From the back cover"God. Hero. Hunter. Savior."
You posess the power of a god, but face the world in the form of the wolf. You have the power to create and destroy. Faced with your greatest challenge, to restore order and beauty to a world laid barren by evil, you must overcome the odds against you.
An epic journey through a breathtaking landscape.
Use innovative controls to "paint" your desired powers.
Fight against a wide variety of mystical, but deadly enemies.
Communicate with unique characters.
Expand your god-like powers as you progress through the game."
The player controls Ōkami Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, in the form of a white wolf. When endowed with ink power, Amaterasu is seen by the player with red markings, cloud-like fur on her shoulders, and weapons on her back. Most of the human characters in the game only see her as a plain white wolf; some believe Amaterasu to be the reincarnation of Shiranui (the white wolf that fought Orochi 100 years prior to the game's present), and do not recognize her spiritual nature. If the player depletes power by overuse of the celestial brush, Amaterasu will temporarily revert to this mundane white form. Issun, an arrogant, inch-tall "wandering artist" seeking out the thirteen Celestial Brush techniques for himself, accompanies Amaterasu (whom he calls "Ammy" or "furball"). He serves as a guide, dialogue proxy, and as comic relief. He grows in character along with Ammy throughout the game, becoming her true friend, inspiration, and eventually her savior. Two other characters also reappear several times within the quest. Waka appears to Amaterasu several times in the game as a beautiful young flute-playing man in costume. He is aware of the goddess's true identity, foretells her future, and at times battles with her. The other is Orochi, the eight-headed demon and a major villain within the game which the player will encounter several times.
The player controls the main character, Amaterasu, in a woodcut, watercolor style, cel-shaded environment, which looks like an animated Japanese ink-illustration (known as ink wash painting, or sumi-e) with other styles of art. The gameplay style is a mix of action, platform, and puzzle gaming genres. The main story is primarily linear, directed by Amaterasu's guide Issun, though numerous side quests and optional activities allow for players to explore the game world and take the story at their own pace. By completing quests, side quests, and small additional activities (such as making trees bloom into life or feeding wild animals), Amaterasu earns Praise, which can then be spent to increase various statistics of the character, such as the amount of health and number of ink wells for Celestial Brush techniques. Unique to Ōkami is the Celestial Brush. Players can bring the game to a pause and call up a canvas, where the player can draw onto the screen. This feature is used in combat, puzzles, and as general gameplay. For example, the player can create strong wind by drawing a loop, cut enemies by drawing a line through them, or fix bridges by painting on the broken one. These techniques are learned through the course of the game by completing constellations to release the Celestial Brush gods (inspired by the Chinese zodiac) from their hiding spots.
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