I first played this game years ago, and I was mesmerized by it. It was such a beautiful game, with amazing puzzles, and such a great story. And for the longest time now, I've been meaning to replay it properly. And now that I have, I feel like I have an even greater appreciation for it.
As I said prior, the game is so beautiful. The best way I have of describing it is that it's a living painting. Everything has this amazing style to it, and how every line feels like unique brushstrokes. I noticed that shadows were brushstrokes as well. Okami is a game where its beauty will last to the end of time.
I fucking love the brush mechanics. Being able to draw specific patterns to solve problems is amazing. I love how each brush ability has the power to interact with the environment, and I love seeing how they interact with random things, such as trees or NPCs. I definitely struggled with some of the puzzles, but that's because I'm a bit stupid, and I forget that I have certain abilities. On the other hand, the combat is really fun too. It feels like a typical hack and slash's combat, but that in conjunction with the brush abilities allows for it to be so much fun.
The story as well is another beautiful aspect of the game. It feels so much like an actual myth. I feel this in both its pacing, and the general events that happen within the story. That aside, the characters are all unique, and the game really got me to care about all of them. And god, I won't go into details, but that ending feels so much more powerful now than it did when I played it years ago.
Okami is a timeless game, and still one I find beautiful to this day. I'm so glad I finally got around to replaying Okami again, it was so worthwhile.