's a lot of missable content.
The story has Okami's shadow all over it, and retreads a lot. Only one overworld section is brand new to this game, with all the rest being reused from before (yet some areas from before are cut out altogether). Also, a big portion of the game involves time travel to both periods in Okami, and while one section is cool, on the first game's Sunken Ship while it was still sailing, I wasn't a fan overall. At least they don't ruin the time loop. You also never have to return to the present in gameplay, which feels weird. I do like the bosses, and their fights are more strategic, if a bit annoying because damage is slow without upgrades, but the game goes into retcon a little with the new villain, which feels wrong. I like seeing what happened before and after the game, but part of me wants a sequel that only moves forward in time. I for sure wanted one that expanded Nippon by a little more than just one town.
There's also a scene that left a bad taste in my mouth. A priestess has created a character brought to life as an evil womanizer. He then takes your current partner and you have to chase him out of hiding. At one point, he and your friend are under the covers of a bed. Did I mention she's a child? Even though the game knows he's a bad dude, the bed and her age take it too far for the tone. "The perfect man gone wrong" can lead to very dark places, and this game goes there by accident.
I think Okamiden is mostly worth playing, but I can't complain if the next game made by the original creator is an alternate sequel. Its existence is kinda underhanded, and it's not good enough to justify that.