As the PlayStation 2 heads down the 'ole dusty trail' into the sunset of our memories, there may be some skeptics, properly basking in the sun of one of those new-fangled systems, who say that the system is outdated, underpowered and incapable of producing a game of next-gen caliber. Those people are better off not being let in on the secret that Sony's middle child is still the superior console on the market - a fact that gamers are having drilled into their heads at the moment by the likes of Rogue Galaxy, Final Fantasy XII, God of War II, Burnout: Dominator and Okami.

As great as all these games are, one of them shines above the rest as not only a new commodity, but as a shining pillar of originality and artistic integrity - and that game is Okami. This overly Japanese game tells how the Shinto Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, restores peace to ancient Nippon (Japanese for Japan) by defeating the eight-headed dragon Orochi and his commanding powers of evil with the Celestial Brush. Using an awe-inspiring graphic style heavily influenced by Japanese art, refined action adventure gameplay mixed with calligraphy (not a typo) and storytelling on par with the best Disney and Hayao Miyazaki animated films, Okami is one of the top games not only in the PlayStation 2's library but in the history of gaming.

Yikes, huh? That's a pretty bold statement, I know - "one of the top games in the history of gaming." Considering that I have played some pretty big time games in the past six months alone - Final Fantasy XII, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Bully, Kingdom Hearts II, Guitar Hero II - and not one of them pulled that sort of response from me. What sets Okami apart from these other blockbusters?

The first answer to that question is the most obvious - the graphics. Okami steps into the gray area between video games and art, shedding a world of color on the subject. The graphics and art design for the entire game are based on a historic and legitimate art style, the Eastern Asian ink and wash styles known as mo-shui, suibokuga and sumi-e. The backgrounds, landscapes and characters are all created on top of a faux canvas (which you can see exposed in the empty sky) using a mix of the ink and wash styles combined with the present day anime-style, cel-shaded style of art, seamlessly combining the two styles into one harmonious hybrid. The effect is something of a living painting, where the objects - with thick black outlines colored in with the most vibrant of paints - move as they are being painted onto the canvas, with a natural grace that only a truly gifted artist could tear from their imagination and replicate through their fingers.

Remnants of art history and appreciation classes from college aside, Okami looks and moves unlike any other game in the history of gaming. By using this type of graphics engine, Clover has created an entire world that almost never suffers from blurry textures, as there is only one real texture, at least in video game terms, in the game - the canvas. Everything else is a trick played on the eyes through the use of thick, black outlines, shadowing and exploiting the color palette. Enemy placement is handled in a way that areas are both populated and not, which most have been to keep the areas as clear as possible and keep the entire thing moving with as few frames-per-second hiccups as possible. This allowed Clover to worry less on what minute details may need to be removed for performance's sake, such as a soft breeze blowing through the flora or the dust and flowers that Amaterasu kicks up as she moves. There are so many amazing subtle details that you could spend hours roaming around, just soaking in all the visuals game has to offer. If you have seen screenshots and little movies of the game in action and find what I have said hard to believe then you need to see this game on a TV, face to face, in action. Watching your actions played out in front of you in such beauty and allure may be the only way to make my comments tangible.

The second answer to what sets Okami apart from the other blockbusters is storytelling. What Clover and Capcom have put together here may be the single greatest adaptation of a Japanese game ever. They had the deck stacked against them, bringing over a game completely based on a country and culture's history, mythology and religion that is foreign to many gamers. With a setting at an unknown juncture in Japan's history, the majority of Okami's inhabitants had been living peacefully since the banishing of the eight-headed demon Orochi by the legendary warrior Nagi and white wolf Shiranui. But as time and peace have a way of eroding fact into fiction, an unbeliever in the tale of Orochi disturbs his resting place, inadvertently reviving him in the process.

As Orochi begins to retake Nippon with an evil darkness, everything is sent into turmoil. One of the nature sprites, Sakuya the wood sprite, uses the last of her shrinking power to bring back Shiranui as Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess. Sakuya tells her of the thirteen Celestial brush techniques that are the key to ridding Nippon of the darkness and Orochi. Issun, a miniature wandering artist based on Japanese folklore, appears from within Sakuya's kimono and decides to accompany Amaterasu as her guide. Though he is supposed to help 'Ammy' by being her voice and her navigator, he tends to speak without thinking, as well as insinuating ulterior motives, as he wants to become Nippon's greatest artist by way of the Celestial brush techniques.

Thankfully, despite the heavy dose of historical culture, the game demands no previous experience of Japan (although some pronunciation experience will come in handy). Any previous knowledge you may have though will only serve to increase your enjoyment of Okami, as you can pull deeper into the mythology with which it plays. This balance of knowledge and naivety leads to success because of the localization team; by approaching the situation knowing that compromising the story for the sake of the Western populace would only cause irreparable damage to the overall experience - or so I can assume - the story suffered from zero cultural confusion, allowing for the rich, engaging story to be the player's only focus. Not that I am sure Okami could be 'white-washed' so to speak, in the first place without making a completely futile final product, but still - there is no denying the localization team's amazing effort here.

