Okami Usability Review
Okami is a 2006 action-adventure game that follows a wolf god's journey to save her homeland. In this review, I play the first two hours of the Nintendo Switch release.
Okami is a critically acclaimed game which earned IGN's 2006 game of the year. Okami is an action-adventure game that uses unique ink and brushstroke mechanics. Inspired by Japanese mythology, players assume the role of Amaterasu, the wolf god on a quest to restore balance and defeat the malevolent forces threatening the land.
Such innovative mechanics, however, require efficient and straightforward explanations which the game lacks. There are also challenges to updating the game and adapting the controls for a different console than what it was designed for. The game is centered around talking to characters to find narrative clues on how to proceed and building paths and fighting enemies using brush skills controlled by either motion controls or a joystick.
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Genre: action RPG
Platform (Played on): Nintendo Switch
Revenue Model: Buy to play
Released: 2006
Developer(s): Clover Studios
Publisher(s): Capcom
Dialogue ​
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Skip button only appears in cutscenes if the player already knows that + is skip
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Context:
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During cutscenes, the “+ to skip” does not appear in the top right corner until the player presses the +.
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Player Impact:
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Players must discover this function by pressing random buttons
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Players may not know that they can skip cutscenes, and they may have to sit through cutscenes regardless whether or not they want to watch it.
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Although it is common in switch games, it is not a given that all players are familiar with this standard or would have remembered it from previous games.
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Suggestion:
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keeping the “+ to skip” prompt permanently at the top right corner of every cutscene would ensure that players are aware of this option
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Players may not know when they can or cannot skip dialogue
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Context:
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The dialogue scrolls letter by letter
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Skipping dialogue is implemented inconsistently. In some dialogue scenes, the player is NOT ALLOWED to skip with 'B' or ‘A’ until every letter of the dialogue has appeared. There is no indication of which scenes allow the player to skip lines and which do not.
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Other dialogue scenes WILL ALLOW the player to fast forward one line of dialogue with 'A'
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There is no indicator which scenes allow skipping with ‘B’ and which do not
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Player Impact:
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Players may want to read the dialogue faster without skipping entirely because they may still want to understand the story
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Suggestion:
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Allowing all scenes to be skipped with ‘A’ would allow players to experience the story at their own pace
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Providing an autoplay function for unskippable scenes could signal to players what is required viewing and allow them to watch the story at the intended pace ​
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Keywords in dialogue bubbles are highlighted in red to draw attention
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Context:
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Those keywords include terms and instructions, such as important character names, buttons to press, items to interact with, and big plot points
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Player Impact:
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Players will be more likely to retain and recall information that is pointed out to them, even if they’re speed reading
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Players may not understand how to complete tasks due to inconsistencies in instructions
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Context:
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Task instructions can range from clear to unclear, depending on how recent a mechanic was introduced
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​For example: The companion says, "if only you had some special power”, when Okami needs to cut the peach down, but the player has not unlocked the cut power yet.
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In another example, the flea asks, “doesn’t that broken sword bother you?” at the broken statue, but the player has just unlocked the rejuvenate power
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Player Impact:
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Players may not be able to follow the leaps in logic without an explicit connection between mechanic and action
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They may also get stuck in moments when the game does not tell them where they need to go to find a solution.
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Suggestion:
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giving the player explicit instructions that include action verbs to “go” somewhere or “fix” something would give the player enough information to understand their goal and destination
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If they need to be reminded of their instructions, allow them to interact with the object in question to pull up the companion’s instruction dialogue again
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Players may get overstimulated by the many moving parts on-screen during dialogue
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Context:
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During dialogue:
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The outline of dialogue boxes wiggle
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The camera rotates around Okami
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Characters cycle through their idle motion
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Player Impact
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Players might not be able to focus on the text or digest the contents due to being overstimulated
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Suggestions:
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Removing the wiggling outlines and grounding the camera in one place could help avoid overstimulation
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We do not recommend removing idle animations, since players would expect NPCs to have some kind of movement when idle
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Controls
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The basic attack auto aims if the player is in the general vicinity of your target
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Context:
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If a pot or enemy is somewhere in front of Amaterasu even if it is not aimed directly in front of her, she will automatically charge in that direction upon pressing ‘Y’
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Player Impact:
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This is helpful because it makes up for the slow camera controls which can make moving and aiming at the same time a bit difficult.
