Okami is a game you’ll either get to hate, or get to love. But for everyone, the first two or three hours of the game are spent in a neutral state of confusion. Questions like “What’s going on?” or “What the hell am I supposed to do in combat?” will pass through one’s head, as none of this is really clearly explained at the start of the game. But if you put a few hours into the game, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this amazing gem.

There’s so much to be done in this game – so many things you’ll never notice until your second or third or fourth playthrough of the game – that you’ll never feel bored. Quite the opposite, first-time players may feel  a bit overwhelmed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there hasn’t been a game that really made me, at least, feel overwhelmed, since Ocarina of Time, and it’s a beautiful feeling when playing a video game. It seems like you can do everything and go everywhere. But for some people, this may seem a bit daunting. So much to do and no idea where to start? Some people may not want to muster up the effort to explore everything before them.

Another thing about Okami that seems to irk many players (not me, personally) are the voices of the characters. If you’ve ever played Animal Crossing, the voices of Okami are no less than 10 times worse than the voices in Animal Crossing, so it’s easy to understand why this may annoy people. On the other hand, the characters themselves are great, and Issun is the perfect “comic relief”-type character.

The music of Okami is beautiful, charming, entertaining, and even a bit goofy, but in a good way. The visuals are also gorgeous, and the combination of visuals and music make this game just as much a piece of art as it is a video game.

The controls are a whole different story, however. The controls work, but you have to LEARN them. The in-battle combo attacks are something that have to be practiced, but even after you’ve perfected them, wiggling and waggling the Wiimote at the correct time doesn’t always keep you chaining your combo, sometimes it’ll seem to just not register your gestures. Also, although a certain special evasive technique that is activated by thrusting the nunchuk either forwards, backwards, or to the sides, works, it doesn’t work well. It registers the movements correctly only if they’re fairly slow and over-exaggerated. The folly of this is that evasive techniques pretty much rely on being activated correctly and quickly, and if you can activate them neither quickly nor correctly, they’re rendered useless. While it is possible to easily progress through the entire game without ever using this technique, it doesn’t make it okay that it’s broken.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is the ability to activate certain techniques by “pausing” the action and drawing certain symbols or lines with the Wiimote. These techniques can do things like slow down time in battle, hurt enemies, or incapacitate them. Unfortunately, to correctly execute these techniques, you also have to “learn” how to execute them. In general, you’re aiming for what the game wants, not what looks good. Even a simple slash attack (activated by drawing a horizontal line across the screen) may not register correctly. I’ve found that quick, imprecise gestures usually work better than slow, well-thought out gestures. Despite this, some techniques never seem to activate, or never seem to function the way you want them to, and that really is inexcusable.

One of the best things about Okami is that it manages to stay fresh and innovative throughout the whole game. One of the last battles is so awesome and amazing that I want to discuss it here, but it’s something you have to experience for yourself; and the fishing! Damn, I’m willing to say that this is the best fishing in any video game ever. Hell, it’s even better than fishing in real life, ’cause fishing in real life sucks.

I suggest that you rent Okami to guage whether this game appeals to you. Regardless, this game gets my coveted “buy” out of 10 rating.