Developed by Clover Studio and released in 2006 for PlayStation 2, with later ports to Wii and PlayStation 3, Ōkami is an action-adventure and role-playing game rooted in Japanese mythology and folklore. The story follows Amaterasu, a Shinto sun goddess who takes the form of a white wolf adorned with celestial markings, as she works to rescue a darkened land. Drawing on classical Japanese history and legend, the game blends puzzle-solving and exploration across its narrative. Its most distinctive visual element is a sumi-e-inspired cel-shaded art style that renders the world as a living ink painting. Central to gameplay is the Celestial Brush, a gesture-based mechanic through which players perform miraculous feats by painting directly onto the environment. The combination of mythology-driven storytelling, painterly aesthetics, and this unconventional input system defines the game's identity.
Once upon a time there was a small village called Kamiki Village, where everyone from the villagers to the animals, lived in peace and happiness. But then one day, the legendary monster Orochi, came back to life and put an evil curse on the entire area. Everything that had a bit of life, disappeared from the face of the earth, and in their place was left a dreadful, barren wasteland. Orochi's horrid curse spread all across the land, turning it into a veritable hell on earth, infested with countless monsters roaming the earth. But there was one hope. The majestic, wolf-embodied sun god Amaterasu. One-hundred years ago, Amaterasu used the godly power of the Celestial Brush, to face Orochi. But their battle consumed them both, causing them to disappear from the world, with Amaterasu losing the thirteen Celestial Brush powers in the process. Now in the present, Amaterasu stumbles upon a mysterious fairy sprite named Issun, and together they set out on an adventure, as Amaterasu aims to regain the 13 powers of the Celestial brush and defeat Orochi once and for all.
