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Considering the importance of graphics in video games, it's surprising how few games have made a lasting visual impact.
Too many games churn out some variation of overused sci-fi or fantasy tropes. Where is the video game equivalent of Looney Tunes auteurs Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng or movie artistes Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam - the figures who change the possibilities of what a medium's visual art can do?
The new PlayStation 2 game Okami might not make it into the pop culture pantheon. But its brave attempt to show us something different and beautiful is a refreshing break from all the derivative dragons and aliens out there.
Okami tells the story of a Japanese land that has been covered in darkness by a freed demon. You play as the goddess Amaterasu, who returns as a wolf to bring color and life back to the world.
The characters come alive through the slashing brush strokes and muted palette of a traditional Japanese painting. The effect is entrancing.
Burning fires look like swirls of tissue paper rising to the sky. A village elder's pinched face droops to a ski-jump of a beard - a simple line that wouldn't work with regular 3-D graphics.
You actually get to draw some of this. By using Amaterasu's "celestial brush," you can make trees bloom, slice enemies in two and use other powers by drawing strokes on the screen.
Unfortunately, the rest of the game wasn't made with the same care. A 15-minute introduction makes for a tedious start. There's no option to skip through much of the game's text. Characters "speak" in an inarticulate babble that's a cross between a rooster's gobble, adult bleats in the Peanuts cartoons and the pasty-faced teen voice-cracks on The Simpsons.
Still, the game's look more than balances out the annoying parts. What's important is that Capcom is trying something different.
Josh Korr can be contacted at jkorr@tampabay.com His video game blog is at sptimes.com/blogs/videogames.
FAST FACTS
Okami
System: PlayStation 2
Publisher: Capcom
Rating: T for teen
Price: $39.99
Grade: B+
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