Making my way through Ōkami, I kept wondering to myself what caused this game to have such widespread acclaim. Is it just that it's a solid Zelda clone where most Zelda clones have failed to capture the essence of what makes that series so successful? It's not that I found this game to be uninteresting, but I didn't find it to be "best game of all time" status that seems to be the general consensus. It's paced poorly in a number of ways, with its extremely slow dialogue, shifting story focus, and repetitive encounters (why did I need to fight Orochi three times?). The combat isn't all that exciting, mostly lacking in strategy--I didn't die a single time in my playthrough. That said, the game is still beautiful and quite an enjoyable playthrough, I'm just confused by its revered status in gaming culture.