AmeliaBee

Dismal. When the game first began I thought it was just really slow, even for a HM game. But as the seasons passed and I kept playing it became clear that yes, this really was all there is to it. No shops, no village, no sweeping storylines or romance subplots, just a single house with a single gigantic, tedious-to-maintain field; dig, plant, fetch quest, repeat. Forever.

The only thing this game has going for it is that Chibiterasu is heart-meltingly cute. I mean it, everything he does is just adorable, from his nubby puppy legs to his movements. Other than that, it seems Capcom did everything in their power to ruin the masterpiece that was the first Okami. Not only is the story constantly contradicting plot elements established in the first game, it's riddled with holes and focuses on some of the most annoying characters I've ever come across in a game (yes, even more than Ashley from RE5). Lucky for you, they spend a good chunk of the game riding on your back. Fun. The battle system is lackluster, there is no way to control the camera angle and considering how well the stylus could have worked with the brush mechanic, it falls woefully short of its full potential. To boot, there is only one new town and three new dungeons in the entire game. The collection sidequest is sloppy, as there are dozens of hidden items that, once you leave that particular dungeon, are never able to be accessed again. The rest of the scenery and music is lifted directly from the first game. This sounds good until you realize that all of the colorful cast and side quests you had encountered in the first game are nowhere to be seen. Considering only nine months have passed, it feels like a slap in the face to learn that most of the people you expected to see were lazily explained away as simply being "gone", or in some cases, dead. As a result, the game is painfully short and insultingly shallow, with absolutely nothing new to offer for fans of the original. I recommend skipping this one entirely.