One of the best ps2 games to date
STORY:The story in this game is lenghty and engrossing.You play as Amaterasau,the wolf-shaped sungoddess and main figure in the Shinto religon,on a quest to rid the world from the demons Orochi's curse.At first I thought the game was rather short but more twists in the story increse the game's lenght to a good 40 hours.Plenty of characters,some humuorous,some dramatic and some mysterious.The story revolves around finding the celestal gods who are all in the Shinto religon.You learn an awful lot about Japanese history.Overall an excellent story.
GRAPHICS:Well,it's like playing a painting.The graphics in this game are astounding,and I have never seen anything like them.Ammy herself looks strong and powerful,and there are loads of characters all designed with care.The towns and countryside are all very beautiful,you can almost smell the cherry blossoms!.The ememies are fierce looking mosters from Japanese mythology,only the imps seem repetitive in design.
GAMEPLAY:You control Ammy running around this massive world,and she is very fast so don't worry about travel too much.When you touch the demon scrolls floating around you enter a battle.You start off with a disk weapon but can use beads or a sword and equip any other weapon as a secondary weapon.(I used a sword myself).You can use your brush techniques in battles(more on that later)to slice enemies in half and the like.Battles are OK at first but get tiresome,but luckily you can escape or avoid them.The boss battles are a highlight of the game,not many of them though.They include you figuring out the weakness and striking it there til it dies.The bosses are well designed.
The main feature of this game is Ammy's brush techniques,she collects 13 in all,with extra non esssential ones also to be found.you can change night to day,and vice-versa,grow plants,slice things in half,control fire, water and lighting.Ther's more but I won't mention these here.As,I said,you can use them in battles too.
SOUND:Amazing sound here.Its all traditional Japanese music.Although there are lots of characters there are no voices,and characters speak like something out of animal crossing,though this is a minor problem.
OVERALL:A game well worth checking out.The only problems are the fact its a bit too easy and the "voices".You'll be sorry for missing out on this fantastic title.At least rent it,but make sure you do try it.One game I won't forget in a hurry.