Re: Okami? An "Underrated" Issue?

[Lightslei]

From what I've seen a lot of people claim that Okami is underrated and that like no on else in the world has played it. Here's my issue, there isn't one single person I know that hasn't played it. In addition without much effort there are hundreds amongst hundreds of fanarts of the game and inspired pieces of "art" from the game. If you put all of this together, doesn't that mean the game shouldn't be considered underrated? To me it seems like another game that exists, however people seem bent on saying it's underrated so people think it's better than it is.

*Before people jump on me, I have cleared the game 4 times, and 100%ed it (all stray beads, all fish, ALL animals fed < That one took ages, every skill learned, etc).

Now I can't deny that it's a beautifully done game that is cheerful and just plain out fun. However I still don't understand why people say it's underrated when it's obvious that it's had quite a large audience.

I'm sort of basing this on a thread from a while ago I forgot about but was bothering me and it's been a few months so don't really want to bump it.

 

[Valiance]

Most likely because it didn't make much money.

Edit: The fact that it didn't sell very well is also most likely the reason that Capcom decided to get rid of Clover Studio, who made Okami and Viewtiful Joe...and I think God Hand.

Double edit:

Spoiler: I'm a dumbass.

Wikipedia: While it was initially thought that poor sales of &#332;kami and God Hand (another Clover title released in the same time frame) were the cause of the closure of Clover Studio,[33][127] it was later revealed that three key developers within Capcom and Clover Studios, Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil series), Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry series), and Inaba, had left the company,[127][128] and the studio was dissolved, such that "now all the resources should be used more effectively and more efficiently since they are centralized."[127] Inaba, Mikami, and Kamiya went on to form the video game development company "Seeds Inc",[129] later merging with a company called "ODD" to become "Platinum Games".[130]

When it came out, I remember it getting rave reviews and then dropping of the radar. I myself didn't have a PS2, but one of my closest friends bought it and we enjoyed it together. Turns out that the reviews were all very high and the sales were decent. I don't know why it's so underplayed. Perhaps it came out at a bad time? I remember a lot of amazing games coming out in 2006 and perhaps it was passed up on instead of other sequels.

And if you think that it's very similar to a game that already exists, I agree. It's very similar to Zelda/Metroid, but the theme, art style, and several other aspects of the game set it apart.

 

[Juk3n]

It's not underrated, as everyone whos played it loves it, it's just very underplayed. Happends all the time, great games go unde the radar for anyone who isnt hardcore (the majority) So Gears of War sells 10 million, and Shadow of the colossus sells..700,000 :/.

Other games in the same catagory are;

Beyond Good and Evil
Viewtiful Joe
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Ico
SOTC
and many more.

 

[YouShouldDeleteThisAccount]

Well. Apparently by 2009 it had only sold 600,000 copies(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okami#Sales). Which isn't like, completely awful but that's not a commercial "hit" either, which many people think it deserved to be.

 

[migo]

Okami isn't underrated, it's just fucking hard to find. I think a lot of people don't really understand what underrated means so they use that word when another one would do better, such as underplayed.

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

You can;t really say everyone has played the game because everyone in your group of friends have played it. In my group of friends (all gamers), I'm the only one who has played it. And there's a lot of art for it because of its unique art style.

So yeah, I consider it underrated in that not many people played it, but it is loved by those who did.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I don't know that I've ever met a single person who has played that game. The lesson? Anecdotal evidence does not a convincing argument make.

 

[fearofsleep]

i dont know anybody else who's played it either. altho i dont hang out with gamers, at least not ones totally devoted to starcraft or counterstrike(i live in China)

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

It's like the super-wealthy guy being confused by everyone always complaining about the homeless when he never sees them in his neighborhood. OR SOME SHIT

 

[Arachon]

It's underrated in the sense that it really didn't sell well, and is quite difficult to get a hold of in stores.

 

[Marmooset]

Now I can't deny that it's a beautifully done game that is cheerful and just plain out fun. However I still don't understand why people say it's underrated when it's obvious that it's had quite a large audience.

I've played it, and in my opinion, it ain't underrated. Beautiful game, possibly the best art design since Grim Fandango - but once you get past that, a fairly standard 3D platformer with "bonus gimmick X" (in this case, a paintbrush rather than a gravity gun or bullet time).

