Ōkami

In Ōkami, the goddess Amaterasu takes the form of a white wolf and restores life to a cursed land. The world resembles an ink painting: distinct outlines, simplified shapes and brush movements unite scenery with characters. This visual language becomes a method of control. You pause the action, bring a brush over the scene and draw a sign that changes what happens. A line can cut an obstacle, a circle in the sky calls forth the sun, and circling a tree restores its blossoms.

New brush techniques open paths, help in combat and solve puzzles, so exploration repeatedly brings you back to familiar places with new abilities. Limited ink restricts your power, while helping people and nature earns praise that can improve the heroine's attributes. Defeating enemies matters, but so does the visible result of restoration: the space changes before your eyes. The game shows an unusual agreement between image, theme and action. Drawing is a shared language through which the player interacts with the world, rather than a separate minigame.