| Sony, perpetuator of mainstream? Okage,
developed by Sony, is far from an everyday Joe's cup of tea. Taking a twist on the
RPG genre by going the road less traveled; Okage is a humorous and lighthearted
game. But it has many significant flaws that keep it from being a must have RPG on
an RPG starved system.
As with most RPGs, you've got to have a story. Okage involves a
boy named Ari (changeable though) who embarks on an adventure with Master Stanley HiHat
Trinidad XIV, or Stan for short. His sister had contracted a vicious curse, causing
her to speak only in pig latin. Thus, their father, who had conveniently picked up
an antique bottle, summons the spirit within to cure his daughter. A pact is formed,
in which for Stan's help, Ari must help Stan regain his lost evil power.
And so begins their whimsical adventure, along which they meet a hero
who has a pink shadow and carries a parasol, a ghost scientist who never brushes his hair,
and so forth. Jokes are made quite often and usually involve Stan being ignored and
brushed aside.
Undoubtedly, this premise is very original. But how does the
gameplay stack up? The biggest part of an RPG is the battle system, and well, Okage does
not deliver. It uses a variation on the ATB (Active Time Battle) system. Once
it's your turn, everything freezes so no pressure. Besides being able to attack
together simultaneously, there really isn't any other depth to the system. Even worse is
that the depth is purposely taken away: you can't even choose which individual enemy you
want to attack. Eventually, all battles become tedious and repetitive, even more so
than other RPGs. Luckily, you can see enemies before you fight them. If you
avoid enemies constantly, they will start to become faster and chase you longer, though
it's rendered moot when enemies often spawn in front of you.
Leveling up balance is also very off. In the beginning, playing
like normal (i.e. fighting enemies as they come to you), it's very easy. But then
suddenly, a boss fight would be incredibly hard in that they are so much stronger then
you. And often, a weak enemy would give more experience then a group of strong
enemies.
Sidequests are sparse and far between each other. One involves
having item A, trade for item B, etc. Another is probably the most annoying in that
you have to find these tiny gears in the world maps. The problem lies in the fact
that you have no hints where they are (32 of them) and they are invisible until you walk
across them. The sidequests are unoriginal and frustrating at best. Overall, this
game doesn't have much to do and will probably take anywhere from 20 to 30 hours.
The graphics of the game are far from PS2 standards. Colors are
vibrant and towns are very nice. But when you see the same dungeon texture for the
umpteenth time, it gets to you. That's right, the dungeons all look the same and to
"beat" the dungeon, you have to fight urns. Nice and funny idea for the
first dungeon, but when you get to the next one and realize you have to do the same thing
but in a different layout, it gets frustrating. Most dungeons are also very short,
involving 1 or 2 floors of urns, which I'm actually grateful for, considering how boring
they are (wait till you reach the 9 floor dungeon!).
But the saving grace in the graphics department is character
designs. Your characters and the enemies are very imaginative and cutesy in some
ways, though they are all warped. From whacked out killer bunnies to crazy cows and
elephants, this game has got it in the originality department. All the designs have
a certain spherical look to them and are made purposely to be simplistic. It adds more to
the style when the environments are all sharp and edged, a distinct contrast between the
characters and the environment.
Sounds are sparse. There are no battle cries or anything like
that. You just have to get used to the same 4 or 5 sounds in battle. Music
though is good. Nothing memorable, but the music is nice and fits the game.
There is one other thing that is pretty important. This is a 3D
RPG and as with all 3D games, camera control is vital. Okage allows the user to
rotate the camera left and right with the two shoulder buttons. But there are a
couple of flaws. The first being that turning the camera never feels fast enough,
often taking up 5 seconds or more to get the camera where you want. Second, and most
annoying, is that the camera shifts elevation. This you cannot control and often
results in the player not being about to dodge the spawned enemies because of depth
perception.
All in all, Okage is not a good RPG. It lacks any compelling
feeling to play it, much like many other PS2 RPGs. The good: it has an original
setup and great diversion from the usual angst driven storylines. The bad:
everything else. If you're really desperate for an RPG and have money to spare, then
rent this. Otherwise, wait for the upcoming titles. |
