Since so many others have claimed differently, I'll take a bit of extra space to explain just why the Celestial Brush doesn't work as well as it should. The problems are due to two major factors – the game's exacting nature and the sensitivity of the Wii remote itself. The first problem is that Okami forces the player to be overly precise with the brushstrokes. An early explanation/demo of the brush forces the player to finish a constellation by placing a dot at the end of a series of stars. As simple as that sounds, it can take a TON of practice just to get one simple dot to register as correct. It is infuriating.

The other issue, which further compounds the game's insistence on perfection, is that no matter what your distance from the television, it is very, very difficult to make the brush do what you want. At a range of about five feet from my Wii remote sensor, the brush shook on the screen like it was in the hands of a forty-year alcoholic who just quit booze yesterday. Forget about precise dots or straight lines; even getting close to what you need to draw is a triumph in itself. It is frustrating to say the least, but with practice, the brush can be controlled. Not well, mind you, but enough to get through the game. Though you can try brushstrokes over and over until you get them right, it really becomes a problem in battle, where you need to act fact to draw lines over enemies. It gets worse further into the game, where you'll often need to use a combination of brushstrokes to get by. If you're lucky enough to make the first action work, you'll often fail on the second, third or fourth action, meaning you need to start the sequence from square one – each and every time. I've long grown out of the whole “throwing controllers” business, but I can honestly say I thought about it a few times while playing Okami.

And since I'm going through Okami's negative points, this one absolutely needs mentioning. Okami, for whatever reason, seems bound and determined to drive potential players away with what could be the longest and most pointless intros I've ever read (yeas, read) in a game. The story d-r-a-g-s for what felt like close to ten minutes and to make matters worse, instead of voice acting, you have a series nonsense syllables going nonstop during the novel length opening. The “voices” sound a bit like the mumbles from the original Star Fox mixed with Charlie Brown's teacher; a combination of sounds that form one super-annoying string of nonsense words. If you do manage to sit through the whole thing, the game's “get used to it” phase is overly long as well, and comes complete with a whole bunch of useless dialogue that, just like the intro, must be read. I've got no problem with the written word, but even half of what you'll find in Okami's first hour is way too much.

Aside from the game-ruining Celestial Brush control and intro, Okami is really something special. The main quest is long and rewarding, there is plenty of side quest-type stuff to keep you interested and, like I said before, you'll never get tired of watching the game in action. If only Ready at Dawn Studios or Capcom had tightened up the motion controls, we might be talking about a probable Game of the Year nominee, regardless of the fact that the game is essentially a port. Okami's biggest problem, though, is the market to which it was released. Sure, we are just seeing the light at the end of the Q1 new game drought, but with so many other great games out now or coming soon, it is even harder to recommend a game that will force you to look past some very serious flaws to find the fun. You could do a lot worse than Okami, but you can do a whole lot better, too. Smash Bros. is out. Ninja Gaiden DS is out. The World Ends With You is out. Heck, even God of War and Daxter are on stores shelves, and they are far and away stronger Ready at Dawn efforts than Okami. As much as I wanted to call it a day and say Ready at Dawn was three for three, Okami's problems are just too irritating to overlook.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 79%.

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