Okami

The above is from a new game with the starting Refector with 3 hits to its string when unupgraded.

I just started NG+ on my Switch version. In this file I upgraded the Reflector combo once. This adds one more hit.
When I got to the first imp fight, the stuff in my precious post did not work. There was no stun after the 3rd hit.

All 4 hits kill a green imp, so I tested on the slightly stronger red imp. Same thing with the 3rd hit BUT the 4th stunned them. Also, whiffing the first 3 and connecting with the 4th stuns both.

Not sure what's going on here exactly. Why would the 3rd hit not stun when upgraded?

I have this idea that the last hit on any string is considered a 'finisher' which has the stun property attached.

So every time you upgrade the string and raise the number of hits, the finisher gets pushed to the last hit. That's why the 3rd hit stopped stunning and the 4th started. And why the 4th alone stuns.

It could also be the case that it IS about damage but only how much you do in a single hit. I totally forgot I have a few stronger weapons carried over so I'll test those too.

I've got an early NG save so I'll load that and check if the whiffing the first 2 hits and landing the 3rd stuns. That should confirm it. But if it doesn't stun, I'm not sure what that means.

Also will need to get further upgrades and see if the finisher always gets pushed to the final hit.

Regarding others, Waka (a boss) can be stunned from normal hits. The hits do not need to be consecutive. I think in his case it's about damage because the signs point to that. But I need to test it again.

Ok I've figured it out.

Whenever you upgrade and get an extra hit, the new add on becomes the finisher. I bought the final upgrade which raises it to 5 hits. Now the 4th doesn't stun anymore. The 5th does.

Looks like that's all there is to it. Found some other cool stuff while testing this too. When ypu go from 3 to 4 hits, the 3rd causes a different hit animation on green imps where they spin in place. When you upgrade from 4 to 5, 4 changes to cause this spin too. Doesn't work on red imps. Should work on any green imp equivalent.

Also, green and red imps start to spin away from you when you attack when they're at somewhere under half their HP. A little more than half I think. When they get really low they'll try to spin away from every hit it seems. Still looking into this.

There are still people on this board who have not played Okami. Disgusting.

So it looks like every enemy might have a stun JUST from physical attacks.

I've worked out the two basic imps. Tested on the yellow imp (that's the big one with the drum) and the rules are different.

It will never be stunned from basic weapon attacks no matter how many hits.
You need to stun it through one of the other means first.

It burrows underground then pops up beside you. You need to get behind it before it pops up, which will have it look around confused and be drained of color. Or when it stuns itself after using its drum cannon.

It's only in this colorless stun state that you can cause a stun with weapons, or at least with the Reflector. Haven't tested Glaives yet.

And you need to start attacking early of you won't get to the finisher before stun runs out.
Once you knock it down with the final hit, if you wanted to you could whiff the first hits and just connect with the last to knock it down but this is a waste of time. Just interesting that it's possible.

Better to just Power Slash when it's stunned than any of the above.
This was tested with a Reflector upgraded to 4 hits. Still need to test the base 3 hits. Final is 5. Not sure there's enough time to get to the final hit.

I believe I know the purpose of setting Ninetail's tail on fire. It has an attack where it stabs all of its tails into the ground then they stab up from underneath you. I wasn't paying much attention when I did this fight recently, but I think I saw only one tail come up when it did this move after I burnt the other tails. This would be the one tail you can't burn (the middle one). I've got another file outside Ark of Yamato for the boss rush so I'll test this soon.

> haven't played okami
> disgusting
I feel personally attacked

Well look if the shoe fits, nothing to do with me. I'm just stating a reality. I don't make the rules.

Though I'm just as bad having barely touched the NG series.

Glaive works the same way. Charged final hit works too.

Glaive on sub is an instant stun on aforementioned imps. Same rules apply for the drum imp.

Every time I see this game I want to buy it. Like for the Series S so I have a file absolutely everywhere.

I have that with MGR:R for some reason, I own it basically in every form and fashion now.

My main files are PS2 and PS4. PS4 is my best one because my Thief Glove is almost maxed. I don't know if I'd ever go back to the PS2 version.

I will never touch the PS3 version. No point. Doesn't have the skippable dialogue and scenes.

Switch version has been the most useful other version I bought due to being able to play it anywhere. Still building a perfect file.

I've got a ton of videos dealing with the melee hit properties but keep forgetting to upload.