But simply keeping the with the original storyline, names and characters isn't enough to carry Okami; its script also demanded special attention, especially when there is no real voice acting in the game. Again, Okami does not disappoint. Every character in the game that speaks - Amaterasu lost her voice when she became a wolf - has very authentic personalities as they lay down sarcastic replies, witty observations, selfish motives and magnanimous expressions - sometimes all at the same time. Issun's crass personality, Susano's bumbling over-confidence, Waka's pretentiousness; every person you come into contact with, minor or major, has such distinct traits and individual personalities that it makes talking to NPCs really entertaining. I would make the comparison to other videogames, but Okami really transcends the medium, landing on a plain generally reserved for classic animated films such as Spirited Away or Toy Story, which took large casts of characters and imbued them all with a feeling of genuine originality. Even Amaterasu is shown to have a unique personality through facial expressions, body language and wolf sounds, further brought to life by Issun's reactions to her actions. I am a firm believer that the silent lead character in a story-based game is an archaic device that long ago needed to be abandoned, but Clover was able to tackle this with grace and skill while not compromising the story or Amaterasu's character. Nintendo - you should take your notepad out.

The third answer to what sets Okami apart from the other blockbusters is its gameplay. With a loose progression style that puts gamers in a wide open world that can be explored and unlocked at the your discretion, as well as the tasks handed out by NPCs that reward you with items and favors, plus the large bosses, the game appears to be a 3D adventure in the vein of the Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series. But that style is only what Okami uses as its gameplay foundation - the Celestial Brush is what sets it apart as an innovative one-of-a-kind.

By holding down R1, the in-game action freezes as you take control of the Celestial Brush. The entire background turns a pale, natural brown color while any objects and characters become varying shades of black - a process that is much like turning a color picture grayscale. From here you can tap the brush techniques you have learned so far and change the world around you by literally painting symbols on top of it. This is the key to everything, from fighting random enemies to solving puzzles to defeating the massive bosses; there is very little in the game is not tied directly to the Celestial Brush is some fashion or another.

Dab the nighttime sky to fill in stars missing from a constellation to discover a Brush God who will imbue you with a new brush technique. Draw a circle in the sky to make the sun rise, or a circle on a tree to bring it back to life. Tie up the giant spider queen and expose her weak spot by painting lines from her legs to floating bulbs to flip her upside down. Cut enemies otherwise impenetrable to regular attacks by drawing a line through them. Some of these changes are subtle, others are very direct, but it is in the flawless pacing and placement of puzzles of brush techniques that keep these moments as far away from monotony as possible.

I have never played or heard of a console game that allows you to interact with the game world in such a creative way and a lesser development team may not have been able to meet the task with the adroitness of Clover. There is no blueprint for this type of gameplay and poor pacing or implementation of the Celestial Brush could have brought the entire project down on all fours. However, they have succeeded beyond all expectations.

Even with all this glowing praise, Okami has its fair share of blemishes that keep it from the coveted perfect score. The game starts off by leading you around carefully, keeping you on a short leash while you learn how the game plays, thinks and works. Then suddenly, this handholding is relinquished, leaving you with no idea on how to progress or to accomplish a given goal. This leads to wasted time, roaming around, talking to everyone you met in hopes of receiving the necessary quest that is the key to progression. The map doesn't always ease the pain either, as it will have marks on it that aren't fully explained. Finally, not all of the Celestial Brush techniques are calibrated properly. Some take into consideration that the analog stick doesn't provide pinpoint accuracy, others don't yet still ask for it, such as the vine technique, where you connect objects to floating bulbs with vines. This can be a huge problem during the log-ride mini-game and the spider queen boss fight, where the luxury of time and patience do not exist. And, of course, there are a few instances of annoying or broken camera angles, especially during the handful of times the game turns to a static camera.

Okami, for a few minutes in the beginning, will give the impression of a short title, but that notion is quickly wiped clean to reveal an expansive tale that should at least pass the thirty hour barrier for even the most grizzled gaming veteran. As you make your way through the game and your powers grow, you are given the keys to unlocking many of the secrets and side quests - of which there is seemingly an endless supply of. To truly experience everything this game has to offer could leave a gamer with a game time of well over sixty hours. The only knock on the lasting appeal is that there is little incentive for the non-completist to indulge in an extra twenty or thirty hours of plant reviving, statue praying, curse removal and other tasks that can become monotonous when strung together instead of properly spaced apart, but even so, the main adventure is still far longer than you would expect.

The few negative marks I came up with are, honestly, minor at best. The difference between perfection and near perfection in video gaming is a minute margin at best and it's a testament to the quality of Okami that as I found myself reaching for any significant downfall to point out, I could not find a single one. Rarely does a game come along that can push the boundaries of our gaming perceptions while still appealing to the facile sensibilities of the masses - and as such this really is one of gaming's greatest achievements.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).