Clover's Last Bloom

This was probably one of the things that infuriated me the most about Capcom. It wasn't enough that they destroyed one of my favorite RPG series (Breath of Fire), bastardized one of my favorite action series (Megaman), now they went and axed one of the finest production studios they had under them. Clover Studios scored a massive hit gameplay-wise, art-wise, and music-wise with their title, Okami. Interesting fun fact is that pronounced differently, the name can mean "Great God (ookami) or wolf (okami), which the main character is in this title.

To quote Yahtzee (though this was used for a different game), "If you find the Japanese offensive, then you'll find this game offensively Japanese." Okami is a very stylized version of Japanese mythology, taking unabashedly from its roots and shaping it into a beautiful, innovative title. It takes place in an undisclosed time period of Japanese history, weaving in myths and folklore to tell a new story about the sun goddess, Amaterasu and her journey in the shape of the white wolf, Shiranui to destroy the dark curses placed across the land of Nippon. Having lost the praise of the Nippon people as well as a multitude of her celestial powers as a result, Amaterasu battles the forces of the demon Orochi. Along the way, she rescues the Brush Gods, which grant her the ability to create various effects by literally painting them on the world. For example, Amaterasu herself is the Sun Goddess, and therefore discovers her own ability of Sunrise to change night into day (by drawing a circle in the sky). Another example is Gekigami, the God of Thunder, who's brush power allows Amaterasu to create lightning by drawing a lightning bolt with her Celestial Brush (interestingly enough, this is shaped like Shiranui's tail).
The characters are vivid and interesting, and the subplots of each area rarely interfere with the actual story, and if they do it usually grants a new God power to more than make up for it. The story posesses a few intriguing plot twists, as well as trainable skills and upgrades to your already potent brush abilities as you progress. The controls are very intuitive, and the three different types of weapons helps cater to different styles of play.
The three weapon types are all based on the Imperial Regalia of Japan. The reflectors (based on the Yata no Kagami) are balanced weapons with moderate attack speed, power, and knockback. Beads (based on the Yasakani no Magatama) are weaker powered weapons with incredible attack speed and multiple hits per swing. Glaives (based on the sword Kusanagi) are slow weapons with great power, and the ability to charge up attacks. You can equip a main weapon used with the X button as well as a subweapon that can be used with the square button, allowing a myriad of different combinations. Brush powers are intuitive enough, though some take some practice to get used to. Upgrades often allow you to perform an elemental move without a source of that element nearby to draw from, such as Moegami's Fireburst power that allows you to incinerate foes and obstacles. The combat system becomes interesting in that many enemies only have weaknesses to certain brush powers or abilities, and once you damage them you can perform a coup de'tat with that particular brush power to create a spectacular 'floral finish'. Each battle, which occurs in a pseudo real-time format by walking into moving demon scrolls on the field, is graded and grants money used to purchase items and upgrades.
By far one of the strongest points of this game is its art style. The entire game is made in pseudo sumi-e, japanese watercolor and ink style that was intended to further drive home the point that players have a great deal of interactivity with the world of Okami via the brush powers of the same sumi-e style. While the original 3D photo-realistic version was nearly incompatible with the PS2's processing power, it is this reviewer's belief that the game works better in this distinctively japanese stylization. The game is truly a work of art.
The music for the game is derivative of classical Japanese, with a few modern twists for the more dramatic songs. One such is "Reset" by Ayaka Hirahara, and has become one of my most favorite video game songs ever. The music generally and genuinely fits the mood for wherever the game happens to be, and rarely gets annoying or monotonous to listen to (if you like classical Japanese music, at least).
These facts are all what made it heartrending when Capcom closed Clover Studios a year after Okami's release, subsequently leaving no chance of a possible sequel. I honestly don't understand why they would do such a thing, the game was a gorgeous, innovative, and genuinely fun product. I just wish they'd stop fucking things up. Words fail to describe the spectacle of this game, and it even comes with a New Game+ mode to enjoy with costumes for Amaterasu, including the photo-realistic model they were originally going to use and a bead rosary that makes you invincible.
Why, Capcom? Why did you destroy one of the greatest studios you've had?

Out of Bounds

Decided to go in a totally different direction this time, turning back to an old ROM I found. Normally anything involving sports seems boring to me unless they have a legitimately fun gimmick (Mario Kart, Mutant League Football, etc), but since this was an action/adventure game, I decided to give it a try if only for the absurdity factor.

Named one of the top ten worst games by Nintendo Power magazine, Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City is definitely one of the most craptastical games I've ever played. You play as MJ himself, with strange new powers as he tries to rescue his teammates from an undescribed threat so that they can perform a charity show (hurrrr). These powers take the form of different kinds of basketballs; for example, the Freeze Ball can damage enemies and create ice patches on the floor, the Bomb Ball creates explosions, etc. He can also perform a slam dunk attack, which is used to activate some power up and open new areas with basket switches. Most of the game revolves around the repetitive task of finding keys, then using them to unlock the prisons Michael's teammates are locked in.
Most of the enemies as far as I played ended up being wierd basketball player zombies with balls for heads, along with critter things like bats and rats. Altogether the game seemed pretty lackluster, as if cobbled together to feed off the tetes of, at that point, Michael's incredible popularity. For a platforming title, there was very little challenge involved in this game; yet another title aimed at children most likely, though seeing zombies walking around with basketballs for heads is so absurd it might be scary. Might be.

I Herd U Liek Card Games

One of the most irritating thing I've noticed lately is games that abuse the use of card games or similar systems where it doesn't belong, or just the overuse of card-based concepts in general. It sucked for Pokemon, it sucked for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, it even sucks for all the excessive Yu-Gi-Oh video games save a few of the GBA titles.

I don't know what this obsession with cards is that the Japanese have, but at least one game got it right, and became one of my favorite Gamecube titles. Lost Kingdoms II, or Rune II in Japan, was an action/RPG title that had elements similar to other action RPGs like Zelda, but with a card game twist on it. The heroine, Tara Grimface, uses magic granted through her True Runestone to bring cards to life, and uses them to battle in realtime fights with monsters that roam free (in other words, no random battles).
The card system usually becomes too convoluted in many card-based games, but Lost Kingdoms II made it simple by dividing the cards into four different types; weapons deliver single strikes (sword slash, beam spell, etc), summons deliver a single attack or effect before disappearing (like a summon monster in most final fantasy games), assists walk with you and perform their effects or attack, traps (proximity explosions and such), and transformations change you into various shapes to access other areas (birdman to fly over gaps, golem to break down walls, hellhound to jump high walls).
Cards are collected by throwing Blank Cards, purchased from town, at sufficiently weakened creatures, or by finding them in treasure chests. When entering an area, cards from your assembled deck are picked four at a time and assigned to a button (Y, X, A, B). Many cards possess multiple "charges", meaning they can be used multiple times or stay activated for prolonged periods of time before the magic is depleted. The myriad of cards in this game ensures you can make a variety of different decks, completely customizable to your needs or play style.
Battles occur in real time, with monsters roaming about. As objectives are completed in areas, or new cards or obtained, other areas of a level open up or new monsters appear. The levels are designed interestingly enough, however the game suffers from short play time and mediocre story. The other issue that I have with this game is the music -- it's not so great, and gets monotonous quickly (especially the overworld music). Monsters are interesting enough, though some of them borrow a bit excessively from real world lore. Of course, this is made up for by having a cthulu-wannabe card that has a useful effect.

Lost Kingdoms II was a pleasant play, and the innovative play style more than made up for its shortcomings. I only wish it had been longer.