Okami HD - Sweetie Dogs and Dialogues

Today, we're returning to Glorious Nippon, for some more Okami. We talk about Iris Fall, puzzle game design, Hollow Knight: Silksong, the state of AAA publishing, Warhorse Games, the Boston Tea Party, the definition of "MMO", and Bree Larson. The culture corner is 1983 musical 'Pirates of Penzance'

Game Description

Okami is a highly stylish action-adventure game by Clover Studios, done in traditional sumi-e (inkwask) style. You play as Amatarasu, Shinto Moon Goddess and sweetie wolf who has returned to restore a world blighted by evil.

The art style is more than just a reference to the folklore that the game is based on. Amatarasu uses her Celestial Brush to change the fabric of the world, filling in rivers, creating wind to blow aside obstacles, and even slicing up foes. The game slows down while in 'Painting Mode' to make it possible to input the semi-precise movements using a controller.

The story is jam-packed with references to Shinto and other Japanese legends. It's also very dense. At times, Okami has been criticized for it's verbose, unskippable dialogue. However, it is important to remember that this game was made in an era when a full price game was expected to net you 40-60 hours of play time. Okami is wordy, but it's so well written and the references and imagery are so enticing that it never feels "boring".

Episode Topics

Hideki Kamiya (0:53 - 5:00)

Andy: "Hideki Kamiya is like the Robert Zemeckis of video games. He has directed a ton of games that everyone has played, but no one knows that he directed them. He started at Capcom and made Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe. Then he quit and started Clover Studios, which made Okami, and finally he started Platinum Games with Shinji Mikami."

St0rm: "I played Resident Evil 2, Okami, and Devil May Cry, and I never had any idea that they were directed by the same person. Though, I was aware that Devil May Cry was originally supposed to be a Resident Evil game."

Difficulty Level in Okami (12:17 - 15:18)

St0rm: "It seems annoying that you get timed on the encounters, but then you have enemies like the shamisen guy who keep become invincible and you just have to wait. This game really needs a guard break."

Andy: "In general, the combat isn't very difficult, and the only thing you lose out on for not beating them quickly is a little extra money. I do think it's interesting that the combat is super simple, super easy--especially since it was directed by the same guy who did Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. I think that's something you can really appreciate--when you know the developer is capable of doing very precise and difficult combat, you know that the more simplistic combat was a deliberate choice."

St0rm: "Okami probably doesn't need to be challenging. If we go by the Yahtzee Crowshaw 3 Cs of game design--Challenge, Context, and Catharsis--the setting is beautiful--especially with all of the references to sumi-e painting and Japanese folklore--and the game is serene and cathartic to play. It can stand up on those two legs, even if the challenge aspect is weaker."

Hollow Knight - Silksong (17:30 - 18:36)

Andy: "It looks like more Hollow Knight. If you liked Hollow Knight, then it will probably be good. The extertion noises of the player character are pretty annoying; I hope you can turn them off."

St0rm: "It's Hollow Knight with faster-paced, acrobatic combat. I'm super stoked. I'm also glad they made it into a sequel with its own map instead of just adding a character DLC to the original."

Game Company Stock Decline and Activision-Blizzard Layoffs (19:10 - 24:25)

Andy: "A lot of people have been saying that AAA development is too bloated and that the bubble is getting ready to burst, but I think that would be a shame. Look at all the acheivements that AAA studios have put out in the last few years--Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, the new God of War. I think we're starting to see just what you can do with game technology if you have the resources. There are just things that AAA developers can do that no indie studio will ever be able to pull off. To put it another way, I love Lucas Pope, but there aren't enough hours in the day for a Lucas Pope to put out Horizon: Zero Dawn."

St0rm: "Regarding the layoffs, it is important to remember that a lot of these were non-development employees, and I agree that it is the responsibility of these companies to trim the fat and keep costs down--I just get frustrated every time a company lays off hundreds of employees, when they could lay off one or two executives and save the same amount of money. I don't know why this doesn't get questioned more often--I guarantee that 1 executive is not as valuable as 400 employees who actually work for a living. I would also argue that if your company is doing poorly, that is the fault of the decision makers, not the worker bees on the ground."

Amazon's New "Colonization" MMO (25:30 - 36:00)

St0rm: "Amazon announced a new survival MMO set in the colonial era with gunpowder. I loved the idea, but I was disappointed to find out that they added zombies as the main protagonist. The zombie thing is played out. I think they made this design choice to avoid getting called racist."

Andy: "The controversy is 'oh, you're doing the colonization of the new world by the Europeans as a game'. Frankly, I think that's an interesting setting. Are we supposed to pretend this period of history never happened?"

The Sliding Definition of MMO (36:00 - 41:00)

Andy: "It feels like the definition of 'MMO' has expanded to incorporate more brands then what I would traditionally think of as an MMO. I know not all MMOs need to be RPGs, but I can't think of a game like PUBG as an MMO, even though you are playing online with a ton of people."

St0rm: "To me, MMO implies a world that exists independant of the player. It can't be composed solely of instances, there has to be a persistant world where players can run into each other and interact."

Culture Corner: 'Pirates of Penzance'

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