Poor Okami, you never got the love you deserved, either on the PS2 or even on the Wii -- the platform that almost seems like it was designed with you in mind. So it's practically a miracle that you got a sequel on the DS.
If you loved Okami (like me), it's a sin against nature not to own Okamiden on the DS. It retains all of the original's charm, from its beautiful score, stylish art design, and cast of unusual characters, many of whom reappear as the offspring of their earlier incarnations (although some of the original characters make encore appearances, too). The geography will be familiar to players of the original, although the zones are broken up into smaller subzones separated by (fortunately brief) loading screens.
Control is primarily via buttons, with the D-pad used to control your character, and the ABXY buttons used to attack, dodge, and jump. The shoulder buttons activate the Celestrial Brush mode, and the stylus is used on the touch screen to draw your powers.
The primary control difference between the original and the DS version is the lack of an explicit camera control. As a result, the camera follows behind when it is able, and moves to fixed locations in cramped quarters. I find that moving right or left in the overworld makes the camera pan wildly; perhaps it's a bug, not a feature, in allowing you to gain some additional peripheral vision, but to me, it makes the otherwise fluid animation feel a bit squirrelly. The combat arenas, which pop up when you encounter an enemy demon, can feel claustrophobically cramped, particularly when faced with multiple enemies and not enough viewing area to see incoming attacks to dodge.
The use of the stylus as the Celestrial Brush control is incredibly natural, although the glyphs that you needed to inscribe using console controls were never terribly complex to begin with. Most of the powers available in the original appear here as well with the same gestures, although I've encountered at least one new power that I haven't seen before with its own unique move. You'll also use the stylus to trace a path for one of the many companions you'll encounter in the game to help direct them through dungeons to solve cooperation puzzles.
If there's one thing, one thing at all that I have to fault you for, Okamiden, it's your extensive cutscenes. Not because they're not skippable (because they are), not because they aren't entertaining (because sometimes they are) but because they can't be accelerated, so fast readers with an impatient streak can't fast-forward to the punchline. But I can live with that, because you are just so freaking cute.
If you loved Okami (like me), it's a sin against nature not to own Okamiden on the DS. It retains all of the original's charm, from its beautiful score, stylish art design, and cast of unusual characters, many of whom reappear as the offspring of their earlier incarnations (although some of the original characters make encore appearances, too). The geography will be familiar to players of the original, although the zones are broken up into smaller subzones separated by (fortunately brief) loading screens.
Control is primarily via buttons, with the D-pad used to control your character, and the ABXY buttons used to attack, dodge, and jump. The shoulder buttons activate the Celestrial Brush mode, and the stylus is used on the touch screen to draw your powers.
The primary control difference between the original and the DS version is the lack of an explicit camera control. As a result, the camera follows behind when it is able, and moves to fixed locations in cramped quarters. I find that moving right or left in the overworld makes the camera pan wildly; perhaps it's a bug, not a feature, in allowing you to gain some additional peripheral vision, but to me, it makes the otherwise fluid animation feel a bit squirrelly. The combat arenas, which pop up when you encounter an enemy demon, can feel claustrophobically cramped, particularly when faced with multiple enemies and not enough viewing area to see incoming attacks to dodge.
The use of the stylus as the Celestrial Brush control is incredibly natural, although the glyphs that you needed to inscribe using console controls were never terribly complex to begin with. Most of the powers available in the original appear here as well with the same gestures, although I've encountered at least one new power that I haven't seen before with its own unique move. You'll also use the stylus to trace a path for one of the many companions you'll encounter in the game to help direct them through dungeons to solve cooperation puzzles.
If there's one thing, one thing at all that I have to fault you for, Okamiden, it's your extensive cutscenes. Not because they're not skippable (because they are), not because they aren't entertaining (because sometimes they are) but because they can't be accelerated, so fast readers with an impatient streak can't fast-forward to the punchline. But I can live with that, because you are just so freaking cute.