On YT? I'd be interested in watching these, in the event that the next game I get to play is this one (but even so, having the vids up would still be welcome *again, assuming you're talking about YT*).

>on YT?
No. I don't really use it anymore.

Might someday but for now I already have other Okami stuff on Twitter and don't want yo split it up.

I don't like this video format though so if I get a better PC someday I'll redo everything in larger videos, possibly with commentary.

>not on YT
Twitter, then? Not sure if you gave me a link to yours (and if you did, not sure where you shared it). Mind if I ask for it? I'm getting pretty interested in playing Okami very soon, so your videos could be of help.

Thanks a lot. If I have any questions (which I will), I'll be sure to come to you.

Note: Is there a way to see a certain type of content (like Okami, and nothing else), or if something is too old, would people need to scroll through a lot of posts to find what they want?

You can use the search bar when on someone's profile but you can only use keywords. I tried it just now and it finds posts where I've said 'Okami', but that's it. None of the posts were videos. This is because I don't give them titles, I just start talking about what's happening in the video.

I don't have that much content so it should only take like 10 seconds of scrolling to find the last Okami video I posted. Then it's just Okami stuff after that for a while.

^ Noted. I'll keep that in mind when I have some free time to go over your content.

I meant to start some run in FFX, but seeing as most of it is filled with luck-based stuff (both the fights and hoping to get equipment drops), I decided to leave it for later.

So, from this moment (well, technically this next weekend), I'll be focusing solely on Okami. Expect some exchanges about it, starting (hopefully) on Saturday. Is there any advice you want to give me before starting? If not, I'll just play it a bit to familiarize myself with the basics, then I can ask questions later.

The game isn't really hard. Everything is easy to do. You should be fine.

>everything is easy
You weren't lying (not that I believed you were, of course).

I got past a spider boss, and saved some dog.

Been mostly using the bomb technique, and to a lesser extent the slash one. Mixing up some melee in-between when I run out of ink. Trying to avoid item usage, but as I had alluded to, the game has been pretty easy, so I don't even need these.

Got a new weapon from the spider boss, as well. I'll check out what it does later. Went to the dojo and learned three techniques (I learned the third one recently, I acquired the first two much earlier). Final one is really expensive.

This isn't to say that I haven't died though, but that was because I held back as much as I could (tried to see how many attacks I was able to block or dodge, which didn't go all that well).

Also, on a side note, what are the parallels that people bring up when mentioning Zelda and this game? I only played OoT (as far as 3D titles go), and I don't see that many similarities. Increasing your maximum health doesn't even work like in Zelda. Don't remember if there was aerial combat in OoT, just some slash that puts you back on the ground. I've been spending far more time in the overworld than in 'dungeons'. Brush antics are also an obvious thing to point out. I did get a weapon from a boss, but I already had other weapons before facing this boss, and even then, you don't get stuff in Zelda after killing a boss, you get those at some point during the dungeon, but not when you actually kill the boss (at least, this has been the case so far).

>Easy
What makes it easy is you get so many safety nets. Items, Godhood, Astral Pouch.

Godhood is a shield generated by your hit count. Has three levels, so that's three hits that won't damage you if it's at max.

Astral Pouch revives you upon death if full. You fill it by collecting food. You can upgrade this to have 3 revives.

Then there's healing items, infinite ink item.

>comparisons to Zelda
Because they're stupid and think puzzles=Zelda. In TP they think Wolf Link makes it similar because Okami has a wolf.
As for actual mechanics, these fools are dead silent.

>Items, Godhood, and Astral Pouch
Ah, of course. Still, my experience hasn't been terribly difficult so far, so I assumed that the game in general was easy, even without those safety nets.

>generated by hitcount
You mean it's up whenever I get past a certain threshold?

>Astral Pouch
Recently filled it, but I won't go out of my way to play as careless as possible, just to use it.

>items
Haven't used these yet, though I should probably use a few (like Gold Dust) to see what it does.

>puzzles=Zelda
The comparisons I've heard so far are the following:

- Gamefeel is similar (...and that's it).
- Overworld exists.
- Forced Item descriptions for nearly everything you collect.
- And yeah, puzzles.

>TP
Didn't that one came out after Okami, though? Why do people even bring that up?
Or were they saying that TP was copying Okami?

>dead silent
Not surprising.

---------------------

Made a bit more progress for this weekend. Beat Crimson Helm, and got a few more brush techniques along the way. By the way, I found it a bit too much how you're granted so much protection for that fight. Even used them all up just to make sure that you could automatically negate so many hits.

