#36
Ōkami
YoY: -5
Games that take inspiration from The Legend of Zelda aren't exactly rare these days, but in order to stand out from not only all the other imitators, but also Zelda itself, the game has to have something unique to offer. and Okami manages that brilliantly. The two main elements that set Okami apart from the rest of its kind were the watercolour visuals and the quite frankly brilliant central gameplay element of the celestial brush where the played can draw directly upon the game world to affect it in various different ways.
The game is by no means flawless, with some characters not quite holding up to scrutiny these days and the game feeling unnecessarily stretched in few parts, but the experience is still overall genuinely wonderful. Okami is not a game I will go and play with any frequency, I've only played through it twice since its initial western release in 2007, but it's a game I do still remember fondly regardless.