OKAGE: Shadow King (PlayStation 2, 2001)

After reading another review on here......I must leave mine!
THERE IS NO FOUL MOUTH IN THE GAME! Not Spoken that is! This is a role playing game.....everytime you make decisions and continue, you have to read the dialect, therfore, YOUNG children who cannot read would have no idea what is going on! I played the whole entire game & NEVER in the game does the female character's script say things to the extent that I have seen written on some other reviews. Remember, you have to READ what is going on - it's not spoken! I LET MY 8 YR OLD DAUGHTER PLAY IT......Don't believe everything you hear!

It's a FUN game but you may need some help in getting through the whole thing. I am not one for cheat codes....but the link below is not cheat codes, it is a walkthrough. Without it, you may get confused as to what things you need to do & in what order to complete the game!

http://download.cheatcodes.com/faqs/21413.html

I am horrified!!!
I would prefer killing & pure evil in slaughtering Rated M games then ever to let my children play this game!
This game features really foul mouth speach as well as young children stating their hate for thei parents & hinting about "Wrong love" between father & daughter. I cannot understand how this game was ever allowed on the market & am appalled after only 20 minutes in the game. It also features a little girl that says she wants to DIE because her voice doesnt work or because her hair colour is wrong. This game is sending all the wrong messages, as if life isnt confusing enough for our children today. DO NOT PURCHASE!

I don't know why this game wasn't more popular. I love it. The graphics are awesome and it's really funny. The enemies are the weirdest looking I've seen and the evil spirit possessing your character is always popping up to make sick jokes at your expense. Very fun and unique RPG.

Be introduced to various characters, many twists and turns and the shadow of an evil king? Well, what more could a young boy want in life? Possibly some alone time and a his own girl too!

This game is, if anything, a hilarity of RPG adventures. With it's own unique RPG battle system, this game slowly draws you into its compelling storyline and keeps you hooked! Though you may be stuck with the Stan, King of the Shadows, he seems to give the story plot it's own sense of humor. Yes, he is evil, but what kind of a game would survive without some sort of villian?

If you're looking for a new kind of storyline or just in the mood for an RPG, this game is one I recommend.

Firstly, to address the reviewers who are "appalled" by this game... it's rated T because you might not want your 5 year-old to play it. Before you give a game to your children, maybe you should look at the rating.

To address the game: ... oh my god. I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do. Even though Okage came out in 2001, I'm yet to find another game that can impress me equally.

The premise - an "overshadowed" boy (a shy boy, one who doesn't try to make himself heard or speak up for himself) becomes possessed by the "malevolent"-yet-lovable spirit of the Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV, or "Evil King Stan" for short, and embarks on a quest to subjugate fake evil kings - to fight evil on the behalf of evil. Of course, this is just the short version. Okage's plot is, at its core, a social commentary on the labels people give each other and how we play into those roles, and whether we might break free from them. It contains some of the best video game writing I've seen in a long time - the jokes are actually FUNNY, even to an older audience, the characters are all delightful and quaint, the more serious scenes do not fall into the trap of cliche or strike as unbelievable.

The character design and graphics are probably Okage's most widely-acclaimed features. Truly inventive, Tim Burton-inspired scenes and characters with bright colours and interesting detail abound. Okage's soundtrack ranges from quirky to haunting to sweet, and entirely distinctive (I assure you, you have not heard these songs elsewhere - ever).

The biggest complaint that people have with Okage is the battle system and dungeon format. Okage employs a real-time-style (but still turn-based -- the battle will freeze and allow you to pick the character's action) battle system, and the dungeons are - admittedly - rather tedious. Battles are not random-encounter, but rather represented by white, blue and red ghosts which float around the screen and chase after you. If you're the type to avoid battles, you'll quickly gain precision enough with the joystick to avoid almost any ghost, but it can get *tedious* very quickly. In my personal opinion, however, Okage's virtues more than outweigh these problems. (But if you're playing only for the battles and not for the story/character development...)

Okage is awesome. That's all there really is to it. There is romance and rivalry, there is mystery and tension, there are heroines with pink shadows and sidequests even the players guides don't cover. There is existential crisis and witty repartee. There is an evil talking shadow who can't understand why people aren't terrified by him. And sometimes, he will help you out in battle if you tell him a joke.

Okage is, bar none, my favourite game. It's been almost 7 years since it came out, and still, I am unmoved by others.

Take a chance on it, you guys. There are people selling it Buy-It-Now for $10.

This game is cute, and fun to play. The 'shadow king' character is very funny. It's cool that you get to solve riddles and have multiple choices of answers to questions from other characters in the game. Not the greatest game in the world, but certainly worth a play!

I got through about 6 hours of the game, loving the story and the ideas expressed, but there were too many faults to continue. The battle system is slow-paced. A 30 second battle takes over a minute. It's also very mundane in the beginning. You can fight, and wait to fight as a group against a single enemy.
The witty dialogue can't counteract how painfully slow battles and everything drags on.

So much potential, so little gameplay.

I decided to buy this product because the one I have does not work. When I received my game I was glad it got here, but then when I plugged it in there was an error in the disc. The game does not work and I am not a very happy customer.