I really need to experiment a bit more with weapons, though. It seems they have different effects if they're in the primary or secondary slot. Like I said, I've just been using brush techniques (bomb and slash, mostly). Still going to wait until I finish the game to check out your vids.

>You mean it's up whenever I get past a certain threshold?
Yes. I think there's an item that restores it too.

>gold dust
That's a weapon upgrade. Just an attack power boost. Can only use one per weapon.

>gamefeel is similar?
Yet Okami, to me, feels nothing like Zelda.

>overworld exists
They may as well claim TLOU and RE4 are similar because guns.

>forced item
>puzzles
Superficial details.

>TP vs Okami
I don't know which came first, just that the comparison was made because wolves.

>Crimson Helm
They build him up to be so terrifying but he's just lol.

Satomi Power Orbs are lame and unnecessary.

>weapon slots
Put a Reflector on sub to get a shield that can block pretty much everything and counterattack some enemies.

Put Glaive on sub to get a dash attack.
Rosary because a projectile. Some are long range, while others are spread shots.

Have the same weapon type on main and sub increases their power.

>item that restores it
I think so. For my first playthrough I decided to play the game in Spanish. Can choose to change it whenever I boot the game. 'Godhood' is one of the few things that got an accurate translation.

>just an attack power boost
Oh, I see. Also noticed that you can't buy as much of this as you want. I was only able to buy two from a man selling them.

>Yet Okami, to me, feels nothing like Zelda.
That makes two of us.

>TLoU and RE4
I wouldn't be surprised if there was an individual who made this comparison somewhere.

>just lol
Exactly.

>lame and unnecessary
Yeah, felt like they were too much when I got through that part. Hope there's nothing like this from now on (besides Godhood).

>block pretty much everything
So I have noticed.

>counter some enemies
I was just going to ask about this. I managed to do something that reminded me of an Izuna Drop from Ninja Gaiden to some bird enemy (near a city with a poison mist or something). Did quite a lot of damage. So they're enemy specific?

>Glaive and Rosary perks
Noted.

>damage boost
It does? Would have to try this later.

----------------------------

Played a bit yesterday and today. Got to a town where everyone is apparently dying from a mist. And here I thought the game was going to be extremely short, since I got to face Orochi (what I had assumed to be the 'big bad') much earlier than I thought I would. Was expecting him to be more threatening (I was caught by a few attacks from some of the heads, but I realized that I could exploit a specific one to get health drops, as I still didn't want to use healing items).

Made a few seconds long video. It's not about anything in particular. I think only GMG would get the joke, anyway.

https://youtu.be/StnOVXFQKHQ

Depending on whether I'm needed to work on something, I may or may not be able to keep playing for the rest of the day. Maybe not even tomorrow (at morning), but we'll see.

>gold dust
There are other merchants who sell it. You might be able to find it somewhere too.  I can't remember.

>izuna
Enemy specific. And on some enemies it doesn't work on all their moves. Mainly projectiles or breath attacks
Also, for some of their moves it depends on how close you are. For example, that imp that has a drum and burrows underground. When it pops up it will hit its drum and send out a shockwave. Up close you can Izuna. At a distance you can only block.

If you block at the last second you can get a Demon Fang.

>fake ending
Yeah lots of people made this comment. I thought it was about to end too and was hugely disappointed. Was so happy it kept going.

Many complain the game is too long. Not me. I'm glad it's long.

Don't have much time to give the update I wanted to make, but I made it as far as Kyubi. I had my suspicions about this Spanish translation, but Issun strongly implying that he's Yami solidifies it (unless he IS Yami, which I highly doubt).

The game has been getting more and more difficult, and thus, much more engaging. I'm glad I decided to not use items. It took me longer to properly read Kyubi's attacks than I'd like to admit (not his own brush techniques, I actually didn't get to see what they did), which costed me one use of the Astral Pouch. Not ideal, but perhaps this could be a chance to play without it now that it's empty again.

>imp can be Izuna'd
I didn't know that. Wasn't he one of the earliest mobs you can fight against? And I realized that this mechanic existed after getting rid of Orochi.

Either way, good to know (as well as the specifics).

>hugely disappointed
Well, if the game did end at Orochi, it would probably be one of the shortest games I've ever played. So on that front, I'm also glad it kept going (especially now that I'm finding it much more engaging, and that's without a full understanding of the game).

