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PS2
Okami
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NCS Game
Synopsis
«©NCSX»
The world has been ravaged and ruined by the power of an
eight-headed
monster known as Orochi (serpent) but there is hope.
The sun god Amaterasu descends upon terra in the form of a
white wolf to set things wholesome once again. At
the outset of the adventure, a goddess named Sakuya
visits and gifts Amaterasu with the
Yata
no Kagami or sacred mirror which is used as a
slashing weapon. Sakuya also sends a little friend
known as Issun to help Amaterasu on his quest. Once nigh omnipotent, taking a physical form
enforces some restrictions on Amaterasu but heavenly
powers may be regained by locating and re-absorbing
15 scattered celestial characters.
Okami uses a beguiling visual style that is striking not only in
its fluid animation quality but also in the
uniformity of the world. Everyone and everything
meshes properly and one imagines that if a stylized
Japanese charcoal brush painting ever came to life, Okami would be its
embodiment and tell its inner story.
Game play follows the
simplicity of Okami's art style where Amaterasu runs,
jumps, and attacks enemies in swift motion. When
enemies are met, they'll perform a little cinematic
routine before the slaughter commences. The white
wolf initially attacks by swinging the bronze mirror
on its back like a slashing buzzsaw and ramming into
adversaries but new attacks become available as
Amaterasu levels up.
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NCS Game Notes & Spoilers
» In the intro to the game, a calligraphy
brush sketches out a world while cherry blossoms
fall in the background. An unintelligible voice over
+ Japanese text details the story of the game where
the eight-headed Orochi awakens to wreak havoc on
the world. Amaterasu descends to fix the wrongs
wrought and friends include a mighty swordsman named
Susano. The intro shows Orochi breathing fire but
Amaterasu calls upon the winds to fan the flames
back and raises trees to block Orochi's
progress. The intro continues until Orochi is
defeated and black and white silhouettes change to
full blown color where Okami rages across the
landscape, trailing flowers and plants that sprout
up in its wake.
» Press START and the following selections
appear:
NEW GAME / Launch into the game and be a wolf
LOAD GAME / Resume game from memory card save
data
OPTIONS / Toggle Dual Shock, set BGM and SE
volumes, toggle Mono/Stereo/Surround
» Start a new game and the intro replays
itself except this time, you have to sit through it
and press the "TRIANGLE" or "O" button progress
through it. There is no skipping or automatic
toggling...
» The game starts at a temple where an
interloper steps up and lifts up a sword from the
stone only to raise up evil spirits which stream up
and out to manifest into Orochi. The mighty serpent
roars and sets flames to the temple and burns the
world with a mighty conflagration that devastates
the forests, uproots trees, and blackens everything
in its path. The sun still shines however as Amaterasu witnesses the destructions and zooms to
Earth in the shape of a wolf. While the destructions
roils around him, he lies in wait when he is visited
by a goddess in green named Sakuya. She gives
Amaterasu a sacred mirror which latches onto his
back and encircles his form with a hazy flaming
whirl of activity. She then unleashes a little green
ball of energy named Issun who leaps around like a
little frog. Amaterasu growls at it like an enemy
but its a helpful little Tinkerbell type that speaks
and offers consul to Okami.
The world outside the circle of safety groans as purple waves
and black winds roil the Earth. The goddess bids
farewell and takes her leave but before she goes, a
gnarled tree is erected. Beneath it is a little
sanctuary and from this one tree, the revitalization
of the world will begin. After exploring the
sanctuary area a bit and exiting, you'll notice a
beautiful plump peach has appeared on one of the
branches.... life is slowly returning.
» CONTROLS
L-ANALOG / Movement
R-ANALOG / Camera
TRIANGLE / Paw at the ground, dig up turnips
O-BUTTON / Bark, progress through dialog
boxes
X-BUTTON / Jump ; there is no double jump
unless a ledge is nearby
SQUARE / Running dash attack
L1-TRIGGER / Change camera view from overhead
to directly behind Okami
L2-TRIGGER / Hold to reveal map overlay of
local area
To get into a running jaunt, hold the SQUARE button
and move the L-Analog upwards.
