Two For Tuesday: Okami and I Bury the Living…
I’ve been rather lax in updates, lately, and I aim to correct that. Without further ado, two reviews for you- one video game, and one movie.
First up: I’m playing Okami right now. Okami got a lot of press leading up to release, and I kept wanting to play it and wanting to play it, and when I was reading the articles about it prerelease, I couldn’t wait for it to come out. Then it came out and… nothing.
I barely remember that it was released at all. There just didn’t seem to be that much hype around it, after it was released. I don’t know why. I’m about ten hours in right now (reviews have said it’s about a sixty hour game- given how much time I’m spending exploring and wandering around, I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes me closer to seventy), and it’s fantastic. The intro was a bit over-long, but the gameplay is pretty solid, even if, so far, most of the fights have been a bit on the easy side.
A bit of online searching has shown a lot of comparisons between Okami and the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I can understand that, to some degree, given that both games have you controlling a wolf at some point, and both games involve a lot of roaming around a fantasy world. That’s about the extent of the similarities so far, though.
The major gameplay element in Okami is the use of drawing to alter the world around you. You have regular attacks at your disposal, and can upgrade your weapon and find new ones, but one of your biggest tools in the game is that you have a magical paintbrush.
Hold down one of the triggers, and the screen becomes a flat canvas, and you use the paintbrush to effect changes. Draw a straight line across the canvas, let go of the trigger, and it’s as though an invisible sword has just cut through everything in that line. Find a dying tree? Hold down the trigger and draw a circle around the tree. Let go of the trigger, and your magic causes the tree to bloom and become healthy again. There are 13 groups of magical powers in all, and I’ve only found a few so far. I can cause the sun to rise, make plants grow, use magic to slash enemies and cut through obstacles, and create explosives.
It’s a real shame that Clover- the studio that produced Okami- was dissolved, because this is a real gem. The game is absolutely beautiful. It’s got a unique visual style that’s strongly inspired by Japanese watercolor and wood carving, and the gameplay is rock solid. If you haven’t picked this up yet, I strongly urge you to. I’ll try to put up another post about this after I’ve beaten it.
One thing that I think is… uh… interesting, is that the wolf, Amaterasu, is the physical manifestation of the Shinto goddess Amaterasu. Most of the characters you meet in the game recognize you as such, and refer to you by terms like “mother of us all.” But, there seems to be some confusion amongst players as to what gender she is. Apparently the manual claims that she’s genderless. Which is… uh… weird. You know, since she’s a goddess and all.
Moving on: I Bury the Living!
I’m generally opposed to remakes, but, I have to admit, I’d love to see this remade at some point. There’s some great stuff to work with here, but it’s dated pretty badly now. Of course, it’s five decades old, so, you know, expectations have changed a bit in a half century.
For those who haven’t heard of it: I Bury the Living is a great little horror/thriller about a man, Richard Boone, who takes over an appointment as a cemetery (why do I always want to spell it “cemetary”?) chairmanship. When he accidentally uses the wrong color pin to mark a recently purchased plot (they use white pins to mark plots that are owned, and black pins to mark plots that are occupied), the couple die in a horrible accident shortly after.
Boone quickly realizes that he holds a dangerous power- when he places black pins on the board, the owner of the plot dies. Thus, he buries the living.
The whole thing is, despite its age, low budget, and poor performances by some of the supporting cast, a pretty damned good thriller/horror movie. I know some people are unhappy with the ending, and it doesn’t work completely, but there’s a lot of potential there. The film does a great job handling Boone’s reaction to the events, as he his mind starts to crack and he descends into madness and despair as people he cares about turn up dead, seemingly at the push of a pin.
The biggest problem with the movie is really that it’s a product of a low budget and 1950s film standards. One thing that really stuck out was the way certain things were highlighted. There were several moments where the camera might as well have included a flashing neon sign and a bullhorn screaming “HEY! THIS! IS! IMPORTANT!” The camera zooms in on things and stays zoomed for five or ten seconds while special music plays, and the viewer is made aware in no uncertain terms that this is a Big Deal. And then several lines of dialogue inform the viewer again that this is a Big Deal.
Anyway, the final act of the movie, where Boone is really losing his shit, and he’s worried that he’s just done something really, really horrible, is awesome. His obsession with the plot map is really well executed. There are several scenes where he’s staring at it, and it begins to take on a sort of otherworldly aspect. One scene, in particular, has the map growing larger than life, to the point where it’s literally towering over Boone, giving the impression that it could swallow him or crush him. It’s a really excellent shot, and I wish I could find it, but, alas, the interwebs are failing me right now.
I suppose I should be careful what I wish for, though. While I’m thinking that a remake could really enhance the movie by getting rid of the neon arrows and cleaning up the ending, it’d probably just make the movie stupid by adding pointless characters and I’d end up hating it. Oh well.