Oh, and before I forget, do you get some hidden attack boost the more you fight enemies? I haven't been able to make a proper comparison, but I'm somehow under the impression that a bomb did much less damage to a new enemy that the game introduced, and later I'm able to deal much more damage than what I used to inflict. This is pretty weird, but I could also be crazy.

>cherry bomb damage
Probably just more susceptible to it.

Which enemy was it?

There's no mechanic like that outside if the Thief's Glove accessory which allows you to attack with Issun and gets permanently more powerful the more times you use it.

Earlier I mentioned equipping two of the same weapon type for an attack boost. I forgot to say you have to unlock this ability at the second dojo first.

So I got a day off, and could play this day as well. Finished the game. What I liked the most about it was how you could use the environment to your advantage, so you could use more attacks to harm enemies with. Also nice to see that there were elemental weaknesses (noticed it when I was fighting Orochi for the second time, but didn't note it). What I genuinely didn't like about it wasn't about the combat. It had to do with the unskippable cutscenes and dialogue.

Immediately went to your link. After scrolling through a few posts (may I ask if you're interested about drawing?), I found your posts about Okami. Coming from you, I knew I'd find neat tech I didn't use. Was not disappointed.

That said, it's getting late, so further watching will have to wait. Can't wait to see all the hidden stuff this game has to offer. And on that note, you said you still weren't done with your uploads, no?

>which enemy was it?
I think it was that blue enemy that changes its form when you hit it with an... element, I believe? I don't know its name. Would have to look through a wiki or something.

>permanently more powerful
I assume there's a cap for this.

>have to go to the dojo
Yeah, I noticed that when scrolling through the new techniques.

So Birdman, I vaguely remember an old post of yours where you said that... a certain kind of challenge run wasn't possible? Maybe due to the limited amount of ink, and that you needed more of it to get through a certain part? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

And lastly, have you ever tried Okamiden? If so, how is it?

>It had to do with the unskippable cutscenes and dialogue.
Get the HD version.

>drawing
Kind of. But I'm not good at it and none of the methods I've tried work for me.

>not done with uploads
Still have a lot more.

>blue enemy
Sounds like Blue Cyclops.

>I assume there's a cap for this.
Yes but it's extremely high. Gets to a point that it can one shot anything. Takes a very long time to grind.

>challenge run
It's possible. I've already done it.

>Okamiden
It's crappy. Very primitive movement like an old PS1 game. Limited combat. It's not even close to being as good as Okami.

>HD version
This wouldn't happen to be available for the Wii, would it? Else, I'm stuck with the PS2 version.

>none of the methods work
That must be frustrating.

>a lot more
Looking forward to these.

>it can one shot anything
Sounds super silly. Though if I'm not mistaken, there's no way to bring Issun to the boss gauntlet at the end, no?

>possible
Oh, I see. What kind of run was it? NUR? What are the rules?

>not close to being as good
Guess that means I shouldn't bother.

-----------------------

Didn't have time to play this weekend. Had to attend family meetings. I did watch a few of your videos, but not all of them, since my Internet connection has been much, much worse than usual. Still, what I COULD watch, was pretty neat. However, I have one question. How can you put more than one bomb on the field? When I try to do so, the second one doesn't even spawn. Or do you need to set the first one off with water?

>HD on Wii
Nope.

>must be frustrating
Was a little. But I don't care now.

>bring Issun into Ark of Yamato
Not possible.

>what kind of run?
No upgrades.
So starting ink, life, Astral Pouch, purse. No getting the big brush techs. No Gold Dust.

>multiple Cherry Bombs
It's an upgrade.

Didn't have time to play, but I did see the majority of your vids. Really good stuff, not surprising that I missed out on a ton of these on my first playthrough. Can't wait to try these tricks.

>nope
Shame. So I'm stuck with the PS2 version for the time being.

Oh, and one more thing. I noticed that you can see Demon Fangs in the loading screen(s). Are those cosmetic, or do you actually get Demon Fangs for succeeding at those? I didn't check my inventory to see if you could get them this way.

>no getting big brush techs
Not sure what these are, but probably the things you used in your vids that I didn't know existed. How do you get these?

>no Gold Dust
Sounds like NUR+.

>Demon Fangs on loading screen
Yes you get them but it isn't worth it. The best way is using a Floral Finisher which is just attacking with certain Brush Techniques as they die.

