After playing Okage for two months and one day (started the game Jan. 18), I have to say that I was very pleased with the game. The game is a traditional RPG, featuring an ATB battle system, eight playable characters, and a load of side quests. Great game, read on to find out why.

Graphics: Okage uses a very cartoony graphics style, but one that fits in very well with the mood of the game. Battle graphics are equally nice, and the enemy models are an excellent mix of cartoon and evil. There are no “cinemas”, though - which can be a plus or minus, depending on your style - all the scenes are played out in normal graphics and with text. Overall, the graphics are great, especially for a 2001 game.

Audio: I do have to say, Okage has one of the best soundtracks for an RPG. The music is great, and you’ll find yourself humming the tunes while playing, and while the PS2 is off. There’s a different song for each town, each overworld area, and a different song for normal battles and boss battles. The only downside to the audio in this game is the fact that there is very little voice acting. All the speech is text based, and the only voice acting is the small narrator parts that are found in between chapters.

Gameplay: Like I stated earlier, Okage has an Active Time Battle system, which basically means that your characters’ “speed” meter fills up, and when full, you make your battle choices. However, in Okage, the meter fills even when the enemies are attacking, so it ends up being more of a turn-based system. This does lead to the battles being very fast paced. Outside of battle, the game is very traditional (get to a town, talk to everybody, descend the dungeon, beat the boss, repeat), the only outstanding thing being the fact that you can get hints on what to do from your ghostly companion, Stan.

Play/Replay Value: I beat the game right at 20 hours. However, I didn’t do almost any of the optional quests, and I stayed with one team throughout the whole game, so I never trained the other characters. The game could, I guess, end up being around 35 hours if you did all that. Replay value is average, as you might want to retry with a different team combination, or do a solo game, etc. There is no New Game+, and you can’t continue play after you beat, but you can continue from your last save point.

Will I Buy the Sequel?: I would be really happy if there was an Okage 2, and the way the game ends, there could easily be one letting you explore this “New World”, unless of course, that world is our own…

Rent or Buy?: Buy the game. It’s probably cheaper to buy it anyway, I got my copy for five bucks.