Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first stretch of Ōkamiden understands the pleasure of being a tiny deity with a very big job. You move Chibiterasu through a faded land, meet opposition directly, and use the paintbrush to change the situation rather than simply selecting an item from a menu. Drawing with the stylus gives the action a welcome physicality: when the brush solves a puzzle or helps you win a fight, it feels like your own intervention.

That brush is the game’s strongest returning idea because it serves two purposes without feeling like a detached gimmick. In battle, it gives you another way to respond to enemies; outside battle, it asks you to look at the surroundings as a problem you can alter. The rhythm alternates nicely between direct-control action and puzzle-minded pauses, so you are rarely just marching from one objective to the next.

Companions give the adventure more room to develop. Chibiterasu can team up with several partners, each bringing additional abilities, which makes their presence matter beyond simple company. If you enjoy puzzles that gradually gain new options as you travel, this is where Ōkamiden starts to click. You need some patience for an adventure built around revisiting the brush and companion tools, but the steady expansion of what you can do is rewarding.

Graphics

The contrast between the drained, withered landscape and the world’s restored colour is the clearest visual pleasure here. Chibiterasu’s small white wolf-cub form also gives the journey a gentler, more playful look than a grand heroic quest, even while the stakes concern a spreading sinister force.

Story

Set nine months after Ōkami, Ōkamiden wisely frames its new hero as a reflection of Amaterasu rather than simply replacing her. Chibiterasu is another sun deity in wolf form, but a child one, and that shift gives the premise its own character. You are not returning as the established powerful goddess; you are guiding a young figure into a world already in trouble.

The central conflict is clean and immediately understandable. A sinister force has bled the land of its colour, leaving it faded where it was once alive, and Chibiterasu is summoned to put things right. That restoration theme fits the brush-based play especially well, since the actions you take are tied to repairing a wounded world.

Its companion structure also gives the story a useful sense of forward movement. Different allies join Chibiterasu and contribute abilities, making the journey feel shared instead of like a lone tour through a fantasy landscape. Fans of Ōkami will appreciate the direct connection, while newcomers can still follow the basic goal without needing a complicated history lesson.

Overall Experience

Ōkamiden is an easy game to recommend if you want an action adventure that lets puzzle solving carry as much weight as fighting. The paintbrush is not a decorative callback; it is the reason the game has its own tactile rhythm. When you are drawing solutions, assisting in combat, and moving on with a new companion ability, the adventure feels lively and purposeful.

Its limitations are mostly ones of expectation. This follows a beloved predecessor closely in its setup and core ideas, so the familiar wolf deity, corrupted land, and brush-driven progress may feel like comfortable territory rather than a radical reinvention. But the young lead and companion-focused abilities give it enough of a distinct angle to justify the return trip.

Give it a chance if you like gentle fantasy adventures with active stylus interaction and puzzles woven into exploration. You will get the most from it by treating it as a compact continuation of Ōkami’s spirit, not by demanding that every moment outdo the earlier journey. For the right mood, its mix of colour-restoring heroics and companion-based problem solving remains genuinely inviting.

Retro Replay Score

7.8/10