>big brush techs
Big nuke spells basically. Through the story you'll get the basic set like Galestorm and the elemental ones that let you transfer an element from a source. But these big ones you can only get by doing side quests.

>as they die
Does it have to be during their death animation, or prior to it (provided that the tech kills an enemy)?

>sidequests
I see. Stray Bead hunting wouldn't happen to be one of those, right?

>during death animation
Yes. You'll notice they go into slow mo. That's when you hit them.
It won't work if you killed them with the brush tech like as the final blow that took the last of their HP.


I think if you're using one of the nukes that multi-hit you could kill with them and still get the fangs because they'll be hit again in their death animation.

>Stray Bead hunting
I guess. If you get all of them you get an accessory that gives you unlimited HP and ink, and also boosts attack power insanely high. Not really a quest that is given to you. Just a reward for collecting them all.

Excuse the lack of updates. I got caught up in a few things and couldn't give an update last weekend.

>nukes
Still need to get them (or use them for the first time). I assume you mean the upgrades.

>Stray Bead hunting
Like SBK said, the reward is pretty much a cheat. Won't fret over trying to collect them all, in that case.

-----------------

Help, I think I've become addicted to this game. Can't believe I've missed out on a ton of things the first time I played (had no idea you could use Izuna Drop so early in the game). That aside, I've been trying all of the tech you've showcased in your Twitter, as well as experimenting with the weapons (SBK gave me good pointers for these in specific). I'm not one to concern myself over ranks, but the fact that in the grand majority of the fights I've fought so far (up to Orochi's first encounter) I was able to get the best rank (both for time and damage), it should mean that I'm on the right track. The purple rosary deals a lot of damage up close with the ink shot (though so does the primary attack, to be fair), as well as the alt. charge attack from the Blade of Kusanagi (when used well).

As alluded to, I was able to beat the bosses much more quicker than on my first playthrough. The guy who speaks French can be stunned by sending his projectile back at him. So I took advantage of this opening by using a Cherry Bomb and a Power Slash (instead of just the latter), though I should probably have used the Glaive's charged attacks to see if I could get better results.

The spider boss went down fairly quickly with multiple well-placed Power Slashes across all the eyes. In fact, I was able to defeat this boss in just one cycle. Though that was probably because I had maxed out the amount of ink pots I could use.

Power Slash interrupts the dog bosses, and I used this to my advantage by charging the Glaive's alt charged attack up close, interrupting their attack, and then releasing the button to melt their health bars.

Some of Orochi's attacks can be negated with Galestorm (such as when one tries to use fire, or when another uses poison or whatever the purple mist is), which is nice. I knew about the elemental weaknesses of some of the heads, though not sure if you can severely damage the head that floods the arena by using the electric technique (but I don't have that yet).

Just having a blast. And the fact that NG+ lets me skip cutscenes makes things even better. Like I said, I got hooked to this game. Regret not having played it sooner.

Now, question time.

Besides some weapons having elements attached to them, do they have other differences? I guess the other obvious aspect is attack power, since the first Rosary deals significantly less damage than the Resurrection one (purple Rosary).

As for the NUR+ you mentioned, are you allowed to use the Golden Ink Pot? I haven't gotten it yet, but it looks like something I really ought to have (not necessarily in a NUR+), judging from your videos. I assume items are technically allowed, but you're discouraged to use them.

The bad thing about doing a NUR+ is that I probably have to do it a non-NG+ file, which means unskippable cutscenes. Hopefully there's a cheat code somewhere that lets me bypass these (GoW1 and GoWII have such codes). If not, then frame skipping should do it.

>help I'm addicted
No. Stay addicted.

>early Izuna
As soon as you have another weapon to switch places with.

>ranks
Just extra money.

>Waka (French guy)
Can also be stunned by being attacked. Not the same way as imps though. Different rule.

>Power Slash interrupts dog bosses
This is what you need to keep doing. Just trying everything on everything.
Usually Power Slash is negated but in some cases it will do some non damage thing like this. Can also drop those flying fish and samurai birds as it destroys their wings.

I'm not going to list all my enemy notes. You'll have much more fun figuring out this stuff. Though I'll answer any questions if you want to know what's possible.

>do they have other differences?
Some Glaives let you use Ink Bullet and have a different attack when on sub. I think it's only two of them.

Rosaries can fire like a machine gun, or a spread shot.

>using Golden Ink Pot
If you want.

>items allowed
Up to you.