Okami

Image via Wikipedia

There are a few games that have mesmerized me as I have watched my husband play them. He played Okami on the PS3, and I loved watching it. All of the art is based on ink brush painting and in order to progress through the game you have to draw shapes that translate to actions.

Okami is an action-adventure based game. The user plays the character of the wolf trying to rid the world of evil. Wikipedia says that action-adventure games are the broadest genre of computer game. This genre originated from the game Adventure.

Okami has been ported to the Wii, so I gave it a try. Most of the 1st hour that I played was spent on the back story and some training. I think I complained about this when I was playing trace memory, but I hate clicking through stories. I would rather read a comic book or scroll through a couple of paragraphs. I've been told that there is a lot of clicking through dialog in Okami...boooring!!

The drawing is more challenging than I thought it would be, but it is an interesting way to play a game. Okami's reliance on the Wii's Nunchuk betrays it's previous life as a PS2 game. The only real use the game makes of the WiiMote is for the drawing, but that's enough for me. Hopefully when the "3 games a week" phase of my life is over, I can come back to Okami.

And now for a word from Marlena's Soapbox:
What is it about video games and boobs???? I was really enjoying the beginning to Okami when they introduce this goddess. I have never EVER seen a classial depiction of a Japanese lady without her being very modestly dressed. This particular goddess had the most bizarre cleavage I've ever seen...ok, fine. I know that in the world of video games, all women are supposed to be an F cup size, but the real killer here is that she shakes the wolf's companion OUT OF HER BOOBS. WTF^2! This type of thing is SO TIRING to me, and was particularly out of place at this moment, and especially in this game.

Boom Blox

When Steven Spielberg was shown the Nintendo Wii, he immediately felt the urge to create a game that would exploit the Wii's interactive capabilities. He found a collaberative partner in Electronic Arts, and the result is Boom Blox.

The basic concept is very simple. You are presented with a pile of blocks. The goal is to knock them down. Since this is a Wii game, knocking down blocks is accomplished by hitting the air as hard as you can with the Wii-mote in hand. It's as if the blocks are saying "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."(Fight Club fans may wish to use the penguin avatar.) This brings up the greatest aspect, for me of this game. The game has cute little characters, which I enjoy, and they crack me up because they seem to serve as a cover up for the fact that this game is all about venting aggression.

There is no one way to hit these blocks. I can jab, punch or slap them. I can even give them a back-handed slap, and the noise they make when you hit then is as satisfying as the sound of popping bubbles in bubble wrap. The makers of the game really did their physics homework because when I make all these crazy hits, the blocks react appropriately to the direction of the force.

Boom Blox has several modes of play and different sets which is pleasing to me because it means that play doesn't have to start where you left off last time. There is a multi-player option and players can play either competitively or cooperatively.

As you play through all of these options, the game unlocks different pieces that can be used in there "create a level" section of the game. Create a level is pretty easy. Players can choose the type and placement of blocks and the characters on the screen.

Boom Blox is one of the reasons why I respect Steven Spielberg. There are absolutely no references to any of his movies in this game. It's just a great game that is easy to figure out but very satisfying to play.

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