Don't get me wrong, it's fun, and deserves most of its accolades. But underrated? Hardly.

 

[Blackality]

It's not underrated.
It has fantastic scores and reviews. I have it for the Wii and I'm loving every bit of it.

It's a shame very few people know or played the game.

 

[Satin6T]

I never played it, sry guys never owned a Ps2

 

[Worgen]

its considered under rated because it originally sold very poorly, I guess the wii port helped those numbers some but considering how good it is it should have sold fantastically, its one of those games that tends to show that gamers are unwilling to play anything but a muscle bound space marine or that every game has to copy cod

 

[sageoftruth]

I did play Okami, thanks to constant pestering from Gamesradar. Indeed, the game was fun as far as exploration goes, kind of like Legend of Zelda, and I liked the story. Unfortunately, while I liked the story, the telling of the story was enough to make me stop playing at times. Once I finished the game, I knew I couldn't bring myself to sit through the hours of exposition via annoying sim speak another time. Also, I'm afraid the length of the game far outlasted the novelty of the art. This may have something to do with me being a bit of a completionist. As far as Gamesradar reviews go, I'd say it was pretty overrated. Still, I do think it is worth trying if you have patience and like a good story.

 

[GameGoddess101]

I wouldn't call it underrated. Underrated would mean that it's a good game, but the majority of people who played it thought it sucked. Most people just use the word 'underrated' because they can't think of a different, probably better word to use, like Underplayed or Obscure. You can't say everyone has played Okami just because everyone you know has played it. It's still a rather obscure game. I mean, in my circle of friends, all of whom are gamers, only about 6 of us have played it. Lots of fanart exists for the game because a.) The majority of the Fanart community on Fanart sites is made up of the community that made Okami popular and b.) It has a really unique art style.

While I love Okami and think it's underplayed, I understand why it kind of fell off the radar into obscurity. The gaming community as a whole doesn't really have the patience for this kind of game. First off, it's really hard to find, whereas most popular games are hard to find. It has a different art style, the dialog is presented in text boxes with murmuring in the background, it features a dog as the main character (and what with the stigma of Furries and all) and it's long, like 40 hours or so. Your average gamer just isn't willing to sink that kind of time into a game these days, when your average Halo-shooter can be completed in 10 hours, tops.

Sorry about that... TL;DR version-- It's not underrated like most people seem to think, it's obscure and underplayed. This is because your average gamer doesn't have the patience for this kind of game.

 

[OceanRunner]

I first played Okami on OPS2M demo disc and loved it. I went on to buy the game and love every minute of it. I consider it a critical, even if not comercial success as it such a loyal and devoted fanbase. And with the cuteness of Okamiden on the way, we might be fortunate enough to see a revival of the original, like with Shadow Of The Colossus and Ico.

 

[daftnoize]

From what I've seen a lot of people claim that Okami is underrated and that like no on else in the world has played it. Here's my issue, there isn't one single person I know that hasn't played it. In addition without much effort there are hundreds amongst hundreds of fanarts of the game and inspired pieces of "art" from the game. If you put all of this together, doesn't that mean the game shouldn't be considered underrated? To me it seems like another game that exists, however people seem bent on saying it's underrated so people think it's better than it is.

*Before people jump on me, I have cleared the game 4 times, and 100%ed it (all stray beads, all fish, ALL animals fed < That one took ages, every skill learned, etc).

Now I can't deny that it's a beautifully done game that is cheerful and just plain out fun. However I still don't understand why people say it's underrated when it's obvious that it's had quite a large audience.

I'm sort of basing this on a thread from a while ago I forgot about but was bothering me and it's been a few months so don't really want to bump it.

Playing the game now and love it so far. Just started a underated games thread and this seems to be one of the games most people are saying. As beautiful as the game is I must admit that I've just defeted the 8 headed serpent (for what has been suggested will be the first time really surpised the game didn't end there but Very HAPPY it didn't) and whilst wondering round the moon cave when asked to draw your own pattern for the imp mask I did draw a massive penis. Had ammy for the next hour or so wondering round this cave with a big bell end on his face. God i'm so mature!

 

[Infinatex]

I played it and I didn't like it. Theres not much more to it. Just wasn't for me.