» Whenever Okami jumps and leaps, a mess of
leaves pop up under its feet. If you don't do
anything and leave Okami as is, he'll sit on his
hindquarters, howl a little bit, and then eventually
take a nap if you still don't issue any commands. It
bolts awake with the quickness however once you do
move a muscle.
» To save your progress, run up to the
sun catcher in the sanctuary and press the "O"
button.
» Malevolent trees may be slashed while dying
trees and patches of dying vegetation may be circled
with the celestial brush to bring them back to life.
» The game world alternates between
daytime and night time. At night, crickets and owls
may be heard.
» Loading times during the world exploration
portion of the game are nearly non-existent for a
smooth and unfettered gaming experience.
Partial NCS Walkthrough
» The first task is to run into sanctuary and
then bound up the little hill by performing a double
jump. Once there, you'll get the opportunity to dab
a blue dot on a constellation that's missing a star
and a mighty dragon will travel from the heavens and
greet you. To dab the dot, hold R1 and press SQUARE
to drop the pen.
» The dragon swarms down from the heavens and
(in a guttural voice) tells Amaterasu that the other
brushes of power must be found to regain its true
potential and power. The dragon turns into a
Japanese character and rockets into Amaterasu's body
to become one with the wolf.
» After the fusion episode, use the pen again
to swish some of the water that separates the land
mass from the little island in the distance.
Swim across and bust open the treasure chest and the
five urns for rewards and then run into the shining
light between the two pillars.
» Eventually you'll reach an image of a giant
holding a partial sword. Use the pen again to draw
the tip of the sword and then add another star to a
constellation of a little rat and it'll come to life
and grab the sword in its jaws. The rodent turns
into another Japanese character and is joined within
Amaterasu to grant the power of sword strokes.
» In the next situation, draw a line across
the rock that's presented and Amaterasu's newfound
power slices it in half. Before leaving, slice open
the gates with a calligraphy stroke across the
wooden beams and then follow the golden arrow.
» After galloping a short distance, two
humanoid creatures attack and Amaterasu gets a first
crack at conflict. Pressing "O" causes the sacred
mirror to lash out like a buzzsaw which slashes
enemies and blows them back. When dastardly enemies
are killed, they turn into a bouquet of flowers
which eventually disappears. A jumping slash attack
(press X and then SQUARE thrice) slashes an enemy
below three times in quick succession.
» Continue following the arrow back to the
sanctuary site and cut down the peach from the tree
with a calligraphy stroke to release a burst of life
as flowers and plants stream outwards to turn the
world green once more.
» The villagers that Okami runs into
have been turned into stone. To revive them, visit each
one and press "O" and then when cued, run up the
little pathway to the elevated area where the
mountains and swirling winds may be seen in the
distance. Bring up the brush and draw a circle in
the sky to summon the sun which brightens up the
world and turns stone humans into flesh once more.
Events to engage in once the village is back to
normal:
1) A child named Mushi bets that you can't dig
up more turnips than his dog Hayabusa can. The
turnips are guarded by his mama who attacks when she
sees you digging up her precious crop and gobbling
them up. Mushi has a pet dragonfly which he keeps
tethered to a string.
2) A grouchy grandma named Ms Orange laments
the inability to dry her clothes. To help her, draw a
clothesline across the two wooden poles next to her
little wharf so she can hang the garments on the
line. Next, draw a circle in the sky to summon the
sun to dry her clothes. She mentions that she'll be
baking cherry cakes to celebrate and tells Amaterasu to visit her at night for some cakes.
3) A maiden named Kushi can't brew her sake
without water. Run up to the water wheel next to her
establishment and draw a circular arc to repair it.
Once it starts rolling, Kushi is very thankful and
tells Amaterasu to return for a jug of her sake.
4) A snoring swordsman named Susano is befriended
and becomes an ally after a rigorous romp. In
Japanese mythology, Susano is the name of
Amaterasu's brother.
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This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No
reproduction in whole or in part of this document
may be made without express written consent of
National Console Support, Inc.
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