Okage: Shadow King uses a graphical style that can best be described as unique--at least in the world of videogames. Anyone who's seen Tim Burton's claymation work--notably The Nightmare Before Christmas, but also James and the Giant Peach--will immediately recognize the spindly-legged style and the very strange mouths of some of the characters. Fortunately, the main characters are cute-cute, not scary-cute, so you're not trying to empathize with freaks, but some of the townsfolk are downright frightening. The enemies follow suit, ranging from the fairly regular RPG fare (birds, mice) to the truly bizarre (onions, elephants with multicoloured trunks, and more). One thing's for sure--the world designers in this game were . . . creatively stimulated. Yeah.

The game also makes use of a very neat graphical effect that I recall seeing in Dark Cloud, but which looks even nicer here--background haze. The distance looks, well, in the distance, blurred out of focus as if you were looking through a real camera as opposed to the harsh 'realness' of most 3D games. It even occurs in battles, which is nice.

As for sound, the game ranges from adequate to solid. The effects are nothing to call home about--they get the job done, with clangs and clashes and 'smacks', but they're nothing that you haven't heard in twenty thousand other RPGs. The music, on the other hand, is superb, and while the tracks are a little shorter than I would have liked, they simply ooze quality. They've got the same off-kilter attitude of the rest of the game, and it works perfectly. And I've got the damned battle theme running through my head as I type this, which is always a good sign.

Okage: Shadow King is both brilliant and very mundane. The setting and characters are simply fantastic, and the game will pull in even the most jaded RPG gamer with its subtle mockery of the typical 'fetch quest' RPG goals and the wacky interplay between the various characters. On the other hand, the actual action in the game is strictly old-school RPG, and not particularly entrancing old-school RPG at that. It's pretty, but it's nothing new, and you'll find yourself wishing for a deeper play mechanic not far into the game. The plot's good enough to keep you playing, though.

Okage details the journey of a boy named Ari (by default, at least) and the takeover of his shadow by the evil Demon King Stan. Well, Stan's short for a terribly long name involving Hihats and XIVs, but we'll just call him Stan. Stan's out to take the world over ('World Domination, Baby!' . . . err, wrong game) and looking forward to the subsequent subjugation of the human race under his evil rule. Unfortunately, he's pretty weak at the start, and it's up to you to help him defeat the impostor Evil Kings and thereby regain his dastardly power. Put simply, Stan is the evil shadow behind your character, (attempting to) control your every move.

The end result is much more humourous than this dark setup would have you think. Not a single person takes Stan seriously, and his consternation is classicly comic. What's more, the game gives you a number of dialogue options at every turn. Most of them have no real effect on the game, but there's usually at least one smart-aleck response among the bunch, and I found that the developers were frighteningly spot-on at guessing just the sarcastic thought I was thinking as I played the game. This is absolutely brilliant. Even if it doesn't change the outcome of the conversations much, the fact that someone took enough time to add that sort of style to the game is a pleasant change from most RPGs.

Unfortunately, once you get past the shining characters and crazy settings, you're left with a fairly standard RPG. Indeed, one could almost call it an 'RPG-lite,' in terms of the play mechanics it offers. You've got weapons, you've got armour, you've got skills your characters gain as they level. There's nothing here that you haven't seen before, and most of it's been done better elsewhere. It's a shame, really, because if the gameplay were as revolutionary as the sheer concept of the game Okage would be the most intriguing RPG I've played since that hazy period last summer marked by both Vagrant Story and Chrono Cross. As it is, it's still a solid game, but you're left feeling that more could have been done with the concepts. Yes, you can see the enemies on the world map and dodge them, but they're represented by goofy little ghost images that have no bearing on what you actually fight. It's nice, but it's just . . . lacking a bit.

I was surprised to find myself dead in the first real boss fight of the game, and surprised again to find myself dead during a fight with wandering enemies not long after. Okage may not be particularly deep mechanics-wise, but it's definitely non-trivially challenging, especially to RPG veterans who are used to not having to worry about healing characters for a few battles. Enemies hit hard and fast, and a careful eye on your characters' health is necessary to keep your team from being wiped out. Don't let bad habits brought over from other games mess you up here--you won't be in the hundreds of hit points for quite a while, so get used to dealing with weaklings for a while.

For the most part, Okage uses standard controls for RPGs. You move with the stick, you can talk, pull up the menu system, and even call Stan to see what he thinks you should do next--think of it as a built-in hint system. The core mechanics are solid, if a bit simple; I felt like there could have been a good deal more complexity in the characters' skills and the equipment departments. As it is, it's simply a matter of buying the best weapon, the best armour, and perhaps tinkering with an extra accessory to best suit your character. There's nothing particularly deep. The game's load times are a little longer than I would have liked, especially when leaving a building to enter a city, but they're not unbearable.

Okage: Shadow King is a prime example of a truly different idea for an RPG bogged down with classic trappings of the genre. Its originality is enough to make it a must-play for any fan of the genre, and it's a good game to start with if you're looking to get into RPGs, as the systems aren't overwhelming in their complexity. Veterans will grow tired of the play mechanics sooner than they should, though, which may preclude a full purchase. For those of us who want to show that we promote the thinking behind games like PaRappa the Rapper and Jet Grind Radio and ICO, though, you can't go wrong with picking this up. Funny, pretty, and rather fun, Okage is a solid gaming experience.