Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
Okami HD
As a sun goddess in wolf form, players paint natural phenomena directly into the world with the Celestial Brush and heal a Japan of legend ravaged by demons. The HD version polishes the distinctive ink-wash look for modern screens.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Action / Adventure, set in a fantasy world. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays light and upbeat. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
Difficulty stays forgiving, so progress rarely depends on your reflexes. The narrative carries the whole thing, and the mechanics serve it. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 4 platforms. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Celestial Brush mechanic
- Ink wash visuals
- Japanese mythology
This fits you if
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you want to live through a story, not just play a system
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- the writing matters more to you than the mechanics
- you want zero frustration and no difficulty wall
Look elsewhere if
- you need real difficulty to stay interested
- you skip cutscenes and want to get to the gameplay
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want to play it side by side with someone
What it costs you in time
About 40 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 7 weeks, or 20 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 92 out of 100, which puts it above 93 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 78 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Action averages 83 points across the database, so this one sits 9 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 127 collected ratings.
Released in 2012, which makes it 14 years old. A genuine classic, and worth checking how the version you buy holds up today.
The facts
- Release year
- 2012
- Genres
- Action, Adventure
- Playtime
- approx. 40 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Relaxed, forgiving
- Story weight
- Carries the whole game
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Fantasy, Historical
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
- Critic rating
- 92 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okami HD | 2012 | approx. 40 hrs. | 92 | Mid price |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD | 2013 | approx. 26 hrs. | 91 | Mid price |
| Hogwarts Legacy | 2023 | approx. 35 hrs. | 85 | Mid price |
| The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD | 2021 | approx. 40 hrs. | 83 | Full price |
If you liked this, try these
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Hogwarts Legacy Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Pokémon-Legenden: Arceus Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Dishonored 2 Shared: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Red Dead Redemption 2 Shared: Action, Adventure, Historical, longer