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The auto aim makes smashing pots and enemies much faster
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Brush spells are simple but difficult to control
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Context:
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The shapes that the player has to draw are simple and the tutorials are straightforward
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The game show the player what shape to draw instead of describing it.
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Some shapes get repeated between spells and attacks but differentiating between spells with the same shapes is not confusing because each has a very distinct shape
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It is not easy to draw a satisfactory straight line or circle with the left joystick alone
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The game suggests using only one Joy-Con in the opening screens, in order to allow the player to use motion controls to draw their brushstrokes. However...
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the player needs the left Joy-Con to move the character and the right to move the camera
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motion controls don’t work when both Joy-Cons are registered for one player​​
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When attempting to connect only one Joy-Con in the switch settings and returning to the game, the game would not allow me to move forward and showed a "reconnect controllers" screen
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Player Impact:
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The switch version prompts motion controls for single joy-con users but as this is a single player game, players are unlikely to use a single Joy-Con if holding two joined Joy-Cons is more ergonomic for the majority of the gameplay
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Suggestion:
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This problem is difficult to solve because this facet of gameplay seems optimized for the Wii.
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One possible solution is to inform the player to use both Joy-Cons but without connecting them to each other either through the joy-con grip or by reattaching them to the console. This would allow players to use both Joy-Cons for movement and camera functions and easily switch to one Joy-Con when performing brush attacks.
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Another could be to utilize motion controls with both Joy-Cons together.
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Instructions and Prompts
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Players may not remember previous skills without reminders and clues
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Context:
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An enemy launches projectile fruits at the player and the game tells them to “hit them back”
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The player is prompted only once to do so by "drawing one quick brush stroke." The prompt is never again repeated
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The player is then asked to perform this skill again after 2 cutscenes and learning a different new skill. Once again, the prompt is not repeated
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Player Impact:
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Some players skim dialogue and may be counting on instructions to reappear if they forget
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Players may not remember previous skills after learning ones and not using previous skills for some time
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Player may have already associated this brush skill with a slashing motion used to cut previous enemies in half. They may focus on the term "hit" instead which may lead them to get stuck on a task temporarily
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Suggestion:
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Using more descriptive language helps the player better understand how to perform tasks
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Example:
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telling the player to “slash at the fruit”
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Telling the player to revisit the Fan Menu in order to find information on enemies when the Fan Menu is introduced would allow players to enjoy their gameplay uninterrupted by dialogue and give players a chance to attempt to solve battles on their own first
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The game creates its own prompt to interact with NPCs
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Context:
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The prompt to keep talking to an NPC shows an upside down green triangle like the prompt shown to press ‘A’ and move along the dialogue.
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Player Impact:
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Although the ‘!’ over characters’ heads is standard, the upside down green triangle has already been connected to dialogue before
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This makes it likely that the players will continue to associate it with all future NPC interactions
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The lack of quest log may leave players unable to progress
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Context:
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Inventory/options menu contains only journal entries and previous tutorials
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Player Impact:
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Players often forget what their tasks are especially if there are multiple tasks available
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Players often explore and try to find hidden secrets before leaving an area for another quest but that can lead them to forget what the next quest is by the time they’re done.
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The lack of clear direction can leave players feeling a little lost.
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Players may also want to be reminded of quests they want to return to before they finish the game.
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Suggestion:
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Adding a quest log in an easily accessible location (such as the Fan Menu) with clear instructions helps players feel certain about their next steps.
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A big yellow arrow points you towards the exact path
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Context:
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In the absence of a quest log, the player is given a large yellow arrow pointing them in the right direction.
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It doesn’t just point them in the general direction of their next task, it points them back on the footpath they are supposed to follow
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Player Impact:
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It gives players confidence that they are progressing in the right direction
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